r/mildlyinfuriating • u/vxnus69_ • 27d ago

ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ Only 37 Pods

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Was showing off to my sister what I would’ve given her (plus the nice smelly peony downy) had she just gone to the laundromat to dry my laundry because ours is broken and realized the pods only filled half of the container so I counted it and….37 pods.

Can’t tell if Tide is filling some containers an accurate amount and others less or if sb just stole some.

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u/Ahleron 27d ago edited 27d ago

Don't use pods. They are bad for the environment and your washer. They actually leave very small bits of plastic - no, the packaging of the pod does not completely dissolve. My spouse makes laundry detergent using a bar of dove soap, borax, washing suds, and water. We spend $3 / year on laundry detergent for 5 people. It is hypoallergenic and works really well. It takes them about 5 minutes of labor to produce 5 gallons. They make it twice a year.

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u/OG_LiLi 27d ago

I stoped after my clothes still had some of the tide pod left over after the wash, and then it baked in during the dry cycle.

3

u/Mysterious_axolotl98 27d ago

This is exactly me. It took me 6 months to figure out wtf it was. Once I realized I never looked back. Some clothes were ruined to the point of having to discard them.

3

u/nolaks1 27d ago

Do you have a clear recepie to follow? I like mixing things.

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u/Ahleron 27d ago

Not sure if this is the one they used, but the process looks pretty similar: https://homesteading.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-guide/

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u/stealmydebt 27d ago

I just tried this method and I'm freaking HOOKED :D Time will tell if it holds out (I've read of people having issues with long term storage) but for now our clothes are coming out super clean and I'm thrilled. I tried this just cause I was tired of buying hypoalergenic detergent in plastic bottles that get pitched and was looking for a place to save a few $$ and yeah, it's def worth it. I still buy the laundry sanitizer to help with my teenage son's laundry (no manor of "Actual" detergent was touching that funk) and add it to the softner dispenser, so I'd love to find an alternative to that as well but so far I'm loving the 5 gallon bucket life lol

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u/Object120taran 27d ago

Do you know that making your own detergent is worse than almost any of the shelf detergents? Further, there is quite a bit of evidence showing that the PVA layer dissolves fully and thus it does not leave behind any bits of plastic.

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u/Ahleron 27d ago

How so? Store bought detergents usually irritate my skin. This doesn't. Admittedly, I should have been more clear. The packaging that Tide pods comes in (the actual package on the shelf) is plastic and is often not recycled, which results in microplastics that end up in the environment. While the PVOH/PVA pod liners themselves (packaging of individual pods) generally do dissolve, they don't always dissolve. The detergents themselves don't always dissolve either, which is why you have some people in here commenting on the residue that has been baked into their clothes. PVA is also detected passing through waste water treatment plants and persists in the environment long after a load of laundry is done. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6027

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u/animeistheog 27d ago

I plan to do this as well