Tide Coldwater Laundry Detergent (N/A)

[RJM62]

I've been using this stuff for about a week, and it seems to work really well.

A few weeks ago, I decided to try washing everything in cold water to save energy. No, I'm not going tree-hugger on y'all. I'm just your basic tightwad, and the hot water heater in my new place runs on propane, which is more expensive than electricity.

Propane also has to be delivered by a guy who has to schlep 100 feet of hose to the tanks behind the house, and I'm trying to time things so I don't have to shovel all that snow when it arrives. I figure if I top off the tanks right before the first big snow, I might just make it through the winter if I'm careful.

Besides, if I'm going to be paying to heat hot water, I'd rather it go into the jacuzzi ,where it does some good for my old bones. I always thought tending a flower garden was for sissies. But since I actually planted one, I've changed my mind. Tending a flower garden is for young sissies.

Anyway, I started washing everything in cold water, but the laundry detergent I'd purchased from the dollar store wasn't cutting it. Kinda hard to believe that even after paying $2.99 for a gallon of detergent, the laundry was coming out dirtier than it went in. But there you have it.

Then someone turned me on to this Tide Coldwater stuff, and it does a really decent job. So being the good tightwad that I am, I did some research and found out that Price Chopper had it on sale for $3.00 off a bottle, which brought the price down to $8.99.

Add on the $8.00 in gas for the trip there and back, and then subtract the $3.00 that I would save by using the Price-Chopper Advantage Card at the Sunoco Station there (I'd been waiting for the tank to be near-empty so I could do that, anyway), and I reckoned that if I bought two bottles, I'd still be a dollar ahead of the game. So off I went to Price Chopper to buy some detergent.

Now, I've never paid that much for laundry soap before. I just washed everything in hot water. I don't have any fancy clothes that are bothered by it, and electricity is cheap up here. But now that I'm using propane, I decided it was time to economize.

I must say, the stuff does work well. The clothes come out clean and they even smell nice. I don't even mind having spent the $8.99 a bottle because I reckon I've probably saved that much in propane already. In fact, I may just make the 25-mile trip back to Price Chopper to stock up on the detergent while it's on sale.

-Rich

 

[Anymouse]

It seems like it would have been easier, and cheaper, to just let the guy schlep his way through the snow.

 

[John221us]

Being cheap sounds like hard work.

 

[Jay Honeck]

As all the good ol' boys here in small-town Texas like to say when they see me out slaving in the yard in hundred-degree heat: "Jay! Cain't yew get yore wife to do thet fer ya?"

 

[RJM62]

Being cheap sounds like hard work.

Yeah, it is. It definitely is.

-Rich

 

[ja_user]

I may have to give this a shot...

Did you even do this with Whites? The Price Chopper is 1 mile from me, so I don't have that much math involved with picking it up..

 

[RJM62]

As all the good ol' boys here in small-town Texas like to say when they see me out slaving in the yard in hundred-degree heat: "Jay! Cain't yew get yore wife to do thet fer ya?"

Nah. Tried that route already. I'd rather do the laundry.

-Rich

 

[RJM62]

I may have to give this a shot...

Did you even do this with Whites? The Price Chopper is 1 mile from me, so I don't have that much math involved with picking it up..

Yep, although I also used bleach with the whites.

However, pretty much the only white clothes I wear (other than a couple of white dress shirts and tees for funerals and such) are my socks. I own 30 identical pairs of white socks. When they wear out, I look for a sale, buy 30 new identical pairs of white socks, and throw all the old ones out at the same time.

With proper rotation, all the socks wear out at the same time. Proper rotation is most easily achieved by washing all the socks at the same time, once a month.

The benefit to this method is that I don't have to sort socks. They're all identical, so I just have to pair them.

-Rich

 

[denverpilot]

Yep, although I also used bleach with the whites.

However, pretty much the only white clothes I wear (other than a couple of white dress shirts and tees for funerals and such) are my socks. I own 30 identical pairs of white socks. When they wear out, I look for a sale, buy 30 new identical pairs of white socks, and throw all the old ones out at the same time.

With proper rotation, all the socks wear out at the same time. Proper rotation is most easily achieved by washing all the socks at the same time, once a month.

The benefit to this method is that I don't have to sort socks. They're all identical, so I just have to pair them.

-Rich

That sir, is awesome.

 

[ja_user]

Yep, although I also used bleach with the whites.

However, pretty much the only white clothes I wear (other than a couple of white dress shirts and tees for funerals and such) are my socks. I own 30 identical pairs of white socks. When they wear out, I look for a sale, buy 30 new identical pairs of white socks, and throw all the old ones out at the same time.

With proper rotation, all the socks wear out at the same time. Proper rotation is most easily achieved by washing all the socks at the same time, once a month.

The benefit to this method is that I don't have to sort socks. They're all identical, so I just have to pair them.

-Rich

Just so you know, we may very well be twins...

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Your local drug dealer is your low cost supplier of Tide.

 

[Gmaper]

Consumer Reports rates Tide Cold Water at number 4 and a "good" rating for cleaning. Only the top 3 received a "very good" for cleaning and there were no "excellent".

If electricity is cheap why don't you get a smaller size electric water heater and install it in series with your gas water heater? Then, you would mostly use cheap electricity for water heating but if it couldn't keep up you'd have the gas as a backup.

I know of a family in a large house that have two 40 gallon gas water heaters connected in series. During the warm months the first water heater keeps up with the demand and the second heater is not even on. In the cold months, when the inlet water temperature is very low which means a longer recovery time, the second heater is left on the lowest "warm" setting and so plenty of hot water in the cold months, too.

 

[N747JB]

I am not neccesarily cheap, just lazy so I usually wash one load every 4-5 days, EVERYTHING goes into the washing machine, white, red, blue, pink, green, if I wear it, I wash it! I always use cold water and after 4 years of doing this way, I still have clean clothes everyday. I just use whatever liquid detergent is on sale, drives my wife CRAZY! She thinks you have to use TIDE or all the kids in Africa will die or some such nonsense.
I only do my laundry, she never matches my socks right.

 

[wabower]

Why do you have to pair them? Can't you count to two when you reach in the drawer? There's nothing else but white socks there, right?

Yep, although I also used bleach with the whites.

However, pretty much the only white clothes I wear (other than a couple of white dress shirts and tees for funerals and such) are my socks. I own 30 identical pairs of white socks. When they wear out, I look for a sale, buy 30 new identical pairs of white socks, and throw all the old ones out at the same time.

With proper rotation, all the socks wear out at the same time. Proper rotation is most easily achieved by washing all the socks at the same time, once a month.

The benefit to this method is that I don't have to sort socks. They're all identical, so I just have to pair them.

-Rich

 

[N801BH]

There is a reason my plane is painted TIDE orange. and TIDE Blue and TIDE Yellow..

 

[RJM62]

Consumer Reports rates Tide Cold Water at number 4 and a "good" rating for cleaning. Only the top 3 received a "very good" for cleaning and there were no "excellent".

If electricity is cheap why don't you get a smaller size electric water heater and install it in series with your gas water heater? Then, you would mostly use cheap electricity for water heating but if it couldn't keep up you'd have the gas as a backup.

I know of a family in a large house that have two 40 gallon gas water heaters connected in series. During the warm months the first water heater keeps up with the demand and the second heater is not even on. In the cold months, when the inlet water temperature is very low which means a longer recovery time, the second heater is left on the lowest "warm" setting and so plenty of hot water in the cold months, too.

Not a bad idea, actually.

-Rich

 

[RJM62]

Why do you have to pair them? Can't you count to two when you reach in the drawer? There's nothing else but white socks there, right?

Force of habit, I guess. No other reason.

-Rich

 

[RJM62]

There is a reason my plane is painted TIDE orange. and TIDE Blue and TIDE Yellow..

Okay... I give up. What is the reason?

-Rich

 

[N801BH]

1-It works
2- It is a kool color combo
3- Chance of a mid air for not being seen is VERY low.
4- Plane cleans up nicely with cold water.

 

[RJM62]

Just so you know, we may very well be twins...

Ah, a kindred spirit!

One day some years ago, I was standing in the laundry room sorting all these various socks -- all white, but just different enough from each other to be... well, different from each other.

And then it occurred to me: Because all I wear is white cotton socks, why not just buy them all the same?

And if I'm going to do that, then why not buy three packs of 10 pairs each? Then I only have to wash them once a month, and they'll all wear out at the same rate.

And if I'm going to do that, then why not buy them when they're on sale at Wal-Mart. Target, K-Mart, etc.?

This all made perfect sense to me. It was like a sudden moment of clarity during which I realized that all my life, I had been mismanaging my sock inventory.

But when I try to share my enlightenment and the wisdom of this approach to my friends, they usually just look at me oddly...

-Rich

 

[Henning]

I've been using this stuff for about a week, and it seems to work really well.

A few weeks ago, I decided to try washing everything in cold water to save energy. No, I'm not going tree-hugger on y'all. I'm just your basic tightwad, and the hot water heater in my new place runs on propane, which is more expensive than electricity.

Propane also has to be delivered by a guy who has to schlep 100 feet of hose to the tanks behind the house, and I'm trying to time things so I don't have to shovel all that snow when it arrives. I figure if I top off the tanks right before the first big snow, I might just make it through the winter if I'm careful.

Besides, if I'm going to be paying to heat hot water, I'd rather it go into the jacuzzi ,where it does some good for my old bones. I always thought tending a flower garden was for sissies. But since I actually planted one, I've changed my mind. Tending a flower garden is for young sissies.

Anyway, I started washing everything in cold water, but the laundry detergent I'd purchased from the dollar store wasn't cutting it. Kinda hard to believe that even after paying $2.99 for a gallon of detergent, the laundry was coming out dirtier than it went in. But there you have it.

Then someone turned me on to this Tide Coldwater stuff, and it does a really decent job. So being the good tightwad that I am, I did some research and found out that Price Chopper had it on sale for $3.00 off a bottle, which brought the price down to $8.99.

Add on the $8.00 in gas for the trip there and back, and then subtract the $3.00 that I would save by using the Price-Chopper Advantage Card at the Sunoco Station there (I'd been waiting for the tank to be near-empty so I could do that, anyway), and I reckoned that if I bought two bottles, I'd still be a dollar ahead of the game. So off I went to Price Chopper to buy some detergent.

Now, I've never paid that much for laundry soap before. I just washed everything in hot water. I don't have any fancy clothes that are bothered by it, and electricity is cheap up here. But now that I'm using propane, I decided it was time to economize.

I must say, the stuff does work well. The clothes come out clean and they even smell nice. I don't even mind having spent the $8.99 a bottle because I reckon I've probably saved that much in propane already. In fact, I may just make the 25-mile trip back to Price Chopper to stock up on the detergent while it's on sale.

-Rich

Think about it, if you had a fuel cell, you get heat and hot water as a byproduct with your electricity.

 

[N5922S]

She thinks you have to use TIDE or all the kids in Africa will die or some such nonsense.

I've been using Brand X for years and the population of Africa is still increasing. Can she suggest something else to try?

 

[Rigged4Flight]

Couldn't tell at first if this was a joke thread or you were serious. I've decided that you are serious.

Will you marry me? Not for the sex or anything. Just for the clothes washing and sorting and stuff. My wife will probably approve, after I show her this thread.

 

[Henning]

Couldn't tell at first if this was a joke thread or you were serious. I've decided that you are serious.

Will you marry me? Not for the sex or anything. Just for the clothes washing and sorting and stuff. My wife will probably approve, after I show her this thread.

"Laundry, yet another reason 'Its OK to be Gay'"

 

[Sac Arrow]

Why are men discussing a laundry detergent thread?

All of you, pull your cards out of your wallets (or handbags, as more likely the case) and cut them up. Right now.

 

[Henning]

Why are men discussing a laundry detergent thread?

All of you, pull your cards out of your wallets (or handbags, as more likely the case) and cut them up. Right now.

Do I hear the yapping of the already defrocked?

 

[RJM62]

Based on my experience, doing laundry's a heck of a lot cheaper and less stressful than marriage.

Neither does laundry smash up your car; complain when you go hunting / camping / fishing / flying / bowling; nag you about the way you dress / wear your hair / drive / relax / smell; nor mess up your credit rating.

Rigged4Flight, I'm honored by your proposal, but I'll pass.

-Rich

 

[John Baker]

I prefer the new and improved Tide, it's a whole lot better than the old new and improved Tide. They have been making that stuff new and improved all my life. My mom must have been using new and improved crap for Tide as compared to todays new and improved Tide. One can only imagine with wonder what new and improved Tide will be like in another seventy years.

They weren't joshing when they said pilots are cheap were they?

-John

 

[John Baker]

Based on my experience, doing laundry's a heck of a lot cheaper and less stressful than marriage.

Neither does laundry smash up your car; complain when you go hunting / camping / fishing / flying / bowling; nag you about the way you dress / wear your hair / drive / relax / smell; nor mess up your credit rating.

Rigged4Flight, I'm honored by your proposal, but I'll pass.

-Rich

-John

 

[Bob Noel]

Why are men discussing a laundry detergent thread?

All of you, pull your cards out of your wallets (or handbags, as more likely the case) and cut them up. Right now.

hey, you read the thread too.

 

[Captain]

I don't think the savings of not using hot water is as great as you may imagine. Sure it uses some energy to heat the cold water coming in to replace the water you used, but...you were going to have to spend energy just to maintain that hot water anyway.

Does it use a bit more energy to use hot water? Sure. Just not as much as you might think. It's not like you're paying full fare for heating the water you use washing your skivvies. Your just paying to maintain a temperature with a few gallons of cold water added. Some expense, but not much.

I like the idea of the in line water heaters for the cold months. I wonder if an on demand heater would work better for that first tank?

 

[Gmaper]

I don't think the savings of not using hot water is as great as you may imagine. Sure it uses some energy to heat the cold water coming in to replace the water you used, but...you were going to have to spend energy just to maintain that hot water anyway.

Does it use a bit more energy to use hot water? Sure. Just not as much as you might think. It's not like you're paying full fare for heating the water you use washing your skivvies. Your just paying to maintain a temperature with a few gallons of cold water added. Some expense, but not much.

I like the idea of the in line water heaters for the cold months. I wonder if an on demand heater would work better for that first tank?

I don't think near as much energy is used to maintain the temperature as compared to the energy used to heat the water from inlet temperature to outlet temperature. And if he is as cheap as he says, he probably has extra insulation on his tank. :wink2:

The idea of an on-demand heater is also good but he did say he is cheap and they cost a good bit more than an electric tank type. Also, they are typically gas powered and he said his electricity is cheap compared to propane.

Now, if he was really gung-ho to minimize his expense he could hire an energy consultant to analyze all of his options such as solar, high efficiency gas tankless, top rated electrics, and so on. But he said he is cheap. Maybe a Bunsen burner? This group could come up with a bunch of great ideas except he said he is cheap.

 

[RJM62]

I don't think near as much energy is used to maintain the temperature as compared to the energy used to heat the water from inlet temperature to outlet temperature. And if he is as cheap as he says, he probably has extra insulation on his tank. :wink2:

The idea of an on-demand heater is also good but he did say he is cheap and they cost a good bit more than an electric tank type. Also, they are typically gas powered and he said his electricity is cheap compared to propane.

Now, if he was really gung-ho to minimize his expense he could hire an energy consultant to analyze all of his options such as solar, high efficiency gas tankless, top rated electrics, and so on. But he said he is cheap. Maybe a Bunsen burner? This group could come up with a bunch of great ideas except he said he is cheap.

You say that as if there's something wrong with it.

-Rich

 

[N801BH]

You say that as if there's something wrong with it.

-Rich

I ain't cheap............... I am SPENDING challanged..

 

[Everskyward]

You say that as if there's something wrong with it.

If you were really cheap you would take your laundry down to the nearest creek and bang it between two stones.

I know of someone else who does the sock thing, and yes, I gave him an odd look. But I've never known anyone who weighed the cost of heating water against the cost of laundry detergent...

 

[Rigged4Flight]

Based on my experience, doing laundry's a heck of a lot cheaper and less stressful than marriage.

Neither does laundry smash up your car; complain when you go hunting / camping / fishing / flying / bowling; nag you about the way you dress / wear your hair / drive / relax / smell; nor mess up your credit rating.

Rigged4Flight, I'm honored by your proposal, but I'll pass.

-Rich

I'm saddened and relieved at the same time.

I don't think the savings of not using hot water is as great as you may imagine. Sure it uses some energy to heat the cold water coming in to replace the water you used, but...you were going to have to spend energy just to maintain that hot water anyway.

Does it use a bit more energy to use hot water? Sure. Just not as much as you might think. It's not like you're paying full fare for heating the water you use washing your skivvies. Your just paying to maintain a temperature with a few gallons of cold water added. Some expense, but not much.

I like the idea of the in line water heaters for the cold months. I wonder if an on demand heater would work better for that first tank?

The savings would be greater in a colder climate. I looked in to an on-demand water heater a couple of years ago. The cost of the system is directly related to the temperature of the water coming in to the heater. Water barely above freezing will be much more expensive to bring to normal hot water temps than the typical Florida water temps.

 

[comanchepilot]

We bought this fancyvnew computerized energy saving washer and it does not have a cold only cycle. Go figure.