P&G's New Powders

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It makes sense from all standpoints to make your product as concentrated as possible until you have to deal with the mentality of the end user. I remember when people used to use a china or Melamine teacup to measure detergent. It was not an exact measure, but it was enough to wash the clothes. Detergents with lots of fillers fared well, but concentrated detergents were deemed too expensive to use because they did not switch from the teacup measure.

The size of a box of Tide for the same number of loads has swelled over the years after the very concentrated formulas of the late 80s. Is this "deja vu all over again"?
 
I've always thought that powders were much more earth friendly than liquids, biodegradable packaging, lighter weight and such, but manufactures seem to be pushing liquid. Liquid is bulkier, weighs more to transport and has plastic bottles that will be in landfills for centuries, all negatives in my book..
 
I don't like the concentrated formulas as my loads are small & is very hard to figure out how much to use. As I have soft water, I use even less. Just what I need, more frustration!!
 
It would be stupid to curtail the production of HE detergents when the majority of the washers on the market are some form of HE design and that is the direction in which the market is moving, based on the energy mandates.
 
I am seeing more and more powders again. Even borax. I live in Massachusetts. Walmart that was supposed to be doing away with powders seems to be showing more on their shelves. I always wondered how powders were considered less green than liquids. I would think liquids weigh more to ship.

It is very troublesome to figure out how much powder to use. When I use the GAIN HE, I use a shotglass full for a large load in my Frigidaire 3.5 cu ft. capacity washer. The water feels slippery but doesn't produce too many suds. I figure I'm doing something right?
 
In Case Anyone Missed It

Marketing item from the link above states only Tide "top loading" powders will undergo "performance upgrades".

So we can only assume Tide HE powder is *not* truly a H-axis detergent only. Or it won't be performance enhanced like it's cousins. Or, the compact powder won't reach the TideHE line (highly unlikely as all types of Tide powders come from the same basic formula). Perhaps there simply will no longer be a Tide HE powder, just the liquid.

Time will tell.
 
The HE powders have changed over time. At one point, the HE powder had less loads than the equivalent sized and priced "regular" powder. But now the same box size has the an equal number of loads and equivalent price.

Perhaps the HE powder formulations already include the performance upgrades.
 
I have always thought that powder was a much more shipping/space efficient media as compared to liquid. The bottles for liquids leave wasted space in shipping cartons, plus they need to get recycled. Nowhere near as many wind up in landfills as they once did, but this is still a potential situation.

With cartons and powder, boxes cube-out a shipping carton, and the cartons can cube-out a truck. I don't see how you can ship more efficiently, other than making the whole thing smaller, as P&G has done.

Here in Charlotte, one of our stores still cares a great many powders. I was shocked at lunch today to find the powder section every bit as large as the liquid, bottom of shelves tot he top! It's the only place I know of to get Tide Mountain Spring in powder and two scents of Tide w/Bleach powder.

It will be interesting to see what Sun does with Surf as a response to this. They seem to be putting heavy effort into Surf, with new formulas with Baking Soda and an Oxi-Active version too. Not sure if Sun is still making an All powder or not.

I just used some old Surf tablets - they must have been 8-10 years old? They were great - and obviously very concentrated ss compared to a scoop-full of P&G current powder.

Gordon
 
Sun Products' Powders

According to where you shop here in Denver, you can find:

All Original at Walgreens

Surf with Bleach at Rite Aid (if still available)

Surf Oxi Active at Albertsons

All Free & Clear at King Soopers

Surf Spring Burst at Walmart

Surf Aloha Fresh at Walmart

Surf Floral Melody at Walmart

Surf Baking Soda at Albertsons

Surf Sparkling Ocean at King Soopers, Walmart, Albertsons
 
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