Selling Soap: "Oxydol Goes Into High" 1938 Procter & Gamble

[dirtybuck]

Has anyone else seen this? It's kind of long, but also very interesting.

My apologies if it's been posted before (but I don't think it has).

 

[alr2903]

Thanks for posting, I had not run onto that one.  alr2903

 

[whirlcool]

There you go, a movie that demonstrates where high sudsing ideas came from. "Oxydol creates 40% more suds than leading competitors." So this is one reason why housewives of the time equated high sudsing with high cleaning.

 

[launderess]

Oxydol

In that incarnation was granulated soap, therefore of course housewives and anyone else doing laundry wanted to see high froth. Mounds of suds have been the indication for ages that there was enough soap in the water to clean.

To an extent soap is it's own water softener. That is because the stuff binds with hard water minerals once you have enough soap in water solution that takes care of that problem the rest is used for cleaning. This is why you can use less soap when laundering with soft water versus hard.

Rinso, Super Suds, Oxydol etc.. were all competing as the "modern" way of laundering/cleaning as they were granulated soap powders. This as opposed to grating or shaving off bits of soap as was done for ages. In theory because the soap was in a powder from it dissolved faster in water and mixed easier than the other packaged soap for wash day, chips or flakes (Chipso or Lux Flakes).

 

[supersuds]

Interesting viewing, even if Super Suds was the worst performer.

I wonder if P&G added something like the olefin sulfonate listed on my Instant Fels Naptha box. Apparently about the only purposes of it is to create more suds.

Rinse is usually credited with having the first optical brightener, Soleum, in the Forties, I think. Wonder if there was any truth to Oxydol's claim of whiter clothes?

They were also clearly very aware of the problems of dulling soap film.

 

[stan]

The secret ingreideant

they simply refer to as "S" ...that takes care of the Hard water, make more suds, rinses cleaner, ect
So it's sodium..... You fill in the blank. LOL

 

[launderess]

Soap + Surfactant

Is still the basis for all those "soap" based laundry detergents. From Le Chat flakes to Persil avec Savon de Marseille, what you generally find are non-ionic and or anionic surfactants along with various amounts of soap.

As one has been saying if anyone feels they must use soap for washday, you are better off using a free and clear liquid such as Tide HE version along with the soap. The surfactants in soap deal with hard water minerals and or are not affected by them, also you get a cleaning and stain removal power greater than soap alone. Best part is there is less of a chance in developing tattle-tale grey wash over time.

 

[stan]

Dear

You mean surfactants in the "detergent" deal with the hard water...
Right?

 

[labboy]

When did Oxydol switch from a soap based formulation to a detergent with oxygen bleach?

 

[launderess]

IIRC

Sometime in the 1960's

It was an attempt to revive the brand which once was P&G's best seller laundry wise (when it was soap), but got dethroned when Tide came upon the scene.

If you look at the patents for early Oxydol and Biz you'll seem them later on Tide with Bleach. P&G perfected their activated oxygen bleaching system and gave it to Tide, once again making a strong seller even better. Oxydol eventually got a similar formula but by then the deed was done. Oxydol never reached the same sales it had before Tide was introduced.

 

[supersuds]

Although I can't now read the date on this ad, I've got it marked as coming from 1956. If it was really new at that point (the wording is ambiguous) it seems the oxygen bleach came along that year. I don't know whether Oxydol became a detergent before that.

 

[launderess]

@ Stan

Y'all sir

 

[dirtybuck]

Oxydol Commercial

Made in 1957.

I wish I could find one of the Oxydol commercials Marion Lorne (Aunt Clara from "Bewitched") made in the mid-60's

 

[stan]

Laundress

"Y'all sir" ?
Sorry dear, I don't know what that means? Is it computer jargon ? Help me out here. LOL