With so many laundry sheets around, you can hardly see the detergent anymore 😅 This year many new laundry sheet brands have been set up and more brands have started selling them. But what should you actually look for?
Where are laundry sheets produced?
First of all, all laundry sheets are produced in China. There are companies that claim they produce in Europe, but after further research by us, speaking directly with the machine manufacturers, some are not entirely honest about this. So you do not need to look for laundry sheets produced in the EU.
As a brand we are working on bringing production to the Netherlands, so we have a good picture of how this market works. We make small batches and have gained experience in formulation. More about this in 2024.
How is the price of a laundry sheet determined?
There are various factors that have a big impact.
Active ingredients: The % of active ingredients largely determines how expensive a laundry sheet will be. Cosmeau laundry sheets contain on average 5% more than the average off-the-shelf laundry sheet. That is because we test our formulations ourselves in the Netherlands and have them produced in China. Based on cleaning tests, our sheets clean better than brands that do not do this.
Size of the laundry sheet: The larger the detergent laundry sheet, the more raw materials are needed. Our sheets are 11x14cm, the largest on the market. Some brands use a size of 7x14cm, that is 36% smaller! If you only look at the number of washes, you miss this important detail.
Weight: During production of laundry sheets you set the thickness during the drying process. This process is not a set-it-and-forget-it. It requires continuous adjustments to keep the thickness consistent. Thickness then determines the weight, which is more important than the actual thickness because pressure can make the sheet less thick, but heavier in weight. It really matters whether your sheet weighs 4 grams or 3 grams, that is how companies can still save 25% without you knowing or noticing. Our laundry sheets are 4 grams on average.
Use of certain ingredients: The ingredients used then determine the cleaning power. Some brands use very simple formulas. We think less is better, but with cleaning you deal with so many variables and stains that this is almost impossible if you want to score well universally.
Since version 3 we have added enzymes for improved cleaning power. We are already improving these again in our version 4 formulation. This makes our laundry sheets more expensive and better, but you will quickly miss this if you only look at the price, while this is a very important property. Everyone wants clean laundry, right?
Scent: We sometimes get the idea that scent is more important than cleaning power. We are one of those too 😀 Our sheets weigh 4 grams, a Robijn Pod 20 grams, which is why it leaves much more scent for longer than detergent laundry sheets. This remains a weak point of laundry sheets because of the low weight. With our version 3 we have made progress, but we keep researching to improve this. The price of a sheet is also linked to how much % scent is added, we have increased this because we know this matters to you as users.
Cosmeau detergent laundry sheets are always keenly priced, especially when you look at each individual point where we try to get the best out of it for you. With us you know you are not giving in on quality of important points, and still pay the keenest price.
On top of that you support our mission to produce locally and we are a registered social enterprise for social impact in the Netherlands. We are a Dutch company, in case you were wondering 😊
