The Laundry Tarts Review and #GIVEAWAY {US/Canada}

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know that I love, adore, ok am obsessed with cloth diapers! With that, comes laundry! Oh, the never ending loads of laundry! Now that I only have one in cloth diapers, I only wash a load every 2-3 days or so! But man, my boys are messy! I'm not sure if it's children in general or just boys! It seems that every time we eat a meal, I have to change their clothes! Oh, then if they go out back to play, the normally come in covered in fresh cut grass, dirt, mud whatever they can find to get into! I love it though, I wouldn't change it for the world!
When I received the opportunity from Crystal and Brian over at Nature Bumz to review The Laundry Tarts I was thrilled. This is what I received:

Three samples of The Laundry Tarts Laundry Detergent in Banana Bread, Birthday Cake and Plain Jane unscented, a sample of Strip It, and a Sweet Spot Stain Remover Stick!
I used the Strip it first of all!
Strip it is designed to take all sorts of residual build up out of your clothes and cloth diapers. In fact, it is recommended to use Strip It if you are switching from another brand of detergent in order to remove everything from your clothes/diapers before using Laundry Tarts!
The instructions on the sample pack of Strip It said to use the whole bag, but when I checked the Laundry Tarts website, it stated that only 2 Tablespoons were needed, so I followed the online instructions, which are: (taken from The Laundry Tarts website):
"Directions for Strip it!:

Directions: Pre-rinse garment in cold water. Dissolve 2 tbsp of Strip it! In 8-10 gal of warm/hot water (soft water requires 1 tbsp). Soak rinsed garments in the solution for 1 hr, stirring occasionally to loosen embedded residues. Drain solution and rinse items thoroughly. WARNING: This product is intended to treat built up residues, odor causing bacteria; only use as required and do not use more than recommended or soak overnight. For BEST results, soak in basin or large area. Washing machines may be used if there is enough water to do a sufficient soak. Although our products are very natural, they do contain soap ingredients which may irritate eyes should contact occur; for this reason, please keep away from pets and children. and flush with warm water should this happen."
Once the Strip It cycle was complete, I used the Birthday Cake scented detergent on my cloth diapers!
Instructions (taken from The Laundry Tarts website):
Directions For Detergents:

"TOP LOADERS: For small loads use 2 tbsp. For medium to large loads, use 4 tbsp. For heavy or stubborn stains, soak for 1 hr or make a paste with water and scrub lightly with natural bristle scrubbing pad.

HE MACHINES AND FRONT LOADERS: Energy efficient machines use 1/3 less water than traditional top loaders making them better for the environment by saving water and less energy. Less water means less soap. Use 1 tbsp for small loads and 2 tbsp for med-large loads. If needed, dissolve detergent in ¼ cup of warm water for machines requiring liquid detergents. Caution: Do not overload your machine with heavily soiled items; doing so may require an additional rinse for proper soap and water dispersal.

CLOTH DIAPERS/CLOTH MENSTRUAL PADS: After a cold water wash or rinse to remove any particles, use a warm water wash with the above instructions based on your machine type. When switching detergents, always do a cloth diaper strip to avoid any residue or conflicting ingredient combining with other detergents. For cloth diaper stripping, ammonia or odor causing bacteria check out our Strip it! Formula.

VINTAGE/DELICATES: Hand wash or soak items for 15-30 minutes. Cold water wash. Hand to dry. For small delicates, wash in lingerie or mesh fabric bag.

HARD/SOFT WATER: Our detergents are formulated for city and hard water, simply use half the amount recommended for soft water.

CAUTION: Always keep your cleaning products, including laundry detergents away from pets and children. Although our products are very natural, they contain soap ingredients and may cause eye irritation should contact with eyes occur; flush with warm water should this happen. Our detergents should not be ingested, despite how delicious it may smell. Refrain from sticking head directly in bag."
The laundry room smelled so yummy I thought I could just hang out in there for a little while enjoying the smell, but no, I had to get back to my 2 littles that seem to 'need me' ever so much more now that daddy is away! :)
I was kinda toying with what to use the Sweet Spot stain remover stick on, until my boys solved that issue for me. We have had the same sofa since we were married (almost 10 years now)! It is really time to replace it. We had been coloring for most of the morning and (probably while I was going pee) left them alone *at the kitchen table* for 5 minutes, came out to find this:

And this:

So, I took out the stain remover stick and went to work. I filled a little cup with warm water, dabbed the end of the stick sample in the water and rubbed it on the crayon marks and the other gross saliva looking marks on the sofa (don't know why but my dog *love her* a yellow lab seems to jump up on the sofa and make herself at home whenever I go out, unless I put a few laundry baskets in her way)! So those are probably what those other gross looking marks are... dog saliva Yuck!
Anyhow, this was the result immediately after rubbing the sofa with the stick:

You can see that the crayon marks are completely gone.
So then, after rubbing the stains with the stick, I filled up my bathtub with hot water and a tablespoon of the Birthday Cake detergent, and let it soak:

It soaked for a good hour or so, and this was the result:

Then I did a normal wash in the washing machine and this was the final result:

Amazing! The sofa covers came out so clean and the stain stick totally took out all the crayon and the yucky unidentified stains as well!
I really like The Laundry Tarts detergent. Want to know why?
For one, the scents are made with all natural essential oils, and their products to NOT contain any of the following (taken from The Laundry Tarts Website):

"Chlorine:
Chlorine is very irritating to the skin. It dries out the skin's natural oils and can cause rashes, hives, soreness and irritation to the eyes, lungs and mucus membranes.

Phosphates:
Phosphates are made from a phosphorus base, which is a very important mineral for plants and animals. Excess phosphorus into rivers, lakes and fresh water can offset the delicate balance of biology and produce an excess of algae and bacteria, making water inhabitable for aquatic life, unsuitable for swimming or ingesting.

Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulphate (SLS/SLES):
SLS/SLES, is a skin irritant and is absorbed into the skin very easily. Like many other commercial ingredients, it is also a xenoestrogen, making its way to the bloodstream potentially causing hormonal imbalances in the body.

EDTA:
EDTA is used as a preservative in cosmetics, food, chelation therapy, the textile industry and pulp mills as well as in laundry detergents for treating hard water. EDTA is more harmful to the environment and can as a hormone disrupting agent according to large study groups.

Phthalates:
Phthalates are synthetic fragrance enhancers which can be irritating to asthma sufferers, cause headaches, migraines, dizziness and are being linked to disrupting hormone levels, feminizing males in the womb and blocking natural hormone receptors in females."

There were a few things about the samples though that I didn't like. The detergent samples did not come with any sort of instructions, you had to check the website to see how much to use per load. Also, the detergent sample packs were not resealable. So in order to keep your detergent fresh and smelling good, you would need to transfer it to a ziplock bag or air tight container!

This stuff smells amazing, and really gets the job done! Now, my cloth diapers didn't come out smelling like Birthday cake, but did come out smelling fresh, clean and lovely! The Laundry Tarts also offer a few other yummy smelling scents such as Apple pie, bubble gum, Black forest cake, key lime pie, pina colada, rootbeer float and strawberry shortcake!

Buy it! You can purchase The Laundry Tarts directly from Nature Bumz! (prices shown in Canadian currency)
Strip It is $14.00, Sweet Spot Stain Remover Stick $5.97, The detergent (72 loads) for $21.95!

The awesome folks over at Nature Bumz has graciously offered one of you the chance to win a sample pack of The Laundry Tarts products. One winner will receive 4 samples of detergent (Banana Bread, Pina Colada, Birthday cake, and unscented), 1 Strip It, 2 stain stick samples!
Just a reminder, you MUST follow my blog publicly via GFC in order to be eligible to win any of my giveaways. If you are new to my blog and want to familiarize yourself with my giveaway rules, here is the link!

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents!

To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below! You may have to click "read more" in order for the whole Rafflecopter form to load!

Good luck and Have fun!
~Mama of the Littles~

Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above in exchange for my review. This review is my honest opinion based on my own personal experience, and may differ from yours. I did not receive any monetary compensation in exchange for this review!

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