Downy Defy Damage ???

[warmsecondrinse]

I saw a few commercials for this.

Whoever wrote the verbiage did a really good job. It sounds like so much while actually saying nothing at all.

I'm stumped. What exactly does this stuff physically do to the clothes and what is the physical effect?

I'm willing to bet the real world effect is exactly nothing. But what is theoretically going on in advertising world?

Anyone have any ideas?

https://downy.com/en-us/fabric-softener/conditioning-beads/defy-fresh

 

[appnut]

I had read something in the last year or two that the current younger generation that's coming f age into adult hood didn't use fabric softener as their parents and grandparents had. I think this is just a ploy by Downey to sell product and make it appear it's a new product to solve perceived washing damage. And thus still get them to buy product from Downey.

 

[launderess]

Ingredients: Dispersant (PEG), Softening Agent (Dialkylester Dimethyl Ammonium Methosulfate), Deposition Aid (Polyquaternium-10), Fragrances, Colorants. May also contain Octadecanoic acid (stearic acid)

What you've got is a variation of in wash fabric softener that goes back to "Rain Barrel", but with a more modern chemistry.

Dialkylester Dimethyl Ammonium Methosulfate is a standard quat fabric softener that is work horse of many Downy products (and other fabric softeners) up and down the line. You find it in Downy Wrinkle Guard FS for instance: https://downy.com/en-us/fabric-softener/liquid-fabric-conditioner/wrinkleguard-unscented

Long story short Tide Damage Control is being touted to provide same benefits as rinse added fabric softener, but one adds it to wash instead. Presumably those clever chops at P&G have sorted problems that dogged previous in wash fabric softeners (Rain Barrel), and the stuff provides advertised benefits without interfering with job of detergents, bleaches, enzymes, etc...

https://www.stepan.com/content/stepan-dot-com/en/products-markets/product/STEPANTEXSP90.html

https://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2011/11/dont-get-slimed-skip-fabric-softener

What is the point of all this palaver? Well depending upon which side of fence one sits fabric softeners are totally unnecessary, evil and vile chemical concoctions. OTOH for those who like the softness of hand, scent, ease of ironing, reduction of creasing, and or other benefits provided the stuff is a wash day essential. So there's quite a bit of range there......

Ever since soap was dethroned as queen of wash day first commercial/industrial and then later domestic laundry had to cope with fabrics feeling rough after washing with detergents. Soap is a natural fabric softener in fact the fats and oils used to produce the stuff always leave a bit of residue no matter how much one rinses. With proper laundering techniques that residue will be removed at next wash (to be replaced by more if washing with soap), but there shouldn't be a serious build-up.

Detergents, especially built powder versions have no such softening properties on their own, hence fabric softeners came along, with early versions pretty much just emulsions of tallow and or other fats/oils in water. So basically people are putting "soap" back into fabrics that would have had such residue if washed in that substance. Dryer sheets early on and many still are largely bits of cloth impregnated with stearic acid (aka, soap).

What all these products do to various extent is lay down a coating and or lubricate textile fibers so they slip past each other. This lowers abrasion so things don't get so chewed up not just in the wash, but from wear and tear that comes with use. The lubrication of fibers (especially cotton) helps reduce creasing both during washing (and especially extraction), and in being worn or used. Finally that lubrication and or coating makes ironing easier in that things glide along due to a smoother textile surface.

[this post was last edited: 11/3/2020-21:10]

 

[petek]

Rain Barrel

Now that's a product I'd completely forgotten about.

 

[launderess]

Rain Barrel

Much as one tried Mama wouldn't let the stuff anywhere near shopping cart or her laundry room.



In wash fabric softener seemed like a blessing when top loaders dominated American laundry rooms, and few models offered dispensers. So if one missed the rinse, it was either reset machine for another to add FS, or just do without.

RB was supposed to be an answer to that problem, but CR and others reported it and similar products didn't soften well as rinse added products, and possibly interfered with laundry detergents doing their job properly.

Then along came Cling Free, Bounce and other dryer sheets which not only removed reason for wash cycle fabric softeners, but also caused rinse added liquids to take a hit as well.

 

[rpms]

Mom would sometimes buy Rain Barrel. Loved the smell.

 

[sudsomatic]

Laundress...

Any idea what model/maker that Oak Barrel Washer is in your commercial?

 

[joeekaitis]

Secret ingredient: 100% Pure Snake Oil

 

See also: cosmetics, toiletries, skin care, hair care

 

[DADoES]

 
Made me chuckle every time when Rain Barrel ads touted no need to run for the rinse cycle while featuring washers with softener dispensers.

 

[launderess]

100% pure snake oil

Well yes and no....

It is oldest trick in book; update and or find new uses for a mature product, or face it becoming extinct.

When you get down to it there is no need for scores of different toothpastes, toilet tissue, bath soaps, etc.. Hundreds of household and personal care products have a vast and bewildering array of choices.

As Edwina Monsoon explains to her daughter Saffron, marketing and PR is all about selling people something they don't know they want yet.

 

[launderess]

Reading directions and fine print carefully benefits accrue with ongoing use of Downy "Damage Defy", and take several washes to fully realize.

In other words this product (much like Actilift technology that came and went), is something that ropes people into repeat purchase and use of product.

"Keeps clothes looking newer, longer (vs. Detergent alone) when used over time, by protecting them from damage that can happen in every wash cycle"

Amazon.com

 

[jetcone]

OMG

Rain Barrel totally forgotten that WOW0 !!

 

 

[coldspot66]

There was also an in wash softener called "First In". It came in a yellow plastic bottle IIRC. Came and went pretty quickly. We also used Rain Barrel, though our 1964 LK alphabet washer did have a timed bleach and fabric softener dispenser.

 

[jamiel]

Texize had a product in St. Louis called AllWays Soft--you could use it in wash, rinse or on a washcloth in the dryer. ISTR they ran a coupon for a free 32 oz bottle which I got for my mom--it stayed in the laundry room for several years, as she was a Free and Soft (the packet stuck to the fin of the dryer) gal.

 

[launderess]

Ecolab (and probably other commercial laundry product companies) has big solid blocks of FS that one fixes in dryer instead of sheets.

https://www.ferguson.com/product/ecolab-150-g-static-control-dryer-block-e6110309/_/R-7255902

https://catalog.nationalew.com/p/EL-92592193/Ecolab-X-Static-Dispenser/

Not to be outdone, there is Bounce Dryer Bars....

 

[launderess]

Whoops!

Sorry, there was Bounce dryer bars, turns out they were discontinued...

Amazon.com

 

[gelaundry4ever]

One day,

I'll give it a try.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Thank you all for the insight!

I had a feeling it was more marketing than anything else. That annoying laws-of-physics obsessed Vulcan who lives in the back of my brain took umbrage at being asked to accept something like that.

My grandmother used Fels laundry flakes. My grandfather was ecological way ahead of his time. His issue was 'phosphates' in other laundry soap/detergents. I put quotes around the word bec I don't recall if his issue was phosphates in general one/one type in particular. I'd have to look up the exact ingredients. Aside from Clorox I only recall her using BIz powder which was new at the time. It replaced something else (for her) which I've forgotten. I recall there was always a box of Cold Power which g'ma didn't like and only used for a few things (which I've forgotten).

I've no recollection of her using any type of fabric softener.

One of G'ma's sisters (there were 6) at whose house I spent a lot of time as a kid was a firm believer in bluing. It came in a big jug from which she filled a small cobalt bottle..... I'm guessing it was Bluette but I really have no idea.

My mother's discovery of fabric softener, polyester becoming a popular fabric for shirts, and my puberty all hit at the same time. Polyester was disgusting enough itself (It's rather different now) but when combined with fabric softener and my hyper oily skin made shirts feel downright slimy. I complained and finally (8th grade) my mother told me that if I didn't like how she did laundry I could do it myself. ..... So I did! Details are vague but I do recall VERY clearly regarding doing the laundry and ironing myself as a very, very small price to pay for not having slimy shirts. At the time I could only deal with 100% cotton shirts. 65% cotton/35% polyester was still gross. Did that for years......

https://forum.dvdtalk.com/other-talk/477382-bluette-any-you-use-whiten-ur-whites-wash.html

 

[launderess]

Downy wrinkle guard has basically same FS technology with the Damage Control version seemingly specially modified to work in wash. Downy DC is an over glorified version of their in wash scent beads from which much of the technology is borrowed.

If ones washing machine has a FS dispenser and or already does so manually at final rinse, don't see any clear advantage of using Downy Damage Control.

Am waiting to read the many posts on internet from people going on about how they don't use FS, but add Downy Damage Control to the wash.....