Tablets or powder

[askomiele]

I was thinking last night. When my mum goes to the store she buys tablets, always tablets. We use instead of 2 always one tablet per washload. It costs us 20 cent (euro) to wash a load with 1 tablet. Are tablets cheaper then the powder from the same brand or not. Because when I counted all things together, a load with the powder costs us 21 cent. Did I forgot something?

 

[dj-gabriele]

Washing with tablets is more expensive... at least here in Italy.

I got Dixan Tabs (30 tabs for 15 washes) at 4,70 euros on a sale to try it (the regular price I found out later was 4,99 €)

This makes a load cost (full price) around 0,33€ = 0,49$ = 0,24£

Using Dixan powder at 6,02 € per 27 washes I can get a price of 0,29 € = 0,43$ = 0,21£

This makes the powder a little less expensive, plus I can dose it better according to the load and how much it is dirty.
I'm not talking about the even more expensive Dash because I can't recall the prices.

Plus I have to throw tablets in the drum because at times they don't completely dissolve in the detergent drawer!

Ahhh... btw Dixan is the Italian name for Persil as I finally found out.

 

[panthera]

Depends

Here in Munich,
Tablets are about 1/3 more expensive than powder for the same quality. Makes you wonder.

 

[rapunzel]

I powder everything. With dishwashers I find the tablet concept senseless and wasteful. Really, depending on what cycle one chooses, when exactly is what layer of the tablet dissolving? Dishwashers have detergent dispensers that eject the powder at exactly the right time and I determine how much powder I want to put inside the cup. Using dishdrawers, tablets are out of the question anyway. The marketing for dishwasher tablets is very aggressive and there are very few powders to choose from now. I think it is a laziness to use tablets in the dishwasher, rather than placing a measured amount of powder inside the dispenser cup.

With laundry I use only powders and liquids - tablets just seem gimmicky to me.

 

[MrX]

Ireland

We're about to start taxing laundry tablets here due to the fact that they're unnecessary packaging. The pack will be subject to a fairly small 25cent levy, but it's itemised on your till receipt etc so it does make you think.

We introduced a 22cent charge per plastic bag a few years ago and it cut plastic bag usage by almost 90%. It wasn't that the charge was so high that people would not pay it. Rather, it was more that because each bag has to be scanned through the till individually and that you have to individually ask for them and tell the shop how many you think you'll need etc makes people think more.

Most people bring their own shopping bags to the supermarket thesedays. It's just frowned upon not to.

Personally, I think detergent tablets are just a marketing gimick. There's very little advantage, if any, to using them. In fact, most of them have drawbacks e.g. they don't necessarily disperse as well as a powder or can clog your drawer, particularly if you've low pressure water or you're doing a very small load.

They're also more expensive and you loose the fine dosing control you have with a powder or liquid.

Can't really see the point!

Dishwasher tablets are mostly self-dissolving and non individually wrapped, so I can kind of see an advantage to them. Also, dishwasher dosage is not really varied too much.

That being said, the packaging on some of those tablets is ridiculous! Finish Quantum in particular!!!

Sun tablets are just in dissolvable packs in a single plastic bag inside the box and the same with P&G Fairy active bursts which are just in a ziplock bag.

Overall, I think laundry tablets are a waste of time though!

 

[jetcone]

I find Megapearls

to be a bit of a disaster too. They roll like ball bearings against each other. So if you slightly overfill or are careless with heaping the scoop then you end up with them on the floor and you can't scoop them up! You have to wet them to the point they dissolve in water. If you try sweeping them they powder up into a very fine powder ( finer than powder detergent) and then that fine powder sticks "to beat all get out" against the concrete!