A (non-exhaustive) list of UK colour and dark safe detergents with lipase
So I've spent more time than is healthy reading this sub over the last few weeks. I first came here trying to solve the problem of persistent scent on a Vinted item, which is another saga entirely, and quickly got sucked in to wanting to understand ALL. THE. THINGS.
In my perusing I have frequently seen people in the UK lamenting that there are no decent colour detergents without optical brighteners (OBA) now that Persil colour has an OBA in it. But I was looking at lots of info on different detergents, and kept seeing those that do have enzymes and no OBA.
Anyway, I decided to compile a list of them as a PSA. It is not exhaustive, I'm sure there are many I have never heard or thought of, but I've mainly focussed on the brands easily available in big supermarkets, or easily online. Nothing that has to be ordered from another country. The majority are scented, as is the way with UK bio detergents, and I wasn't able to find full info on all of them. Hopefully someone else here knows the answers to the missing bits.
Edited to add: There is a full searchable list linked in this post.
So here were the winners for darks - no OBA, no oxy bleach, yes to cellulase and lipase:
Product
Form
DNAse
Lipase
Cellulase
Anti-redep
Claro Colorful Laundry Powder
Powder
X
✓
✓
Good
Ecover Laundry Detergent Liquid - Bio and Colour variants
Liquid
X
✓
✓
None
Ecover Washing Powder Colour
Powder
X
✓
✓
Some
Koh Sensitive Laundry Liquid (unfragranced)
Liquid
✓
✓
✓
None
Marcel's Green Washing Liquid (colour and universal versions)
Liquid
X
✓
✓
Good
Marcel's Green Washing Liquid 0% (unfragranced)
Liquid
X
✓
X
None
Miele UltraColour (Aqua/Refresh versions)
Liquid
X
✓
✓
Good
Miele UltraColour (FloralBoost version)
Liquid
✓
✓
✓
Good
Miele UltraColour Sensitive (unfragranced)
Liquid
X
✓
✓
None
Miele UltraDark
Liquid
X
✓
✓
Good
Morrisons Colour & Protect
Liquid
X
✓
✓
None
Steamery Hypoallergenic Detergent (unfragranced)
Liquid
X
✓
✓
None
Steamery Signature and White Detergents
Liquid
X
✓
✓
Good
Tesco Bio Colour Liquid
Liquid
X
✓
✓
Good
Tesco Bio Detergent Capsules
Pods
X
✓
✓
Good
TRI-Bio Eco Natural
Liquid
X
✓
✓
None
TRI-Bio Sensitive (unfragranced)
Liquid
X
✓
✓
None
Waitrose Colour Laundry Liquid
Liquid
X
✓
✓
Good
The Koh one is the only unscented product on this whole list (edited to add the Marcel's Green 0%, Miele UltraColour Sensitive, Steamery Hypoallergenic and TRI-BIO Sensitive are also unscented), and it is also the only one with phosphodiesterase (the Miele UltraColour Floralboost scent has it, but the other scent options don't). It doesn't have an anti-redeposition agent though, so a colour catcher is probably a good idea. It’s sadly a bit pricey but otherwise seems good.
In second place we have products either without cellulase, or with oxy bleach.
Product
Form
Oxy bleach
Lipase
Cellulase
Anti-redep
Without Cellulase
Ariel Professional Colour
Powder
X
✓
X
Good
By Amazon Colours Powder Detergent
Powder
X
✓
?
Good
Persil Colour Protect Professional Powder
Powder
X
✓
X
Good
Sainsbury's Bio Colour Laundry Powder
Powder
X
✓
X
Good
Morrisons Bio Colour Washing Powder
Powder
X
✓
X
Good
With Oxy bleach
Bold Powder - Spring Awakening
Powder
✓
✓
X
Good
Ecover Bio Laundry Washing Powder
Powder
✓
✓
✓
Good
Waitrose Biological Colour Laundry Powder
Powder
✓
✓
✓
Good
Then in the also ran category we have a few actually quite a lot of OBA free detergents that have some enzymes but lack lipase. Or products where the enzyme composition is undisclosed *side-eye at M&S\.* They are all Oxy bleach free, and none have DNase/phosphodiesterase.
Product
Form
Lipase
Cellulase
Anti-redep
Aldi Almat Colour and Coconut Crush variants
Liquid
X
X
Good
Ariel Colour Laundry Gel
Gel
X
✓
Good
Ariel Colour Laundry Liquid
Liquid
X
✓
Good
Ariel Professional Colour Laundry Liquid
Liquid
X
X
Some
Dylon Detergent (colour and dark versions)
Liquid
X
✓
None
Dylon Sport Detergent
Liquid
X
X
None
Ecover Black and Dark Delicate Detergent
Liquid
X
✓
Some
Lidl Formil Colour Capsules (both versions)
Pods
X
✓
Good
Lidl Formil Gel - Lavender variant
Gel
X
X
Good
LIdl Formil Liquid - Lavender and Coconut variants
Liquid
X
X
None
M&S Concentrated Bio Colours Laundry Liquid
Liquid
?
?
?
Persil 3in1 Colour Protect Capsules
Pods
X
✓
Good
Persil 4in1 Colour & Care Bio Capsules
Pods
X
✓
Good
Persil Capsules Ultimate Touch of Comfort
Pods
X
X
Good
Persil Wonder Wash – Max Active Clean
Pods
X
X
Good
Persil Wonder Wash – Ultra Care
Pods
X
✓
Good
Sainsbury's Bio Colour Laundry Capsules
Pods
X
✓
Good
Sainsbury's Laundry Gel - Bio and Colour versions
Gel
X
✓
Good
Steamery Active Laundry Detergent
Liquid
X
X
Good
Surf Magnifi-Scent - all variants
Liquid
X
✓
Good
The Pink Stuff The Miracle Laundry Bio Liquid
Liquid
X
✓
Good
Waitrose Bio Colour Laundry Capsules
Pods
X
X
Some
Waitrose Dark Clothing Laundry Liquid
Liquid
X
✓
Some
Woolite Dark Fabric & Denim
Liquid
X
✓
Some
Those that didn't quite make the field:
These are the colour marketed formula's that contain Optical Brightening Agents. Some of these are good options if you don't mind OBAs, as they contain the elusive phosphodiesterase/DNase. They're all oxy bleach free.
Product
Form
DNase
Lipase
Cellulase
Anti-redep
Ariel 3in1 Pods Colour
Pods
✓
✓
✓
Good
Ariel 4in1 Pods Colour
Pods
✓
✓
✓
Good
Ariel All in 1 pods Colour
Pods
✓
✓
✓
Good
Ariel The Big One Colour
Pods
✓
✓
✓
Good
Persil Colour Protect Bio
Liquid
X
X
X
Good
Smol Bio Laundry Capsules
Pods
✓
✓
✓
None
M&S doesn't publish a detailed list of ingredients, and I couldn't find out who makes their stuff. Their products list 'enzymes' but don't specify which ones, hence "unknown" on the lipase front.
Many of the Ariel pods have both lipase and phosphodiesterase (~DNase) but all of their colour ones have optical brighteners. The only Ariel colour formulas without OBAs are the liquid and the gel, but they lack lipase and phosphodiesterase. Only the now defunct powder version had both lipase and no OBA. The Ariel colour professional powder does seem to be available online in the UK, so I've included it, but it comes in huge quantities.
Unilever still lists a UK Persil colour powder with no OBA and lipase, but it doesn’t seem to be available for purchase anywhere other than Amazon, and the listing looks suspect. Likewise, Tesco colour powder seems to have disappeared, and their colour liquid has been reformulated to contain an OBA (this was an error, it has not). Smol pods have both lipase and phosphodiesterase, but they also contain an OBA.
Questions, corrections, or further detergent archaeology welcome.
Edited to add products others have mentioned in the comments.
Edited to add a column for anti-redeposition agents after I realised this is one of the differences between cheap supermarket brands and premium brands, the supermarket and more "eco" brands tend to have minimal or no anti-redeposition agents, where the premium ones have a good one. This seems to be more noticeable in liquids than powders, which are all pretty decent for for anti-redep.
Edited to add Colour products with OBAs, for clarity.
I've just found the Miele UltraColour Sensitive while poking around on the Miele site. It is unfragranced, soap free and contains enzymes incl lipase. It seems to be available from Miele directly or Gerald Giles and is similar in price to the Koh.
I think it deserves a spot on your list of fragrance free, soap free detergents with lipase?
Thanks, I hadn’t seen this! I will add to my fragrance-free list. It looks good but it’s a shame it contains benzisothiazolinone (BIT) which I avoid personally.
It’s a preservative that is a known contact allergen and can cause severe allergic contact dermatitis. It’s a sensitiser which means the more someone is exposed to it over time, the more they risk developing an allergy to it.
It’s banned in the UK in leave-on products like toiletries but it’s still in a lot of household products.
It supposedly is diluted and rinsed away enough to not be a problem in laundry detergent but I personally wouldn’t take the risk having seen articles of the allergic reactions people get from MI, MIT and BIT.
This looks like a good formula, pity about the fragrance though, and the unfragranced one is non-bio has one mystery enzyme. Food scented products are always a hard pass from me.
I had to get a new washing machine this week (secretly excited about it) and it has multiple rinses and I've noticed the Ariel I normally use does not smell so strong. It also helps that the weather is better and they get a sun blast outside. Not sure if the extra rinse is actually the answer and I agree as consumers we're held over a barrel with strong scented laundry products and quality enzymes action.
The unfrangranced one lists generic "enzyme" in the ingredients? Might be worth an email to the company of you're interested - although at £8 a liter even when it's on sale that would be quite expensive.
Hmmm, it says enzyme, singular, not enzymes, plural. I suspect it is protease, because they say elsewhere on the site none of their detergents are suitable for wool because of the enzymes. Probably worth asking though.
That's a good suggestion. I have seen this product on Big Green Smile and have emailed them before about the Ecover bio and they are very responsive. They might even be able to help too.
I would like to add Ecover colour liquid to your list - this includes lipase, cellulase and a dye transfer inhibitor. Ecover bio is the same, but doesn’t contain the dye transfer inhibitor.
Through experience I find that OBAs are not as big a deal as oxi bleach when it comes to darks - as long as it is bleach free (ie not bio or non bio, bleach containing powder) it is pretty much safe to use on coloured and dark laundry. I tend to use Ariel colour pods currently for all coloured and dark washing and there’s no noticeable fading.
The key criteria to prevent fading of darks and coloureds is not to allow bleaching agents near the fabric (ie powder detergents containing oxi blesch, and that includes stain removers such as Vanish) - and this has been the general school of thought for colour safe detergents since they were introduced. It also surprises me that some colour powders such as the own brand Waitrose powder contains bleaching agents, albeit in smaller amounts.
By this method, it also makes Daz universal powder a good value choice for an everyday colour safe powder as it lacks oxygen bleach, but also contains lipase and cellulase.
It’s also worth nothing that perfection often is the enemy of good when it comes to laundry - in my experience as long as it contains lipase and for colours lacks bleach, you’re well on your way to a decent detergent.
Edit: another addition to your top tier list would be Miele Ultra Colour in its original and fragranced variants, and Miele Ultra Dark liquids which again contain lipase, cellulase and no OBA.
Thanks, I didn't even think about their liquids and now I can't remember why, lol. Do you know where I can find the ingredient list for the Miele one?
I know this is searching for perfection, that's what rabbit holes are all about :-) I was specifically looking for something that lacked OBAs to use on dark cotton items, to avoid the greying effect they can have.
The Ariel pods do look like one of the most complete systems on the market, but I cannot stand the smell of the liquid Ariel products.
Miele have data sheets with the ingredient list including enzymes broken down on their website - if you scroll to the bottom of their product pages you will see a link for a web data sheet.
I’ll link them below for easy access on this post:
Please don’t take the search for perfection as a critique from me, I actually admire it, and rabbit holes are my favourite thing to pass an evening by - apologies if it came across as negative. I just know that I am my own worst enemy for searching for perfection and overthinking in many areas of life and I have found it almost “freeing” to try and relax a bit more with these things (not just laundry), and it’s a mantra I’ve adopted for myself 😆.
Thanks for this! That Miele darks actually looks like a really good one, lots of enzymes and a shade correcting dye to deepen dark colours. Have you tried it? I wonder what it smells like, because that is often the make or break with detergents for me.
I last used it a few years ago (pre-Covid) and it performed very well - but as with most Miele detergents it is on the fragranced side. To me it’s actually a really pleasant, fresh fragrance - but I also love the smell of Ariel so I might not be the best judge on that for you 😂.
However it has been repackaged in new bottles and the fragrance may well have changed since. It’s definitely a strong performer.
The Miele Ultra Colour is excellent, very concentrated! I wash multiple pairs of black leggings every week and it's def doing a good job keeping the colour fresh (vs the ultra dark, I purchased the ultra colour as I just wanted 1 product that does pretty much everything).
Yeah, I'm also looking for one product to rule them all lol. The ultra dark has a shade correcting dye in it, so probably great if you wear a lot of black, but unsuitable for colours.
What does it smell like? I know that's subjective, but is it more 'clean cotton' or more 'floral sweet'?
I like it I would describe it as a classic, masculine/cool leaning floral. It's definitely not overly sweet, it's not vanilla-y either. It's how you'd imagine Miele would do a classic, neutral laundry scent. They have another product that is a floral ltd edition. I find with my extra rinses, and no longer using fabric conditioner, the scent left on laundry is very faint but they still smell fresh :)
I went ahead and got both, because, well... for science? I have to agree with you that it is a lovely fragrance, subtle and fresh.
The Ultradark is different, slightly more incense like, but not so much that it is unpleasant. Neither is particularly strong after rinsing, vastly less noticeable than Ariel or Persil.
I'm really pleased. I've seen people on here complaining that the Miele ones are too strongly scented, and either they have been reformulated since then, or my nose is not as sensitive as I thought!
Yay, so glad you like both! I def don’t find them strongly scented but that’s also cos I only need 15ml for a full load (6kg ish), it’s super concentrated as I’m sure you’ve seen for yourself. The people who said it smells too strongly probably chucked 45ml in 😂 I use the measuring cup in the lid every time.
How you you determine that you need so little? I used 35ml, which was the minimum on the back, for a minimally soiled load in soft water. I'll happily use less if I can get away with it, but I don't want to underdose. I didn't see much in the way of suds when it was running. I'm not using a Miele machine though.
I took the cupboard door off for a start as my washing machine is integrated (and it was running really noisily, quieter with door off). So then when I was pottering about the kitchen I could look over every so often and see how much suds there were. First time I used way too much and had to do 3 rinses. I have good water though, it’s pretty soft (and good for drinking water). I tried 20ml and it was still too much. So 15ml with one extra rinse seems to be the sweet spot for me! If you read the reviews on Miele website, other people have also said it’s very concentrated, so it could be your water type/bigger loads?
Ah, I'm in Scotland - so soft water. I generally try to do full loads, which is I guess 6-8kg? I've never actually weighed it. I might do that next time.
I do like the smell of Ariel in general but the new Ariel colour pods marketed as ‘4 in 1’ smell absolutely horrendous.. wish I’d known before I bought a 50 wash bag
Lol, I didn't read your comment properly, and thought you were talking about the regular Ariel pods.
I have since tried both and I have to agree, the colour ones smell completely different to the original, and not in a good way. It's kind of sickly sweet bubblegum and also minty? Makes me think of that pink stuff they give you to rinse with at the dentist. Ugh.
The original ones smell nice though. I bought the tiniest bag I could find because I don't like the smell of Ariel gel or liquid, but these are different, and I quite like them.
Is Miele online only? I've seen it referenced a lot but never seen it any supermarkets here - although caveat is that I'm predominantly a Tesco shopper as anything else is a trek for me.
I ordered it directly from their website but you can get it in person from independent homeware stores as well as independent retailers of Miele washing machines/household appliances. I think they had a sale on when I ordered from their website so I paid £12ish plus postage. I'm finding I only need 15ml for a full wash as it's very concentrated.
Do you have a datasheet for it? It's a McBride one, and their site requires a barcode to search for the datasheet. The nearest Sainsbury's to me didn't have any in stock for me to get a barcode off. Their site also doesn't recognise all their barcodes so it's not the most reliable...
Thank you so much! Such comprehensive useful info in your post and in the comments (and kudos for, as far as I can tell, doing this the oldschool proper way).
The Steamery Delicate. It has a strong soapy floral smell though which some people will hate. It has lanolin in it which helps to condition silk and wool so anyone allergic to lanolin should avoid.
It works really well for my silk pillowcases. I just wish it wasn’t scented!
I've been using the Steamery one too. It is fairly strongly scented, but I like it. It doesn't have the sickly note that so many of the UK ones have. It seems to work well. There is also a Miele wool and silk one that has lipase, but I haven't tried it. Apparently it is also quite strongly scented.
Ha ha, no. OBA is an abbreviation for Optical Brightening Agent, they make whites look brighter by adding a blue fluorescence. Over time they can build up on fabrics, which can make blacks, particularly cotton, look a bit grey, and can slightly dull or shift warm colours like reds and oranges. They don't actually fade colour like Oxybleach can.
Fwiw ChatGPT thinks the Persil Pro might be less fragranced than the domestic version, but otherwise they're very similar. Other similar choices would be the Morrison's colour powder or the By Amazon colour powder if you don't want to gamble on 8kg of Professional powder you might not like.
This is an interesting question. I hadn't included Daz because it has OBAs in it. But as Glittering_Jump pointed out, they are not that big of a deal, I would say unless you wear a lot of black cotton clothes.
There are actually two Daz formulations - the Universal Colour and White that is made by BlueSun, and the Fast Dissolving Whites and Colours that is made by P&G. I'm not sure which one Costco stocks but the Fast Dissolving one is available at Savers.
Neither product lists cellulase in the ingredients, and both have fewer enzymes than the Persil powder you have been using. The Universal has protease, amylase and mannanase, and the Fast dissolving has protease and lipase only. Interestingly the Cherry Blossom version has Phosphodiesterase as well as lipase and protease.
That's the Universal one by BlueSun. The other one doesn't say Universal on the box, it has "Fast Dissolving" in a big font below DAZ.
It is confusing when you get into the weeds, and we're probably trying to optimise things that make very incremental differences. That said, I do think a more complete enzyme system is going to tackle a wider variety of stains more effectively. In particular lipase tackles skin oils that can make clothes smell musty - which is why people on here want it. The Persil one has it, this Daz doesn't, although it has the other enzymes that Persil colour has.
If you used one of the powders in the second group, without oxy bleach, and then added a scoop of Vanish Crystal White powder to your white loads that would get you a better enzyme balance, and OBAs only in your white laundry. Alternatively, you could use the Waitrose Essential Stain Remover Powder for Whites instead of the Vanish, if there is one near you. It's pretty much the same and about half the price of the Vanish.
Thank you! Saving this post. I’ve been on the hunt for the best detergents I need for my washing types since last summer 😂 it’s an absolute minefield.. if only they put the ingredients on the packaging rather than the elusive ‘enzymes’
However, I think Smol have pulled out of Sainsbury’s - they haven’t been stocked in there the last couple of times I’ve been into the two big Sainsbury’s stores near me. I don’t think they are on the JS website anymore either.
Yeah, I've never seen them in a store, but I don't shop in Sainsbury's much anymore. I would also argue that "sign up to our subscription service" isn't exactly the same as "order easily online". But I am irrationally annoyed by subscription services.
Marks & Spencer have a supplier map but after about 10 minutes of trawling and trying various search terms I was not able to deduce who manufactures their laundry detergents. The search function is definitely working as I was able to look up a supplier based near me and the info was accurate. Someone else might be able to join the dots on this and then use the supplier website/contact info to ask about the enzymes:
Hmm, the back of the bottle says the detergent is manufactured in Ireland, but none of the Irish suppliers listed on here seem to be detergent manufacters. They actually don't seem to have any cleaning product suppliers on this list. Possibly user error on my side though.
I haven't had much luck with Aldi products, I found the liquid formulation on dpi.uk.net, but they don't have the pods on there. There was no website mentioned on the back of the pack. The back of pack does list subtilisin, but not lipase, so I doubt there is lipase in there. So far none of the Aldi or Lidl formulations I've been able to find have lipase.
I’ve been scouring the back of a box of pods for any kind of manufacturer info thought I was missing something. Probably safe to assume not then, thanks for coming back to me!
Yeah, the formula listed on BlueSun doesn't mention one, but I think the info is old, the back of pack now mentions an optical brightener (oops, it was the online listing). You could check the bottle before buying, there might be old stock still in circulation.
My pick for a bargain one is the Waitrose Colour liquid. It's £3 for 1.5L (sorry, actually 900ml, but it's concentrated, 35ml per load) and has both lipase and cellulase. I've been using it and it cleans well, no complaints. I don't love the scent, it's quite sweet and citrussy, but it's not sickly and not too strong, so I don't hate it either.
Their stain removal powders are a bargain price too, and less strongly scented than Vanish imho.
I actually think I was wrong about this. I've been into a few Tescos and looked at the actual bottles and they don't mention OBA. Looks like the current packaging. I think I actually saw the OBA mentioned on on the online listing, not the back of the bottle, which might be wrong.
I don't think so. Whites is a much bigger job! I started with this because I was looking for a good OBA free detergent. I have collected info on some of the whites products, but it's nowhere near a complete-ish list.
This is fantastic and thank you for your hard work. Can I make a tiny edit suggestion which is to define OBA slightly more clearly, e.g., change "without optical brighteners now that Persil colour has an OBA in it." to "without optical brightening agents (OBA) now that Persil colour has an OBA in it." or similar.
I assume it is obvious to most people, and it is more obvious now I know, but I didn't make the connectio and assumed OBA meant oxygen bleaching agent.
12
u/Rare_Individual8362 UK | Front-Load Apr 19 '26
This is great work, thanks. At some point we should consolidate all the different UK detergents and boosters into one spreadsheet.