At 18, working on superyachts, The Dirt Company CEO and co-founder Frankie Layton became deeply troubled by the abundance of plastic waste in remote parts of the Atlantic ocean. At 25, she was frustrated with the lack of sustainable laundry items in supermarkets. By 27, it was time to take advantage of the internet’s direct-to-consumer capability and launch a product that has expanded to a range of six laundry staples and a customer base of more than 100,000.
Below she shares why she co-founded Dirt and how we should actually be cleaning our clothes.
In conversation with Frankie Layton
We wanted our product to have all the benefits of conventional liquid (high-performing, works well in hot and cold water) but without the excess water (some detergents are up to 90% water), excess plastic, and excessive cost to consumers. In operations, they say you have to choose two from: good quality, affordability and project speed. We definitely didn’t choose speed. We started with one tonne of detergent, a $500 filling machine and a little bit of space in my Dad’s garage. [New Zealand co-founder] Josh and I worked for free for the first two years, and only started to pay ourselves $50 per day after we had employed two people. All up, it took about three years.
Today, we are a team of 11 people across Australia and New Zealand, with our head office in Melbourne and our New Zealand warehouse in Auckland.
We have a strong and united view about sustainability — if you have a product, you have an impact.
Our mission is to do less harm in every and any way we can, without compromising the customer experience (we don’t believe any consumer should make a choice between something sustainable and something that works).
When it comes to ingredients; we have three categories. The “never evers”, meaning harmful ingredients like phosphates, synthetic dyes, optical brighteners etc; the “use as needed”, meaning things needed for performance that should be carefully measured, such as preservatives and water); and the “use freely”, which make up 99% of our ingredients, including plant-based surfactants, organic enzymes and natural scents. We balance the latter two categories because they are what’s needed to create a product free from nasties that actually works. There are two initiatives at the heart of our business.
The Refill, Return programme where customers send us their refill packs to sanitise and reuse; the recycling of our own plastic (anything that can’t be refilled is shredded and turned into very cute scoops, which we give with our Machine Drum Wash and Powder Booster Jar). In this way, we are responsible for all and any waste we create, which I think is truly important for businesses these days.
Frankie's favourite products
- Advanced Wash: I am obsessed with the smell. Shop
- Powder Booster: I have two toddlers, and I just throw this in a prewash, so I don’t have to find and spray the individual childcare stains. Shop
- Fabric Spray: This is our latest; designed to take the odours out of the not-quite-dirty, not-quite clean clothes (the one that sits on the chair). It is incredible. An ideal product for those Dry Clean Only items that need a freshen-up. Shop
Frankie’s top cleaning tips
Tip # 1
You can wash your puffer jacket in the washing machine (using a Wool and Delicate wash). After you have let it air-dry, you should pop it in your dryer on low heat with a tennis ball, and it’ll fluff right back up.
Tip # 2
You can tackle ANY sweat stain on white, by making a paste out of Powder Booster (one with enzymes like ours) and working it into the armpits. So long as you’re agitating the stained area every now and again, you can get rid of it in as little as two hours.
Tip # 3
If your clothes are smelling consistently dank – there’s a good chance it’s your washing machine. Washing machines should be washed regularly, four times a year at a minimum. Most of them have a function called “tub clean”. Turn that on with a little Machine Drum Wash, then finish by emptying your filters and giving the machine a wipe; and those clothes and towels will smell better in no time.
Words: As told to Louise Dunn
Photography: Supplied
