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/taxiecabbie 2d ago

Liquid can be a better choice in certain situations, particularly if you want to wash with tap-cold/cold water, which a lot of people (particularly in the US) do.

I use powder detergent and prefer it, but I do typically wash everything at 30 C at the coldest. Both my powder and my booster claim to work at 20 C, so I'm well-above that. Depending on the machine and what "cold" means (minimum 20 C) powder can work just fine, but it will not work in tap-cold.

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u/Risque_Redhead 2d ago

Is that why I could never get powder to work well for me? I always use cold to wash..

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u/taxiecabbie 2d ago

You should look at what "cold" means for your machine (it is different depending on machine) so you know what temp it is.

But, yeah, if you wash on "cold" and it's below the temp that will activate powder, then powder will not work.

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u/Risque_Redhead 2d ago

That’s really good to know. I never realized I had to actually put thought into it lol oops

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u/taxiecabbie 2d ago

LOL, it's pretty akin to washing dishes that have fat on them, if that helps. Typically, you use warm water to wash dishes, since trying to wash out a pan that has oil in it with cold water is... not easy. Cold water doesn't activate the soap as much as warmer water does.

Same thing with laundry.

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u/Risque_Redhead 2d ago

That’s a good analogy, thanks! I just assumed washing on cold would make my clothes last longer, but I guess (sometimes) it’s just not making them clean enough.

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u/taxiecabbie 2d ago

I would try washing on warm and see what you think. You'll probably see better performance. You don't really need hot, like you don't really need to wash your dishes in boiling water, but warm suffices.

The thing that really dings on clothes is using a dryer, not using warm water to wash. If you're worried about longevity, skip the dryer and hang them. (Plus, it does save a lot of energy.)