Sears Ultra Plus HE detergent- less for more $ ??

[drhardee]

I purchased some Sears Ultra Plus (275 load size) in the box today, since they apparently don't package it in the handy pail anymore. Thankfully I kept the 275 load pail and the plastic bag box liner lifted out and fit quite nicely into the empty pail. I did notice some differences, however:
The pail item number is 32 9862; the box number is 32 9898. I figure that's a packaging difference. The packaging descriptions are identical.
The weight of the boxed product is 5 lbs less than the pail product... 26.4 lbs versus 31 lbs for the pail, same # of washes.
The scoop of the "new" boxed product is smaller than the old scoop...50 grams versus 63 grams. The top of the scoop comes up to the top line of the old scoop, visibly smaller. I don't mind the smaller scoop, it'll help me insure less product is used in the Miele.

Any thoughts? Did they take some filler chemical out or is this marketing flim-flam speak? Less product in the box, but a smaller scoop makes the loads-per box math work out?

Hmmm. And, in my Sears there are NO more pailed detergents available. They did, however, have a full selection of detergents with the exception of the stuff with Oxy Clean in it in the 275 wash size. I paid $26.99 for my 26 lb box.

 

[sudsmaster]

My guess is that either they removed some filler (sodium sulfate) or the boxed product isn't really HE and the smaller scoop is for less sudsing in a front loader.

Although I have some of the older non-HE labeled boxed stuff and think it's pretty much the same as the HE labeled product.

BTW, there was a smaller 175 dose pail product that weighed 20 lbs. I bought a bunch of those at Orchard Supply Hardware (owned now by Sears) a few years ago, and just used up the last of the "Regular" or non-bleach stuff, and am now getting into the 30 lb pail stuff. I mix 33% by weight STPP with both kinds and find it gives good results with that. However the newer product with Oxyclean seems to do pretty good all on its own w/o STPP, and seems to give softer results than the older formulation. I've only seen the Oxyclean containing version in the bucket.

 

[drhardee]

I checked before purchasing, and the "HE" logo is there on the front and sides of the packaging. We'll see what we see with performance. I'm slowly discovering that with a TB of Oxy Clean per load, I don't need STTP anymore.

 

[sudsman]

Sears Detergent is just as good or better than it was.

Call the 800 number on the side of the box , you will reach a Mr Bill Bruchert who is VP of Sales and mktng. For Desoto LLc who makes the detergent.. 900 East Washington Street Joliet Ill. A very nice man to talk with.
The pails are discontinued and only boxes are now available. For Eco. reasons. They are considering a large box however it will be some time.. All the detergents are now on line too at sears.com. @ search key in detergents and they all come up.
The detergent is just a bit more concetrated than it was so less is needed. It still works VERY good and for the price cannot be beat, I just purchased 10 boxes. will last a month or so in the smaller machines. Very low sudsing and rinses clear on the 2 nd rinse for us. Am able to cut two rinses out of the regular soil formulas and 3 out of the heavy soil formulas . Now that saves!

 

[toggleswitch2]

My whole family is hooked on the stuff.!

Just got the 120 load size (11 +/- pounds) in the orange cardboard box (a "close-out") for $5, being the stuff WITHOUT the HE logo.

Got the same size WITH the HE logo for $10.

As previously stated the contents of the cardboard box fit easily into the slightly older plastic pail, which holds 14.4 pounds (6.4 kg).

 

[toggleswitch2]

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