Outrageous Tide HE Pricing

[sudsmaster]

Visited the local Safeway today to pick up some flea drops for the cats... while I was there of course I perused the detergent aisle. I was astounded to see that a medium size 96 load bottle of Tide HE liquid was going for $19!!!. Amazing, considering the regular Tide liquid of the same size was going for $8. I'm assuming it was some sort of pricing error, but who knows?

In any case, I saw a newish product, Safeway Select HE Free and Clear liquid, 2X "Ultra", 32 load size, on sale for 2 bottles for $7 (or $3.50 ea). I bought one and will see how it does. They had Method HE free and clear on sale too, but I passed on that this time.

I don't care much for Tide HE liquid anyway... lol...

 

[~sudsshane]

HE Detergents are a rip off..

do yourself a favor and buy a box of Fab powder which is formulated for HE Front & Top load machines. Fresh Start is another great choice for HE machines.

Good Luck!

 

[sudsmaster]

Um, I've tried regular detergents, including low sudsing or "HE compatible" ones, and find they generally come up short. A good HE detergent is forumated not only with low sudsing in mind, but for example also with dye transfer inhibitors ("color protection agents"), which are more important in the reduced water volume of a front loader or HE top loader. Other ingredients may be adjusted to maximize the detergent's performance in low water volumes - but don't ask me what ;-).

 

[launderess]

Was just down at K-Sears earlier, but didn't check the price of the TideHE liquid.

Anyway that one bottle of TideHE liquid will last ages as one only needs about a tablespoon or less. Using the recommended dosage of either the powder or liquid Tide products is a sure way to cause suds lock.

L.

 

[sudsmaster]

Oh, by the way Laundress, I have to concede one point to you.

As you may know, I switched to washing my whites in a combination of grated Ivory soap and STPP a few months ago. I've been generally very pleased with the results, not the least of which is eliminating the need for fabric softener.

But, the other weekend, as I was folding the kitchen towels, I noticed that they were getting a dull staining and a yellowish cast. Not lovely. I compared some tidy whities that I'd been laundering with soap with some I hadn't worn for a while, and also noticed a difference.

Soooooo... out came the Sears HE with Bleach alternative plus STPP for the last whites wash. Presto! The whiteness was restored, stains un-noticible again. Now, it MIGHT be the oxygen bleach that did the trick, so I may start adding some of that to the soap/STPP mixture in future. Stay tuned!

 

[launderess]

My stash of vintage Fels soap bars sits forlorn and unused as I've narrowed my laundering down to Tide "pro" detergent, or Persil,with the occasional use of Wisk "Power Scoop" unscented powder. While soap is fun, there are just too many things that make it more complicated than dosing with proper detergent.

Try "stripping" your soap washed laundry by laundering in hot water and a healthy dose of STPP. This was the way housewives would remove soap build up from their laundry that was turning it tattle-tale grey and yellow.

Best,

L.

 

[frigilux]

I bought soap online and really liked the scent, and how it worked on loads of white bath towels. Unfortunately, I have no warm rinse option on the TL'er----there's a setting that says Warm/Warm, but it's only the 22-second spray rinse that's warm, not the deep rinse----and soap tends to seize up when going from a hot wash directly to a cold rinse. And the front-loader has 2 cold rinses before a final warm one. So there was a lot of running back to the machines and intercepting cold rinses. Too much trouble to balance the positives of using soap.

In addition to that, I kept reading about soap scum build-up in the washer, itself.

So, the soap went into the trash. I'm a detergent guy.

 

[gansky1]

Highway Robbery!!

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a pricing error on the Tide HE, I've never paid anywhere near that much.

I had been using way too much of the new concentrated liquid and had suds for days. Cut back to line 1 on the cap and everything is fine again. I wish they wouldn't have changed the formula to make more suds.

I have not used real soap for a long time, I may have to try it on some towels again - I have softened water and lots of machines with warm rinse options so it wouldn't be too difficult to "get it right."

 

[bleacho]

tide is sooo expensive...

i agree with you. in addition, when coupons come out for tide, they aare generously offering you .20 off your next purchase of "any size tide" i think its funny.
question- i was in sears and saw the powder detergent they offer. does anyone know ifits good detergent for a front loder?is it recommended for front loaders, and does it do a great job? thanks in advance.

 

[panthera]

Steve,

I have used the Sears in my parents FL. It works very well and quieted my worries about that dratted bearing all the Electrolux FLs use (Kenmore, Frigidaire, GE...and yes, I know not all FLs from these firms are from Electrolux).
Unfortunately, my mom's very sensitive skin goes through the ceiling with it...despite the second rinse and fast spin.
I don't know about your Sears, but the one here in Cheyenne was offering free trial packets at Christmas, maybe if you ask they still have some.
Personally, if allergies are no big problem, I'd stick with Ariel products. There's a Mexican detergent test in another thread here today...

 

[rp2813]

Safeway

Suds, I can't even remember the last time I was in a Safeway. I got turned off for a number of reasons and high prices was among them. The pricing of the Tide HE was probably a mistake as it's way off from the regular stuff, and some disinterested employee apparently didn't even bat an eye when posting that price. I wonder if it was entered into the scanning system at that same price. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to all of our Bay Area Albertson's becoming Lucky stores again. The new parent company that bought Albertson's has a SaveMart store in my area and I enjoy shopping there. If they operate the revived Lucky stores the same way, I'll be shopping at my local one a lot more than I do in its current Albertson's incarnation.

Mandy is right. You only need to fill the cup to line one with the new super concentrated Tide HE. A little goes a long way.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I bought some of the Safeway Select HE on the same sale price. I used some as a pretreatment and then for the load, but in the A806, so I do not know how it behaves in a front loader. I think that whatever I was washing got clean, but I used more than recommended.

 

[aamassther]

Safeway Select HE

I picked up some last month at Dominics, when I was in Chicago. I've been using it on my massage linens with pretty good results. It gets out most of the oil stains without pretreating. It does pretty well in the higher temps. It's not too sudsy, way less than Tide HE liquid and a little more than Method. I also picked up some Safeway Oxygen Pro to help keep my white sheets, white. I like it a lot. It doesn't have all the additives that Church and Dwight put into OxyClean.

 

[sudsmaster]

Cimberlie and Frigilux,

All the soap washes of whites were using ample amounts of STPP and hot (130F boosted) water. Additionally, I set the Neptune to do a "stain cycle", which in addition to inserting pauses in the wash action, also forces the first rinse to be the same temp as the wash. So the first rinse was hot as well (non-boosted though).

I would try "stripping" with STPP but I figured it would be just as easy to just give the whites a regular washing with a good HE deterent powder boosted with STPP and oxygen bleach.

I'll probably be adding some Oxyclean clone to the soap-STPP mix for whites here on out, and see if the problem recurs.

 

[andrewinorlando]

I'm with Shane on that....I stopped using HE detergents long ago. I now use Ariel Oxy Azul....just 3 or 4 tablespoons, depending on the load, and it does an utterly brilliant job on everything. Also used Fab powder and Ace (though Ace can be sudsy, as well as All Small & Mighty liquid (non HE). But Ariel cleans anything, brightens, whitens, and generally does a brilliant job cleaning. Never had any issue with dye transfer or dulling. And it's CHEAP at the Mexican or Puerto Rican grocery stores. Couldn't ask for more....well, wished it had a nicer scent, but I can live with it.

 

[peterh770]

Give the Wisk HE 3x a try...

The Tide Naturals showed up in Kroger recently. Only the White Lilac scent though. I will say, the lilac scent is extremely close to the real thing -- but it is waaaaaay tooooo sweet for my liking in the laundry room.

 

[spiralator60]

Question For Sudsmaster

I was in Vons this afternoon (also owned by the company that owns Safeway) and noticed the same promotion here. There was a notice on the price tag on the shelf that said the 2 bottles for $7.00 promotion would end on Tuesday, August 21. Is this also the case at Safeway?

 

[~sudsshane]

Wisk HE 3x

I have used Wisk HE and if I were to buy an HE detergent, that is one I would choose. It does a much better job than Tide in my humble opinion.

 

[sudsmaster]

I got turned off to Wisk HE early on because it was the only HE detergent I could find back in 2000, and it really sucked at getting grimy jeans clean. Plus the fragrance is putrid IMHO. I might give Wisk 3x another chance, but right now I have a large surplus of various detergents and really don't need to add yet another one to the mix... anyone want some vintage Wisk HE liquid???

Oh, and I didn't notice the expiration date on the special on the Safeway Select HE "Free", but I used it today in cold water to wash some cotton/bamboo bath mats, as well as the bath towels in hot hot water. It seemed to work fine, but I haven't taken in the laundry off the line yet to see how soft the results are. Gotta do that now before I forget!