Those Laundry Detergent "Pods" ...

[thomasortega]

I don't know if PG has done it intentionally to prevent accidents with kids but.... Try to put a Tide or Ariel Pod in your mouth....

It tastes exactly like an Avon clear enamel i used years ago to stop biting my nails.
Immediatelly after the pod touches the tongue, you'll have an awful experience. The horrible taste reaches the whole mouth and the first thing your brain will order to your hands is take that thing out of your mouth and rinse your mouth with a full swimming pool of water.

If somebody can stand that horrible taste for time enough to dissolve the pod and release the detergent that person deserves a cash prize.

Even if this "taste" is harmful, it's obviously much less dangerous than swalling the detergent from inside.

 

[NYCWriter]

Kids and pods ...

I'm sorry, but if your child is stupid enough not only to mistake a laundry pod for "candy", AND too stupid to spit it out the minute the foul taste touches his tongue, I believe Darwinism truly needs to take over at this point.

 

[liamy1]

Kids and pods

NYCWriter,

Some of these kids were not even 2 years old, did you know what detergent was at this age? Did you even know what death was at this age and that putting something in your mouth could kill you?

The responsibility is with the parent.

Don't get your comment to be honest and think it's a bit sick actually.

 

[launderess]

Fabric Softener Issues Especially With Cold Water

IMHO were the outcome of using the old oils/fats/tallow based FS. Today's versions are often blends of quats,silicones and other substances which may include fats but are generally much more soluble and more importantly do not leave residue. That is subsequent laundering with a quality detergent will remove the stuff.

Consumers Reports for years has been saying that FS is not as bad for towels and other absorbent items as once thought. Do you need to us the stuff is a whole other matter.

Commercial laundries regardless of what they admit to all use fabric softeners or conditioners. For one thing it cuts down on static cling not only in dryers but for items that go through ironers. The oils or whatever in FS leave fabrics with enough "slip" that also makes ironing by hand easier.

As for rinse water temperature IIRC many laundries will use a blend of hot and cold water to get a final rinse temp for say a "cottons" load near 85F to 100F. This is because cottons extract best at temps around 110F. The more water that is extracted by the washer or whatever means less work for dryers. Consumer Reports and other such publications will say that the *small* amount of increased energy dryers use to deal heat a cold water rinse load better than the costs of using warm water rinses, but I'm not too sure the range is that great.

 

[tolivac]

AS members of the animal class of mammals--humans,dogs,cats,any baby mammal-will try anything by tasting,biting it to determine if its food-for humans-they need a mother,father or other older person to train the younger one that trying to eat detergent pods is dangerous-they are NOT food.To a toddler they do not know-the parent,or older person has to tell them and keep the pods and other harmful things out of reach.It is pretty incredible the bad tasting things a child or pet will eat no matter how horrible it tastes or how dangerous it is.That is why we have to keep harmful things out of reach!

 

[arbilab]

M'lady, at roughly what age did the switch take place? I still used LFS into the early 00s, saw them make waterspots on the glass door and grow mildew in the dispenser despite drying it out superficially. Which is why I stopped using them. If they do that to the machine, how could they not be doing that to my towels?

OTOH, in 2009 I worked briefly in a hotel where the laundry injected 3 commercial/industrial fluids; detergent, bleach, conditioner. No idea what was in the conditioner but it didn't seem to waterspot the glass like my grocerystore stuff did a few years earlier.

 

[foraloysius]

There was a lawsuit overhere in the Netherlands from Unilever against Proctor and Gamble. The outcome is that Proctor and Gamble has to take Ariel pods from the market. Unilever has a patent on the so called 3-in-1 pods. The fact that Ariel added a few things doesn't make a difference. The Ariel pods are close enough to the design Unilver has a patent on.

 

[frigilux]

I stopped using fabric softener in 2010 when I purchased a Frigidaire dryer with steam and anti-static options.
Prior to that, I used Downy on nearly every load. Don't really care for the smell of fabric softener, any more. I stayed with a friend who put fabric softener in a load that included a couple of my dress shirts. The scent was annoying, not being used to it, anymore.

 

[mrboilwash]

Waterspots on the door glass

Correct me if I´m wrong, but I thought the reason for waterspots observed when FS is used was because of the positive charge of cationic surfactants.

Benzylalkonium chloride (another cationic surfactant) as found in disinfactant rinses does exactly the same thing. It`s a clear liquid (certainly no grease in those products).

What about the idea that cationic sufactants simply decrease the surface tension of water, wheras anionic and nonionic surfactants (derivated from fats as well) increase surface tension, thus make a water film on the glass, as an explanation ?

I also believe that there is only a chance to a build up of FS residue in the washer if the clothes are not comleatly clean. Residual oils in the clothes from the wash plus FS is a very bad combination. Never observed a "bathtub ring" in the last rinse with FS when I washed new clothes before the first wear, or when the detergent is dosed sufficiantly.

Also never had a problem with residue when I tried those Pods.

[this post was last edited: 12/20/2013-09:04]

 

[MrX]

@ foraloysius

I'm just wondering if that's a patent that they took out and never actually used?
I have never seen a 3-in-1 pod from Unilever.

http://qa?.§

 

[logixx]

<a name="start_49939.722119">Proctor and Gamble has to take Ariel pods from the market</a>

 

I wonder if that's the reason why we're still awaiting the release of anything "pods", be it for laundry of dishes, by P&G here.

 

[NYCWriter]

Sorry ...

… disagree.

As a student of anthropology, I know that Mother Nature made dangerous things taste bad for EVERYONE … humans included.

If you're too dumb to spit it out ...

 

[foraloysius]

Here's the link to an article in Dutch:

http://www.telegraaf.nl/dft/nieuws_dft/22153344/__Rechter__Ariel_Pods_moeten_winkel_uit__.html

Apparently Unilever wants to take Proctor and Gamble to court too about the Ariel tabs. But they can't do that through a summary procedure because the tabs have been on the market for ten years.

 

[MrX]

Which are the Ariel Tabs?

We've had a few formats here:

P&G Ariel and Daz : Tablets (compressed powder in foil wraps that dissolves in the drawer)
P&G Ariel and Daz Liquitabs (highly concentrated liquid in a dissolvable pouch)
P&G Ariel Pods (3 compartment pod, same as Tide)

Unilever Persil and Surf Capsules (liquid in a dissolvable pouch)
Unilever Persil Gel Tablets which were compressed powder with a hardened gel. These were put in a net bag directly into the drum.
Unilever Persil and Surf Tablets : for use with a net in the drum without the gel section.
Unilever Persil and Surf tablet that dispense in the drawer (compressed powder)

Own brand products (mostly McBride) also produce dissolvable liquid capsules for all the major supermarkets.
Solid powder tablets that dissolve in the drawer are also produced for all the supermarkets by McBride and a few others.

McBride (on its website) claims to be the first to produce liquid capsules back in 2001.

See: http://www.mcbride.co.uk/media-centre/heritage

Loads of info about McBride's liquids below

http://www.mcbride.co.uk/media/99584/mcbride-innovation-in-laundry-liquids.pdf

 

[jeb]

stupid people use pods

I really must take issue with this. My mother is not a stupid person- she does have bad arthritis, scoliosis, has had 2 knee replacement, and has trouble with her eyes. She uses pods because it is hard for her to measure either liquid or powder detergents. Her clothing doesn't get really dirty and she does use hot and warm water with her wash so they seem to be very clean to me. My mother whent to college, raised a family, had a very responsible job, and even now is the treasurer of a large local museum. My mother is not a stupid, lazy, dirty person and she uses pods.

 

[MrX]

There are lots of reasons why someone may prefer to use capsules, pods or tablets to dose a machine.

They do have the advantage of not overdosing the machine. Some people are VERY heavy handed with the detergent and don't measure at all.

I know a few people who just fill the drawer with powder or guess how much liquid they're pouring in and probably use about 3X too much.

With seriously concentrated products it's even harder to measure without a device and a lot of people just find these formats handy.

If you've skin allergies, the pods can be quite a handy way of avoiding coming into any contact with the detergent itself too.

 

[tolivac]

Too dumb to spit out--Why do we have so many poisonings among kids "too dumb to spit it out?"And keep in mind some of these products can poison you even if it ISN'T swallowed!!! Think the anthropology course you are taking needs to be updated.In the meantime--Keep the toxins out of reach of the kids and pets!!!Tasting things by young mammals is an INSTINCT that has to be broken by learning from the parent.Have you ever watched young mammals?wether kids,dogs,cats,whatever-they will investigate things by putting them in their mouths.They may not have the sense "to spit it out"That has to be learned-a few tastings and chastizing from the parent-then the young mammal learns.

 

[arbilab]

Benzalkonium chloride is a potent biocide. In the quantities used, I would 'think' its surfactant properties irrelevant. I'm 97.5% certain that it would not allow, much less promote, the growth of mold in the dispenser drawer, so that leaves a 2.5% chance that we're talking about the same phenomenon.

Remind me to tell you what BAC-- preservative in virtually every nasal spray including saline only-- does to your nasal cilia. Better, google it.

 

[MrX]

From a child safety point of view, they should be coated with denatonium benzoate or denatonium saccharide aka Bitrex, Bitter+Plus or Aversion.

These are vile tasting compounds that induce an almost instant gag reflex if you get them into your mouth and are used in many nasty cleaning products to avoid ingestion.

I would actually be more concerned about dishwasher detergent packs from an ingestion point of view because they're small enough to swallow / put in your mouth and some of them are very 'attractive' looking.

Laundry detergent pods/capsules are significantly bigger than dishwasher tablets, but they're often very 'interesting' looking and toy-like and I think the big risk there is probably puncturing the capsule and getting super-concentrated laundry detergent into your eye / face.

Rule of thumb is pretty simple : DO NOT LEAVE ANY household chemicals anywhere that kids could get access to them.

If you've toddlers, you need to invest in cupboard locks. It's pretty much as simple as that.

I don't think detergent pods are particularly worse than anything else. Kids could just as easily spray oven cleaner or pour strong bleach on themselves (although they've generally got child-proof locks on those products, anything's possible!)

The biggest risk in a house is actually prescription and over-the-counter medication as kids can mistakenly take these thinking they're candy having seen a parent / grandparent popping a pill.

 

[tolivac]

Things like dishwasher detergents are especially dangerous becuase they can burn the mouth severely right when they go in-same as with drain cleaners and so on.Guess what really has to be done-is really make the packs non colorful and not looking like food or candy-pack them in child resistent containers(actually is there really such a thing?)-and the makers should have written on the containers urgently to store them from kids and even pets reach.

 

[MrX]

They're actually both quite nasty.

The injuries I've read about have tended to be eye injuries and respitory injuries when kids bite into the detergent liquid sachet Or by playing with it and sqeezing it. it splatters very concentrated chemicals directly into their faces. The biggest issue is eye injury.

Link to an article quoting a children's hospital doctor in Dublin.

http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2005-08/l-ldt081005.html

 

[NYCWriter]

WHAT??

"If you've skin allergies, the pods can be quite a handy way of avoiding coming into any contact with the detergent itself too."

If you have skin allergies, you should AVOID "pods" altogether since the detergents they put in them are among the most caustic and irritating to the skin in the first place.

 

[MrX]

They're hermetically sealed inside a plastic bubble. You don't contact the detergent at all.

The ingredients are no better it worse then any similarly formulated liquid in terms of skin allergy after the wash.

Obviously you don't puncture the pods and rub the content on your skin!

 

[kb0nes]

In some ways I think the pods are more dangerous then things like oven cleaner or drain openers. There is a complacency due to the idea that they aren't dangerous like the harsh chemicals are. Couple this with the fact that they are attractive to infants with their bright colors etc.

Of course the responsibility should lie in the hands of the parents to keep all cleaning products away from the children. But still some thought into this issue needs to be addressed by the manufacturers. Perhaps something along the lines of the Mr Yuk program, although that won't work with infants.

 

[NYCWriter]

For the record ...

… It's Mr. YUCK.

A "yuk" is a laugh, and there's nothing funny about poison.

 

[NYCWriter]

Skin allergies ...

"They're hermetically sealed inside a plastic bubble. You don't contact the detergent at all. The ingredients are no better it worse then any similarly formulated liquid in terms of skin allergy after the wash."

My point is, if you have skin allergies you should be using a hypoallergenic detergent, not the crap they put in the pods.

 

[kb0nes]

Agreed nothing funny about poison.

But "for the record" Mr. Yuk is the trademark spelling.

 

[NYCWriter]

You're right ...

… I stand corrected.

How many of us are old enough to remember cashiers handing out a fresh sheet of Mr. YUK stickers to our moms each time they bought cleaning products?

 

[frigilux]

"I'm sorry, but if your child is stupid enough not only to mistake a laundry pod for "candy", AND too stupid to spit it out the minute the foul taste touches his tongue, I believe Darwinism truly needs to take over at this point. " 

 

Wanted to send you the real thing, NYCWriter, but shipping rates to the center of the universe are outrageous!

 

[combo52]

Children possibly eating detergent pods.

This is a real problem that has happened many times as they are very attractive and tempting to adults as well as children.

A few months ago I bought a container of Kirkland pods at Costco and they are not only very pretty but also kind of fun to play with. When I went back to Costco the other week I bought another container and noticed that they had changed the container to an opaque red container so the pods do not look so tempting to children.

NYCWriter, next time you have a party why don't you try setting a bowl of these out near the food and see if anyone picks one up and tastes it, you might be surprised how many of your friends do not pass your Darwinian survival test, LOL.