Tide "Laundry Booster"

[lordkenmore]

I saw packages of Tide Odor Rescue at Target last night. A new product to me, but maybe something others here have noted before. Apparently, one tosses in a small measured dose pack (pod?) into the wash along with the regular detergent to freshen things and kill odors.

My first big thought: shouldn't good detergent (and I'm assuming Tide would suggest using Tide with Tide Odor Rescue) be good enough, assuming good laundry practice?

Next, I had this vision of this product appealing to those who insist on using 40-degree "energy saving" cold water, and yet who wonder why their clothes still have a sweat stench worse than a high school boys' locker room.

Then, of course, I marvelled at how far the Tide name has come. It used to be A detergent. Now it's a wall of different detergents, and associated products...

Link to this product:
http://tide.com/en-us/shop/type/laundry-booster/tide-odor-rescue-with-febreze-odor-defense

They also apparently have something for brighter brights/whites:
http://tide.com/en-us/shop/type/laundry-booster/tide-brights-and-whites-rescue

 

[supersuds]

I saw these too. What a stupid name, Odor Rescue. The only odors I have a problem with are from P&G's stinky detergents and softeners. If they aren't enough for some people, they have a hopeless BO problem.

Seriously, I loved the unscented Tide Boost pacs because they gave you the low temperature oxygen bleaching system as well as enzymes -- just the thing to use with vintage phosphate detergents for dazzling whites. But if this new stuff is going to give you no choice about P&G 's Concentrated Stink, I'll do without.

 

[launderess]

Boosters Normally Are Totally Not Required

Nearly all contain one or more of the following;
alkaline substance or substances

enzymes

oxygen bleach with or without an activator.

Well you can simply stop purchasing liquid detergents which do not contain the above an get powders which do.

It boggles the mind how detergent makers probably are laughing all the way to bank selling something to replace what is already in their powdered detergents. However for various reasons certain consumers purchase liquid or gel products instead. This only to find out the results are the same as when a good powder detergent (especially containing an activated bleaching system) is used. So they go out and get a "booster" to put back the things they didn't want when it was decided to go with a liquid in the first place.

This being said yes, Tide and other boosters do have a place when using vintage laundry products that do not contain bleaches and or enzymes. However when using Persil or any of the other European powders in my stash such extras are not required. It also helps cope with various odors as well.

The other dirty little secret about laundry day is that for certain fibers (mainly cottons and linens), you need a certain amount of alkalinity to get out certain soils.

 

[lordkenmore]

>The only odors I have a problem with are from P&G's stinky detergents and softeners.

I've ranted many times, but I, too, hate the scents they've used in the liquid detergents. One was so bad that I actually rewashed part of a load just to get rid of the smell. Thankfully, it was a single use sample packet, not a full bottle commitment.

It doesn't seem as bad as it had--I've had a small sample bottle (yes, I can be slow to learn my lessons!) that I didn't like, but didn't seem as overwhelming. Either that, or else the first exposure numbed me for later experiences.

Being fair, they aren't alone... A bottle of Purex "Naturals" with a Linen/Lily scent IIRC seemed a bit too much.

These days, I find myself preferring unscented...

 

[lordkenmore]

laughing all the way to bank

I can imagine that the detergent makers are laughing their way to the bank... The product I saw was something like $5, er, $4.99 for 18 packs. So the price per use is well over 25 cents. Add that to the cost of Tide (which, I'm sure, would be the suggested choice), which might run well over 20 cents/load at recommended low dose and list prices...

Add to this the fact that this particular Tide product--aimed at odors--seems to be most relevant for those who insist on using tap cold "energy saving" washes. It seems interesting that some people probably do dial the temperature down to save money, and then probably lose those savings with TOL Tide-level detergent, and Tide Odor Rescue.

 

[lordkenmore]

alkalinity to get out certain soils.

Dumb question, but what sorts of soils does alkalinity help with?

 

[tomturbomatic]

There is some ad with a lady talking about her yoga outfit and how she washed it, but as soon as she put it on it smelled like she had not washed it. She must have had a wide zone of avoidance around her at the gym. I thought, you stupid idiot, you probably tried to wash it in cold water (probably in the winter) and cold water doesn't work on funk. You have to have at least warm water to work on the stinky sweat/bacteria deposits and the oils from your skin. Nobody taught most of the younger generation how to do laundry. Then they buy liquid store brand detergent and use it in cold water. And all the detergent companies sell are more obnoxious stinks to cover up the stink you should be washing out of your clothes. Their undergarments must be a raging garden of microbial life, like rampant kudzu in the south. No wonder they need sachet for their dresser drawers.

Then there is another ad for Tide odor rescue about a kid who wets the bed and the stupid parents throught the sheets were ruined because they could not get the pee odor out of them. How can you be washing sheets and not get pee odor out of them? The stupid twits would be childless if they had to pass an intelligence test to procreate.

 

[launderess]

Alkaline substances "break" oil/fat based soils from fabrics.

Basically in a nutshell depending upon the pH level base substances mix with oily dirt in a soap creating action which removes the latter from textiles.

This is why for ages various alkaline substances such as ammonia (a gas dissolved in water), sodium carbonate, urine (when breaks down contains ammonia), ashes from certain woods/plants etc... were used to clean textiles.

There was a process called "bucking" in one form or another long used throughout old Europe. Basically laundry was placed into a container with holes at the bottom. Then covered with a cloth then various ashes placed over. You then poured water over and waited for it to percolate down. It would be collected and used again. This process went on for several hours. The alkalinity extracted from the ashes acted as a "break" that worked upon the laundry helping to shift dirt. Think of it as a pre-wash or soak.

 

[launderess]

And another thing

Most bodily fluids such as perspiration are slightly acidic. A base pH helps to counteract that fact and aid in their removal. Hence the often given advice about using ammonia to remove blood. Again ammonia is a alkaline gas in water.

Years ago Lux soap flakes advertised using it for washing nylons and other female dainty things would keep them looking great longer. The gist was that perspiration is alkaline and Lux would deal with that; as of course it would because soaps are alkaline in water solutions most all of the time. In contrast detergents can be slightly acidic, neutral or alkaline depending upon formulation.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Alkaline treatment for blood

Our dear departed laundry-owner member from Texas told us how in the summer time the cold water was so hot that it would set blood in the initial flush rinse before washing UNLESS he did what is called a "hot break" where he added STPP to the initial flush rinse, using the increased alkalinity to break the blood's bond to the textiles.

 

[lordkenmore]

Thanks, Launderess! As always, you have such good information & history to share!

Indeed, I'm a bit humbled. I suppose I probably "know" more than most Americans about good laundry practice. (Not that it would be easy to know less in an era when many just believe it's good enough to stuff a washer so its packed solid, hit cold wash, and use a small slosh of Xtra...) But what a lot of what I know I only know because of the real experts here.

 

[launderess]

YW, T'wern't nothing.

You'll notice various laundry boosters aren't around very long.

Tide has had several come and go. Spray and Wash "pink" didn't last very long either.

When times are tight persons realize how much of things are a rip off. If you have laundry that is routinely stained with soils that require bleaching, then spend money on Tide With Bleach or Persil and be done with it instead of purchasing liquids then having to add extra.

 

[lordkenmore]

But isn't it the Tide Way to have lots of products that come and go?!?

But yes, it seems more practical to me to just get a fully loaded detergent and be done with it.

 

[launderess]

Tide Way to have lots of products that come and go

Yes, because P&G introduces things that don't work out! *LOL*

Remember those orange containers of various Tide "stain release" liquids and powders? They came and went pretty quickly at least in my area, don't know if P&G still sells them elsewhere.

The first Tide Coldwater powders didn't last long either. Nor did Tide Coldwater "free and clear". Though IIRC you can find the latter in Canada and other markets in the USA; but not it seems around me.

 

[lordkenmore]

I don't remember a full range of Tide stain release products (apart from special versions of detergent that supposedly fight stains better). There is one product I see that appears in sample/trial bins that supposedly gives portable Tide stain removal power or something for when on the go. Perhaps traveling. I'm not quite sure--I see it all the time (have to keep an eye out for trials of exciting new detergents!), but it's not something I've seriously thought of buying. If I were to get something to fight stains, it would make more sense to buy a big bottle of pretreatment.

Unscented Tide Cold Water is from what I've heard available in Canada. I wish it were available here. I'd be interested in trying Tide Cold Water, but I'd prefer unscented. Partly because I hate how strong Tide scents are--or were the last time I used scented stuff. Partly because I like unscented to judge a detergent. A scent could cover up slight odors left by ineffective cleaning.

I also remember the powder. I am supposing it probably faded away because of the general trend of moving away from powders to liquids.

 

[launderess]

Have a bottle of Tide CW liquid unscented

Stuff works wonderfully at 86F or 100F in the Miele or AEG washers. Add a bit of sodium percarbonate and results even on badly stained table linen is brilliant.

Love it because do not like my table cloths and napkins heavily scented.

Regular Tide "Free and Gentle" works well enough in warm water and is more readily accessed.

 

[lordkenmore]

results even on badly stained table linen

Including blood stains from those troublesome dinner guests who just won't behave themselves?

[Insert evil laugh]

 

[lordkenmore]

>Love it because do not like my table cloths and napkins heavily scented.

Reasonable to want napkins and table cloths unscented. I can just about imagine some strongly scented detergents leaving so much fragrance you can't smell even the strongest smelling dinner!

>Regular Tide "Free and Gentle" works well enough in warm water and is more readily accessed.

That stuff is readily available here--pretty much any place with a selection of Tide products has it. I've used it a couple of times the last year--just got a second jug--and it seems to work pretty well as my "power" detergent, although I don't have hugely nightmarish loads to deal with.

 

[circlew]

The only Tide "booster" product I ever used was their Sock Soak, which was available in the mid - late 90's. I thought it worked very well, but was soon discontinued.