Reader Zack was curious why three different kinds of Tide detergent on the shelf had the same price and same volume, but the label said they delivered different amounts of loads. Consumer Reports investigated, and they have the answer.

P&G told Consumer Reports that they had two choices, charging more for the “value-added” bleach or fabric softenter, or do what they did and vary the amount of loads while keeping the price the same. What they opted is more economical for them and easier for retailers (they didn’t specify how but I imagine it makes managing inventory easier if the price is the same across the board).

However, Consumer Reports notes that you can’t do effective comparison shopping by unit price on detergents. Instead, do some mental math or if your brain has atrophied, bust out the calculator on your cellphone and compare cost per load, total cost divided by loads.

Mystery solved: The “load-down” on Tide detergent [Consumer Reports] (Thanks to James!)
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