Posted on 03/30/2016 2:20:08 AM PDT by rickmichaels
Edited on 03/30/2016 5:49:24 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
There's a reason those little lines on laundry detergent caps are vague and hard to read. It's so you pour more than you need to. And it apparently accounts for a huge part of the industry's profits.
Without perfect lighting conditions and sharp vision, the faint markings that blend in with the plastic cups have left many consumers squinting. And the related instructions are often vague. As a result, consumers are left to over-pour, and that's just what the flawed creators are counting on, say industry watchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at torontosun.com ...
This is stupid as hell. As a consumer you are responsible for you what you... consume. If I have dirty clothes I use more I don’t let the manufacturer determine how much soap I use.
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If only we had total anarchy where nobody gave a hoot about anybody else or people in general, then we could go back to being a perfect society, the way it used to be.
Interesting! See my number 13; I assumed that everyone was skimpy like me...thought the pods would increase profits...maybe not?
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I have a feeling pods overestimate, too, but not as much as people left on their own with the purposely dysfunctional caps.
This is one of the biggest myths in existence. In fact companies ADD 'suds' to nearly every product, including toothpaste, despite being completely unnecessary. It's called Sodium Laureth Sulfate.
But the report that I saw gave the impression that detergent companies were not happy about the pods controlling the overuse and net profits being lower.
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They’ve probably hired an army of Ivy Leaguers to figure out a way to make pod using people equally wasteful.
I'm gonna be sad for rest of the day............
I use powder detergent and was surprised to discover that the regular wash amount was only about 3/4 of provided scoop.
I have purchased a 1/4 scoop measure that works correctly.
I do miss the consumer advocates who used to alert the public of such malfeasance.
Pods bump. I use the Tide brand. Do a good job.
They could get really tricky and put the markings in US/English Units and the instructions in Metric. :0)
I use those two. I always stop by that aisle to find the best price whenever they put them out. Usually much larger number of pods in those packages. Not often though.
But those pods are made by the detergent people so they will fill it with more than you need and charge you extra to premeasure it for you. They don’t care about saving you money but making money off you. I’m an adult and have somehow managed the skill of measuring things myself. As a general rule, with most products, cut the amount recommended in half and you’re good to go.
Who needs dryer sheets? On the rare occasion you have something that will have static, tear the sheet in half and reuse it a few times. A penny saved is a penny earned.
The fact that adding “line of contrasting color” is at least one, and likely 2 or more additional manufacturing steps. As a result, it requires additional machinery and material, and thus raises costs in a business where profit margins are tight and consumers easily move to less-expensive brands.
AKA “economics”. . .
The new HE detergents are enzyme based cleansers. Adding too much won’t effect how clean your clothes get. What adding too much will do is make your washing machine smell like a bag of dirty gym clothes.
Another gotcha. Many of the HE liquids are concentrated. Some take as little as a tablespoon per load.
At the end of this discovery process, we switched to the pre-measured liquid pods. We use All. Very reasonable price and no more smelly washer.
I don’t use the measuring cup. I pour a small amount directly from the bottle, and it’s clearly much less than the recommended amount. Unless my clothes are truly dirty, there’s not need to use a lot of detergent. They never come out smelling bad or looking dirty.
I agree with the article. Manufacturers want us to use as much detergent as possible. It’s not necessarily dishonest, because people would also complain if the recommended amount was too small to reliably wash very dirty clothing. The manufacturer has to recommend enough to guarantee good, clean results in nearly all cases. That doesn’t mean I have to follow their advice.
My kids installed appliances while in college. One thing they told me was to avoid front loaders. If the door is closed while at rest, they grow mold and stink. Top loaders not needing to be sealed, don’t.
In tight areas you can’t get through with doors open.
I agree! For most laundry, the recommended amounts are much more than necessary. If I was working under a greasy car all day, that might require a bit more detergent than sitting inside watching the tube. Adjust accordingly, right?
Just about every product has a team of people behind it trying to chisel an extra penny of profit. Constant vigilance from the ever shrinking coffee can to cheesy tires on a new car that used to have a 5MPH bumper. Freedom isn’t free.
Sun rises in east, update at eleven!
No fix for stupid but companies sure know how to leverage it....
I mark it with a Sharpie, like several others here, after having tested to see how much it takes to make the clothes look and smell clean. That mark is for a full load of normal-use clothes, and it’s about an eighth of a cap.
Camping, hunting, yard work, and similar activities require a different amount, and I have no doubt that I overuse occasionally for those loads. I also under-use occasionally and have to wash some items a second time. I’m okay with both errors.
The few times when I do the laundry, I always fill the caps to the very brim. Was I doing wrong? No wonder my wife hates it when I do the laundry.
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