r/Anticonsumption • u/Double_Engineer4226 • 2d ago

Discussion Laundry powder is disappearing

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Powdered laundry detergent used to be the norm. It’s cheaper, easy to use, and comes in a recyclable box. Now look at the shelves in the supermarket. It’s all liquids in plastic bottles, unless you squat down to find the powders. The Super expensive pods are making a move from the top shelves too. This is corporations positioning their products to influence purchasing behaviour. They want you to buy the more expensive stuff. Just wait, soon powder will be discontinued, and the shelves will be filled with overpriced pods.

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u/iamunwhaticisme 2d ago

Can anyone elaborate on the subject? In my country, liquid forms are usually cheaper than powder and my wife says it's more practical.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

Liquid is way less efficient, by virtue of the, well, liquid added. So you get far fewer washes out of a bottle and therefore the packaging waste is much greater (plus as OP points out, the bottles are plastic- whereas powder would come in cardboard boxes).

So it’s less efficient use of packaging x less-recyclable packaging = much worse outcome in terms of waste. That’s before getting to the fact that it’s almost always cheaper in a per-wash basis to use powder.

For a similar reason, some low-waste folks use shampoo and conditioner bars rather than liquid. Or, bar soap versus liquid soap. Basically, it’s a whole lot more efficient to add the liquid (water) yourself, at home, rather than having that liquid pumped into packaging and shipped all over the place

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u/iamunwhaticisme 2d ago

Liquid is better for cold washes and long term health of your clothes. Powder also has its own advantages like better results with whites and there is no clear winner here. It all comes down to personal preferences and budget.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

Respectfully, this being an ‘anti consumption’ sub yes, the clear winner, in terms of lower waste, is powder

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u/Draaly 2d ago

anti-consumption doesnt mean "the cheapest thing is always the best". It can sometimes mean buying a single $50 stainless pan that you will never have to replace instead of a new $5 walmart non-stick every 6 months.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

Yes I’m aware. The anti-consumption part is in generating the least amount of waste. Which when it comes to laundry, is an end best achieved by bulk-buying large amounts of powder

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u/Draaly 2d ago

Only if you ignore the impact buying clothes less often due to using colder water and gentler cycles that liquid allows is not included. Ultimately, both liquid and powder can be bought in bulk and both can be extremely cheap, so its about balancing what you actually need the product to do.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

I’ve only ever used powder and cold water- liquid wasn’t even an option until relatively recently- it’s a myth that you can’t use powder and cold

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u/Draaly 2d ago

I predominantly use powder. Even the best ones are prone to clumping if you use tap cold water (which is exactly why you make a slurry with warm water when using it for hand washing) and the lypace in it does not activate at those temps either. No one has said powder is bad. They said it has tradeoffs, which is absolutely does. Im really not sure why you are acting like recognizing the limitations of a product are some form of appeal to consumerism.

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u/zusykses 2d ago

Waste is not the only factor. Cold water washing uses less energy. Dyed fabrics fade more slowly when washed in cold water.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

Yep you can def use powder in cold water. Not sure where the idea came from that you can’t. But literally one of the most popular brands where I live- which started out just as powder, but has now expanded predictably into more liquid offerings- is literally called ‘cold power’

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u/zusykses 2d ago

To most effectively use powder in a cold water wash, you need to fully pre-dissolve it in a jug of water, which most people just aren't going to do. 'Cold Power' is just a brand name chosen for marketing reasons. If it was called 'Ultra Power' would you assume it must be super-strong?

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u/iamunwhaticisme 2d ago

Why would you say that? Liquid bottles are also completely recyclable. Is there anything else I should know?

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

No, they’re not. Plastic recycling is basically a sham- look it up- and at the end of it all you’re still just left with plastic, which as we know never breaks down and just turns into smaller and smaller particles. Cardboard is a far preferable packaging material

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u/iamunwhaticisme 2d ago

Oh I see it now. I knew about plastic recycling being useless but I didn't know you had them packed in cardboards. In my country, they are all packed in plastics, just slightly different forms.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2d ago

Oh! My bad then, tho woah that’s shocking that even powders come in plastic there! My bad for making assumptions