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Value

Powder, Liquid, or Pod: Which Form Of Laundry Soap Is Most Cost Effective?

May 16, 2016
By Brock Kernin
- Leave a Comment

CleverDude_LaundryPic

I’ve used liquid laundry detergent as long as I can remember. But when my family and I went to Florida I bought some of the detergent pods as they were just more convenient to pack and take with us. Laundry detergent was on this weekend’s grocery shopping list, and I wondered which form of the product would be the least expensive per load. I decided to compare the three forms of detergent; liquid, powder, and the pods for two major brands and see which came out as the best value for my money:

Tide:

  • Powder : 102 load product for $18.96 = $0.186 per load
  • Liquid : 96 load product for $17.97 = $0.187 per load
  • Pod : 81 load product for $19.97 = $0.247 per load

Gain:

  • Powder: 120 load product for $15.46 = $0.129 per load
  • Liquid: 96 load product for $14.97 = $0.156 per load
  • Pod: 81 load product for $19.97 = 0.247 per load

Analysis

From the data collected it appears powder is the least expensive, while pods are the most expensive form of laundry detergent ( assuming other brands would follow similar price differential for the different forms of detergent).

There are, however, a few things to keep in mind when selecting your type of laundry detergent:

  1. Some people find that power form detergent clumps in the washer or leaves residue on the clothes. I have experienced this personally.
  2. The small size of a pod is convenient for traveling
  3. It’s been noted that the amount of product suggested by the detergent manufacturers is too large. I typically only use half the suggested amount. This means that I’d get twice as many loads for liquid or powder products. Cutting a pod in half would only create a mess. This means that the price per load for powder and liquid is actually HALF of what is stated above.

My own personal preference remains the liquid form of detergent. Pods are significantly more expensive than either liquid or powder and while they may be convenient for traveling, I don’t see any advantage to using them at home. Also, while liquid is not quite as inexpensive as powder, it doesn’t have the clumping/residue issue.

This analysis was done using only two types of detergents, but you can easily do the same comparison for other brands. The next time you’re at the grocery store, collect the data for your favorite brand, and see how they stack up!

How about you, Clever Friends? What kind of form of laundry detergent do you use? Why?

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Brought to you courtesy of Brock

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Comments

  1. Money Beagle says

    May 16, 2016 at 2:53 pm

    Liquid is what we use, because you can easily measure out what you want and it doesn’t clump.

    Reply
    • Brock says

      June 12, 2016 at 1:32 pm

      The clumping is definitely a factor…..I HATE finding clumps in my clothes.

    • Timothy Galos says

      July 31, 2019 at 12:21 pm

      You won’t get clumps if you add the powder into the running water. Powder is much cheaper to ship than bottles of liquid, and you end up with no plastic in the landfill.

  2. That parent says

    May 17, 2016 at 11:01 am

    I love to save money, and make a lot of my own liquid detergent.(super cheap!) I do, however, purchase the pods if I get storebought. I have 3 kids that do their own laundry, and a grandma who likes to help out from time to time. When these people do laundry, they tend to use MORE than recommended, because in their mind, more soap means more clean no matter how many times I tell them. With pds, they don’t overuse!

    Reply
    • Brock says

      June 12, 2016 at 1:33 pm

      In your specific case, That Parent, the pods seem like the wise choice…..never thought of that scenario. 😉

  3. Eric Bowlin says

    May 17, 2016 at 11:02 am

    Convenience is key for me, and no mess. I love pods. I’ll pay the extra few cents per load.

    Reply
    • Brock says

      June 12, 2016 at 1:34 pm

      If it works for you, go for it, Eric. I don’t see pods as any more or less convenient than liquid though.

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