How to Choose an Eco Friendly Detergent
Shaan LalwaniShare
So You Want to Switch to an Eco-Friendly Detergent.
Here's Where to Actually Start.
March 2026 · 7 min read
I get this question a lot. From friends, from DMs, from my cousin who switched to cloth bags three years ago and is now slowly, methodically working her way through every single product under her kitchen sink. And honestly? It's the right question to be asking. It's also exactly why we started Coco Custo, because we were asking the same one.
The thing is, most of us grew up with detergent that smelled aggressively "fresh", you know, that synthetic lemon-bleach combo that sort of stings your nose a little? And we assumed that sting meant it was working. At Coco Custo, we'd argue that sting is actually a red flag, not a feature. A lot of what's in conventional detergents is working against you just as hard as it's working on your clothes.
So let's actually break down what to look for, without the greenwashing, without the overwhelm. Think of this as the guide we wish we'd had before we started formulating the Coco Custo range.
First: what's actually IN your current detergent?
Most conventional detergents, the big brands you'll find at every Dmart and Nature's Basket, rely on a class of chemicals called surfactants to do the cleaning. The most common one is LABSA (Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulphonic Acid). It gets your clothes clean, sure. But it also ends up washed down your drain, into the waterways, and at even small concentrations it's been shown to cause coral mortality. Yes, coral. In the ocean. From your laundry. None of the Coco Custo formulas use LABSA, this was one of the first lines we drew.
Then there are synthetic fragrances, often a cocktail of phthalates and volatile organic compounds that can trigger everything from headaches to hormone disruption. And phosphates, which cause algal blooms in freshwater. And optical brighteners, which are basically fluorescent dyes that stay on your fabric and your skin. The Coco Custo laundry range is free of all of these, which sounds like a basic bar to clear but, in the Indian market, it genuinely isn't.
None of this is on the front of the pack, obviously. It's usually buried in small print, or just listed as "fragrance", a catch-all term that can hide dozens of individual chemicals. Coco Custo lists every ingredient, because we think you deserve to know what you're washing your clothes, and your family, with.
What to look for on the label (and what to run from)
✓ Look for: plant-based surfactants (coconut-derived, sugar-derived), biodegradable ingredients, fragrance-free or naturally scented, sulphate-free, phosphate-free, no optical brighteners, no parabens or phthalates. Coco Custo Laundry ticks all of these, the coconut-derived surfactants are right there in the name if you look closely enough.
✗ Run from: "fresh scent" without ingredient disclosure, the word "fragrance" on its own, anything with LABSA listed, products claiming to be "natural" with no ingredient list at all. Greenwashing is rampant in this space, a green leaf on the bottle means nothing without the ingredients to back it up. When we were developing the Coco Custo range, we had brands pitch us "eco-friendly" raw materials that were nothing of the sort once you dug into the safety data sheets.
Does it actually clean, though?
This is always the real question. And I understand the scepticism, I had it too. There's a kind of deep cultural conditioning that equates foam with cleaning power. High foam = working hard. Low foam = barely trying. When we first launched Coco Custo, this was the single most common piece of feedback we got: "where's the foam?"
But foam is largely cosmetic. Manufacturers add foaming agents because we expect them, not because they clean better. The Coco Custo formula produces less foam and cleans just as well, often better for delicate fabrics because the plant-based surfactants are gentler on fibres.
The switch does require a small adjustment period, mostly mental. Give Coco Custo a few washes. Judge by how your clothes actually come out, not by how much the machine filled with bubbles. We promise the cotton will survive.
The format question: powder, liquid, or pods?
Powder is generally the most eco-friendly format, lighter to ship, no water weight, and often comes in cardboard or tin rather than plastic. It also tends to have a longer shelf life. The Coco Custo Ocean Breeze Laundry Powder and Spa Day Laundry Powder both come in recyclable tins for exactly this reason.
Liquid is convenient and dissolves well in cold water, but it usually comes in plastic, and a lot of what you're paying for is just water. If liquid is your preference, the Coco Custo liquid detergent is a concentrated formula, which means the bottle is smaller, lasts longer, and the footprint is lower.
Pods are the trickiest, the dissolvable film is often made from PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), which sounds eco-friendly but the jury is genuinely still out on how it behaves in waterways. It's one of the reasons Coco Custo hasn't gone down the pod route yet. We'd rather wait until the science is clearer.
Ocean Breeze Detergent Tin (1kg)
Concentrated formulas: the underrated hero
One thing I'd specifically look out for: concentrated formulas. You use less per load, which means less packaging, less waste, and, actually, often less cost per wash even if the upfront price looks higher. The Coco Custo range is designed this way. Worth doing the maths before you assume the cheaper-looking bottle is actually the better deal.
The instinct to use more detergent when clothes seem extra dirty is real and deeply ingrained. Resist it. More detergent doesn't mean cleaner clothes, it often means residue left on fabric and a machine that needs more water to rinse. The scoop in the Coco Custo powder exists for a reason. Trust the scoop.
A note on sensitive skin and babies
If you're washing for someone with eczema, sensitive skin, or a baby, the ingredient list matters even more. Synthetic fragrances are one of the leading causes of contact dermatitis. Coco Custo is fragrance-free and sulphate-free, which isn't just marketing for this group, it's genuinely the safer, kinder choice for skin that's already working hard.
In India specifically, where water hardness varies enormously between cities and borewells, a plant-based formula with some sodium bicarbonate or citric acid in the mix can actually handle hard water quite well, sometimes better than heavily synthetic formulas. We've had customers in Pune and Delhi (notoriously hard water cities) tell us their Coco Custo results have been better than anything they used before. We'll take it.
The bottom line
Switching your detergent is one of those changes that sounds small but adds up, especially when you think about how many loads you do a year, and where all that water goes afterwards. It's the kind of switch that Coco Custo was built for: low friction, high impact, no compromise on clean.
You don't have to overhaul your entire laundry routine in one go. Start with the next bottle. Read the ingredients. Look for something plant-based, fragrance-free or naturally scented, sulphate-free, and packaged without unnecessary plastic. Or, you know, just try Coco Custo and skip the research homework. We've done it for you.
Chances are your clothes will be just as clean. Your nose will be happier. And whatever goes down your drain won't be actively harming something on the other end. That's been the Coco Custo promise from day one.
That's not a bad place to start.
Ready to make the switch? Free shipping on orders above Rs. 1500.
Written for the Coco Custo Blog · More from the blog