Laundry strips or laundry detergent: which is best?
Laundry strips or laundry detergent? Classic liquid detergent or washing powder generally wins on pure cleaning power for heavily soiled laundry, while laundry strips score mainly on environmental impact, ease of use and weight. For everyday, lightly to normally soiled laundry, laundry strips are fine in most cases.
What is the difference between laundry strips and laundry detergent?
A laundry strip is a solid, ultra-concentrated sheet of detergent without water, which dissolves completely as soon as it comes into contact with water. Liquid detergent and washing powder do contain water or fillers, and are sold in plastic bottles or cardboard boxes.
Both have the same job: getting your laundry clean. The difference lies in the composition, the packaging and how you dose, not in what the product is ultimately meant to do.
Laundry strips or laundry detergent: the comparison
To help you choose, we put the main differences side by side.
| Laundry strips | Classic detergent | |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning power on normal laundry | Good, thanks to an ultra-concentrated enzyme formula | Good to very good |
| Cleaning power on stubborn stains | Can be less powerful, especially on grease stains | Generally more powerful |
| Environment and packaging | Plastic-free, light, less transport weight | Often a plastic bottle or cardboard box with fillers |
| Price per wash | Approximately €0.20 to €0.34 | Approximately €0.14 to €0.40, depending on brand |
| Ease of use and dosing | Pre-dosed, no mess | Dose it yourself, risk of over- or underdosing |
| Weight and storage | Light, compact box | Heavier bottle or box, more storage space |
On cleaning power for stubborn stains, classic detergent generally still wins by a nose. On environmental impact, weight and ease of use, laundry strips clearly come out on top.
Cleaning power: what do the tests say?
Independent tests by, among others, Test-Aankoop and a laundry expert from Ghent University confirm that laundry strips are ultra-concentrated, but generally clean slightly less powerfully than washing powder or liquid detergent. They have a bit more trouble with grease stains in particular.
For everyday, lightly to normally soiled laundry, that difference is often small in practice. With heavily soiled laundry or stubborn stains, you notice it sooner.
Earlier laundry strip formulas, including an earlier version of our own laundry strips, were criticised in independent tests for their cleaning results. That is why the current POWR formula has been developed further with powerful enzyme technology, specifically aimed at cleaning better than the first generation of laundry strips!
Environment, price and ease of use
On the environmental front, laundry strips are a clear step forward: plastic-free packaging, far less transport weight than a bottle of liquid detergent, and pre-dosed strips that prevent overdosing. Independent tests generally confirm a good environmental score for laundry strips as a product category.
On price per wash, laundry strips and classic detergent are close, with laundry strips averaging between €0.20 and €0.34 and detergent between €0.14 and €0.40 per wash, depending on the brand. In terms of ease of use, laundry strips clearly score higher: no fiddling with dosing caps and no heavy bottles to lift or store.
When do you choose laundry strips and when detergent?
Laundry strips are a great choice for everyday washing, small households, travelling, and anyone who wants to wash plastic-free. Classic detergent remains the better choice for heavily soiled laundry, large families with a lot of laundry, or stubborn stains that call for extra cleaning power.
Want to wash consciously and conveniently without a plastic bottle? The POWR laundry strips are plastic-free, free from microplastics and developed with a concentrated enzyme formula for the everyday wash.
Discover the POWR laundry strips →
