Reader Kelly found herself in a common consumer dilemma: She was confused about the marketing language on some detergent labels. Why did some bottles of Tide that were the exact same size as others on the shelf proclaim that they will wash “20% more loads”? [More]
laundry
Please Don’t Add Extra Water To Your High-Efficiency Washer
By 3.10.17
We think that we know what a load of laundry is supposed to look like as it runs, but the change to high-efficiency washing machines means that things look a little different. Some people even add extra water from outside the machine until it looks saturated. Don’t do that. [More]
Would You Pay To Wash Your Clothes At Someone Else’s House?
By 11.29.16
Not that long ago, you might have bristled at the notion of paying a stranger to chauffeur you around town in the back of their car, or that you could easily rent out the extra room in your house like a hotel. Is turning your laundry room into a laundromat the next step? [More]
Procter & Gamble’s New Idea To Move More Tide Pods: Automatic Subscriptions
By 7.19.16
Procter & Gamble has realized that it needs to stay ahead of consumer trends to stay a top seller of staple products like razors, detergent, and shampoo. The popularity of Dollar Shave Club took the company by surprise, so it began its own Gillette Shave Club, then apparently wondered what else they could ship to customers at regular intervals so customers wouldn’t have to go to the store. After all, if they don’t have to think about buying razors, they don’t have the opportunity to switch brands. [More]
Keep Your Dark-Colored Clothes Looking Fresh And New For Longer
By 2.16.16
Black clothes are a core part of most of our wardrobes, but they’re hard to keep looking fresh and new. What should we do: use detergents specifically marketed for dark clothing? Adjust our washing machine settings? There are steps that you can take to reduce the damage that washing does to your dark-colored clothes, which includes deep colors fading, running, or other disasters. How can you keep clothes looking new the longest? [More]
Procter & Gamble Explains Why Powdered Tide Suddenly Needs A Bigger Scoop
By 12.31.15
Earlier this week, we shared a reader’s photo of the new and larger scoop in her box of Tide detergent. Normally, we’d be happy when a company offers something bigger, but in this case it appeared that Tide-maker Procter & Gamble was trying to make customers use more detergent and finish off their boxes faster. Someone from the company’s “Fabric Care Communications” team reached out to explain why they made this change. [More]
Tide Makes Powder Detergent Scoop Bigger For No Clear Reason
By 12.29.15
Reader N. has some laundry that’s pretty dirty. She has a toddler, who uses cloth diapers. Yet she’s never used more than one scoop of her preferred detergent, Tide powder. She was surprised recently to open up the box and find a bigger scoop inside the box. Who needs this much detergent? Is Procter & Gamble trying to get customers to overdose on suds? [More]
2 Ounces Quietly Shrink Rayed From Economy-Size Bottles Of Shout
By 9.14.15
Jarrod was shopping at Target when he noticed something: there were two different designs of Shout bottles on the shelf. Since redesigns often mask strikes of the Grocery Shrink Ray, he checked the labels, even though the bottles appeared to be the same size. Indeed, the 32-ounce “economy size” bottle shrank down to 30 ounces, but at least the price came down, too. [More]
Are Front-Loading Washers Still Mold Machines?
By 5.4.15 — Updated: 5.23.17
Newer front-loading washing machines have developed a reputation for growing mold. Lawsuits also sprouted in the front-loader market, but washing machine manufacturers were ultimately not found liable for inflicting moldy washers on the public. That might make you hesitant to buy a front-loading washer, even if you find them appealing. [More]
Did This Laundry Service Respond To A Bad Yelp Review With A Violent Threat?
By 2.6.15
Emma used the same wash-and-fold laundry service at a laundromat in her neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY for years, and had a bad experience in August. She did what people normally do in that situation: she left them a one-star but respectful Yelp review, and switched to using a different place. Just another day in the free market… until she received a threat by private message that contained her home address. [More]
Whirlpool Wants To Sell You A $500 Laundry Machine That Doesn’t Clean Your Clothes
By 10.28.14
Do you often find yourself needing to remove some wrinkles and the smell of cigarette smoke from your favorite jacket, but unwilling to leave the house to go to the dry cleaner? If so, the Swash, a new laundry-ish appliance from Whirlpool, may be exactly what you need. It costs $500 and does not clean your clothes. [More]
Detergent Companies Are Unhappy With Our Efficient Washing Machines
By 10.24.14
High-efficiency washing machines, which use less water to clean your clothes, are an advance that most customers seem to like. Do you know who doesn’t like them, though? Detergent manufacturers. With traditional machines, consumers can dump any old amount of detergent in with our clothes, and it doesn’t matter. With a high efficiency machine, using too much detergent causes problems, so consumers are finally using the correct amount of detergent. [More]
Answer Cycle: Solutions To 4 Common Laundry Problems
By 7.16.14
Everyone wears clothes and everyone has to clean them somehow, but changes in laundry technology mean that you might encounter problems that your parents never taught you to solve. Don’t worry: the heroic appliance testers and textile experts down the hall from us at Consumer Reports have you covered. [More]
Is Tide Oxi Really The Super Cleaning Agent That The Blonde Property Brother Says It Is?
By 7.2.14
For me, “deep-cleaning the house” has a place on the same list where you’ll find “getting a root canal.” But sometimes you have to, even it it means pulling out five different cleaners to get the job done. Tide claims its new product can clean more than 225 household items. Sounds too good to be true, right? It might be or it might not be – it just depends on your belongings. [More]
Top Laundry Detergents At Medium Prices Available At Warehouse Clubs
By 5.21.14
Looking for a reasonably-priced but effective laundry detergent? Consider signing up for a warehouse club if you aren’t already a member of one. Our high-efficiency colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports just put out their list of great performers at reasonable prices, and two of the top three are house brands from Sam’s Club (Member’s Mark) or Costco (Kirkland). Non-members can check out Wisk Deep Clean instead. [More]
Laundry Shrink Ray Zaps Tide Slightly, Keeps Number Of Loads The Same
By 3.4.14
Can you shave a few milliliters off the amount of detergent that you use in every load of laundry and still get your clothes as clean? You probably can, but we’re curious after checking out this slight change in the amount of Tide detergent in a bottle while the number of loads per bottle remains unchanged. [More]
Save Money On Clothes: Make Yours Last Longer
By 1.24.14
It’s exceedingly obvious: the easiest way to save money on something is to not buy it in the first place. Everyone has to wear clothing (outside of the house, anyway) but clothing is now so cheap that many of us don’t put much thought into making it last longer. Avoid trips to the store: make your clothes last longer. [More]
How To Pick Laundry Appliances With Features That Are Actually Useful
By 7.9.13
If you’ve never bought your own appliances before or the dryer you bought during the Carter administration finally died, you might find the array of features available on modern washers and dryers daunting and scary. The problem is that the machine with the most features isn’t necessarily the best one. [More]
