As many of you know, my wife and I are going to have a new baby in less than one month. A few nights ago, while washing some ‘onesies’ for out little girl, I noticed something about the laundry detergent cap.
On the back of the detergent bottle, there are ‘recommended’ amounts for various types of ‘laundry loads’. For a medium-sized load, the manufacturer suggested that I fill the cap to line “1″. I looked on the outside of the cap and I couldn’t find any numbers. But, on the inside, there they were. Very faintly, there were three lines – 1, 2, and 3.
Here’s a picture of the cap -
The ‘red arrow’ is pointing to ‘line 1′ – The recommended amount for a ‘medium load’.
The ‘black arrow’ is pointing to ‘line 2′ – The recommended amount for a ‘large load’.
The blue line (with no arrow) is pointing to ‘line 3′ – This line is not mentioned in the instructions. Why? I have no idea. But, I assure you, there is a ‘line 3′.
Now, for the interesting part. The ‘natural line’ – marked in green – and the point to where I’ve always filled the laundry cap in the past – is well above the ‘recommended line’.
As you can see, the recommended amount for a medium load is equal to less than 1/4 of a cup. But, the line to which the eye is naturally ‘drawn’ – the green line – is almost 1/2 of a cup.
The bottle states that there are 16 loads per bottle – But, that’s ONLY true if you use ‘line 1′ – the line suggested for medium loads. Use any line above ‘line 1′ and you’ll get less than 16 loads per bottle. Use the ‘green line’ and you’ll only get 8!
I took a look at two other bottles of laundry detergent that we had in the house – and both of them showed remarkably similar characteristics. So, when washing your clothes, and using store-bought detergents, be sure that you are using the ‘recommended’ amounts – and that you are using the right ‘line’.
By the way – For any and all who read this – While this post is meant to point out a useful money-saving tip, I am fully aware that taking the time to photograph, highlight, and post a picture of a laundry cap (and then write a blog post about it) is a ‘wee bit’ insane. But, then again, so is living in 2008 and not using a credit card. 
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The reason for the blue spots on your clothes is you must be putting the detergent directly on the clothes, instead dissolve your detergent in the washer before you put the clothes in the machine.
Along with using less detergent, many people do not realize that they can cut down significantly on energy costs by using cold water instead of warm or hot to do their general washing. Your clothes will get just as clean. I attended a seminar last year on saving energy and the speaker told a small story that convinced many in the audience that were skeptical about that. He asked those who used only cold water to wash their clothes to stand up. He then asked one of the skeptical people if the clothes on that person looked clean to them. Their response was “Yes.”. He proved his point.
no I put it in after running water, and some of the clothes were brand new so they weren’t soiled or anything. Only have had this problem with the new concentrated detergents.
I just bought one of those laundry balls today that claims it will do 90 loads of laundry. It cost me 2 for $10 so I don’t know that it is worth the money but I am looking forward to seeing if it works.
I have read warnings about being careful using these new concentrated detergents. Since they are concentrated,the odors and chemicals used are much stronger than the old diluted versions ,( water is removed from the detergent, thus making it concentrated.) Those that may be susceptible to problems with the chemicals or odors are urged to be cautious if using these products so as not to get sick.
“extra detergent sticks to your clothes, makes them feel yucky, and they hold in smells so much more.”
Amen, sister!
Every couple of weeks I run all the loads with dishwashing liquid instead of detergent. This helps strip out the detergent build-up.
I also use baking soda in the wash and white vinegar in the rinse to extend the cleaning powers of my detergent (I use about a tablespoon per load).
If you’re using a dryer, home-made dryer sheets (a washcloth dribbled with your fave fabric softener) will take care of all your scenting needs.
Sometimes I like to take a bath in bleach to make sure I am clean to the bone. Afterward I enjoy the swimming pool aroma that clings to every pore on my body.
I am terrible, I buy the good stuff and fill the cup to the top and a little more for a boost , silly me , now that I’ve read everyone’s comments I’ve changed my ways and get even better results, thank you !
This sort of reminds me of the back of older shampoo instructions that suggest you wash and then repeat, using the product up in half the time. I never understood why I needed to wash my hair twice. Lately though I have noticed that some shampoo manufactures have taken that instruction off. It’s all a trick to get us to buy sooner.
Watch yourselves. The scoop that comes in powdered detergent gets larger when you buy the larger box of detergent. And they routinely change the size of the ones that come in the smaller boxes too. They want you to use as much as you can of the detergent you know.
Oh my god get a life! Somehow I couldn’t draw my eyes away (like a train wreck) but I do believe I just waisted precious moments of my life by reading about LAUNDRY DETERGENT!
I saw a similar laundry detergent story on my local news yesterday!
http://www.wxyz.com/content/news/dwym/story.aspx?content_id=d2b6ef5e-3aa7-42ce-9689-6908525bfcc9
I’m ashamed to admit that in all my years among die hard frugal folk, I have never once even thought to look at the packaging to see what the suggested amount was, I merely looked at the cup/cap/scoop and figured it was just “too much” and subsequently used less.
I read your post and low and behold, my partner has been using THREE TIMES what was necessary for laundry. Because the non-frugal folk who live among us can’t be bothered with eyeballing measurements, I replaced the scoop that came with my detergent with a smaller size. Now, 1 scoop for small to medium loads and 2 scoops for a full load and I am spending about 60% less on my laundry.
Thanks for taking the time to be a ‘wee bit’ insane.
Wanna really save money? Don’t buy liquid laundry detergent! Powdered is much, much cheaper and usually comes in a paper, rather than plastic, container. If you really, really want liquid, just take the proper amount of powdered…mix with warm water…and add to the load. We live with well water that doesn’t dissolve the dry stuff well, but I’ve figured out that I can just add water at the start of each load to my dry little granular friends!
Thanks for THAT interesting post, I usually fill the cap to overflowing, otherwise I cannot smell the goodness of the detergent! Woah I better be more careful. But I am writing because now all my detergents have gone to the “concentrated” version. I am paying the same or MORE for the detergent YET I get less loads washed for the dollar. Example: Arm and Hammer….used to get 32 loads and the concentrate gives me 26!!!!!!! HELLO is anyone else catching on to this ?? They sure aren’t pointing that out in their happy go lucky commercial with their great new bottles. I am soo mad!!!
OMG with the new concentrates, only use a teaspoon full at best for a load of wash. I keep a spoon right on my washer. Once the toxic smell of chemicals gets into your clothes, you can’t get them out.
Last week I did laundry (for the first time) for our baby’s new cloths due in a week. I was able to find the marks inside easily.
Its our mistake if we tend to overlook simple things and assume wrong ones.
Thanks for the great tip. I was definitely overdoing it with the detergent! (Congratulations on your baby. =)
As a mumblogger (momblogger?), this post is by no means trivial or a waste of time.
And I love the focus of your blog. We are phasing our credit cards out & should be able to cancel them completely by the end of the year. Yeehai!
Even got to be careful with Seventh Generation laundry liquid detergent (free and clear). They’ve changed their ingredients. And it was totally unnecessary except as a way to make more money by having us keep looking for something that smells good.
My wife and I have been using a small measuring cup (maybe a quarter or third of a cup) to measure our liquid detergent into for a couple of years now. We use a front loader washer and our clothes are clean and smell great. Best of all, a big “jug” of Tide (purchased while on sale) lasts forever.
We also cut store brand dryer sheets in half when we open a new box. This yelds twice as many loads and we’ve had no static cling issues.
Thanks for all the hard work NCN. Keep it up!
And all of my 65 years, I’ve been of the opinion that more is better?!? So, I’m now understanding less is more. I’m going to give this a try. What I’ve been doing in the past is changing detergents everytime my laundry starts to become dingy….that has happened to my whites now, which I always took pride in…and now…they look terrible…yet I overfill my detergent cups to overflowing and i’m wondering WHY!!?? Well…I’m giving this a try….and seeing how long it takes to get all this excess out. Might try the vinegar idea too..since I must have a tremendous build up in my clothes. Thanks for this. I usually don’t read blogs like this…but I think this one was beneficial to read through to the end….just to convince me that my old ways were wrong ways.
What a SCAM! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in support of making changes to limit my negative impact on the environment. But, these new concentrated laundry detergents and their over-sized caps are nothing more than a scam to trick consumers into using more product.
Believe me, the detergent manufacturers know that consumers are going to instinctly use more than the new teensy-weensy recommended amount. We’ve been using a normal cap full for years and all of a sudden we’re given this concentrated formula that only requires 1/2 as much fluid. Naturally, we’re going to over fill the cap–especially because they make the caps so unnecessarily big and they make the markings so damn hard to read.
I would love to know how much more money the laundry detergent companies are making since they started making this new concentrated product. I guarantee, they’re all laughing straight to the bank, while we’re all loosing more of our money. The only thing we can do about it is be informed consumers and read the directions carefully. Know how much you’re using and measure CAREFULLY. Filling just a little above the line will result in significantly more waste, now that the fluid is twice as concentrated.
I make my own laundry soap and have for years. It is about 2 cents per load and isn’t perfumy like the store bought stuff. Go to http://www.savemoneytoday.net for the recipe. You are only supposed to use a tiny bit of the homemade stuff too and I have had to restrain myself from using more than the recommended.
OH wow! I have really been wasting laundry soap!! i always just though you were supposed to fill it to the top! THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS.
My mom is a laundry detergent violator. She will wash only 10 loads with a large bottle that is supposed to be for 64 loads! I keep reminding her of all of the chemicals in the detergent, some which supposedly can cause cancer. Ugggh! I need to have a scientist call her to tell her of the harm she may be causing to us and the environment. I’m going to give her the homemade recipe someone shared in this blog.
I make my own laundry detergent which costs me approximately $0.28 / 4 1/2 liters versus the $14.99 I was paying for the same thing. People ask me does it clean and my answer is ,yes it does what do you think commercial laundry detergent is made of, why wouldn’t it clean. It takes about 10m minutes to make and you can get 10 gallons out of the recipe, which I found on the Dugger Family web site.
Y’know, I’m all for blogging and whatnot, but, and I hate to be “this gal”, but isn’t that kind of common knowledge?
@ Debbie Downer…
Nope!
Cool! Consumer Reports is linking to one of my favorite blogs – NCC!
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/06/laundry-detergent-overdosing-caps-procter-and-gamble-method-sun-era-tide-cheer-all-consumer-reports-.html?EXTKEY=I72RSHA
Another thing to look out for. I just purchased Ecos Liquid Laundry Detergent, the directions tell you to use 1/2 ouce (3 capfuls) but the capful is 1 once. So even if you are reading and trying to follow the directions, they leave you confused. I opted for the 1/2 ounce, but only after unwittingly doing a load with 3 ounces of detergent.