Description
Sonett is a German maker of ecological washing and cleaning products, founded in 1977 near Lake Constance: laundry detergents, washing-up liquid, cleaners and soaps based on plant soaps, sugar surfactants and minerals such as soda. It is an alternative to conventional detergents from large chemical groups, made with petroleum-based ingredients and sold in single-use bottles.
The company grew out of the anthroposophic water research of the chemist Johannes Schnorr; Beate Oberdorfer and Gerhard Heid took it over in 1992. Sonett has no private owners: its only shareholder is the charitable Stiftung Sonett, and its statutes forbid selling or bequeathing the company. Profits stay in the business or go to the foundation, which funds organic farming, seed research and alternatives to animal testing. Some products are filled and labelled at a workshop for people with disabilities nearby.
Sonett says its products contain no petrochemical raw materials or enzymes and are fully biodegradable; its NCP label sets the criteria, and the company EcoControl checks them. It holds the Vegan Society label for most products and the CSE certificate for sustainable business since 2015, and it rejects the EU Ecolabel, which it says allows synthetic fragrances and optical brighteners. Its production water passes through a vortex system with gemstones, which the company says improves the water, without citing any study. Products are sold in organic shops in more than 40 countries; more than 250 shops refill them from returnable canisters.
Strengths
- Plant soaps, sugar surfactants and minerals, without petroleum-based ingredients or synthetic fragrances.
- Owned by a charitable foundation: the company can’t be sold, and profits fund organic and research projects.
- Refills from returnable canisters in more than 250 organic shops, with a refill card that gives a free litre after ten.
Weaknesses
- The biodegradability claims are checked under Sonett’s own label system, not by a public ecolabel or a published test.
- Anthroposophic practices such as the gemstone water vortex are presented as quality features without scientific evidence.
- More expensive than supermarket brands, and mostly sold in organic shops.
Who it is for
Households who want washing and cleaning products without petrochemicals, can buy in an organic shop and like to refill their bottles.
Sources
- Sonett: portrait, Zertifizierungen, Wasser, unverpackt, checked November 2026