By Zach Pozniak, VP of Operations at Jeeves of Belgravia New York and fourth-generation dry cleaner · @jeeves_ny
Last reviewed October 2026 · lab-tested for my October 2025 review · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Tide Odor Refresh liquid is out of stock on Amazon, so its links go to the pods version; the score is for the liquid I tested.
Quick answer: Dirty Labs ↗ is a high-performing but expensive detergent with a couple of quirks. Dosed the way the brand recommends, it did terribly in my lab test: 20.1. At my standard two tablespoons it shot up to 85.7. I split the difference and gave it 52.9 overall.
The catch is the price. It runs from 50 cents to $2 a load depending on how much you pour, against a 20-cent average. Ingredient safety is 8 out of 10, one of the better ones out there. If budget is not an issue, it is excellent.
| Product | Dirty Labs laundry detergent ↗, reviewed October 2025 |
|---|---|
| Score at the brand's dose | 20.1 |
| Score at my two tablespoons | 85.7 |
| My overall score | 52.9, the average of the two |
| Measured against | Tide Hygienic Pods ↗ at 100, washing with water alone at 1 |
| Cost per load | 50 cents at half a tablespoon, $1 a capful, $2 at two tablespoons. The average is 20 cents. |
| Ingredient safety | 8 out of 10 |
| Packaging | No plastic, but the messiest bottle I have ever used |
| My verdict | A high performer with really good ingredients, at a very high cost |
My standard test uses two tablespoons of detergent. With Dirty Labs ↗ I also tested it the way the brand tells you to dose it, and the gap was huge. Their dosing recommendation scored 20.1, which is terrible. My two tablespoons scored 85.7, which is excellent.
Neither number alone tells you how it performs, so I think the fairer thing is to take the average, which is how it ends up at 52.9 on my board. In practice, you get the strong clean at two tablespoons, and that is where the price comes in.
For context on the scale: washing with water alone scores 1, Tide Hygienic Pods ↗ score 100 and my whole board is built around them, and the highest score I have given is Ariel 2X powder ↗ at 102.4. My tests follow the AISE industry-standard method: 18 stains on white cotton, washed at three water temperatures and read with a spectrometer before and after, so the result is a measurement and not my eyes. And as with every score I publish, this is purely performance.
Dirty Labs ↗ is wildly expensive. Half a tablespoon, which is half the cap and gets you 32 loads a bottle, works out to 50 cents a load. A full capful is $1 a load, five times the average. Two tablespoons, the dose I test at and the one that scored 85.7, comes to $2 a load. That is ten times the average and the highest I have seen.
My guide to detergent dosing covers how much detergent a normal load needs in general.
I gave it 8 out of 10 for ingredient safety, one of the better ones out there. When I picked my top non-toxic detergents in January 2026, Dirty Labs ↗ Free and Clear made the list: it is 99% plant based, it cleans great, and the ingredient design is impressive. Like the other three picks it has no fragrance and no dye, and fragrance is the number one cause of skin irritation in laundry products. The only flagged ingredients across those four formulas are enzymes, and enzymes are only a problem if the detergent is not rinsed out properly.
The packaging has no plastic, and the canister is easy to recycle. It is also the messiest bottle I have ever used.
Dirty Labs ↗ is on several of my lists where safety matters. In my 2025 award show it was one of my three best free and clear products, with 7th Gen Easy Dose ↗ and Tide Odor Refresh ↗. It is on my non-toxic list above, and it was one of the five I named as worth buying for baby clothes. The full write-ups are in my free and clear picks, my non-toxic picks and my baby laundry guide.
It has been on my board for a while. When I reviewed Mozi Wash in late 2024, Mozi landed right next to Dirty Labs, in the middle of the board. The October 2025 review, with the dosing test, is the one this page is built on.
Dirty Labs ↗ also makes enzyme boosters, which are separate products from the detergent. I have recommended their wash enzyme booster for getting odors out of clothes, though it is not cheap, and I used their powdered enzyme mix in my homemade detergent recipe to help break down stains like oil and food. Neither has a score of its own.
Against Tide Odor Refresh. Tide Odor Refresh ↗ scored 96.9, it only comes free and clear, and it costs about 22 cents a load. It is the least environmentally friendly of my four non-toxic picks, but the best cleaner, and still super safe. If cleaning performance is your top priority, it wins. My Tide Odor Refresh review goes through it.
Against 7th Gen Easy Dose. 7th Gen Easy Dose ↗ is my best all-around non-toxic product. It is also 99% plant based, the packaging is low waste, the cleaning performance is excellent, and it is one of the few detergents I actually use.
Against Kirkland. If price is what puts you off Dirty Labs ↗, the free and clear Kirkland liquid scored 80.0 at 15 cents a load. It is a Costco product, and my Kirkland review covers it.
Everything I have scored, with the numbers, is in my tested laundry detergent rankings.
You want a plant-based, free and clear detergent with very good ingredients, you are willing to dose it generously, and the cost per load does not worry you.
You are on a budget, or you plan to dose it the way the label says. At the brand's dose it scored 20.1, and at the dose that cleans well it costs $2 a load.
It cleans well if you use enough of it. At my standard two tablespoons it scored 85.7, against Tide Hygienic Pods ↗ at 100 and washing with water alone at 1. At the brand's recommended dose it scored 20.1. I average the two and give it 52.9. It scores 8 out of 10 on ingredient safety, and it is very expensive. If budget is not an issue, it is excellent.
Because the dose changed the result so much. Dosed the way the brand recommends, it scored 20.1. At my standard two tablespoons, it scored 85.7. Neither number alone is fair, so I took the average, 52.9.
Half a tablespoon gets you 32 loads a bottle, at 50 cents a load. A capful is $1 a load, five times the 20-cent average. Two tablespoons, the dose that scored 85.7, is $2 a load, ten times the average and the highest I have seen.
It is one of my top non-toxic picks. Dirty Labs ↗ Free and Clear is 99% plant based, has no fragrance or dye, and I gave it 8 out of 10 for ingredient safety. The only flagged ingredients are enzymes, and those are only a problem if the detergent is not rinsed out properly.
Yes, it is one of the five detergents I named as worth buying for baby clothes, because it balances ingredient safety, environmental impact and cleaning performance. Whatever you use, do not overdose, and an extra rinse cycle helps, because leftover detergent on clothes is the leading cause of skin irritation.
Not on cleaning or price. Tide Odor Refresh ↗ scored 96.9 at about 22 cents a load and is also free and clear. Dirty Labs ↗ is more plant based and has plastic-free packaging, and it scored 52.9 at 50 cents to $2 a load.
Dirty Labs ↗ is a high performer with really good ingredients, at a very high cost. Dosed the way the label says, it scored 20.1. At two tablespoons it scored 85.7, and at that dose it costs $2 a load. I gave it 52.9 overall and 8 out of 10 for ingredient safety. If budget is not an issue, it is excellent. If it is, there are free and clear detergents that clean as well or better for a fraction of the price.
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Zach Pozniak is VP of Operations and co-owner of Jeeves of Belgravia New York, the Madison Avenue dry cleaner serving New York since 1979, and the fourth generation of his family in the trade. Zach posts garment care techniques as @jeeves_ny on TikTok to over 900,000 followers, and his book The Laundry Book, co-written with his father Jerry Pozniak, was featured on Good Morning America in October 2024. Jeeves NY's clients include the Metropolitan Opera, the Met Museum, and FIT, and the business has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine.