Speculating about Tide with bleach powder and the old P&G Oxydol powder

[wringersteve]

While in college back in the 80's, I used Oxydol (at that time made by P&G) in my laundry. It cleaned best in the extremely hard southern Indiana water piped into the dorm washing machines. Oxydol had a great clean scent and green specks.

Yesterday I bought a box of Tide with bleach powder for the first time. I ripped open the box, saw the blue specks, and took a whiff. To my surprise, I thought it smelled almost identical to the old Oxydol!

Tide with bleach has oxygen bleach, as did Oxydol. This is just speculation on my part, but could it be that Tide with bleach is the old Oxydol formula with blue speckles instead of green? P&G made both brands simultaneously until selling off the Oxydol brand. Admittedly, I know nothing about the new Oxydol or the company that manufactures it.

Any opinions?

 

[stan]

oxydol

Wonder if you call or Email P&G and ask?

 

[launderess]

Oxydol was actually a laundry product purchased by P&G (or rather they bought the company), in the 1920's. This far predates the launch of Tide (1940's).

Being as this may, P&G holds numerous patents for activated bleaching systems based upon sodium perborate and NBOS. After perfecting said system the company launched Tide with Bleach in 1989. Tide being their premium detergent always gets first "dibs" on any new updates in chemicals and so forth.

P&G later extended the activated bleaching system to it's other detergents; Gain with Bleach, Cheer with ColourGuard Bleach, and Oxydol.

There are always subtle differences between P&G detergents, so one does not take share away from the other. Cheer for instance was mainly marketed for colours, as such did not contain the heavy doses of bluing/OBA agents that Tide did. Cheer did contain small amounts of sodium perborate, but that was to counter the chlorine found in most tap water within the United States. This was part of the "colourguard" system.

The flecks you see in P&G detergents with bleaching action are actually the chemical activator. Now while the systems may act the same, *highly* doubt P&G would produce a "Tide with Bleach" formula that could steal sales (Oxydol was always cheaper than Tide), and harm their star brand's sales. Therefore something must be a bit different between the two detergents.

Actually have a "vintage" box of Oxydol in my stash, so maybe one day will do a patent search and see what there is.

 

[launderess]

Should Add

That Oxydol went through many changes before finally being sold off by P&G.

Though at first a soap, P&G changed the formula to a "detergent" shortly after the launch of Tide. Then at some point oxygen bleach was added. Later on enzymes (Oxydol Plus), came along. P&G's slogan for the later was "what bleach does not get out, enzymes will).

Now what bleaching system Oxydol used prior to 1989 is the question. Biz, which began as an enzyme pre-soak eventually became a "bleach" with an activated bleaching system, but also kept it's enzymes. However Biz was one solid colour far as one remembers.

Tide with Bleach's claim to fame was that with the activated bleaching system it worked in warm and even "cold" water. The system has been refined over the years by P&G, and it's latest incarnation is found in "Tide Coldwater" powder.

 

[angus]

Back in the late 80's, a new version of Oxydol was introduced to test market areas. I was working for six months in Phoenix at the time so I would see it in the AJ Bayless supermarkets. It was called Oxydol with Acti-Bleach and it looked, smelled and performed very much like what we know now as original scent Tide with Bleach. I recall using it and being blown away by the results. Interstingly, this product never made it to national distribution. However not a year later, Tide with Bleach made its national debut. My guess was that P&G 's test marketing revealed that they had a huge hit on their hands and figured that this product could be even bigger if marketed as their flagship brand of Tide. Of course this is speculation but it was a strange coincidence nonetheless.

 

[wringersteve]

Thank you, Laundress, for the information. It makes sense to me!

 

[launderess]

Angus:

Makes sense a moi! P&G often test markets new products and changed versions in select areas of the country before a national roll out.

WringerSteve:

You're welcome! Anytime, feel free!

 

[kenmoreguy64]

P&G's Oxydol vs. Tide w/bleach

The exact date is fuzzy in my memory, but Wikipedia says that Oxydol was bought by Redox/CR Brands in 2000. At the time that ownership of Oxydol changed, the final P&G formula that was available in Charlotte looked and smelled EXACTLY like Tide w/bleach powder. Same blue specs even. I had some and found similar results to the Tide also.

After the brand changed ownership in 2000, new product began to arrive on shelves that had a new box print (same P&G carton though). The product STILL smelled and looked the same, almost as if P&G was making it for a while until Redox could take over manufacturing.

Once the new company was established, the product was redeveloped.

Interestingly, those same blue specs are in an older box of ColdWater Tide that I opened this past summer, at least they look the same.

Gordon