How timely. We were about to head out to do our weekly laundry load when we caught wind of a new laundering that promises clean clothes and greener packaging footprint with an interesting detergent delivery technology. Laundry Drops sort of look like hard candies or cough drops, but inside each water dissolvable packet is a 6x concentrated shot of detergent...
Laundry Drops
Laundry Dropps positives: small package, strong concentration so less to use, biodegradable, phosphate free. Negatives: not so sure these really equate with true conservation. Sure, compared to the large traditional liquid detergents these smaller packs stack up well in material footprint. But the difference isn't so profound when you consider that almost every brand of detergent now offers concentrated formulas that come in smaller bottles. And these aren't cheap. Our fancy pants bottle of Method Laundry detergent does 32 loads for $6.99, while these Laundry Drops are $25 for 60 wash loads. Unless those Dropps are packing something miraculous "like no other" magic inside, that's a whole lot more for arguably likely the same results, comparatively speaking.
Perhaps if they miniaturized these even further ("50x concetrate! Please handle with supplied safety gloves and goggles") and came in a recyclable or biodegradable outer container (that plastic pouch has to go somewhere), then we'd be willing to pay a little bit more. But this might be a case where the idea in itself is cool, but it doesn't make all that much rational sense to change from what's already working.
That all being said, we might send a 2-Load Sample Pouch to our mom and see what she thinks. She loves these sort of new products. We'll just have to warn her in advance that they are not candies!
[via Crib Candy]
Comments (19)
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They look good enough to eat, but nothing beats Tide HE. I want my clothes clean. Not eco-friendly gray.
view DesignHole's profile
I like that they're biodegradable. My laundry water ends up in a septic tank and, to my understanding, eventually into the soil, so that's not cool if it's not biodegradable.
The $25 price tag doesn't really concern me. I skimp in other areas to allow for the purchase of such things. I'm only concerned whether it does a good job cleaning or not.
view Ajax's's profile
I could see my three year old, who is in constant search of candy, getting his hands on these!
view bethsworld's profile
"Not eco-friendly gray." Come on now! What is this 1980? There are a ton of effective eco products on the market.
view mgn's profile
Cascade has similiar dishwasher detergent "candies" and I absolutely love them. I currently use Tide HE in my front loader, and am looking forward to trying these little gems. I dunno, even the concentrated liquid still has a big package. And it sounds dumb, but I kind of like the convenience of not having to measure thick sticky liquid.
view ilovebutter's profile
These would be excellent for my current dorm-living situation...except for the price. I'll stick with my Arm and Hammer detergent.
view scaram0uche's profile
I could see these coming in handy for people without washer/dryers in their apartments so they can toss a couple of small packets in the basket and not have to lug the bottle of detergent around. Otherwise, I'm with others... too expensive.
view dcaries's profile
When I studied abroad, we used these. They seemed to work very well, and we were easily able to throw them in the laundry basket on the way to the laundromat!
view IzzyE's profile
dangerous if there are kids in the house!!!!!
view mschatelaine's profile
"not eco-friendly gray" .... Would you continue to dump phosphate & chlorine into the waterways so that your clothes could be perfect? Do you like toxic residues that much? What about the fish? : )
view Rachel Abrams's profile
Chlorine is added to most every city water tap and rural water system. And OMG, those swimming pools! Almost every farmer puts anhydrous phosphate on their fields, as fertilizer and it works very well.
view plain jane's profile
A small box of powdered detergent costs about the same as Method's liquid detergent. Usually I get a 40 load box, and even the enviromentally friendly ones are affordable. Since my building has front load washers, I use a bit less than half the normal amount of detergent, and get over 80-100 loads per box. The box is plain cardboard and recycles... not that it matters much, since I go through about 1.5 boxes a year. All of the brands I've tried handle normal dirt (no car grease stains, no markers, no lipstick etc) equally well, so I buy whichever is most convenient. The combination of cost effective, enviromentally friendly and convenient is hard to beat.
I don't think the Laundry Dropps are at all comparable. Prettier, but pretty is not my main concern in a laundry detergent. I'd really hate to blow 5 times as much on a detergent and then find out it overflows the front loaders.
view Torrilin's profile
Way too expensive for me, and what do you do when you have small loads? You'd have to buy a back-up detergent so you can measure properly for small loads.
view jooly's profile
You can instead by phosphate free detergent in a bottle or box that can be recycled, instead of this in a plastic bag than cannot.
view ValHalla's profile
I like the idea -- it would save room in my tiny laundry room and be less messy. Plus, lighter to carry from the grocery store. But...the price. Eiee.
view Nikita's profile
It would be nice for folks who have to go to a laundromat. Apart from that, seems kinda pricey. I've been using the new super-concentrated liquid detergents from Tide and All, and I like 'em a lot. Easier to lug home, easier to store, easier to lug to the laundry room, and less waste to recycle.
view sunspot42's profile
I heard about these on another blog, and ended up finding them for less on Amazon.com, and a 20-pack was under $4.50 at my local Wal-Mart. Love them!!!
view wbs531's profile
You can recycle plastic detergent bottles. Most, if not all, municipalities won't recycle those plastic pouches.
view Annie25's profile
I love the scent/dye free variety of Laundry Dropps-they're so easy to use, THEY ACTUALLY WORK & are very portable too (great for travel).
FYI GreenCupboards (online retailer of green, natural products) is having a sale--up to 40% off--on Laundry Dropps... Check out the incredible sale (for a limited time) http://www.GreenCupboards.com/Specials
view swollnic's profile