Review: Detergent aisles of American supermarkets

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Powders vs Liquids

It is worth noting that the two top rated "HE" detergents in a recent Consumer Reports article were powders.

Both (Ultra) Tide with Bleach and (Ultra)Tide were the only detergents to clean all tested soils and stains across the board including grass, blood and other stains.

Mind you as Which? reported earlier neither liquid or gel detergents contain bleaches which factors into why they cannot totally shift certain stains.
 
I find it interesting,

and I hope I'm not high jacking this thread, but...since we have talked so much here on AAW.ORG about the pro's and con's of washing soda, and other precipitating builders in detergents, that the two "top rated" (Tide powders) both contain them! And as much as 30% of the total in the formula!
Anyone care to comment ?
 
There Is Nothing Intrinsically Evil About Washing Soda (Sodi

Just as with everything else much depends upon how it's used, in what amounts, and what type.

Housewives, laundry workers and anyone else has known for ages that base (alkaline) substances shift certains soils, oils and grease for cleaning. Many also found out from rough, hard, cracked and dry hands from being frequently in contact with the stuff in wash/cleaning water how harsh soda can be.

Most TOL and MOL laundry detergent powders contain far less soda than older versions, especially after phosphates were removed and makers had to find their way around. Modern enzymes, surfactants, Zeolites and other substances remove much of the need for large amounts of washing soda in detergents. IIRC versions of Tide powder are <40% sodium carbonate more or less. Inexpensive products such as Arm&Hammer of old (and maybe even today for all one knows) still contain lots of washing soda to provide cleaning action. The stuff is cheap and can even be billed as "green".
 
Jerrod:

Last weekend, I saw several boxes of HE Tide with Bleach powder on clearance at both the Target in South Philly and in Bridesburg (2701 Caster Ave). Target is now stocking the new vivid white and bright Tide powder, although I didn't check if it was in HE version. Last night, I found myself in the Target at the Springfield mall, and they must have had 100 boxes of non-he Gain powder 50% off.

Joe
 
No luck

I went to the Snyder Ave Target and no luck.  There were two boxes of gain powder and two boxes of regular Tide powder pushed over to the right side along the wall.  All of the aisles where loaded with liquid although there were empty spaces on the shelves.  What is this Vivid White?  How is it different from Tide with Bleach.

 

There isn't another South Philly Target is there?
 
Jerrod -

Vivid White IS Tide with Bleach - no changes except in name and packaging. I think P&G is trying to dispell a well anchored consumer myth that detergents with bleach have Chlorine bleach that will cause Chlorine related problems.

Gordon
 
Tide "Vivid"

We went through this on another thread.

In yet another inprovement/incarnation of Tide, P&G yas launched "Vivid" technology which covers Tide detergents (both liquids and powders), along with "Boost" stain pacs and Pods.

Apparently the new chemical cocktail contains special enzymes and chemicals to restore and keep whites and colours "bright". Claims are also made that the Vivid line of products will restore whiteness to washing that has gone dingy with tattle-tale grey.

Have seen the new "Vivid" Tide liquid detergents at local shops, but not the powders or Pods/pacs. Since powdered Tide in any version is rare around here don't know if anyone will bother stocking. That is unless what puny offerings (mainly ultra TWB and or Tide HE) are swapped out for the new "Vivid" stuff.
 
Well Something Is Going On

At least for one shop.

A quick milk run before closing time with a detour down the detergent section shows one puny box of Ultra Tide "HE" powder. What other powdered Tide normally offered was bare shelf space.

This particular shop is normally pretty good at keeping things in stock so one wonders if space is being made for the new Tide "Vivid" powders, as the liquid is already on offer.

Speaking of P&G in general have noticed for the past year or so Tide liquid detergents in our area go on sale like clockwork. Indeed if one is willing to look the sales seem to rotate amoung local NYC shops so one really never purchase at full price if careful. However Tide powders *NEVER* go on sale, ever, period.
 
About Target and Tide Vivid

Target "clearanced" a lot of their powdered detergent starting about 2-3 weeks ago here. First they weren't a huge deal - like 10% off or maybe 20%. They had all the Tide with Bleach powders, and some Gain items. I first thought they were cutting powders down further. BUT, now Tide Vivid is in great supply on Target shelves, powder included, and it looks like they were just changing boxes over to the new packages. They have Vivid in original scent and in Clean Breeze. The Gain products they got rid of seem to have made way for others as well, so the net drop in powders seems minimal. Target did have Cheer powder that seems NLA there now.

Last week the Clearance detergents got a second round of more aggressive clearance pricing, which is why it was hard to find by week's end. I found one lone 63-load box of Gain Apple Mango that has been priced at $11.99 for $4.64 on Friday night. It had been placed on a nearby shelf where someone must have changed their mind - it was the only one left of any clearance powder. A week before it was plentiful.

As to the formulation of Vivid - I have asked P&G now twice by phone if there is any difference with this and the previous Tide w/Bleach. Both times I've been told the formulas are the same and that the product is simply being re-branded to get it out there in the mindsets of more consumers. The new additions to the vivid line like the Tide Boost, etc. may certainly have improved brightening abilities, etc. to augment the line however. Nothing different in liquid or powder detergent alone.

Gordon
 
Don't know about the Gain Apple Mango Tango stuff. I sniffed it once a long time ago in the store and thought it was pretty dreadful. But I think that about most products these days and there apparently is a market for those types of products. Between that and all those ridiculous fabric softeners and scent beads it is a wonder anyone can breathe. One of my friends who shall remain nameless is so over the top that they insist on liquid softener in the rinse and dryer sheets to boot. You can smell them coming a mile away and in a closed space with he and his family, the effect is near suffocation level.
 
Apple Mango Tango - is a muted version of the scent of an apply Jolly Rancher candy, if that means anything. When I first noticed this stuff, I said "dang, we've come a long way from the Gain of the 1980s", but it leaves a decent fresh scent in the finished product.

Certainly to each his/her own in detergent scents. I give my Mom a lot of detergent, and recently I got back a bottle of Fab Spring Magic - "Smells like cheap men's aftershave" she said. I like it, lol...
 
SF Bay Area P&G Check for powders and liquids

My stores in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area mirror what everybody else is saying; powders are hard to find. When two Safeway stores (the biggest chain in our area)announced remodeling, we all thought we'd get more selections. Nope. Just more rows of large sizes of Tide Liquid in too many flavors. They don't even carry Cheer any longer. I have to go to independent stores (Diablo Foods in Lafayette CA 94549) to find a good selection of products, especially in smaller sizes.
 
I do like the scent of Apple Mango Tango but I don't really know about the softener. I mean, I do Know the scent but am unsure if I like it or not.
 
Duane Reade

A good friend of mine is an executive with Walgreens Corporate in Chicago and the the plan is to slowly integrate the Duane Reade chain into Walgreens over the next few years. New Yorkers hate change and I told him this would be a BAD idea for business in the long term.

As for the grocery chains offered here in Florida, we have:

Publix
Winn Dixie (soon to be BI-LO)
Albertson's
Sweetbay
Whole Foods Market
Sedano's
WalMart
Fresh Market

Publix is the market leader but VERY expensive. Albertson's presence here has all but come down to a few stores. Sweetbay is fantastic, great sales and excellent produce. Sweetbay is owned by Hannaford which is a New England supermarket chain. I find myself shopping at The Fresh Market mostly these days. It truly is a wonderful shopping experience but a bit pricey.
 
Every Duane Reade One Has Seen

Either has been or is now going through vast make-overs that turn them into small supermarkets.

First thing one noticed after the sale was that WG took away all DG POS terminals/cash registers and replaced them with their own equipment. My pharmacist told me that all the DR computers with patient/perscription information and such were taken and tossed as well. Again these were replaced with WG equipment. However many scripts either weren't transferred or done incorrectly. Pharmacists or patients spent hours contacting doctors to get replacment scripts.

Other thing to go at once was the DR private label merchandise, again replaced with WG stuff. I purchase saline solution for contacts from DR and noticed the cartons were now Walgreens.

Thing is how things came full circle for Duane Reade.

When one first started working in The City, you couldn't find a DR above downtown/Wall street area. By the 1990's they had expanded all over NYC and showed no signs of slowing down. In the process they either purchased or put out of business scores of small independent "mom and pop" pharmacies. So it came to pass even they got too big and for that and a few other reasons DR will soon vanish into Walgreens.
 
Didn't Duane Reade buy out a bunch of Walgreen's locations? My local Walgreen's growing up was the busiest or highest grossing location of all for many years.
 
No, sorry, I meant like 20/30 years ago. I seem to recall reading that Walgreen's once had a lot of locations in Manhattan and DR bought them up. If you look at picture's from the 70's you'll see Walgreen's there. Still have my DR umbrella (well, not DR brand). I'm over all the Osco's in Chicago becoming CVS except for Jewel-Osco combo's.
 
At last

Sunday I went to the Superfresh store and it was stocked with Tide Vivid  white +  bright....whatever....but all they had was liquid.  I really don't want the stuff with bleach alternative  because I cannot use chlorine bleach in my machine, so I want an Oxygen bleach product.

 

Today I went to my local Target store which, the last time I was there had empty shelf space and no powders in sight, and the first shelf I saw was stocked with Tide Vivid White with bleach.  They also had an He  version so I bought a 52 load size box.  One thing I noticed on the back of the box was an advertisement for liquid Tide vivid white + bright suggesting that you could use vivid boost packs for even better performance.  So P&G is PUSHING the liquid version plus asking you to buy the vivid pacs in addition.  I'm not buying  that line from them and I am actually slightly offended by this..  If the single product is supposed to be new and improved and it is so good there should be no need for anything additional. 

 

Tomorrow(Wednesday) I am going to wash a few white loads and see how this stuff performs.  

 

 
 
Jerrod -

There is no chlorine bleach in liquid Tide, Vivid labeled or otherwise. That's why the stuff is called "bleach alternative" because its an alternative to real chlorine bleach.

Sounds like the liquid is exactly what you're looking for as is the powder. I'd rather have the powder any day though, but its great that Target is carrying the powder. Last time I was at my local Target they had the HE powder version as well as the non-HE, and it seems the HE is hard to find for some folks on here.

Gordon
 
Thanks Gordon

 

I was looking for something that would contain oxygen bleach just like Persil Megaperals for whites has.  Tide without the bleach performs OK but not as good as Persil Megaperals so I was looking for a Tide that contained Oxygen bleach.

 

Like I mentioned Tide has the liquid advertised on the box and says that you get even better whitening  and stain removable using the liquid vivid  plus tide boost pods.  I looked of the ingredients of the powder, the liquid and the pods.  Like you said the  liquid contains no actual bleach of any kind, the pods which they tell you to add in addition to the liquid contain sodium percarbonate.   The powder contains sodium percarbonate. So why BUY two products(Tide boost pacs cost about $11 at my Target)  to get almost  the same thing as the powder already has.   I get the feeling that the liquid with bleach alternative alone  may not be as effect as the powder alone which  contains sodium percarbonate oxygen bleach.

 

I have been trying to use Tide He products in my machine for the last 9 years.  The problems were that there was no oxygen bleach, but beyond that the stuff could never be rinsed well.  A few months ago I trid the newer formulation of Tide Total care liquid and the silicon in it helps to control the suds very well.  I am hoping to have better success with cleaning and rinsing with This "new and improved" Tide with bleach.  

[this post was last edited: 9/5/2012-14:57]
 
Pod Type Detergents and Laundry Boosters

Since it is possible to mix oxgyen bleach with enzymes, nor for that matter are liquid hydrogen peroxide laundry bleaches as effective as sodium percarbonate or perborate based, what to do?

Enter "pod" technology where liquid detergent and or (enzyme)boosters and powdered oxygen bleach are in one packet but yet each separate. This give shelf stability and allows both to retain their power until dissloved in water.

P&G amoung others had early versions of pods with their Tide "Stain Release" sachets,which must not have been a hit as they seemed to have vanished in favour of the new pods.

All this palver is about how liquid detergents have pretty much taken over the market share in many areas of the US and or EU but that causes some problems.

Liquid detergents do not contain bleaches and without such substances certains soils/stains will not shift. More over whites and colourfast items may appear dull and dingy after repeated washings. To some extent detergent makers overcame the last bit by boosting the amount and or type of bluing agents that make textiles *appear* whiter, but that does nothing to remove stains.

Liquid hydrogen peroxide long used by commercial laundries does not function well at temps <120F or even 140F. It also requires an alkaline pH in the wash water to really become effective. Most liquid laundry detergents since they are based on surfactants rather than washing soda and other base substances tend to be neutral to only slightly alkaline.

OTHO sodium percarbonate is not only effective in cold water, but brings along it's own alkaline pH to boot. This removes the need for much if any extra washing soda. You can save money and cut out the middleman by simply purchasing pure sodium percarbonate (Ecover sells it in small boxes, or from a bulk chemistry source), and add it along with liquid/gel detergent. The only worry is that putting both into the detergent dispenser at the same time can cause clumping. I get around this by putting the liquid or gel detergent into one of the dosing caps that came with Ariel "Excell" which goes into the drum, and placing the oxygen bleach into the dispenser drawer. *NEVER* place powdered oxygen bleach inside the drum/on top of laundry. Once wet the stuff will start to bleach and can cause colour loss/textile damage.

All things being equal a good powdered laundry detergent with an oxygen based bleaching system such as Persil, Ariel, TWB,etc should handle most laundry day problems on their own. For really stubborn soils/stains one could add a bit of extra sodium percarbonate if required.
 
I'se Do Try

Every so often my college degree in marketing does come in handy! *LOL*

It really is amazing the amount of R&D consumer products makers put into "everything old is new again".

Back in the old days detergent packets simply told us to add bleach if necessary and when. Now after spending serious money for P&G TOL laundry detergents (Tide in it's vast number of incarnations), we are told to also purchase a "booster" in the form of Tide Pods to make up for whatever cleaning performance is lacking.

Meanwhile powdered TWB was the top rated detergent for how many years? It cleaned, whitened, and brightened plus removed most stains all by itself.

Forgot to add, anyone interesting in "sanitising" one's wash can simply add double or even triple the recommended dosage of sodium percarbonate (oxygen bleach). When you look at the various "hygiene" detergents sold in the UK and EU (Ariel, Persil) the only thing one finds is they contain more oxygen bleach than the standard versions.
 
I wonder how much percarbonate is in this new Tide?  The box says it is safe for colors but advises you to do a test before using it.  On the other hand Persil Universal Megaperls for whites and lights, warns you not to use that formula on colors. Of course they also sell Megaperls for colors which is bleach  and optical brightener free.

 

Earlier this week I washed white sheets that my dog had soiled(solid waste) in TWB.  It was one set of queen sheets and I used line 1 ( I think 3 tablespoons)  since my machine is a smaller fl.  I used a temp of 120F and the normal wash cycle which gives a 20 minute wash followed by two rinses.  There were stains remaining.

 

I compared this to the previous time when these same sheets were soiled in the same manner and I used 1 tablespoon of Persil Megaperls.  Same wash length, same temperature, and in both cases the sheets were sitting around for over a week before I washed them.  Persil  load emgergered with no stains remaining at all.  Maybe a different intensity in the stain? 

 

I was only going to use the TWB on white loads in place of Megaperls for whites and then use Tide Total Care for colors.

I am not into using washer additives and boosters I want one or two products that just work.

[this post was last edited: 9/7/2012-17:40]
 

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