Miss Lily's Washing Powder Review & Giveaway!

 

 I love doing laundry. There, I said it... I love doing laundry! I love that you can take dirty, stinky clothes and diapers, put them in the washing machine with a scoop of detergent and voila! Clean, fresh clothes! I love laundry fresh out of the washer - slightly damp and smelling oh-so-fresh! I am pretty picky about my detergent when it comes to our families clothes, sheets and towels and SUPER picky when it comes to little man's cloth diapers, because, well, they're an investment and I want to take care of them to the best of my ability for long term use as well as taking good care of little man's tushy. I use, well, let's say, "Brand X" cloth diaper detergent and I am pretty happy with it. I find that my diapers come out pretty clean, I only occasionally feel like a load still comes out "stinky" and then I do a soak. One of my biggest issues with it though, is that sometimes I feel like I have to rinse and rinse and rinse so much to get all the suds out. Maybe it's our uber hard water or maybe I am just using too much or maybe it's that darn he machine that barely seems to use a splash of water. Little man has had two rashes under the care of "Brand X" and they were pretty bad - not sure if the detergent had anything to do with it, but his sensitive skin is something I definitely take into consideration when choosing the best detergent for his diapers and clothes. So, since his last rash, I have been a little more open to looking for a new cloth diaper friendly detergent to try and I came across Miss Lily's Washing Powder. I read wonderful reviews about how great it was for sensitive skin and how well it removed stains and the stinkies. I was intrigues! I contacted Miss Lily's Washing Powder and was so excited when I got the opportunity to do a review of Miss Lily's Washing Powder!

Miss Lily's Washing Powder is natural, enzyme-free, soap-free, clean-rinsing laundry detergent. Jill is the woman behind behind Miss Lily's and she is a WAHM of four kids and a cloth diapering mama! Her youngest is Lilyana (aka Miss Lily) and she is who the detergent is named after! Jill's goal is to provide a clean and fresh-smelling laundry without the chemicals found in the other detergents. Jill got started making Miss Lily's after reading about cancer-causing agents in popular detergents.  She started trying out other "green" detergents, but wasn't satisfied with any of them. Jill knew there had to be a better way -- a way to make a natural detergent that is effective on stains and odors. So, Jill started working on her very own formula and when she felt like she had gotten the perfect formula down, she had some friends try it out ...and, they loved it! So, Miss Lily's Washing Powder was born and Jill decided to start selling it. 

I was sent a small bag of Miss Lily's Washing Powder to review and I have to say, for a small bag, it lasted forever! A little bit goes a very long way! I read over the directions before I put Miss Lily's washing Powder to the test ...I couldn't wait to get a load of little man's cloth diapers in the wash!

The directions for use can also be found on Miss Lily's Washing Powder's Facebook page: 

• Directions for clothing use: Use 2-4 tablespoons of Miss Lily's per load, depending on the size of the load and how soiled it is. HE users need only 1-2 tablespoons. Usually, only the smallest amount is necessary. Run a heavy wash cycle, if possible. For extra smelly clothes, a soak might be a good idea (see stinky diaper directions).

• Directions for diaper use: Run an extra large load size, cold water rinse first. Then, run a warm or hot heavy duty wash cycle using 2-4 tablespoons of Miss Lily's, half that amount for HE users. Rinse well, using a warm water rinse if possible, or double rinse.

• Directions for stinky diapers or diapers with build-up: Fill washer or tub with warm to hot water, add 2-4 tablespoons of Miss Lily's and your unsoiled diapers. Allow diapers to soak for 1-2 hours or overnight, depending on the odor problem. Rinse well, then run a normal diaper hot wash using no detergent.

• Stain removal: For stubborn stains, remove as much as possible with cold water. There are two effective pretreatments. They are: 

1. Make a paste of Miss Lily's and water. Apply to stain, gently rub with gloved hands or rub fabric together. Allow paste to sit on stain. Launder as usual with the warmest water possible. Repeat if necessary, being sure not to dry garment in the dryer if stain is still present.
2. Soak the garment using 1-4 tablespoons of Miss Lily's and warm water. Allow garment to soak 1-2 hours or as long as overnight. Launder as usual with the warmest water possible. Repeat if necessary, being sure not to dry garment in the dryer if stain is still present.

• (Sunlight works very well at removing stains. Putting your diapers/clothes outside to dry in the sunshine is a great way to get rid of stains, and it makes them smell great.)

• Nothing removes all stains, individual results may vary.

• Do not mix with bleach.

I found these directions to be very helpful and I also talked to Jill about the correct amount of Miss Lily's Washing Powder that I should use with our hard water and the he machine that I have. Jill let me know that she also has hard water and that I shouldn't have to use any more than the directions stated. She did mention that for those with soft water, you may find that using less works just as well.

Little man's diapers being washed with Miss Lily's Washing Powder!

So what did I think? I used Miss Lily's Washing Powder on little man's cloth diapers, on towels, sheets and on clothing. Many loads of laundry later, I am still impressed! I think that my favorite thing about Miss Lily's Washing Powder is how clean rinsing it is. I actually sat and watched a load of laundry go through the entire wash cycle. (I know, I'm a nerd, but little man is always so entertained by his colorful diapers spinning around!) Miss Lily's Washing Powder was very low suds-ing and when the laundry was done, I opened the door, sniffed, stuck my head further in and sniffed again and... nothing! It smelled like clean, wet cloth diapers. I hung my diapers out in the sun and have not noticed any stains that dared to sick around on little man's diapers. I am also happy to report that little man's bum has not had any rash issues and his sensitive skin seems to like his cloth diapers being washed in Miss Lily's Washing Powder! I also feel like my load of whites came out just a wee bit whiter after a spin with Miss Lily's Washing Powder. I am a super happy with the results from Miss Lily's Washing Powder, it really is perfect for cloth diapers and all of your laundry!

No residual suds during the rinse cycle...Yay!

Interested in getting some Miss Lily's Washing Powder for your laundry room? You can BUY Miss Lily's Washing Powder here and just take a look at all those yummy scents! I think Miss Lily's Bamboo and White Grapefruit and Miss Lily's Lemon Sugar sound just like what my laundry room needs for spring!

-OR-

  You can WIN a full sized bag of Miss Lily's Washing Powder in your choice of scent!

Here's how to enter:
Mandatory Entry:

• First, you must publicly follow my blog via GFC and then visit Miss Lily's Washing Powder and let me know what your favorite scent is!

*This mandatory entry must be completed for the rest of your entries to be valid. I will be checking/verifying your comments, if you say you signed up for something or did something, you do need to actually do it for it to count as an entry*

 

Extra Entries:

•  "Heart" Miss Lily's Washing Powder on Etsy and leave your Etsy name in your comment. (1 entry)

• Follow Miss Lily's Washing Powder on Facebook (you can thank her for the giveaway from @The Little Hedgehog if you would like) (1 entry) 

•  Make a purchase from Miss Lily's Washing Powder from now until the giveaway ends on 5/10. I will verify your purchase with Jill. (5 entries)

• Add my button to your blog and leave me a link (2 entries)

• Follow The Little Hedgehog on Facebook. (1 entry) 

• Follow me on Twitter: @lttlehedgehog then, comment here with your Twitter ID to get your entry. (1 entry) 

• Tweet about this giveaway. Comment with a direct link to your tweet so I can see it to get your entry!  You may use this tweet or make up your own:  #Win a bag of Miss Lily's Washing Powder on the @lttlehedgehog blog! Safe for #clothdiapers! http://bit.ly/lUSBZh {Ends 5/10} #giveaway  (1 entry per day)

• Sign up to receive The Little Hedgehog emails via feedburner and have your subscription verified. (2 entries)

• Blog about this review/giveaway. Be sure to include a link to this review/giveaway. Comment with a link to your blog post to get your entry! (2 entries)

*Don't forget to put your email address in each comment so I can get a hold of you if you are the lucky winner! If I cannot get a hold of you, I will have to draw another winner! Also, I will check to make sure that the winner filled out the mandatory entry.

***Open to the US with shipping included. The giveaway is open to those outside the US, but the winner must cover the difference in shipping. Jill will cover the first $5, and the winner (if outside the US) would cover the remaining $8.95.***

I'll accept entries until Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at Midnight PST. I'll select a winner using random.org's random number generator, then email the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email and if I don't get a response, I will have to choose another winner. Again, make sure you leave your email address in your comment!


*Miss Lily's Washing Powder will be sending the winner’s prize item to them directly. 

Thank you to Jill of Miss Lily's Washing Powder for providing me with the opportunity to host this review and giveaway at no cost to myself. The items were sent to me free of charge for review and has not influenced my opinion of the product. I have sought to give my honest opinions and experiences on this product. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. Thank you again to Miss Lily's Washing Powder for sponsoring this review and giveaway!