Laundry is the one consumable every site reorders on a predictable cycle, which makes it the easiest line to overpay on. The prices below are all catalogue prices for the same job, and they differ by more than three to one per kilogram. What you get for the difference is worth understanding before the next pallet is ordered.
Powder, liquid or capsule
Powder is the cheapest per wash and performs best on heavy soil and whites. Liquid dissolves in cold washes and handles grease and colours well. Capsules remove dosing error and spills entirely, which suits sites with high staff turnover. The machine, the water temperature and the soil decide the format, not the brand.
Prices are Freshway catalogue prices as at 16 September 2026 and are subject to change. Confirm the current price, and whether GST applies, before quoting.
What each brand in the range is built for
| Product | Strength | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Surf Professional | Volume washing where fragrance and cost per kilogram matter most | Hotels, laundromats, aged care |
| OMO Professional | Stain performance and a dedicated sensitive-skin line | Healthcare, childcare, food production |
| Drive Professional 8 kg bucket | Enzyme-heavy powder for carbon, cooking oil and protein stains | Commercial kitchens, workshops, laundries |
| Freshway Enzymo Front 522 | Low-suds front-loader powder with oxygen bleach | Sites running front-loading machines in volume |
| Freshway 155 and 160 | House-brand liquid where the budget sets the brief | Cost-driven contract cleaning and general facilities |
| Actichem Autoplus | Disinfecting powder for laundry hygiene requirements | Healthcare and facilities with a disinfection specification |
Price per kilogram and per litre
This is the comparison that decides most laundry contracts, and it is rarely published. Figures are calculated from the catalogue prices in this article.
| Product | Pack | Price | Per kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surf Sun Fresh Professional powder | 5 kg | A$32.90 | A$6.58 |
| OMO Professional, top and front loader | 6 kg | A$45.00 | A$7.50 |
| Surf Professional Sun Fresh or Rose Fresh powder | 9 kg | A$69.00 | A$7.67 |
| Freshway Enzymo Front 522 | 4.5 kg | A$42.00 | A$9.33 |
| Drive Professional powder bucket | 8 kg | A$85.00 | A$10.63 |
| OMO Sensitive Professional | 6 kg | A$74.10 | A$12.35 |
| OMO Professional Active Clean | 8 kg | A$102.45 | A$12.81 |
| Product | Pack | Price | Per L |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freshway Laundry Liquid Economy 160 | 5 L | A$22.00 | A$4.40 |
| Freshway Laundry Liquid Classic 155 | 5 L | A$29.00 | A$5.80 |
| Surf Professional Sun or Rose Fresh liquid | 4.9 L | A$35.00 | A$7.14 |
| Drive Laundry Liquid Professional | 4.2 L | A$41.55 | A$9.89 |
| Comfort Professional fabric conditioner | 3 L | A$28.50 | A$9.50 |
| OMO Professional laundry liquid | 4.2 L | A$57.50 | A$13.69 |
Cost per kilogram is not the same as cost per wash, because dose rates differ between formulations and concentrate levels. Use these figures to compare packs of the same product family, and check the label dose for anything you are switching.
Two catalogue items are deliberately left out of the tables. The Actichem Autoplus disinfecting powder is listed at A$249.00 for a 4.5 kg pack, but the pack image shows three 4.5 kg bags, so the per-kilogram figure depends on which it is — confirm the carton quantity before comparing it. The Surf capsules are sold in 65-capsule packs at A$34.50, which are priced per wash rather than per kilogram.
Front loader or top loader: why low-foam matters
Front-loading machines clean by tumbling, with far less water than a top loader. Excess foam in a front loader does not improve cleaning; it cushions the tumbling action and reduces mechanical agitation, and on modern machines it can also confuse the sensors and trigger repeated rinse cycles.
That is why products like Freshway Enzymo Front 522 are formulated as low-suds and specifically directed at front loaders. It is also why a domestic powder designed for a top loader can perform badly in a commercial front loader even though it cleans well at home.
Sensitive skin and fragrance-free options
Where laundry is washed for residents, patients, children or staff with skin conditions, the detergent choice becomes a welfare question rather than a cost question, and the range reflects that.
| Product | Format | Price |
|---|---|---|
| OMO Sensitive Professional laundry powder | 6 kg, fragrance-free and hypoallergenic | A$74.10 |
| OMO Professional Fragrance Free laundry liquid | 4.2 L | A$57.50 |
The practical point is that residue, not fragrance, is usually the irritant: an over-dosed fragrance-free powder leaves as much residue as an over-dosed perfumed one. Reducing the dose and adding a rinse is often more effective than changing the product. Where the same site is also running a commercial kitchen, our guide to cleaning chemicals for commercial kitchens covers how the kitchen chemicals sit alongside the laundry range.
Disinfection and hygiene washes
Some facilities have a laundry hygiene requirement rather than a cleaning requirement — hospital linen, childcare bedding, gym towels, and any site with an infection-control policy. That is a different claim to “removes stains”, and it should be specified as one.
The Actichem Autoplus disinfecting powder is the product in our range positioned for that work. Its listing cites AS/NZS 4146:2000 and BS EN 1276 as the microbiological efficacy standards it is manufactured against. Where a facility is audited against those standards, ask us for the current documentation with the product rather than relying on the listing text.
Conditioner, and why hotels buy it
Comfort Professional fabric conditioner at A$28.50 for 3 L is the smallest line in this article and the one most likely to be cut first in a budget review. On towels and bed linen it changes how the fabric feels to a guest, and it reduces static in tumble-dried loads, which is what makes folded linen easier to handle. Where a site is judged on the feel of its linen, that is a direct commercial argument.
One caution: most conditioners should not be used on flame-resistant or high-absorbency microfibre items, because coating the fibre defeats the property you bought them for. Check the item before adding conditioner to a load.
Trolleys, bags and the handling side
Laundry chemicals are the easy part; moving wet linen is what injures people. Two handling items in the range address it: the Rubbermaid 1881749 collapsing 150 L X-Cart laundry trolley at A$430.60, and the replacement bag for it at A$50.00. A trolley that folds reduces the storage footprint in a small laundry, and the replacement bag keeps the trolley in service instead of being replaced with it.
For the wider handling picture, our trolleys and carts range covers the rest of the housekeeping equipment.
Questions we get asked most
- Which is better, Surf liquid or powder?
- Powder for heavy soil, whites and the lowest cost per kilogram; liquid for cold washes, colours and grease, where it dissolves without the residue powder can leave. Most commercial laundries we supply run powder as the base and keep a liquid for the loads the powder does not suit.
- Is Surf laundry detergent discontinued?
- Surf Professional is still supplied in Australia, and we stock the Sun Fresh and Rose Fresh powders in 5 kg and 9 kg, the matching 4.9 L liquids and the 65-capsule packs. Individual supermarket lines do get discontinued, which is a different question from the commercial range.
- What is the best laundry powder in Australia?
- There is no single answer, because the right powder depends on the machine, the water temperature and the soil. Working the numbers, Surf Sun Fresh 5 kg costs A$6.58 per kilogram in our catalogue and Surf Professional 9 kg costs A$7.67, while the OMO Professional and Drive powders cost more per kilogram and are specified for harder soils.
- Which laundry powder is best for a front loader?
- A low-suds formulation designed for front loaders. Freshway Enzymo Front 522 is our front-loader powder, and it is also the one with a lower-temperature hygiene claim. High-suds top-loader powders can reduce cleaning in a front loader rather than improve it.
- Do you sell fragrance-free laundry detergent?
- Yes. OMO Sensitive Professional powder and OMO Professional Fragrance Free liquid are both held in the range, and both are positioned for sensitive skin. They are the products to specify where laundry is washed for residents, patients or children.
References
Switching laundry chemicals?
Tell us the machine type, the wash temperature and the soil you deal with, and we will shortlist two or three products rather than the whole shelf — and show the cost per kilogram on each. Browse laundry and fabric care or ask our team.