Costco Kirkland Powder Detergent

[aquarius1984]

Hi guys,

Last week myself and RichBUK went to Bristols Costco where we bought a big tub of Kirkland powder.

Thing is I wondered who makes it and whats in it?

It has quite a strong smell, very pungunt to say the least but what got me was the fact it comes with the scoop provided in the Compact Tide powder pictured in the Tide compact thread.

Is it a P&G product or even Tide in disguise? The label says its made in USA and the ingredients list seems vague.

What got us most is it foams like mad, we used the lowest dosage on some dirty tea towels in a UK FL and it was suds galore ina hard water area.
The dose was only about 20mls or so.

Cleaned very well too but have yet to try it on other loads due to being cautious of it not being HE.

Can anyone help shed some light? TYIA

Rob

 

[zipdang]

Here's what I know. Last I heard, Costco's Kirkland detergents were made by Huish, which is now known as Sun. I believe this is the same company who bought the North American Unilever brands and now makes Wisk and our version of Surf. As far as it being Tide in disguise, it's not. Funny you mention it, though, because just last Friday I was in a store and noticed on a box of the new compact Tide that there's now a statement by P&G saying they don't make any store brands, or words to that effect. Don't think they ever put that on their labels here before.

Now, about that Kirkland bucket of detergent you have there. AFAIK in the US we have two versions of Kirkland detergent powder. One version comes in a bucket and is positioned as a value/institutional product. Vaguely recall seeing a reference to low suds or HE compatability, but can't say for certain. The other version comes in a large red cardboard box that makes reference to color protection, possibly color-safe bleach, HE compatability, and other such fanciness. It's the version competing with Tide. That said, I doubt the variety in the bucket contains much in the way of oxygen bleach, but hopefully at least has amylase enzyme in it. Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder what its optical brightener content is?

In addition to those two powders, Kirkland also has three liquids at last count: regular, dye/fragrance free, and environmentally friendly. For what it's worth, Costco moves a ton of the stuff, and everyone I know who uses it seems quite content. I don't personally use any of the Kirkland detergents, but Kirkland products in general tend to be good quality.

 

[sudsmaster]

The Kirkland powders I've always found to be too high-sudsing for normal FL use.

Their HE liquids - specifically their free and clear - seem to be ok in that respect, but then I only use them for certain things like bath towels that are not heavily soiled so I can reduce the dosage to keep sudsing down.

The weird thing about the Kirkland products is that their instructions consistently get the recommended dosing backwards. Typically they recommend using MORE detergent in high efficiency machines, than in traditional top loaders. This more or less guarantees over-sudsing in the high efficiency top loaders and front loaders. Some numb nut in their product labeling department has his or her head screwed on backwards as well, I imagine.

 

[kevin313]

I've been using the Costco "Tub O' Detergent" for a few years now and love the way it works. It's an incredible value for how long it lasts. I noticed that it is a little high-sudsing, but I've also used the Costco/Kirkland brand in the bright orange box and, while good, have found it no better than that which comes in the big plastic bucket.

I also love the buckets - they're great for washing the car and other odd cleaning jobs.