Author Topic: what is so great about Tide?  (Read 23963 times)

KittyCat

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #50 on: September 10, 2015, 05:57:44 PM »
I don't use Tide, though I'm planning to switch when I run through my current supply, but I have a 3 step stain treatment process:

1. Shout Gel on the stain. Put in the hamper. Wash and dry and usual. If the stain is not gone, proceed to step two.
2. Make a 2:1 paste of Oxyclean and water, smear on the stain. Put in the hamper. Wash and dry as usual. If the stain is not gone, proceed to step three.
3. Dawn detergent scrubbed into the stain with a used toothbrush. Put in the hamper. Wash and dry as usual.

One of those usually gets it out.
Thanks for the tips! I don't have any of that stuff, so I'll try them systematically over the next few weeks. Speaking of running out of detergent... I think I used the last of it a week and a half ago or so, and will need to get some more very soon. Tide, here I come!

catccc

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #51 on: September 10, 2015, 09:04:31 PM »
Tide just gets my clothes cleaner than anything else I've tried.
+1
Tide (and many other brands) contain optical brighteners.  That's right, your clothes look cleaner, but they really aren't, it's an optical illusion.

We switched over from leading detergent manufacturers to Country Save detergent as a result of a lot o research to find a cloth diaper/baby bum safe detergent.  A little of this stuff goes a long way, so I've found it to be reasonably priced.

I considered making my own, but the homemade ones are soap based, and as someone mentioned, prolonged use of the homemade formulas results in dingy looking clothes.  Okay, I don't think exactly that was said, but whites not being white, etc, is basically the same thing.  I have clothes that are a dozen years old (or more) and look great that I think could go on for a dozen more, and I don't want a year of homemade detergent to prematurely end their reign in my closet.

FLA

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #52 on: September 10, 2015, 11:48:01 PM »
 
[/quote]
I just bleach my towels. I love bleach. I'm switching us over to all white sheets and I can just do a bleach load a couple times a year.
[/quote]

I love bleach for the smell.  White sheets done with bleach, happy as a clam. I honestly think it was all those years of making hospital beds, I loved giving patients a fresh bed and everything smelled of bleach.

I did switch to mostly white sheets after purging.  I love them because I can bleach them but I also like colored sheets. sigh, another tough decision for a woman with First World problems, lol 

LeRainDrop

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #53 on: September 11, 2015, 12:03:34 AM »
I never use Tide because I am allergic to something in it.  After a night of sleeping in sheets washed in Tide, I start to get really itchy and my skin gets irritated.  I suppose I haven't tested that out since around early 2000s, but I love All Free & Clear.  Plus, All goes on BOGO every 4 weeks or so, so that's when I buy it.

MandyM

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #54 on: September 11, 2015, 06:11:47 AM »
Tide, and a lot of very highly performing detergents, used to have another ingredient that has been banned from retail clothes detergents, under the concept that the substance removes the oxygen from rivers and streams once dumped into those waters.  Such low oxygen conditions are a threat to fish.

Of course, no one should be dumping waste water directly into natural waters anyway.

The substance in question is called TSP, or Trisodium Phosphate.  It is still legal in commercial detergents, and you can buy it separately and mix it back in, but you cannot buy it already in either clothing detergents nor dishwasher detergents anymore.  I do buy it, and mix a cup into a box of Cascade for my dishwasher, but I have a septic system, so I don't have to worry about some suffocated fish either.  My understanding is that TSP is not banned in Canada, so Canadian Tide might still be great.

https://mises.org/library/why-everything-dirtier

The substance that is the issue is the Phosphate part of TSP. And the problem has nothing to do with untreated wastewater being dumped; it has to do with the fact that phosphates are difficult to remove from wastewater.   

Also - your septic tank isn't removing phosphate either so it does get into the groundwater, which eventually gets into a surface water system. http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-adv.html

Sylly

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #55 on: September 11, 2015, 09:01:55 AM »
My Tide doesn't always get that out either, and I use a bit of OxyClean as well. In fact, I tried bleach and it didn't get my hand towels fully white again either. My solution was to buy grey hand towels.

Well, I already use OxyClean for the PreWash in all my loads. I would bleach my white hand towels, but they're my pretty, with embroidery, fancy hand towels :(. Maybe I'll try some spot treatment with Shout or something.

 My solution is the same as yours. For as long as we're playing with dirt, there's a grey hand towel hanging in the powder room. :P

lil_miss_frugal

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #56 on: September 11, 2015, 09:48:10 AM »
I use Tide because I like the smell and it's supposedly a "top brand". I also use Gain from time to time as well.

Side note: I unfortunately suffer from year round sweaty arm pits and this does awful things to my shirts. I've found that using a paste made of Baking Soda, Peroxide, and water mixed works wonders for getting the smell out of the arm pit area of my shirts and it also gets those yellow stains off my white shirts!

forummm

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #57 on: September 11, 2015, 11:49:16 AM »
Do the DIY detergents get clothes clean without hot water? That's one reason I use Tide Coldwater for whites. I also use Tide Free for colors due to the inclusion of fewer unnecessary toxic chemicals.

Can you use DIY detergents for HE washers?

We don't do that much laundry, so going DIY might save like $5-10 per year.

Tide free does not contain some chemical (I am having a brain fart) that is often in scented products that is bad for the environment (fish, ambiphians etc). 7th generation also doesn't contain it but tide is easier to find.
I just try to find a detergent that is as simple as possible, that I don't have to make myself.

Phthalates among others. They're probably pretty bad for people on a population level. But toxic chemicals are very understudied.

MandyM

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #58 on: September 11, 2015, 12:03:26 PM »
Do the DIY detergents get clothes clean without hot water? That's one reason I use Tide Coldwater for whites. I also use Tide Free for colors due to the inclusion of fewer unnecessary toxic chemicals.

Can you use DIY detergents for HE washers?

Yes, I use DIY in cold water in a HE washer.

beachbound

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #59 on: September 11, 2015, 12:07:11 PM »
I've been using Ecos with a dose of OxyClean when needed.  Works great, and my clothes have a nice lavender scent.

Not sure if this matters to anyone, but P&G products scored the highest in 1,4-dioxane levels.

http://www.naturalnews.com/028846_laundry_detergents_dioxane.html#

I know it's NaturalNews, but still some good info there.

MoonShadow

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #60 on: September 11, 2015, 12:13:33 PM »
Tide, and a lot of very highly performing detergents, used to have another ingredient that has been banned from retail clothes detergents, under the concept that the substance removes the oxygen from rivers and streams once dumped into those waters.  Such low oxygen conditions are a threat to fish.

Of course, no one should be dumping waste water directly into natural waters anyway.

The substance in question is called TSP, or Trisodium Phosphate.  It is still legal in commercial detergents, and you can buy it separately and mix it back in, but you cannot buy it already in either clothing detergents nor dishwasher detergents anymore.  I do buy it, and mix a cup into a box of Cascade for my dishwasher, but I have a septic system, so I don't have to worry about some suffocated fish either.  My understanding is that TSP is not banned in Canada, so Canadian Tide might still be great.

https://mises.org/library/why-everything-dirtier

The substance that is the issue is the Phosphate part of TSP. And the problem has nothing to do with untreated wastewater being dumped; it has to do with the fact that phosphates are difficult to remove from wastewater.   

That might be true enough, but there is very little evidence that those phosphates are actually harmful to the environment.  They favor aquatic plantlife (alge mostly), which might reduce fish habitats near treated wastewater release points.  Notice, however, that even the EPA didn't consider it dangerous enough to actually ban phosphates, not even from industrial detergents.  They simply, and quietly, banned retail manufactures of consumer products from using phosphates.  In fact, the typical consumer can still buy these products, just not from a brick-&-mortar retail company...

http://www.amazon.com/Bubble-Bandit-Dishwasher-Phosphates-ALL-IN-ONE/dp/B007IJMZ7W

Quote
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-adv.html

Wow, that's just adorable!

iris lily

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #61 on: September 11, 2015, 12:22:05 PM »
It's very popular amount my ghetto neighbors.

This does not parse.  It sounds like something a bot would post.
no bot, sorry for typo.

there is evidence that Tide is a hotly traded, stolen, and prized consumable among those of a lower sociology economic group. One's clothes must smell right, Tide-like, to be accepted in that peer group.

It's also an advertising biggest that lower socio evonomic class are brand conscious.

Now I recognize the possibility that ?Tide cleans better than others even though I don't really know.

justajane

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #62 on: September 11, 2015, 01:19:30 PM »
It's very popular amount my ghetto neighbors.

This does not parse.  It sounds like something a bot would post.
no bot, sorry for typo.

there is evidence that Tide is a hotly traded, stolen, and prized consumable among those of a lower sociology economic group. One's clothes must smell right, Tide-like, to be accepted in that peer group.

It's also an advertising biggest that lower socio evonomic class are brand conscious.

Now I recognize the possibility that ?Tide cleans better than others even though I don't really know.

Fascinating. I knew it was one of the most popular black market items but I never thought of the smell as being important to lower socioeconomic peer groups.

Guses

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #63 on: September 11, 2015, 01:59:40 PM »
Have you made a cost analysis of the savings between buying generic on sale versus making your own?

Would love to see if the home made saves anything. Let's assume we buy cheapest soap, borax and washing soda.
I did a cost analysis - but for liquid laundry detergent so slightly different recipe. I can make homemade laundry soap for about 1 cent a load - the cheapest laundry detergent that I could find was 25 cent/load (using the manufacture's recommended amount). Your mileage may vary, I live in Canada, in high cost of living area which rarely gets sales and coupons.

I just calculated per load for the Kirkland brand I use. I only buy it on sale ($10.99) and I can get about 30% more than the 126 loads listed on the package, because I use less than recommended, so say I get 160 loads. That works out to about $0.06 a load. Maybe a little penny or two more if I decide to throw in a scoop of oxygen bleach.

The difference between 25 cents a load and 1 cent a load sounds like it might be worth it. If you can mix enough for 25 loads in 5 minutes, you are being paid 72$ per hour net. I don't know if the time/load amount is realistic though having never done it.

On the other hand, saving only 5 cents per load is like beeing paid 15$ net per hour. Not that great. I can probably find ways to make a better return with my time.


FiguringItOut

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #64 on: September 11, 2015, 02:20:55 PM »
I haven't bought a name brand laundry detergent in the last 3 years at all; just what was on sale the cheapest off brand.  Never had any problems. 

However, I recently moved and I don't have a washer/dryer any more.  So I have to take my laundry to the corner laundromat.  I ended up buying Tide Pods Detergent.  The only reason is that I won't have to carry a heavy jug of detergent with me.  I thought about just pouring some liquid detergent into a small container to carry, but I don't like that for few reasons - the container gets gunky and sticky, I have to remember to refill it, and I have to carry something back from the laundromat.  With pods, I just take 1 or 2 of them with me depending on how much laundry I have and I'm done.  I got a large box of them from BJ's with 120 pods.  This will last me over a year.  Works for me at the moment.


FIRE me

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #65 on: September 11, 2015, 08:54:21 PM »
follow up to laundry thread.  I often see people say they will never give up Tide when making a list of what they must have.  I've seen it over and over and over.  Is it really that much better than the cheap stuff?  When I buy it, it doesn't seem all that different to me.

I'm not in the “never give it up” category, but about a year ago I did switch from the whatever happens to be at rock bottom price to Tide.

I find it cleans a lot better, and my clothes (and towels and bed sheets) smell a lot better. Also, if I wait for a sale and use a coupon, it doesn't cost a lot more than the cheap stuff. I count it as a small luxury.

Pigeon

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #66 on: September 12, 2015, 08:19:09 AM »
My grocery store routinely has 32 load bottle of Gain or Arm & Hammer for under $2. Making my own makes no sense to me.

I usually have a bottle of Tide bought on sale with coupons  just in case I have and exceptionally dirty load. But honestly, I don't see all that much differnce between it and the cheap stuff. But our clothes normally are not filthy.

Rezdent

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #67 on: September 12, 2015, 09:00:19 AM »
Tide won't work for me, I'm sensitive to something in it - even doing double rinse cycles I will get itchy hives.

I've gone through many trials, and found that FOCA from Sams  doesn't bother me, so that's what we're using.
I tailor it with some other stuff as needed.
DH greasy work clothes - add Oxyclean and (most important) pre-soak for at least an hour.
Bleach for whites.

Mrs. Stewart's Bluing...omg, this stuff is cool, fairly benign, and cheap.  Add to jeans every few months to refresh the color.  Keeps DH looking spiffy at work, and helps stretch the clothes budget.
Add a tiny bit occasionally to whites when they get dingy, it really brightens them back up.
Bluing can also be used to brighten gray hair if its tending to yellow - but be careful, it only takes a teeny bit.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #68 on: September 14, 2015, 09:01:16 AM »
I've been using Ecos with a dose of OxyClean when needed.  Works great, and my clothes have a nice lavender scent.

Not sure if this matters to anyone, but P&G products scored the highest in 1,4-dioxane levels.

http://www.naturalnews.com/028846_laundry_detergents_dioxane.html#

I know it's NaturalNews, but still some good info there.

+1 on Ecos. I'm allergic to just about everything, even a couple of the "free and clear" brands. I don't react to Ecos. We use the magnolia and lily scented one.

iris lily

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #69 on: September 15, 2015, 07:51:19 PM »
This is so weird, I just noticed that we are using Tide.

I have some vague recollection that DH came home with it because Sam's Club didn't carry Cheer any more. Out of the blue, we changed to Tide. And DH said this happened months and possibly even years ago.

hmmm, I don't really notice a lot of brand stuff.

SJS

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #70 on: September 16, 2015, 06:40:52 AM »
Don't have a clue what the hype is all about - it's overpriced for what other brands can do just as well!  I use to use Tide until I realize how much $$ I was spending on it.  I switched to Arm & Hammer and flippin love it.  My hubby exercises almost daily so has lots of smelly gym clothes;   A secret is to use about 1/4 Cup of white vinegar in with the really smelly clothes.  Also, too many people actually use too much detergent - which is bad for the fibers in your clothes.   
Another savings tip is I cut my dryers sheets into fifths - just enough to remove static.  Fabric softener is also not good for your clothing when overused. 

Pinkleaf

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #71 on: September 16, 2015, 08:20:46 AM »
I made a little spreadsheet last year to compare costs per load, comparing liquid and powders. The 495 loads is the amount you get from a batch using the standard size boxes with 1 TBS per load. (I actually weighed this stuff out to determine that!) This amount last about 18 months for us. I make my own bar soap so my cost is actually less than what's shown here.  Naturally, your cost will vary depending on where you live.

Homemade = $.03 per load = $15.70 for 495 loads
Tide Ultra for HE Machines Liquid = $.20 per load = $99.61 for 495 loads

I've attached an image of the spreadsheet.


Sibley

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #72 on: September 16, 2015, 11:45:20 AM »
I'm sensitive to scents, and grew up on Tide. Tide w/o dye and perfumes was fine, but for some reason I tried All w/o dye or perfumes and have been fine with it. No kids, so not many stains. It's also cheaper than Tide.

justajane

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #73 on: September 17, 2015, 06:55:30 AM »
I made a little spreadsheet last year to compare costs per load, comparing liquid and powders. The 495 loads is the amount you get from a batch using the standard size boxes with 1 TBS per load. (I actually weighed this stuff out to determine that!) This amount last about 18 months for us. I make my own bar soap so my cost is actually less than what's shown here.  Naturally, your cost will vary depending on where you live.

Homemade = $.03 per load = $15.70 for 495 loads
Tide Ultra for HE Machines Liquid = $.20 per load = $99.61 for 495 loads

I've attached an image of the spreadsheet.

A lot of people on here who use commercial detergents don't use the recommended amount but rather much less. I can tell you that I buy a $18 container of Tide from Costco on sale. I would say it lasts me at least six months. At seven loads a week, that works out to about 10 cents a load. And like I said, I believe a bulk container might last me even longer. But based on this calculation, going to homemade would save me at most $25 a year.

Homemade is still cheaper, but the cost difference isn't usually as stark as what articles make it out to be. I remember one blog once having a headline like, "Save hundreds of dollars a year by making your own laundry detergent!" Well, considering I don't spend anywhere close to that on detergent per year, I couldn't possibly be saving that much.

Guses

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #74 on: September 17, 2015, 08:59:45 AM »
I made a little spreadsheet last year to compare costs per load, comparing liquid and powders. The 495 loads is the amount you get from a batch using the standard size boxes with 1 TBS per load. (I actually weighed this stuff out to determine that!) This amount last about 18 months for us. I make my own bar soap so my cost is actually less than what's shown here.  Naturally, your cost will vary depending on where you live.

Homemade = $.03 per load = $15.70 for 495 loads
Tide Ultra for HE Machines Liquid = $.20 per load = $99.61 for 495 loads

I've attached an image of the spreadsheet.

Really cool sheet!

One thing I noticed is that one of the laundry detergents, the tide powder one, weighs in at 150 once for 11$ or so. That is 11.79$ to your 15.70$ and 150 ounces to your 204. 75% of the price for 73% of the product.

Assuming that that detergent is similarly powerful ( a fair assumption unless they use fillers),  you should be able to use as little as your homemade recipe (half an Oz. I guess) for a similar price.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 09:01:30 AM by Guses »

Rosy

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #75 on: September 17, 2015, 09:07:13 AM »
I use the Aldi brand, I remember seeing a consumer report on it while I lived in Germany and it was top rated. I've tried them all and my favorite was always Arm and Hammer, I think it does the job as well as Tide, but for some reason not so readily available around here.

I especially like the Aldi version for delicate laundry - it is scented and they only have it once in a while, but it is the best I've found.

Oxy clean for stains and I don't even own a bottle of bleach. A couple of days ago I saw Aldi had oxy clean, but it was only a special deal so not a regular item for them. Saved me about two bucks or maybe closer to three over the regular oxy clean price - and oxy clean never has any coupons past 50 cents.

I would buy Tide, it is a great product, but the price - not so much - I think Arm and Hammer is every bit as good.

Sibley

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Re: what is so great about Tide?
« Reply #76 on: September 17, 2015, 09:44:50 AM »
Yeah, do not use the amount of soap they tell you. Use less.

My parents had to take apart their washing machine and clean the outside of the tub and various other parts. Laundry detergent had built up over time and gunked up the machine. I use at most half of what they say, usually less. In fact, it's hard to measure that small amount so I often dilute the detergent with water.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!