Mary Simons, director of AGS, says her company “promotes utility cost savings in terms of laundry machinery and has brought to the market a green detergent range. We have sourced the best detergent products that not only offer a sustainable solution but high results in cleaning.”

As Simons has witnessed, especially in the current economic climate, many laundries, launderettes and drycleaners are purchasing the cheapest products they can “which is not necessarily the best insomuch as they are not green at all.” She’s clear that while this is their prerogative, however, “the end result and damage to washable material due to bleach
being administered is inevitable.” She knows that everyone wants what is best for the environment but says that “wanting and doing are two different things.” She also comments that “using the word ‘change’ makes many people stay with their current detergent… better the devil you know.”

That said, Simons acknowledges that the majority of the British public wants green detergent products but do not always have the budget for them. However, she notes that “we have proven that as our products are concentrated, less is more, and the cost increase becomes minimal.” She adds that those using green detergents need to ‘sell’ the idea of them to their customers and promote as much as possible - “we give our customers information that they use green detergents as a ‘selling tool.’” 

But using green detergents is just one part of being eco-friendly while another part of the task is to ensure
that green detergents can be activated at lower temperatures. On this Simons says that “our detergents work well in
cold water and lower temperatures, and we’ve ensured that our detergents have a delicate perfume with complimentary fabric conditioners.”

The AGS detergent range contains a detergent, fabric conditioner emulsifier, Oxitex - a washing booster, a full wet cleaning range, and a pre-spotter range. But beyond using an eco-friendly detergent to help the environment, Simons says that it can also cut down on skin reactions to chemicals and also avoids irritating the respiratory system. She points out that “many conventional laundry detergents contain synthetic surfactants which are used to break up oils on fabrics as
well as dyes or artificial fragrances and these are all known to cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation.” 

She ends by saying that “as far as AGS is concerned, the only way is eco and green - not only in detergents but also in laundry equipment."