Tide "pods"

[Archae]

They're great!



I had a coupon, so I bought a bagful.

Just toss the little "pod" into the washer, throw in my clothes and it all works out fine.

[hedgehog]

1. Just be careful - little kids see those colors and think "CANDY"!

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2012/05/kids_are_eating_detergent_like.php

[Archae]

3. No little kids here.

[petronius]

2. Ooh, candy!

Just don't leave them where toddlers can take a bite, I've seen a few news reports about poisonings from those things...

[JesterCS]

4. i agree they are great. The purple bag is best smell

[noamnety]

5. I just use homemade detergent

It's about 2 or 3 bucks for a year's worth of laundry.

I hate paying for individual packaging of anything.

[cyberswede]

6. How do you make it?

Does it have a smell?

[noamnety]

7. There's no smell unless you add one.

I have a bottle of "fresh rain scent" crystals I got free in a coupon deal, so sometimes I will toss in maybe a half teaspoonful - nowhere near the recommended amount. But sometimes I just want unflavored laundry.

anyway, here is the recipe:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or Ivory soap (I found fels naptha at aco hardware)
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
a bucket

Grate the soap (I shoved it through my food processor) and put it in pot with 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket, then the soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 more cups of water and stir again. Let the soap sit for a day and it will gel. I stir it once or twice while it's cooling. You use ½ cup per load - this is 2 gallons or enough for 64 loads. I usually just triple it so I can use the whole bar of soap at once, but you need 6 gallon containers to put it in which is a lot if your space is limited. And don't use recycled milk gallons - I found the plastic in them didn't hold up to the soap. I use old quart mason jars, spaghetti sauce jars and crocks.

This isn't a high sudsy soap, but that's okay because suds don't clean clothes - the soap does. To get suds you have to add extra chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate, but those can be irritants for some people.

[Lionel Mandrake]

8. There are pods, and then there are PODS.