Dropps Review: Testing the Original Plastic-free Laundry & Dishwasher Pods
The Pennsylvania-based sustainable cleaning brand Dropps makes a wide range of laundry and dishwasher pods that help reduce plastic waste. The family-run company has been around since 1980, and arguably invented the laundry detergent pod in 2005, when they first started using the Dropps brand name.
Plus, in terms of sustainability credentials, Dropps is now a Certified B Corp, their shipping is carbon-offset, they use minimal, cardboard packaging (no plastic bags or boxes), and their detergents are mostly plant-based. They’re also Leaping Bunny certified (meaning cruelty free and not tested on animals.)
They check pretty much all of the boxes I look for in a sustainable brand, and I’ve been using them and comparing them with other plastic-free cleaning brands for years. So I wanted to share this short Dropps review, to tell you which products I think are worth your money, and how they compare with other options.
Dropps
Dropps are fantastic for low-waste laundry, dishwasher and fabric softener pods. Their detergents come in multiple scents and lots of varieties, all in plastic-free packaging.
Who’s Writing this Review?
Hi, I’m Ketti. I have a master’s degree in sustainability, and have been testing sustainable products for years – so that you don’t have to spend your money trying things that don’t work. I’ve also reviewed other cleaning brands promoted as eco-friendly, including Blueland vs. Cleancult, and Earth Breeze vs. Tru Earth (coming soon!).
I’m picky, and I don’t skim over the details in my reviews, but I did try to keep this one short and sweet!
For more, here are my top recommendations for plastic-free and eco-friendly products, all of which I’ve thoroughly tested myself.
Dropps Laundry Detergent Review
Dropps products include: natural, mineral-based fabric softeners (very unique), “Oxi-booster” pods for extra dirty clothes, a special detergent for active wear, and sensitive skin detergent formulas (with or without scent).
Tip: My favorite use for Dropps is actually cutting open their detergent pods to pre-treat stains. It’s a great way to have some liquid detergent on hand for that one use, without having to buy anything packaged in plastic.
Their first Dropps laundry pods I tested were the most basic “Stain & Odor” laundry pods in the Crisp Breeze scent. The pods cleaned perfectly well, and I thought Dropps left clothes slightly more scented than other plastic-free laundry brands I’ve tested.
Price per load
Depending on the formula you buy, Dropps cost $28 – $34 for 64 pods (without a subscription), which works out to 34¢ to 39¢ per detergent pod. If you subscribe, you’ll save about 5¢ per pod.
(If you’re more of a visual learner, check out my detergent pod price comparison chart.)
But remember that doesn’t necessarily equate to the price per load. Personally, I usually use two or three detergent pods per load, plus a fabric softener pod or two, for medium to large loads.
Also, remember you can use my discount codes (TILTEDMAP15 or TILTEDMAP25) on subscriptions and even apply them to your second, third, fourth etc. orders.
Dropps Stain & Odor vs. Activewear Pods
My sister-in-law helped me compare one of Dropps‘ newer formulas, the Activewear pods, to their original Stain & Odor pods. (She’s also the chemical engineer who helped me understand PVA for a separate post – coming soon.)
Since she’s very allergic to perfume, one of things she was looking for was the best detergent formula for removing scents from clothing.
She found that the Stain & Odor pods really did work best at removing perfume smells from hand-me-down clothes, while the Active Wear pods did far better at removing strong mechanical smells (think brake fluid stains after working on an engine).
Both Dropps formulas did better than TruEarth (separate review coming soon!) at removing perfume smells.
Dropps OxiBooster Pods
Honestly, I prefer the powdered oxi booster from Blueland to Dropps oxi booster pods. The powder just seemed like it made a bigger difference in how clean our sweaty workout clothes smelled after a wash, whereas I didn’t really notice much improvement with Dropps oxi booster.
The Blueland powder also leaves much more of a scent on clothing.
[Here’s more of my review of Blueland, and the section about their oxi booster, specifically.)
Fabric Softener Pods:
Fabric softener pods are the most unique product Dropps makes – I haven’t found any other brand that makes a plastic-free fabric softener.
Their pods contain natural, mineral fabric softener ingredients – salt and bentonite (a type of clay) are the key ingredients. That means you can use them on fabrics that shouldn’t touch normal, chemic fabric softeners – like towels and sportswear.
I’ve been using these pods off and on for a couple of years, and I do find that they make a difference in how soft my clothes feel, but it generally take more than one pod. (So just keep that in mind if you’re doing a price per load comparison.)
Dropps Scents:
There are fragrance-free options for every Dropps product. And the laundry pods all come in several scent options, which are formulated with natural essential oils, including eucalyptus, clove, and corn mint, and bitter orange oils (depending on the scent).
I’ve tried most of them and find them all very subtle and natural. (Definitely not artificial smelling, like some laundry products.)
Even though Dropps leaves more scent on clothes than Blueland detergent, it’s still very light compared with traditional liquid detergents.
I think the way Dropps describes their scents is accurate. But honestly, they’re so light that I only notice them while hanging up wet laundry, but don’t notice them on my clothes at all.
That being said, I haven’t followed Dropps’ advice to use fabric softener and laundry detergent pods in a matching scent, which should make the scent more lasting.
Dropps Dishwasher Pods Review
Dropps makes both scented and unscented dishwasher tablets. Honestly, as I described in my original review of plastic-free cleaning products, I don’t have much to say about them besides that they work. They do a perfectly good job.
Their original “UltraWash” dishwasher detergent pods work just as well as the others I’ve tested (which is just as well as any non-eco-friendly brand).
And Dropps recently came out with a new “UltraWash Plus” version. I honestly have not tried it, nor felt the need to, because the original formula works so well.
I’ve used them for years, while alternating with dishwasher detergent tabs from Blueland (which are PVA free), Earth Breeze (who makes the best laundry strips I’ve tested), and other brands.
Dropps Sustainability Controversy
As I described above, Dropps does a lot of sustainability things right.
But there’s still one thing that’s caused some (rather unfair) controversy: PVA – which stands for polyvinyl alcohol. It’s the thin, dissolvable film that the pods are encased in. (Also sometimes called PVOH – they’re the same thing. And sometimes it’s referred to as a “plastic,” which isn’t really accurate. Yes, it’s a synthetic, petroleum-based polymer, but it’s not plastic, and studies show it doesn’t break down into microplastics.)
This deserves its own section, so I’m writing up a separate article about it (coming soon).
But the short answer is that there really isn’t much evidence that PVA is a problem. If that ever changes, I will absolutely update this here. But for now, plastic packaging is a much bigger fish to fry, and I think Dropps are perfectly safe.
Another Plastic-free Alternative
If you want to be as cautious as possible on the topic of PVA, then I’d recommend buying all of these products from Blueland.
They’re 100% plastic-free, and offer almost everything Dropps offers – dishwasher detergent pods, and laundry pods – as well as refillable cleaning sprays and other products. And they don’t use any PVA. The one thing Dropps makes that Blueland doesn’t have an alternative for is fabric softener pods.
[For details about Blueland products, check out my review.]
What does the EWG think of Dropps?
Most Dropps products, including all of their unscented products and some scented ones, have received an A rating from the EWG. (That’s the Environmental Working Group, which assigns products and ingredients ratings for health and environmental safety, based on published scientific studies.)
An A is good, of course, but it’s one step below the top rating, EWG Verified.
Several got B’s, too, so they’re not perfect. But it’s important to know that even a C score from the EWG means there are no known ingredients known to be hazardous in the product. (If there were, the EWG would score it D or F.) The one Dropps product listed by the EWG with D rating is a scent they no longer even make.
Dropps Price Comparison & Shipping:
First, Dropps’ shipping is free for orders over $29. Plus, they offset the carbon emissions of shipping, and fund a solar energy project in Tennessee, through a partnership with Clearloop.
If you buy the smallest quantity as a one-time purchase, most Dropps products are around 45 cents each – which sounds like a lot.
With 25% off on any subscription order and another 25% with my discount code (listed below), Dropps can be the least expensive laundry detergent of all the brands I’ve tested – especially if you stock up.
For the basic Stain and Odor pods, for example, prices vary from 30¢ to 41¢ per pod, depending on how many you buy and whether you subscribe. (That’s before the Tilted Map discount.)
(This is all more clear if you look at my laundry detergent price chart.)
As of 2025, they offer three different quantities – 64, 128, or 192 Dropps at a time. You can have subscriptions delivered anywhere from monthly to every 12 months.
Pro Tip: When you initially sign up, it says Dropps subscription orders are delivered every 3 months only, but you can edit the frequency in your account later. And you can pause or cancel a subscription at any time without penalty, even after just one delivery.
Discounts and where to order Dropps:
Dropps Discount Codes
Dropps are also available on Amazon, but I always recommend skipping the big retailers (especially Amazon) and ordering directly from small businesses whenever you can.
Before You Go…
A few other related reviews of plastic-free products:
- Review of Blueland vs Cleancult for plastic-free cleaning sprays and more – which brand is actually sustainable?
- Lomi Review – a machine that composts food waste on your counter top – but does it stink?
- Misfits Market Review – testing the low-waste “rescued” grocery delivery service
- Bamboo vs Recycled TOILET PAPER – which is more sustainable… and which actually works?
