More Money for Less Tide Detergent…
Have you ever fallen for a Marketing Gimmick? I sure have as I disclosed last year in the post found here. In an effort to prevent you and others from falling for another potential gimmick, I wanted to share this email that I received from Hip2Save reader, Krystle…
[h2s_box]
(I know the last few times I was in Target all their Tide products were on clearance. I think I’ve seen a little buzz in your comment sections with people asking why this is. I saw this article on Yahoo today about how Tide is decreasing their load size which in turn means that you’re paying more for each load of detergent even though their is no price increase. I work in the laundry detergent business and a lot of companies change load size in order to sneakily take a price increase without consumers noticing. I just thought I’d share this information.[/h2s_box]
Although this article does state that the price of regular Tide won’t change, it claims that you will pay more for Tide Plus since P&G is shrinking each container but keeping the same sale price. For example, a 100 ounce bottle will be decreased to 92 ounces allowing P&G to sell less volume for the same price.
What are your thoughts on this topic?
Exactly why I coupon.. I pay pennies for whatever so it doesn’t even matter. I noticed it happened with tons of items its shiesty.
and that is why I make my own laundry detergent
yes home made is cheaper and BETTER for your HEALTH ! I have used free and clear for yrs and now only homemade !
I’ve been making my own for about ten years now. I’ve compared it to the commercial brands and it works better, IMHO. My eczema is a million times better now too!
My daughter has terrible excema.. Care to share your “recipe”? I’d love to give it a try..
I’m another homemade convert. It’s soo easy and so much cheaper. And once you make the first purchase of the big boxes all I’ve needed to buy to make another batch is a bar of laundry soap for a dollar.
Yes! I would like the recipe too ladies! I currently have about 20 bottles of detergent on the shelf, but it would be nice to learn how to make homemade. I have an HE washer.
Yes!! Please share. We I will be a family of four in the coming month and I like to save any way I can!
I was actually discussing making my own detergent with my husband yesterday!
Would you mind sharing your recipe?
Thanks
mine is:
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
1 shaved bar of Ivory (or Felsnaptha)
I melt the shavings in a pot on the stove with about 3 cups of water, Then, pour it in a 5 gallon bucket. Last, I add about 3 gallons of warm water and stir in the Borax and Washing Soda. Let it cool. Stir a lot. It will keep separating, so leave some shake room in your detergent jugs. Add some tea tree oil or other essential oil of your choice for a little natural scent.
It works alright. Saves us a bundle. I still buy oxyclean to soak out really bad stains when we get them. Gentle on your skin too.
low to no suds, so should be fine in a HE washer
What is washing soda? I’ve never heard that terminology before. Is that baking soda or something else? TIA!
Hi Bunny, Washing soda is found at my walmart in the detergent isle right next to the borax and baking soda, it is different than baking soda
Thanks Debbie. I’ll look next time I’m at Walmart.
Another “stupid” question from moi..how do you “shave” the Ivory bar of soap? Do you use like a standard kitchen grater or a vegetable peeler? What is easiest from your experience?
i use a peeler, like you would use for carrots/potatoes
btw-not a stupid question : )
I’ve never made the dry kind that Kristen and Laurie have below, would be easier and no funnel required, I may give it a whirl next time
-lots of other recipes online if you google this topic!
I just want to add it’s not only sold at Walmart. You can buy it at winco and Fred Meyer if you have those stores near you.
I just wanted to add that there are several how to videos on YouTube showing you how to make homemade laundry detergent if your a visual learner like me. And don’t be discouraged of you end up with something that looks like watery cottage cheese. Mine has always ended up like that done that but works just the same.
I make ours. 1 cup grated fels naptha (laundry soap), 1/2 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax. Mix and use 1-2 tablespoons. This may not work for he. I have a top loader and have been using this recipe for over 3 years. It’s about 1/5 the cost.
Just to be sure I understand, Kristen, you just mix together and then use? That would be so simple! One other question- will this work with a cold-water wash load? I’m getting excited about this! Need to use scent free so this would be great, and less expensive. Win/win 🙂
Yes, you just mix the dry ingredients for a powdered detergent. And yes, it works with cold or hot water. Just make sure to grate the fels naptha really fine so it will dissolve.
Even Charmin toilet paper also has same gimmick
YES! Put the toilet paper on the roll and thought…what’s up? They cut off the end!!! Unreal…then I read the dimensions and sure enough…they cut the width!!
I have noticed this a lot with other items as well. Like soda…12 packs are now 10 packs. That is why it is so important to READ labels. Maybe that is why we had such high value coupons in January. Thanks to coupons like Rona said we wont have to worry to much about this.
This is off topic but does anyone know of any jungle book DVD coupons out there?
Not coupons, per se, but I did read that if you pre-order Frozen at Toysrus for $1 and buy Jungle Book at the same time that you pre-order you get $10 off the purchase of any Disney DVD. I haven’t tried it personally so don’t know if all stores have the pre-order cards out.
Doesn’t surprise me at all. Boxed cake mixes have also decreased in size. Used to make 24 cupcakes and now some only make 18.
Dang, I never noticed that.
I was wondering wats with 18 ..its ia one and half of another cupcake pan….the extremes companies go too….all the more reason why nobody shud blame us couponers, for taking time during checkout,etc….
I HAVE noticed when I make a cake it looks much flatter then normal. Smh.
most ice cream hasn’t been a half gallon for years, and has gone up in price. manufacturers make their items smaller to keep cost the same or make higher profit margin all the time. seems like a poor business practice to me since changing the packaging size and labeling costs millions but they must make it up from us
Most companies do that! They tell you they decreased the size so they don’t have to raise the price!!! For example, look at ice cream (used to be half a gallon), coffee (used to be a pound), spaghetti sauce (use to like 30 or 32 oz, now down to 20 something), etc.
If you see a change in the label or box, etc of a product, you can best believe they downsized that product…it happens all the time!!! Some products, you use to be able to use it and have leftovers, but not any more!
This happened to Jif peanut butter as well. The 18 oz jar is now a 16 oz one.
I thought I noticed this a few years go with laundry soap, but I could be wrong. I think companies are constantly doing stuff like this. It’s like granola bars; the box says, now 90 calories, you pay the same price for a smaller version of the same granola bar.
I buy the jumbo bag of size 3 Huggies diapers for my son. I think there use to be 36 diapers per bag and now there are only 31.
Yup… Size 4 had 31. Now it’s less I’m sure.
Pampers has changed too – used to be 36 in a size 3, now it’s 32. Boo!
Luvs also, plus they are thinner.
I think Luvs diaper is thinner as well.
Here’s a bunch of examples: https://consumerist.com/category/grocery-shrink-ray/
CVS has been doing 40 oz Tide when other stores have 50 ounces. Its hard to compare the price. I noticed this this past summer/fall.
The regular Tide at CVS is still 50 ounces, it is only the ones with Febreese or some other addition to the Tide that are 40 ounces.
I work at tops and Pantene just did this with their shampoo and conditioner bottles, as well at VO5
checked out the sun chips bag lately? down to 9 oz! and price hasn’t changed…
Well, if you have a finicky front loader like I do, try prediluting your detergent. I’ve had tons of problems with my machine and a customer service rep for it suggested that the liquid detergent wasn’t dissolving in the machine and to try powder. First of all, that sounds crazy. Liquid detergent is already a liquid. Second of all, I have an enormous stockpile of liquid detergent, so I decided to predilute my detergent (half detergent and half water), while still using only the tablespoon the manufacturer of my machine suggested. My machine seems to be working better and there’s less chance of others accidentally using too much detergent. This seriously stretches the detergent without any noticeable difference in my laundry.
Have you noticed the same thing with the fabric softener container on the HE? I had to dilute it as well bc it kept getting stuck and wouldn’t go through to the clothes. Finally, I just stopped using it. You pay so much for these things, you’d think they would work right!
Yup. I think Seventh Generation gunked up my fabric softener container and now water backs up into it and doesn’t drain out. I have to manually empty it. I still use fabric softener, but not Seventh Gen. I also dilute my fabric softener; half softener, half water, and shake before every use.
Of course, the minute I post this, my machine has had two E-13 errors and won’t drain/spin out. Oh, how I hate this washer.
Google the error to see what it means. My DH works at Lowes. Sometimes I hold a grudge bc he sold me these machines lol.
We Googled the error a while ago and temporarily fixed it. Unfortunately, five years old and it needs a new drain pump. But try convincing Bosch of that and getting them to replace it (for free, that is)! Five cycles today to get the darn thing to spin out and drain. Grrr. My husband ordered the part, as well as a part that he thinks is causing the fabric softener problem.
I read about that diluting tip years ago. So now, whenever I buy a new bottle of detergent, I immediately pour half into a saved jug and fill with water. I do the same thing with my dish washing liquid.
Most people don’t realize, they are overusing detergent, when in reality, a little bit goes a loooong way. You don’t need to fill the cap up, just go to the 1st line for a light/small load, and the 2nd line for dirtier/larger loads.
Happened with pampers, too. It was 100 count and now it’s 92 for the same price. When target clearanced the “old” ones out, I bought several! I could spend $21.25 on 100 diapers or 24.99 on 92.
My personal favorite is the toilet paper companies have all reduced the width of the sheets so they can still claim the same number of sheets per roll but the width of the roll is smaller. I only noticed this because I stack my rolls on a shelf in my linen closet and I used to only be able to fit two rolls stacked with some room left on top. Now, I can stack three rolls.
Yes! I always feel like the tp companies are up to something-with the whole “8 JUMBO rolls = 5,000 regular rolls!” Who can really compute all that junk??
That made me laugh! Can you even buy “regular” rolls anymore? Maybe at gas stations for 4x the price…
Crazy! Yes…before couponing I was one of those crazy shoppers that didn’t notice stuff like that! I would just buy what I needed… Thanks to Hip2save and the couponing community in general I’m a much wiser shopper! Thank you!
**Not sure where to post this, but I have a Victoria Secret Code for free 2 day shipping on any purchase that has to be used by 5pm est, today. Receive by Valentines. I won’t be using it, if anyone is interested I will give it to the first person to email me at L.Seabrook@hotmail.com
Code has been claimed, sorry
What a shame! That’s why I try to check and double check labels before I purchase it. There are times where you don’t have a choice though.
Ocean spray 100% juice is no longer 64oz. They dropped it to 60oz.
I have always found Tide to be overpriced. It is the number 1 seller in detergent…even the druggies steal it to sell on the black market. I use ALL brand Free & Clear and it goes on sale a lot and cpns are always available. Most repair people will tell you that most people use to much laundry soap (and dishwasher soap). I use less than half of what is called for and my clothes are fresh and clean.
It chaps my hide when they reduce content size but keep the same size box or container or have false bottoms on the container to make it look like more. I bought some over the counter meds and vitamins lately that came in such a big bottle and there was only about an inch worth of pills inside. Or when the decreased pkg size affects your old tried and true recipes.
Two products lately I’ve seen reduced a lot are Ritz crackers and Graham crackers. The Consumerist web site has a feature called Shrink Ray where they feature the shrinking products.
This is the EXACT reason why I always figure out how much something costs by the volume such as ounces rather then load size or bigger/smaller packaging.
Companies can be very sneaky and it is wrong especially when they lead you to believe it’s the same size you’ve always purchased but really they’ve taken product away. They can’t (or shouldn’t I should say) lie about the ounces in the bottles so for all products such as laundry soap, softener, toothpaste, just anything I possibly can I always calculate the price per ounce.
Me to Jessica. On everything, number one is tide as my kids n grsmdkids are allergic to anything but tide so I need deals when I can find them. Another big two are paper towels n toilet paper. Can’t even get a true price figuring per sheet have to gigure per sq inch or foot. Drives me crazy
I’m going to start weighing paper products for cost/gram. No other way to determine what your paying for.
yes, that’s about the only thing i like about walmart, they have by ounce or pound on their price signs
I noticed that wheat thins are doing the same thing.
Have you noticed What Thins are looking a little different these days? I don’t mean size, I mean the actual composition. I thought they looked a little weird/off the last time I purchased them, so I’m wondering if they’ve replaced some of the “good” stuff with more processed/chemical stuff.
I noticed that, Jen!!! Though, you’re wrong about the size. I had a box last week that was in the far recesses of my stockpile and was 7 months expired, bought about 2 years ago. I opened it to check the taste and thought they looked bigger (they weren’t the jumbo-sized ones) so I compared them to a just-bought box and the old ones ARE a little bigger. Also, the newer ones look “flatter”.
I totally noticed this too! I thought the change might have occured a little while back when they got rid of trans fats. Maybe they had to change the recipe? Anyway, I don’t really like them anymore. They are smaller and have a different texture.
As along time member of SAG-AFTRA which members of the tv news media belong to I’ve learned over the years at union meetings that news reporters as I recall, because some of the admitted, don’t talk about Procter & Gamble, as their giving free stock in P&G or cases of their product. Just Look at their former soap operas which they were the supporters of (All My Children, & One Life To Live). Yet again SAG-AFTRA union members saying as I recall, how P&G made them (the actors) move to New York City, NY to be on their soap opera’s then cancelled their financial support of the soaps.
Why then should we then should we believe that the CEO of P&G care about their customers. Personally I’d like to see P&G become as popular as Pan American Airlines is today.
I noticed that Nabisco wheat thins are doing the same.
Companies are always scheming. It’s not like they don’t make enough money. Ugh!!!
This is why I have a 5-10 year stockpile of laundry detergent and other things. It’s only gonna get worse.
Thank you! I need to show this to my husband! He thinks I am crazy for stockpiling!
Just curious but what does a 5-10 year stockpile of detergent look like?
Lmao
Not as much as you might think. My frontloader takes a TABLESPOON of detergent, and I’ve had to water it down by half due to its “issues.” I haven’t counted, but I bet I have around 20 bottles and I swear I go through maybe two bottles of detergent a year despite doing 7+ loads of laundry a week.
I’ve never tried only using a tablespoon in my front loader. I might try that.
They are expensive as it is! I look for deals but usually end up buying something cheaper. I used to love Tide but P & G is a greedy corp that is so big they don’t think people will care enough to switch brands.
Same thing with pasta, used to be standard 16oz packages. Now they’re 8-12oz for the same price. Uugh! Still great deals w coupons but annoying to be cheated as a customer.
I pay almost nothing for their products so it doesn’t matter to me. With that said most people don’t coupon so I would rather see a reduction in ounce than a price increase. I worked for a major good company and the would reduce once size AND the price. That is unfair. In addition to 8000 employees were let go. How much do you need to save?
I always check per ounce/pound prices, so I always know exactly what I’m paying. However, I am usually willing to spend more on Tide, Gain, All, etc. than I spend on cheaper detergents, such as Fab and Purex.
I’m another one who makes homemade laundry soap – but I use blue Dawn dish soap in mine. So easy, cheap, and it works – 3 kiddos to prove it.
That’s a good idea since a lot of stains are oil-based. Do you have a recipe you’d be willing to share?
Sure, here is a link below. I have tried the grated with Felsnappa soap too that I loved, but honestly, I prefer this recipe because it is SUPER easy. I make 3 jugs at a time. It might cost a “little more” than the grated version but it is still super cheap since I buy Dawn with coupons. 🙂 The boxes of Borax and Washing Soda last a looonnnnnggg time as well.
https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/03/super-concentrated-no-grate-liquid-laundry-detergent.html
Cans of tuna… I think when I was young they were 6 oz. you could get 2-3 sandwiches out of that. Now I think they are 4 oz, maybe 1 to 1 1/2 sandwiches.
Angel soft tp has been looking for some time now like it has been downsized for a child’s playhouse.
We have to expect some changes over time, due to inflation, increased shipping cost, raises in labor costs, etc. All we can do is hope that they are honest when they do it and limit how often they do these changes.
I’ve noticed this on other products for a while now: Dawn dish soap, paper plates, toilet paper, Swiss cheese (8 to 6 oz). Very irritating.
I’ve tried so many detergents and Tide Free is the only one that gets our clothes clean, keeps my daughter and me from breaking out and doesn’t smell horrible. I will pay more for certain brands, no matter what. They know it, which is why they can get away with it. Been ordering on Amazon lately and it’s cheaper.
Sugar is the biggest one of these I remember. Went from 5 lb bags to 4 lb for the same price. I remember the ice cream too.
I agree with everyone else! This is why I coupon. Because there are just things like this that keep happening.
And another word: P&G has been doing this more and more recently. Not only are they decreasing load sizes, and asking the same price, but they are changing the formulations on a lot of their products, to a point that it is causing problems for a lot of people. My mom was one of them, who was having problems with their Tide, and my dad (who is a plumber) ultimately had to replace one of the washer lines. When she called P&G to explain that she was having a problem and wondering why, they didn’t want to help OR address the issue. Ultimately she did get it out of them that they had changed formulations, but did not offer to help pay for costs, give coupons to keep a customer. NOTHING was done on their end. As a result, they lost not only my mom as a customer, but several of her friends and family members as well.
It’s a shame in corporate America that everyone is so greedy, that they wouldn’t even stand behind their product enough to try to keep a customer. 🙁
I use Purex and Target brand detergents our laundry comes out very clean. I am picky when it comes to cleanliness and I am satisfied with our laundry results! 🙂
I noticed it with Ritz Crackers. Used to be 16oz, went down to 15.1 oz now the box is down to 13.7. 🙁
Another big change was the Bakers Chocolate. It’s always been an 8oz box. They downsized to 4oz but still charged the same price! This one really ticked me off! What a ripoff. Do they think we’re dumb? It was interesting to read the Bakers Chocolate fb wall. People were so upset!
What really irritates me is I feel we have no voice. People will keep buying the products because they need it so it doesn’t affect sales at all. 🙁 Good thing I coupon or I’d be really ticked!
Do we really need baker’s chocolate though? 🙂 I don’t buy it anymore. If people boycotted a product and sales dropped, that would be consumer’s voice.
It is labeled properly though it’s up to us to read the labels. I don’t expect prices to stay the same but I do expect that I take the time to read labels and do comparisons to ensure I know I’m getting the best price I can when buying household items.
toilet paper used to be wider – about an inch. that was real sneaky in my opinion.
Sugar is now 4 lbs…used to be 5 lbs.
companies have to find a way to make money for their stockholders. It is all about the money.
I need to start making my own detergent. I gave a recipe to my girlfriend years ago and she swears by it. She is a foster mother and always had 8 kids or so around so she does a lot of laundry and is very happy with it.
Appliance companies aren’t any better. I bought a new dryer at Home Depot years ago and the week after the warranty expired it broke down. After calling the repair man he told me it would be cheaper to buy another dryer. I called the manufactuer and was told that dryers weren’t meant to last forever. I didn’t know that 2 years is forever now. I bought a twenty year old used dryer for $20 and it is still running. I buy used whenever possible now. The older ones are made so much better than the new plastic filled ones.
I grew up with the front loaders in Europe. I hate them and will never own one if I can help it. Give me a top loader any day.
I completely agree. Back before Christmas my washer, which was 12 years old, started giving me problems. After some research we figured out what the problem was and it was going to be crazy expensive to fix. We decided to purchase a new one but I was dead set on having one that WASN’T HE or a front loader. Found a local place that sold speed queens and that’s what we got. I love it! Made in the USA and not HE.
My 20 yr. old dryer stopped heating, everything else was fine. I found a site that allows one to input their appliance info and problem…and see a video on how to repair it.. for $30 I was able to fix it. I am not in any way a repair-type person..but bragged to relatives how this worked-out.
I stumbled upon this site by looking for other options–repairclinic.com
another thing they do to get you to use more — they sell you a 60 load bottle, and you assume a full load is a full cap — wrong usually a full load is 1/2 cap or less so if you are filling your cap you are only getting 30 loads out of your bottle
Used to you could rely on a cap being a load — no more!!
Now this may like I am defending the Tide company, but have you noticed that they have a new Tide. It is a yellow bottle and if you look it is the same as the orange bottles in terms of ounces BUT it is cheaper. I can only use Tide detergent since some family members are sensitive to any other brands. I did a survey months ago for this item and just noticed it on the shelf recently. Already bought two bottles. I have only found two scents but it is for HE or regular washers. For instance the same bottle not on sale at my grocery store was $9 (I believe it was) for the orange bottle and not on sale $5 for the yellow bottle. Same formula. In fact I am looking at a bottle now, It is called Simply clean and fresh. still takes out dirt, odor and has low price. 32 loads=50oz. I think it works the great and smells wonderful. Just my two cents 🙂 I do agree about smaller packaging and price difference among certain items.
I am a homemade laundry detergent convert. Have not had to buy detergent in over a year. I triple my batches and use my old Tide pod container with the flip lid and works great.
1C Borax
1C Washing Soda Arm and Hammer
1C Oxi Clean
1C Purex Crystals Lavender scent optional
1 Bar of Felps Napa grated.
Mix it all together and I am good for a few months if not more. I use 2 TBLS per load and I have a top loader.
I hate that companies downsize their packaging contents in order to keep prices low. I want nice round numbers in my packages, such as 16 oz. (1 lb.) of pasta, canned tomatoes or canned beans. It wrecks havoc on my recipes and it makes it harder to divide the contents up to plan for meals and servings when the contents are a weird number such as 13.25 oz. or even 15 oz.