When did that happen?

[ellarien]

I just trotted down to the grocery store for laundry and dishwasher detergent, and was startled to realize that nearly all the laundry detergent on the shelves was liquid rather than powder. I'm fairly sure this is a recent development; the UK switched to liquid (mostly 'concentrated' liquids) some time in the early 90's, but when I moved here it was pretty much all powder. At the time I put this down to the primitive nature of American washing machines. (Sorry, but to European eyes the basic top-loading US model really does look primitive; the first time I saw one, I thought it must have been rescued from a commercial establishment. Of course, lots of people in the UK still manage without a tumble dryer, so it evens out.) I found a store-brand that worked for me and stuck with it, so I haven't really been paying much attention since, and that is still available, but the shelf placement this time suggested it may be on its way out.

I just hope the manufacturers discover the wonders of the dosing ball before they phase out the powder forms completely; coin-op machines don't really lend themselves to the 'add detergent and clothes while filling' method. Or maybe they do, and I'm just too lazy to want to mess about like that while loading multiple machines in a busy laundry room. (Hmm. Maybe my mother still has some of my old Persil balls?)

Comments

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

You can still get powder out here. I don't like liquid because it's a waste of water, unless it's highly concentrated. But I never put the powder in the bottom of the washing machine like you're supposed to, and I have not had whatever problem it is you're supposed to have if you add the detergent at the end.

Those front-loading machines are available, but they're really expensive and it looks like you can't get a simple one. My Gloria has one of the front-loaders and it's a pain in the ass. There are too many different commands on the dashboardy thing, and yet it's nearly impossible to throw something in for part if a cycle (like just a rinse or just a spin). I like the idea that the front-loaders use less water, but Gloria's machine takes an hour and a half to do what my machine takes half an hour to do -- it's hard to believe that it doesn't use more energy.

[ellarien]

It turns out that the instructions on the powder say to dissolve it in water first, but the instructions on the laundry-room machines say to put it in the bottom, then add clothes, then start the machine, so that's what I do. (By the time the machine is full of water, I'm usually back in the apartment doing something else.) I do occasionally get traces of undissolved powder, particularly if I use the delicate cycle, so I don't use that one any more, but mostly it works fine. With the liquid, I'd be afraid of it running out of the little holes before it was needed.

I think my 1990-vintage front-loader used to take about 45 minutes for a cycle, and it was fairly easy to set it to do just a rinse or a rinse-and-spin or a spin -- I used that a lot for my handwash things. That was before the days of digital washing machines, though; it had a knob you turned to get the different programs. A lot of the energy cost in the UK would be heating the water (no cold-water wash there) so less water would tend to translate to less energy. I suspect the real reason for the front-loaders' popularity was space; they were designed to fit under a kitchen counter.