Vintage "Condensed" Controlled Sudsing All Detergent

[launderess]

With Bleach, Borax and Brighteners.

For some strange reason a rather large box of the stuff has landed in my laundry product stash. Don't know why or how, must be those gremlins again.

Anyway, what is the scoop on this product? Box is rather heavy which leads one to think it is mostly washing soda. As it is pre-zip code days and detergent content as well, know nothing about it and don't wish to distrub a thirty year old box of detergent for nothing.

On the bright side the box does give dosing for all manner and sort of washing machine; front loading, top loading automatic, wringer, and front loading.

L.

 

[jamiel]

You've got a lot of different themes going there..."condensed" was a 1960's ad campaign, but bleach, borax and brighteners was late 60s/early 70s ad campaign. All was always a denser detergent than Tide et al (believe it wasn't spray dried) but it was in those days full of phosphates. Many happy memories of lugging the 20 lb "home laundry size" downstairs for my mother. Is the box the 20 lb (with the handle) or the 9 lb 13 oz cube size?

 

[kqkenmore]

It is like Dash in that it was concentrated and it was low sudsing.I our house when i was growing up mother used Dash and it was very good.I have used that particular All and it was good too.At that time they also had a product to compete with Tide and it was called Fluffy All it was in a Red box and it was non concentrated.These are the detergents that the G.E. repairman recommended because they were low sudsing.

 

[westie2]

ALL

One of my grandmothers that had the Westinghouse L5 used ALL in it. She said the washer came with it and was recommended by Westinghouse. I remember her having the metal pail ones sitting next to her washer. One of my sisters used the Fluffy ALL in the red box in her Rapid Dry jetcone and it did suds a little more than the regular ALL but not like other detergents.

The smell of that ALL in my memory was very like today's Sears Detergent and also the texture of it.

 

[revvinkevin]

Laundress, Can you post a photo of the box?

 

[rayjay]

All and Dash were our favorites back then, but mostly Dash. Back then in the 60's most washing machine manufacturers recommended Dash or a low sudsing detergent. I wonder why they stopped making them for such a long time

 

[launderess]

Thanks All

Jameil:

Box says "Condensed" All, again cannot be sure when it was made.

Guess will open up the stuff and give it a whirl in the Miele or Hoover twinne. Lord knows have tons of product just sitting around gathering dust, the things want using.

 

[whirlcool]

Does powdered laundry detergent degrade over time? I've always wondered about this.

 

[sudsmaster]

Yes, phosphated powdered detergent does degrade over time. Faster if it's damp and in a hot place. The complex phosphates degrade into simple phosphate, and that simple phosphate lacks several of the cleaning attributes of the complex form.

STPP ==> TSP

This also applies to phosphated DW detergent, which is a reason why it usually comes in a foiled box with instructions to keep dry (too many stick the box under the sink where it can get damp from plumbing leaks or garbage).

 

[launderess]

Well Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

That's what I say!

So will crack open the box this weekend and see what there is. Shouldn't think holding onto it in a unused state does anyone any good. Doubt it is going to fetch vast sums at some future estate sale after my demise, and have more than enough NOS products in my laundry product stash gathering dust.

 

[polkanut]

You go Laundress!!!

 

[dirtybuck]

Hmmm...

With no zip/postal code listing, I wonder if that box could have been made in Canada?

Anyway, here's one of the spokespeople for ALL back in 1966. I remember this commercial.

Enjoy!

http://www.lilytomlin.com/videohome.html

 

[launderess]

Made In USA

Written on box, right beneath "Lever Brothers Company, New York, N.Y."

Strange thing though. Directions state "All" detergent can be used with bleach, however the box clearly states "Bleach, Borax and Brighteners". Know that the "bleach" referred to in the later means oxygen bleach, and the former could mean either oxygen bleach but more likely LCB which was more common back then. However chlorine bleach and oxygen bleach cancel each other out, or didn't anyone at Lever Bros. figure that out?

My limited "Google" research only comes up with the fact that Lever Bros. purchased low sudsing detergent technology from Monsanto and was promptly hauled into court by the US government on anti-competition practices. Lever Bros. won in court so that was the end of that.

Box also makes reference to "Dishwasher All", a product one never has heard of or seen.

Am going to guess this product contains some phosphates as the copy makes many references to "getting out dulling gray" from wash, "rinses cleaner", and so forth. Box also states if one has hard water merely use a bit more product, but then again most if not all detergent makers say the same thing.

Have an opened box of Wisk Power Scoop (dye and perfume free), opened so will force oneself to use that up before opening the All. The Wisk contains Zeolites which one hates.

 

[dirtybuck]

Laundress (and others)

If you scroll down the page on this E Bay link, you'll find quite a few ads for Dishwasher ALL.

Dishwasher All for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Dishwasher All at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

shop.ebay.com

 

[jamiel]

Bleach and borax are the same...calcium/sodium perBORate. Brighteners...optical brighteners. Box looks same as the Lily Tomlin box...so 1966 is your year! Monsanto started in the early 50s with the low sudsing patents and was the first manufacturer of All. They had a good place with Westinghouse (this was before Dash) but didn't have any other products at the time. Lever Brothers didn't have a "second" brand after Surf (compare to P&G with Tide, then Cheer, then Dash). So Monsanto didn't have critical mass in the supermarket, Lever didn't have a wide product line and presto...Monsanto sold All (brand name and patents) to Lever Brothers. Monsanto (like Dow) was trying hard to diversify in the 50s into household products...Dow was more successful with Saran Wrap/Handi Wrap and later, Dow Bathroom Cleaner and Dow Oven Cleaner. They subsequently bought Texize (60s) and finally exited the market around 1990, selling their consumer products to SC Johnson.

 

[MikeS]

According to the website fundinguniverse.com:
"In 1957, Lever Brothers acquired the Monsanto Chemical Company's line of "all" detergents, which included Concentrated "all," Liquid "all" and Dishwasher "all." This transaction resulted in an anti-trust suit by the U.S. Department of Justice which charged Lever Brothers with restricting competition by acquiring that piece of Monsanto which manufactured low-suds synthetic detergent, a product similar to one that Lever already made. Lever Brothers won the suit, arguing that rather than restricting competition, it was protecting it since both Lever's and Monsanto's products were losing money due to competition with "larger rivals" like Procter & Gamble. Lever Brothers Company successfully argued that if the businesses remained separate, eventually the larger rival would wipe both of them out, and that the acquisition of Monsanto's detergents was actually helping to preserve a competitive marketplace."
And P&G dominated the market for laundry detergents very nicely, thank you. According to "Time" magazine, in 1956 P&G held 57% of the detergent market; Lever had a 17% share, and Colgate-Palmolive trailed with 11%.

 

[kqkenmore]

When I was younger dishwasher all was about the only competition in the dishwasher detergent market Electra Sol,Cascade,Finish,Dishwasher All and crappy house brands. In our house it was Cascade.The G.E. Repairman told us to either use Cascade or Electra-Sol.We did try Dishwasher All and it was ok went back to Cascade.Which is what I still use to this day.

 

[kqkenmore]

When I was younger dishwasher all was about the only competition in the dishwasher detergent market Electra Sol,Cascade,Finish,Dishwasher All and crappy house brands. In our house it was Cascade.The G.E. Repairman told us to either use Cascade or Electra-Sol.We did try Dishwasher All and it was ok went back to Cascade.Which is what I still use to this day.

 

[launderess]

Lever Brothers and P&G were always locked in battles.

Back when automatic washing machines were first really taking off, Lever Bros. got manufacturers to include a sample box of their detergents by giving them away free. Not to be out done, P&G went one better and not only gave the free detergent, but free advertising spots for the washers as well. Poor Lever Bros. was kicked to the curb! *LOL*

Lever Brother's problems with detergents came from the fact it's biggest selling products in both the US and Europe/UK were laundry soaps such as Sunlight. Company managment and leadership refused to put money and R&D into developing detergents that could compete with P&G's blockbusting Tide product.

Tide was never meant to replace soap for laundry in all areas of the United States, just those with hard water, which is where it was first sold. However EVERY market Tide entered it sold out. Housewives were that thrilled with the product. P&G was happy to have a hit on it's hands even though it killed demand for their soap based laundry products. Though Ivory Flakes and Ivory Snow held on for twenty or thirty years more, soap never again took top place in American laundry rooms.

Tide was introduced to the market as giving "mountains of suds" even though froth is not a good indication of cleaning power. However housewives used to and educated in the art of doing laundry with soaps always associated suds with cleaning power. Sample boxes in washing machines aside, many consumers, especially housewives just didn't think low sudsing laundry products such as Tide or Dash did the job.