Without all that water, less fossil fuels are required for transport, because the products are lighter and more can be shipped in a single trip. New detergent formulas are changing to become ultra-concentrated liquids or even solid sheets roughly the size of an iPhone.
*****
I don't have a problem with them downsizing but it doesn't have a thing to do with saving the planet - I just hate the bulk of the jugs.
Meanwhile, the CCP continues to build two new coal-fired electrical generating plants a week.
ReplyDeleteBuy powdered detergent in cardboard boxes. No water, minimal plastic waste. The only downside is that you can't pour a little detergent right on the skid marks.
ReplyDeleteI don't like powdered detergents. They always seem to leave a powdery streak on some of my dark clothes, even a small load with plenty of water.
DeleteIssue with powderedis most of the newer washers cant use them. Our new washer says liquid only.
DeleteExile1981
For as long as I can remember, pure detergent was available where you only needed a tablespoon per load, but for some reason it never sold well to the individual consumer market but remained a mainstay of commercial laundries. It didn't suds up, and the prevailing consumer perception egged on by advertising, was that a full cup of detergent (mostly filler to make up the volume with some sudsing agents and perfume) made the clothes cleaner. Then the "HE" washing machines came in about 25 years ago, so the detergent requirement per load fell to a quarter-cup and they eliminated the sudsing agents from "HE" detergents. Now I guess that the prevailing wisdom is that plastic bottles and packaging is not good, so under the guise of inventing a new improved detergent, they merely repackage sodium dodecyl sulfate and other surfactants and call it "new and improved."
ReplyDeleteI remember when detergent came out of the bottle so thick I had to barely use any. Then the companies kept watering it down but charged the same price. And they will now charge more even if it comes in a smaller bottle because it is "new and improved". It is ridiculously high priced already.
ReplyDeleteJugs have so many alternative uses in a grid down environment
ReplyDeleteI'm all for bulky jugs.....
ReplyDeleteLmao, I see what you did there. I expected to see @luislikesjuggs signature
DeleteAnd of course the prices will go up and efficiency down
ReplyDeleteI'm happy with Costco sized Sunlight bottles, which tend to go on sale almost half off once in a while. One of those lasts for a hell of a lot of loads. HE laundry machines kind of suck at cleaning but you learn that some simple things like an extra rinse help a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnother "solution" being rammed down our throats for a "problem" that doesn't actually exist.
It's so easy to make your on and lots cheaper.
ReplyDelete1 bar Fels Naptha (or the other one) shredded
1-2 cups borax
1-2 cups washing soda
for dry:
grate bar, add borax and washing soda mix well. Use 1 tspn per load.
Wet:
Grate bar in pot with water, heat til dissolved
5 gallon bucket add hot water, pour in pot bar, add borax and soda mix well. 1 tspn per load.
been doing that for years....don't miss buying the other garbage
DeleteHere's how to get around High Efficiency washers. Go buy a Speed Queen. Smuggle it into your state or city if you have to. The savings money-wise between a HE and a regular washer is something like $20-40 a year. Big woop.
ReplyDeleteAll this is going to do is make people use WAY too much detergent. I tell my wife and daughters to use 2 Tbsp. of detergent for a load. Judging by how fast we go through a gallon of the shit, I'd say they use half a cup per load.
ReplyDeleteWomen just don't feel like they're using enough. Gotta have tons of soap!
I notice they didn't really have an answer to consumers concerns about just getting less for more when they were talking about selling concentrates.
ReplyDeleteWhen we bought the new W/D set about six years ago, we made sure it was a top loader with an agitator.