Eco friendly cold water detergent for dirty work clothes ?

What detergent do you use in cold water to clean your work clothes  ?

I would like it to be Eco friendly so I could use the "used" water on my lawn in the summer ....

Or will whatever I use be bad for the groundwater so I should just send it down the drain like I have been doing.....

Was also planning on getting a front loading washer as they seem to clean better than the toploader washers....

Thanks for your advise from rainy SoCal today

You could make your own with Lye and fat, although you should check the pH of the water and the soil before assuming it needs to be more alkaline.  Maybe adjust pH with vinegar before spreading?

On the pre-made front, Dr Bronners makes a kid's unscented castile soap with an olive oil base.  Sierra makes one called CampSuds which has citronella and peppermint oil that might have the added benefit of repelling mosquitoes from your lawn, but may also piss off worms and beneficial microorganisms.  Sea-to-Summit makes a Wilderness Wash that is super concentrated.

All of these are biodegradable soaps are broken down primarily by microbes in soil, its just a matter of getting them in low enough concentrations that it can be broken down instead of killing things like grass and worms.  I never understood the idea of sewer treatment.  It makes sense, but they basically hold on to your waste water until it has time to liquify and break down, but then it eventually goes to the river where microbes do the real work.  So as long as you do your homework, you are more or less doing your own "sewer treatment" without the municipal infrastructure.

I use simple green to clean my work clothes. It's supposed to be non-toxic. But the grease and oil it pulls out of my work clothes isn't so much.

Cant comment on an eco friendly detergent, but can comment on a front loader and a high efficiency top loader (the ones with out the large pole agitator).

Top loader, I had a GE, and from what I have seen most suffer from the same issues. Most complain about the lack of water, which is an issue, there is not enough water to carry away the dirt. HOWEVER by design, adding water will just make it worse. Adding water causes the clothes to float. These machines have a lack of agitation to start with, when the clothes float, they are not in contact with the agitator on the bottom of the drum, so less clean. The spin cycle was incredible, clothes where almost dry  when they came out, smelly, dirty, but dry. It was OK for the office clothes, but not for garage, gym, or yard work clothes.

Front loader, when buying a new dryer, the sales guy showed me a incredible deal on a scratch and dent samsung front loader. I had planned on top loader speed queen, but for $285 I took a shot at the front loader. I have only had it for a couple months. Much more agitation, but still a lack of water. Clothes where a bit cleaner, but still soapy even after using the extra rinse cycle, requiring a third rinse.  There are a couple of U Tube vids of how to adjust the water level on these. Adjustment made this morning and first run with mod is in the washer now, I think this is going to do it.

Thanks for the info , 

I have a top loader and I have never been impressed with the cleaning , that's why I wanted to try a front loader, 

Only thing I am worried about with a front loader is you cannot soak your clothes as well....

Front-load washer, Tide powder detergent, longest cycle with cold water. Lift the dirt off and knock it out. 

We use stuff called "Charlie's Soap" that works well and is made of pretty simple biodegradable ingredients.  Not sure how it would do directly on the grass.

Find the local drive-through carwash and talk to the manager.  A lot of times they have a microbial holding tank that they use to break down the emulsified dirt, then re-use the cleaned water.  See of they can point you in the right direction on how to set up your own.

We run a top loader Speed Queen.  Bought brand new a couple years ago for around $900.  Tank of a washer, all manual settings.  Does a nice job cleaning clothes quickly.  

We use whatever eco-mental no dyes or perfumes detergent is on sale.  For garage/work clothes, I pre-treat with D&L hand cleaner on the greasy spots.  Works great.  I sprinkle in some Borax in most loads, seems to help too.

As stated, the grease and whatnot that gets cleaned out is going to be far less eco-friendly than whatever kind of soap you're using.  

Search for septic-safe. Most shpuld be sulfate/sulfite/phosphor free. All our water ends up in our lawn. The 'drain' leads somewhere, I really wish people would take the same care with the would outside their view. /rant

To balance PH, both baking/washing soda (basic) or Vinegar, citric acid, Borax (acidic) all seem to improve washing. 

I have a couple trees in my yard I would hate to kill  by dumping  toxic water on the lawn which gets to the trees roots...,

I wonder what the companies that supply shops shirts and work pants use ?  Probably  real hot water which is not my plan .