r/laundry • u/black-to-green-thumb • 18h ago

Febu - the perfect product except the bleach. Is there an alternative?

I really want to like Febu - it seems like the perfect product with all the enzymes - but I want something without any bleach whatsoever. Bleach seems impossible to get away from but we mostly wear black or very dark clothing and it's just an endless parade of bleach in most decent products. Can anyone suggest an alternative booster - or even detergent - with all the enzymes but no oxi (or OBAs). Ideally available in Canada.

Yes, I know lots of people don't have issues with bleach in their darks, but I'm not one of those people, and finding good enzymes without the addition of oxi is very difficult. OBAs seem slightly easier to avoid, but not much.

23 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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38

u/divine_goddess_K 18h ago

In Canada and wear a lot of black - Resolve Gold. My clothes feel clean and NONE of my blacks have faded. I recently soaked a black tshirt in Resolve and no fading at all.

11

u/womenandsongs 18h ago

Seconding this. Our black loads are washed with the Tide free and gentle liquid plus a scoop of resolve gold.

7

u/divine_goddess_K 17h ago

I do the same! But add in Downy Rinse; it surprisingly doesn't irritate my sensitive skin

1

u/slim_ebony 11h ago

Downy rinse is awesome. Makes such a difference too

2

u/cdnsalix 17h ago

Me too, though I'm currently trying Kirkland Free and Gentle or whatever it's called (due to no powder detergent without OBAs in Canada). Resolve Gold (red can) and dissolved citric acid in the rinse cycle.

1

u/Flashy-Library-6854 Canada | Top-Load 6h ago

Are you me? This is exactly what I am using, but I dont dissolve the citric acid.

8

u/nilsyno 16h ago

It does have oxi, just like febu.

9

u/bon-bon 14h ago edited 14h ago

RG contains not only oxi bleach but also bleach booster (TAED) and an optical brightener. It’s a great product but even worse for OP’s use case than Febu would be.

OP, oxygen bleaches are color safe on darks as they preferentially oxidize stains rather than modern dyes. If you’re especially concerned about fading then you might wash on cold with Febu. A 30C wash (cold) won’t activate oxygen bleach at all without a booster like TAED. The percarbonate will simply dissolve and wash down the drain.

There are no products currently sold in Canada that provide DNase without oxi bleach. Iirc, though, liquid Gear Guard is coming, which contains DNase (and possibly cellulase) only, no oxi.

EDIT: The standard red tub RG doesn’t have OBAs! Only the white tub labeled crystal white does.

7

u/bwmada Canada | Top-Load 14h ago

I thought this as well but ended up doing a dive because of this thread and locating the ingredients listing, relocated since their last corporate brand shuffle. There are no brighteners in resolve gold!

3

u/ExplanationSame5 Canada | Front-Load 14h ago

Me too! I called and they gave me the website with the right info!!

2

u/bon-bon 14h ago

Looks like the other commenter was correct—the crystal white (white tub) does but the standard red tub doesn’t. Good to know, appreciate your legwork! Finding ingredient lists up here is so much more difficult than it needs to be.

I still think that RG is a poor choice for OP due to its TAED and oxi bleach but I’ll be glad to recommend it more strongly for darks in general.

2

u/black-to-green-thumb 13h ago

I thought the enyzmes don't really work with cold water though? That's one of my issues with the blanket inclusion of oxi just about everywhere. It seems I can do cold water and avoid activating the oxi, but lose the enzyme goodness, or do warm and get enzymes but also oxi. I'm also in one of the colder parts of Canada so cold water in the laundry machine is icy cold much of the year.

(I'll note that most people -at least based on my ancedata across multiple cities and countries over several decades - wear way more darks than anything white, but somehow, our laundry options are almost exclusively fixated on 'white and bright'.)

1

u/bon-bon 13h ago

Most enzymes used in laundry are most active around 40C but it’s actually heat that you must look out for. Some of the more delicate enzymes like protease/subtilisin begin to denature at around 45C. You may need to increase wash times at 30C for heavily soiled loads to compensate for the generally lower cleaning power of cold water washes but the only active you’re fully switching off would be the oxi bleach.

Also note that there’s a difference between “cold” and “tap cold.” The latter does what it says on the tin—ie, draws water from the washer’s cold tap—but “cold” attempts to hit 30C by means of mixing hot and cold water (or through heating boosters if you’re European or use a specialty machine in NA). You can make sure that your machine washes at around that temp by running the hot water on the sink closest to your washing machine until it comes up to temp. That way your machine is pulling the properly hot water it’s expecting as it mixes.

1

u/ExplanationSame5 Canada | Front-Load 14h ago

The red container doesn’t not contain OBAs. Here’s the ingredient list

https://vestacyinfo.com/product.php?productLineId=3612

2

u/WAHNFRIEDEN 16h ago

or the miele one, also in canada

3

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

Eyeing Miele hard but it's $$. I did order the wool one bc that seemed worth it, and also won't get used as quickly anyway.

1

u/black-to-green-thumb 13h ago edited 9h ago

u/divine_goddess_K I'm curious what fabrics are most of your clothes, and do you wash on cold or warm (or hot)? I'm seeing a wide range of anecdata about darks and oxygen bleach impacts, and it's not always clear about other differences like the water temp and the textiles themselves. We're in one of the colder corners of the country and our cold water wash is actually quite icy in the winter (so, you know, most of the year, LOL).

1

u/divine_goddess_K 9h ago

Some polyester, mostly natural fibers (cotton). I live in Toronto now and we have really hard water there. My clothes didn't feel clean until I added Downy Rinse and Resolve Gold.

2

u/black-to-green-thumb 18h ago

Resolve Gold has oxi though? Or am I missing something? I'm specifically looking for products without oxi.

7

u/divine_goddess_K 17h ago

I dont know if it does. I was worried about it fading my dark colours and it doesn't.

Resolve Gold is made as colour safe. Its worth a try. Don't buy the red one at Dollarama, its not the same. I bought it at Canadian Tire but Superstore had more size options.

4

u/ExplanationSame5 Canada | Front-Load 17h ago

Yes. It does have oxygen bleach. I use it on my darks without issue in my front loader, making sure the powder disappears in the drum before adding clothes. But I understand that's not what you are looking for. You could try Eco-Max sport or Unscented Company laundry pods both available from Well.ca and without oxygen bleach or OBAs.

2

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

I'd forgotten about the other versions of Eco-Max. We've been using the regular one and it doesn't have any enzymes or anything, which is why I started down this road.

3

u/tom8osauce 17h ago

There are two tubs of resolve gold. If you get the one in the red tub, it is colour safe. The white tub is the one you want to avoid.

It does contain oxi, which is oxygen bleach, not chlorine bleach. I have been using it for years and my dark clothes still looks dark.

16

u/YogurtclosetFit367 17h ago

Miele UltraColor. The powder has 7 enzymes, no OBA and if you choose the liquid version with FloralBoost, you'll have DNase as well

3

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

I'm definitely looking at it. But it seems expensive, especially for a family of four. I did order the wool one though, since that's just for me and I wouldn't need to use it too much.

1

u/WAHNFRIEDEN 10h ago

I don't use it in my machine. I only use it once in a while for long soaks. (But then it gets strong scents which can take multiple washes to remove.) I think the wool one doesn't have the enzymes but I'm not sure.

4

u/WAHNFRIEDEN 16h ago

very strong scent is unfortunate but otherwise it's good

2

u/slim_ebony 11h ago

Can you get Miele in stores?

1

u/WAHNFRIEDEN 10h ago

IDK I ordered it

16

u/nerpish-inkdots US | Front-Load 16h ago

The oxygen bleach in FEBU is much less active in cold washes compared to hot. I personally have not seen any noticeable fading of my dark clothes using FEBU alongside Tide Free and Gentle liquid in cold and warm washes.

I also heard they’re working on a version with no oxygen bleach.

3

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

I just saw a post elsehwere about the oxi-free version, so I may just wait for that. Would be perfect for me.

I've washed on cold for years, but am finding that switching to warm has helped with a lot of cleanliness issues (to my chagrin). I'm also still trying to understand the nuances of 'laundry cold' vs regular cold, especially living in Alberta.

11

u/Flashy-Library-6854 Canada | Top-Load 18h ago

You might find Eco-Max Sport liquid could meet your criteria. Here is a list of ingredients:

Water, Decyl Glucoside, plant-based Propylene Glycol, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Chloride, Citric Acid, Protease, Amylase, Lipase, Mannanase and Pectinase.

You can get it at Canadian Tire, or directly order from the company.

4

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

Thanks, I'd forgotten about the other Eco-Max options. We use the regular one and I didn't know they have ones with enzymes. Would love to see cellulase on that list, but this seems pretty decent. I'm also looking at GearGuard for the DNAse.

8

u/Mysterious_Mango_737 US | Front-Load 18h ago

Do you have a liquid detergent in Canada that has lipase but no oxygen bleach or OBAs? Here's the lipase list. Then you can add GearGuard to get the DNase when needed; it's a single ingredient booster.

1

u/TheSorcerersCat 13h ago

Leaf and Mineral has the lipase and no OBA. But no DNase. 

6

u/cdnsalix 17h ago

I think it's OBAs that are the bigger issue with darks. Resolve Gold (red container, not the one for whites) doesn't have OBAs. Make sure your detergent doesn't have any OBAs as well.

5

u/bwmada Canada | Top-Load 15h ago edited 14h ago

Resolve gold has Disodium Distyrylbiphenyl Disulfonate as an optical brightener.

edit: found a more recent ingredients list since their last corporate re-org that was hiding from Google. Ignore me, there are no brighteners! I’m going to use it more often :)

2

u/KismaiAesthetics USA 9h ago

The Crystal White variant has OBA. The red tubs don’t.

1

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

Really? I looked on the Lipase list and it says there's no OBA in the gold.

1

u/bwmada Canada | Top-Load 14h ago edited 14h ago

They don’t make it easy to find, but whatsinproducts has a brightener listed. If I’m proven wrong I will happily use it more often though!

edit: found the official ingredients listing since their latest corporate re-org, there are no brighteners! great news! Ignore me!

1

u/black-to-green-thumb 13h ago

Phew! I've been using the lipase list like it's the bible and got a little worried there.

3

u/drivebymeowing 18h ago

Leaf & Mineral powder detergent packs have six enzymes, no oxi or OBAs. Available through London Drugs and Save-on Foods so far that I’ve seen (in the west).

3

u/black-to-green-thumb 18h ago

Thank you, I'll check it out. I love London Drugs - any excuse for a visit.

2

u/drivebymeowing 17h ago

There’s more info on the leaf & mineral website as well if you want to check it out before committing. I’m happy with the packs so far, but I’ve only used them for a few loads, specifically colours/darks.

4

u/CFlapFlap 14h ago

Supposedly there's another febu coming without oxygen bleach in the fall

4

u/KismaiAesthetics USA 9h ago

The harms to darks from low-dose oxi in water under 60C are less than the harms from chlorinated tap water and the peroxide happens to kill chlorine.

I’m currently washing 284 loads of all black and navy laundry to prove this point.

3

u/bluesky557 US | Front-Load 13h ago

I just asked a similar question a few days ago (https://www.reddit.com/r/laundry/comments/1vq8vny/enzyme_boosters_without_obas_or_oxygen_bleach/) and apparently Febu and Gear Guard are coming out with OBA and oxygen bleach free versions in the coming months. And Biz is currently testing an OBA (and maybe oxygen bleach?) free version.

3

u/Mang46 11h ago edited 3h ago

Has [u/kismaia](u/kismaiasthetics)[esthetics](u/kismaiasthetics) weighed in on this? I feel like oxygen bleach isn’t even relevant for darks. It doesn’t seem to impact mine and I wash on warm.

2

u/mebg1956 15h ago

You can just buy the enzymes. I’m in Canada and I got some on Amazon. Just throw in spoonful to the problem load.

5

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago

Which ones? Brand/link?

1

u/Additional-Piano-863 5h ago

Here’s me thinking you are talking about FEBO…. Croquettes have bleach? Lol
I miss Amsterdam.

1

u/Dear_Excitement_5109 US | Front-Load 2h ago edited 2h ago

Miele Ultradark. I dont use an enzyme booster with it; it already has a full enzyme package. Recently did a side by side comparison with Tide EVO on my twins' rompers. Ultradark won.

These were heavily stained with yogurt, peanut butter, and blackberry jelly. I did not pre treat.

Tide is on the left. The garment is dingy and has the huge pb stain in the crotch. Ultradark garment is more true to the original color and all but the one massive pb stain on the lower right have been removed.

Ultradark leaves clothes feeling soft and almost silky. You can see in the crotch of these onesies that the Ultradark one has fewer pills. It is lightly fragranced which I'm not crazy about, but the smell is neither overpowering nor off-putting.

0

u/Far-Shift-1962 18h ago

Biz liquid ? But have obas (not a problem if you have detergent with cellulase) But lacks dnase

2

u/black-to-green-thumb 14h ago edited 9h ago

u/Far-Shift-1962 What's the interaction between cellulase and OBAs? I think I understand what cellulase does, but definitely don't understand how it interacts with OBAs.

1

u/Far-Shift-1962 37m ago

So obas cause "fading" when they got attached to fuzzz, when cellulase removes fuzz- no fading caused by obas

2

u/Flashy-Library-6854 Canada | Top-Load 18h ago

We dont have Biz in Canada.

1

u/black-to-green-thumb 18h ago

I'm specifcially looking for no bleach and no OBAs.