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Our Story
We started ClearSuds because we couldn't find a laundry powder we'd trust on our own clothes. So we made one — four ingredients, weighed by hand, sealed dry, bagged in small runs.
It really did start at the kitchen table. A scale, a few bins of dry minerals, and a stubborn question: why is it so hard to buy a detergent that's both simple and honest?
We're Nate and his wife — two people, one small operation. Like most folks, we drifted toward the "clean" aisle when we started paying closer attention to what we washed our clothes in. And that's where the frustration set in. The detergents we found fell into two camps. Some had ingredient lists a mile long, full of names we'd have to look up one by one. Others were the opposite kind of suspicious: a pretty bottle, a calming word like "pure," and almost nothing you could actually verify. A mystery in nice packaging.
We didn't want a longer label or a vaguer one. We wanted a shorter, plainer one — the kind where you can read every word and know exactly what each thing is doing in there.
So we built the opposite of what frustrated us. We sat down and asked what laundry powder actually needs to do, then stripped it back to the parts that earn their place. The answer turned out to be short: washing soda to do the cleaning, baking soda to freshen and handle odor, epsom salt to soften the wash and keep the blend dry, and a little sea salt so it never clumps. Four ingredients. That's the whole recipe, and we're happy to tell you so.
Scent gets the same honesty. We don't hide synthetic fragrance in the base. If you want a little Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, or Eucalyptus, that's a separate, light layer of real essential oil carried on baking soda — and it fades clean instead of clinging. Prefer none at all? Unscented is exactly that.
There's no factory and no secret process. We weigh each ingredient to the gram, blend it by hand, and seal it dry so the powder stays loose and easy to scoop. We work in small batches because that's the size two people can make well — and because small batches mean we actually handle every pouch that leaves here. About a tablespoon does a load, so a Standard pouch lasts roughly 150 washes.
We wanted a label you could read out loud at the dinner table and not feel like you were reciting a chemistry exam.
We think a brand-new, two-person maker should make modest claims and keep them true. So here's what we'll stand behind: it's made by hand in the USA, in small batches, with no synthetic fragrance, no optical brighteners, no fillers, and nothing tested on animals. It's gentle on skin, friendly to septic and HE machines, and simple enough that you never have to wonder what's in it.
That's the whole pitch. No mystery, no mile-long list — just a short, honest one, made by two people who use it at home too.
— Nate & his wife
Made by hand
We mix in runs small enough that two people can do them right — weighed, blended, and sealed dry by us, not a machine on the other side of the world. It's slower. We think you can tell.
A short, honest list
Washing soda, baking soda, epsom salt, sea salt. That's it in the base — each one there for a reason we can explain in a sentence. Read the whole label out loud; it won't take long.
What we stand for
No certifications we haven't earned. Just a handful of things that are simply true about how we make this.
Four ingredients in the base, named on the label. Nothing hidden, nothing you'd need to look up.
Weighed, blended, and sealed by the two of us, in small batches, in the USA.
No dyes, fillers, or harsh additives — gentle enough for everyday loads, septic and HE safe.
Never synthetic. Scent is a light layer of real essential oil, kept separate — and it fades clean.
Come say hello
If a short, honest list sounds like your kind of clean, we'd love for you to try a pouch — and to read exactly what's in it first.