The Dirt on Laundry Detergent

I'm not particularly brand-loyal and will usually buy whatever is on sale or for which I have a coupon, or better, both. But we, that is, our family, has used Tide laundry detergent for decades. Specifically, we have used Tide Free since it was introduced.

But a recent article from Money Talks News is pushing me to rethink this. The gist of the article is that we (American consumers) use far more detergent than they need to, and have increased the amount they use when they use the super-concentrated products. What's insidious about this is that many of us bought into the super-concentrated promotion because we think it might be more environmentally-friendly. According to the founder of Method, a company that manufacturers cleaning products, 53% of people who wash their clothes use too much detergent.

In fact, an article in the Wall Street Journal cited in the Money Talks News piece paints the propensity for us to uses too much laundry detergent each time we do a load as part of the industry's over-all strategy.  From the WSJ article:


"Take a cap and look at where the lines are—nowhere near the top," says Adam Lowry, co-founder of San Francisco-based Method. "That's not accidental. In an extremely mature market like laundry, for established players to grow they have to either steal share or get people to use more," Mr. Lowry says. "They are trying to dupe people into using more product than they need."


"They are trying to dupe people." That's strong language.  Even if the intention is not duping consumers, the result is the over-use of detergent. It's wasteful. We spend more money than we need to and many people are using petroleum-based products that are harmful to the environment, and are non-renewable resources.


So what is the solution to this problem?  One tactic would be to be extra-diligent when pouring. First read the directions, then use exactly the amount suggested. Another possibility is making your own detergent using ingredients that are kinder to the environment. There are dozens of recipes. My friend Leah Ingram who writes the Suddenly Frugal blog makes DYI  detergent using borax, soap and Arm & Hammer washing soda.


Some experts actually suggest that soap isn't all that essential to clean clothes.  From the WSJ article: 


"Seventh Generation's co-founder, Jeffrey Hollander, wonders why more people haven't stumbled upon laundry's big, dirty secret: "You don't even need soap to wash most loads," he says. The agitation of washing machines often does the job on its own."


I didn't know that. But as I looked further into this issue, there seems to be a consensus that clothes can be cleaned in agitating water without soap. It's not likely that this is a story that will sell well. But it does make sense for us to keep cutting back on the amount of detergent we use until we find that our clothes aren't clean. I would love to hear from anyone who has given this a try.