This can't be strictly an American phenomenon only!

[SuperMappy]

Or it might be for all I know.

There seems to be a huge amount of different laundry products and I don't mean different brands.

As I was stocking the chemical rows where I work I noticed we have all of the following:

Basic laundry detergent, boosters to make the detergent more effective, boosters to make the detergent smell better, bleach, additives to make bleach work more effectively, water softeners to make the detergent dissolve better in hard water, liquid fabric softener, boosters to make the scent of fabric softener more powerful, etc....

Does this ever end?

We have detergent with no scent or color, which is obviously for people with allergies.

I'm just happy with my clothing being clean and not smelling bad.

[tufty]

[gilesgoat]

Many years ago I remember an ad in Italy of can't remember what company ( that I suppose vanished ) were publicizing a new washing powder/stuff 'totally bio' made of stuff that according to them was totally bio-degradable and environmental friendly.

Can't remember the name of the product and can't say I saw it or head of it ever since.

[gilesgoat]

"There is no such thing as impossible dirt, Bio Presto washes it all"

( It's not that one I was mentioning above but it's one of the most funny ads I remember )



1973 ...

[toxibunny]

I've recently gotten into fabric softeners/conditioners. Been trying all the different smells. The coconut one is nice!

...and I wouldn't be super surprised if it *is* just an american phenomenon, at least until it hits the UK. American shopping seems to me to be a thing of it's own. There's been lots of times I've seen some interesting instructions online requiring borax or dry ice that americans can apparently buy at the supermarket but I can't imagine ever being available in a supermarket in the UK or Finland.

It also seems likely that the manufacturers have come to the decision that putting 'NEW IMPROVED!' on the packet isn't as profitable as selling the extra ingredients separately..

[gilesgoat]

THIS :



And a lot of hand rubbing, can't beat it, washes like nothing else, smells good.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille_soap )

[merman]

I've recently gotten into fabric softeners/conditioners. Been trying all the different smells. The coconut one is nice!

...and I wouldn't be super surprised if it *is* just an american phenomenon, at least until it hits the UK. American shopping seems to me to be a thing of it's own. There's been lots of times I've seen some interesting instructions online requiring borax or dry ice that americans can apparently buy at the supermarket but I can't imagine ever being available in a supermarket in the UK or Finland.

It also seems likely that the manufacturers have come to the decision that putting 'NEW IMPROVED!' on the packet isn't as profitable as selling the extra ingredients separately..

Uber Weiss... It's German /Ross from Friends

[Mark]

The one that still gets me is bottles of ironing water. Whoever thought of that is probably still laughing. (OK, it's scented, so it's not absolutely pointless, but it's still pretty pointless, given that your clothes probably smell nice anyway from what you washed them in.)

Fabric softener I can understand for clothes maybe (I still don't use it myself), but most people seem to use it on towels, and it makes them less absorbent. They'd rather towels were soft than get you dry.

[Dio]

In very hard water areas you can't use tap water to fill an iron, or it'll be clogged in weeks.

And you shouldn't necessarily judge what hard water is by what we have in the UK - UK water regulations restrict mineral content significantly compared to some other countries, especially the US. Bottled waters (of all kinds, including for drinking) should be judged in that context - even some developed "western" nations have somewhat dubious tap water.

[PFVA]

Or it might be for all I know.

There seems to be a huge amount of different laundry products and I don't mean different brands.

As I was stocking the chemical rows where I work I noticed we have all of the following:

Basic laundry detergent, boosters to make the detergent more effective, boosters to make the detergent smell better, bleach, additives to make bleach work more effectively, water softeners to make the detergent dissolve better in hard water, liquid fabric softener, boosters to make the scent of fabric softener more powerful, etc....

Does this ever end?

We have detergent with no scent or color, which is obviously for people with allergies.

I'm just happy with my clothing being clean and not smelling bad.

That brought me memories of shopping at Safeway in the SF Bay Area.

I used to use 'Tide' which worked from my point of view, and ignore the entire aile by going straight to their orange bottles.

And speaking of bleach do they still have those huge containers of 'Clorox'?

Now, "detergent with no scent" i could use around here. As of lately we are having an invasion of strongly scented detergents and other cleaning products and it's getting difficult to find something that doesn't leave things smelling for 2-3 days and from kms away.

[Rhythm]

Now, "detergent with no scent" i could use around here. As of lately we are having an invasion of strongly scented detergents and other cleaning products and it's getting difficult to find something that doesn't leave things smelling for 2-3 days and from kms away.

Glad it's not just me. I can't stand smelly detergent. For me, if your clothes still smell of what they were washed in then they can't really be that clean :-/

[Molloy]

Heard off a chemist a while ago that all the detergent powders are trash now because certain chemicals they used use are now banned but the liquid ones are fine.

I never bothered with softeners.

One thing that's brilliant, and now impossible to find (I've been buying it online) is Sunlight soap. Scrub the stuff with a bar of that before it goes in the machine gets out most stains. Those Vanish bars don't work as well, are a quarter of the size and way more expensive.

[Dio]

We only use non-bio powder here. The liquid ones destroy socks. Works fine, although hot washes help a lot.