Question:  Do you have any laundry or dishwashing soap which does not cotain sodium? we are looking for potassium based soaps to use in our grey water system as pottassium is far more beneficial to the soil than sodium. Thanks
Z.W.

 

Answer: We have been selling many  'eco' or 'enviro' friendly products for 6+years.  In this time, we have come to understand the different drivers that people have for seeking products with different criteria...
 
The potassium / sodium issue in laundry powders/liquids is an interesting one, which we have chosen to set aside due to the lack of success in finding anything that meets our criteria as potassium formulations.
 
Our criteria include:
availability at acceptable lead time
value
functionally effective
no petrochemicals
low/no phosphorous
low sodium
biodegradable (depending on definition)
not too high pH
non 'harmful' chemicals
low toxicity
labour/social/community impacts in chain of production
source distance and transport method
concentration
packaging....
 
For more on using laundry detergents in greywater, see http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/ for independent review.  The data is based on recommended dosage in use, many customers (and ourselves) find many of our products effective at lower addition rates.  Concentration / dilution, garden area, application rate and frequency are all variables (as is soil and plant type, with or without reed beds)
 
We have been using greywater on our property for 7+ years on food and ornamentals, native and foreign.  Management of all such applications is required.  We have had great success with mulched swales at discharge points.
 
We use Enviroclean products ourselves, and also stock Eco Store which you will see are suited for grey water use from the independent laboratory data.  We stock several of the lesser grey water performers too, but where people have different drivers for purchasing choices (eg herbon fragrance free for those with chemical sensitivities).  We ship Australia wide.