The Laundress—the indie fabric care brand that was acquired by Unilever in 2019 for an estimated $100 million —has been through the wringer.

Late in 2022, its laundry and homecare cleaners were found to be contaminated with Burkholderia cepacia complex, Klebsiella aerogenes and multiple different species of Pseudomonas. Months later, more formulas were found to contain ethylene glycol.

The massive product recall resulted in the brand removing all products from its website and retailer shelves.

Now, the nearly 20-year-old specialty cleaning brand is back on the market with a small assortment of key products that have been reformulated—and meet its new quality and safety standards.

The Laundress is confident that its months-long project and newly reformulated products can win over consumers who loved the brand’s unique and upscale spin on garment care.

“Our team worked around the clock to make this relaunch a reality,” Clemens Herrmann, CEO, The Laundress, said in a statement about the brand’s process.

According to Herrmann, for the past six months, the Unilever-owned brand partnered with global experts in R&D, quality assurance, supply chain, manufacturing, engineering and product marketing to make comprehensive changes to its supply chain and manufacturing process that address all issues and improve its safety standards.

The effort included implementation of new testing procedures that the brand says “exceed US industry standards”

This gives The Laundress, “extraordinary confidence in the safety of our new products. We want to take every possible step to ensure something like this does not happen again,” according to Herrmann.

Laundress Recall Timeline

The Laundress was founded in 2004 by Lindsey Boyd and Gwen Whiting. The brand garnered a cult-like following for its complex fragrances and emphasis on maintaining the quality of special garments like cashmere sweaters as well as celebrity collaborations with the likes of John Mayer. It also operated a shop in New York City before its acquisition by Unilever.

The first recall came in December 2022, when testing had identified bacteria (Burkholderia cepacia complex, Klebsiella aerogenes and multiple different species of Pseudomonas) in certain products produced between January 2021 and September 2022. Approximately 8 million units were impacted, according to data released by the CPSC.

In March 2023, more products were recalled, specifically for The Laundress Fabric Conditioner, due to possible contamination with ethylene oxide. This impacted 800,000 units, including 730,000 that were already recalled in 2022, and an additional 13,000 bottles sold in Canada.

New Formulas from The Laundress

The Laundress—which expanded into home care over time with dish soap and more—has relaunched with a smaller collection of laundry products.

“We were very intentional about which products should be part of our initial relaunch, reformulating a core collection that embodies the fabric care expertise that makes The Laundress truly unique,” said Herrmann.

For example, fans will recognize the notes of the brand’s best-selling scents: Classic, Cedar and Lady.

According to The Laundress, the new transparent detergents are concentrated and crafted with the highest quality, bio-based ingredients.

The Laundress Signature Detergent has been formulated for improved cleaning and targeting stains, and it has been optimized to clean in cold water, according to the brand. The Fabric Conditioner is now available in a new larger size (32oz) and The Laundress' Wool & Cashmere Shampoo is now 2x more concentrated and has a “softer” fragrance experience.

The relaunched line also includes The Laundress Stain Solution, a pretreatment that targets new and old, set-in protein, tannin and oil stains with minimal color lifting. And, out next month will be a revamped Delicate Wash, which is also 2x more concentrated and has a softer scent. The Laundress is also offering laundry accessories such as a stain brush, measuring cup, mesh washing bags and dryer balls.

According to The Laundress, the reformulated products featured improved dosing experiences with a lightweight texture that leaves less residue in the measuring cup.

Product Quality & Safety Standards

“Focusing on a small assortment of our best-selling products allowed us to incorporate customer feedback and meticulously ensure product quality every step of the way on an accelerated timeline,” said Herrmann.

As part of its new product quality and safety standards, The Laundress is working with a new manufacturing partner that it says is following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) with expert on-site supervision of production runs. Its new process also includes comprehensive quality assessment and monitoring of ingredients to ensure they are optimized to deliver on performance as well as a thorough review of suppliers. These details have been heralded on the brand’s website and social media.

“We’re already seeing an outpour of customer requests for additional products, and we plan on bringing back many more of our beloved solutions in the coming months,” Herrmann noted.