Mourning the disappearance of laundry tablets.

[Tracy D'arth]

I have been trying to buy detergent tablets for the last year or so. None of the supermarkets stock them anymore.

 

I found a guy selling on ebay some used in the NHS but am down to the last box.

The plastic encapsulated  "tabs" that are now promoted are not as efficient at cleaning clothes mainly because it is not possible to do a prewash as the tab is placed in the drum at the start of the main wash. With heavily soiled clothing it just does not work.

I also don't like the idea of the plastic dissolving in my clothing. What happens to the plastic in the washer?

They are also a hazard for children hence the planet wasting clever plastic boxes that they come in instead of cardboard.

 

Why is it progress to make plastic tabs instead of compacted powder in cellophane?

 

So it looks like its back to the messy box powders. Unless someone knows where you can still but tablets?

[nbfiresprite]

Try B&M's or one of the smaller chainstores  like QD stores or Boyes

[Machpoint005]

Still capsules, rather than tablets, but they are very good, according to the Memsahib:

https://smolproducts.com/

They claim to be environmentally friendly, being made of biodegradable (not merely soluble) plastic, and the packaging is entirely cardboard.

 

Their dishwasher tablets (which really are tablets) are also very good -- that's my department.

 

[tree monkey]

27 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I have been trying to buy detergent tablets for the last year or so. None of the supermarkets stock them anymore.

 

I found a guy selling on ebay some used in the NHS but am down to the last box.

The plastic encapsulated  "tabs" that are now promoted are not as efficient at cleaning clothes mainly because it is not possible to do a prewash as the tab is placed in the drum at the start of the main wash. With heavily soiled clothing it just does not work.

I also don't like the idea of the plastic dissolving in my clothing. What happens to the plastic in the washer?

They are also a hazard for children hence the planet wasting clever plastic boxes that they come in instead of cardboard.

 

Why is it progress to make plastic tabs instead of compacted powder in cellophane?

 

So it looks like its back to the messy box powders. Unless someone knows where you can still but tablets?

Apparently the plastic is PVA and supposedly is broken down into carbon dioxide and water.

Really needs @Dr Bob 

[Belle]

Asda

 

https://groceries.asda.com/product/non-bio-sensitive-skin/asda-sensitive-non-bio-tablets-20-washes/910003092517

 

or

 

https://groceries.asda.com/product/washing-powder/asda-moonflower-lavender-2-in-1-tablets-20-washes/910003092943

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Highwayman999

[Tracy D'arth]

3 minutes ago, Highwayman999 said:

Asda

 

https://groceries.asda.com/product/non-bio-sensitive-skin/asda-sensitive-non-bio-tablets-20-washes/910003092517

 

or

 

https://groceries.asda.com/product/washing-powder/asda-moonflower-lavender-2-in-1-tablets-20-washes/910003092943

 

Not somewhere that I shop but thank you so much. I need non-bio with my old wrinkled sensitive skin so the first one looks ideal. I think there is one in Winsford, any others on the Shroppie or the T&M?

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

48 minutes ago, nbfiresprite said:

Try B&M's or one of the smaller chainstores  like QD stores or Boyes

Don't know QD or Boyes stores.

[sueb]

Lidl used to and Sainsbury's sell Persil non bio. Morrison's sell their own brand as well.

[Tracy D'arth]

I haven't seen any in a Lidl or a Morrisons anywhere for over a year. Can't afford Sainsbury's prices.  They no longer appear on Morrison's web site.

[sueb]

4 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I haven't seen any in a Lidl or a Morrisons anywhere for over a year. Can't afford Sainsbury's prices.  They no longer appear on Morrison's web site.

Interesting as they are on my Morrisons online shop. Sainsbury's are usually cheaper than morrisons for most things. I have been using both for online shopping since lockdown started.

[blackrose]

3 hours ago, tree monkey said:

Apparently the plastic is PVA and supposedly is broken down into carbon dioxide and water.

Really needs @Dr Bob 

 

Yes PVA or PVOH dissolves and the polymer chains are meant to biodegrade. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

14 hours ago, tree monkey said:

Apparently the plastic is PVA and supposedly is broken down into carbon dioxide and water.

Really needs @Dr Bob 

If I remember right, thermal decomposition of PVA takes place around 200 to 300C, which is a warmer wash than many clothes are comfortable with. Have used it in the past as a binder for pressed ceramic powder that then gets removed entirely as it is sintered at over 1,000C. There may be a UV, or biological degradation mechanism that decomposes the PVA.

My cynical side says this: Soap powder companies have a naturally limited market that they are all trying to get a slice of. Ways of getting a bigger profit might be to use advertising to prime people to pick their pack out of the supermarket aisle, rather than someone else. Soap powder was one of the products on which modern advertising was developed. Related to this are efforts to persuade people that their clothes are filthier than they are and need washing more often. Another is to change the format, so powder to tablets to capsules to whatever, which gives a higher profit margin. I stick with powder in my twin tub and half the packet recommended quantity. The fact that people keep their distance from me is purely from coronavirus precautions and nothing else! ?

[Machpoint005]

Does it have to be thermal decomposition? Other chemistry is available ...

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Does it have to be thermal decomposition? Other chemistry is available ...

Surely. I'm a simple soul though and don't know enough chemistry. Heat it up and see what happens. Fire. Fire is good! Fire is our friend!

[Murflynn]

so sad ......................

 

 

What is the official duration of the mourning period?

 

When will the 2 minutes' silence be announced?   I hope all narrowboats will cut their engines at the appropriate times and drift silently into the reeds.

 

is there a shrine planned for my local area (Bristol)?   

[magpie patrick]

15 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

 Fire. Fire is good! Fire is our friend!

 Well it certainly cleans things, few bacteria or virii survive it - clothes may not be wearable afterwards though...

 

36 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If I remember right, thermal decomposition of PVA takes place around 200 to 300C, which is a warmer wash than many clothes are comfortable with.

 

Although I see you've already made that point elsewhere

[Jo_]

www.ecoegg.com  I use these and have done for the last couple or three years as do all the family ... the blue one for coloureds and the white one for, obviously!, whites. With a scoop of Vanish when things are a bit grubby!! They work brilliantly, don't take up cupboard space and just need the pellets renewing every six months or year (depending on how often you wash)

[Tracy D'arth]

7 minutes ago, Jo_ said:

www.ecoegg.com  I use these and have done for the last couple or three years as do all the family ... the blue one for coloureds and the white one for, obviously!, whites. With a scoop of Vanish when things are a bit grubby!! They work brilliantly, don't take up cupboard space and just need the pellets renewing every six months or year (depending on how often you wash)

Interesting.

 

I would want to know what the minerals are before using them.

Seem expensive at first, do you have a cost per wash figure from your experience please?

 

I remember the spiky plastic balls that were supposed to wash without anything, turned out to be a con.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Tracy D'arth

[Hudds Lad]

Home Bargains or Wilkinsons?

 

I just use the pods to be honest, got sick of cleaning sludge out of the powder drawer and associated orifice which they never make big enough to get a blokey hand into to clean.

[Jo_]

12 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Interesting.

 

I would want to know what the minerals are before using them.

Seem expensive at first, do you have a cost per wash figure from your experience please?

 

I remember the spiky plastic balls that were supposed to wash without anything, turned out to be a con.

https://www.yours.co.uk/life/home/eco-egg-review/

And I never use fabric conditioner so the powder drawer or whatever it's called never gets used. So the washing machine is as clean and unsullied as the day we bought it years ago! (I do run a hot cleansing washcycle with nothing in it every couple of months just to keep it that way

[Tracy D'arth]

5 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Home Bargains or Wilkinsons?

 

I just use the pods to be honest, got sick of cleaning sludge out of the powder drawer and associated orifice which they never make big enough to get a blokey hand into to clean.

Most soap drawers are designed to be removable for cleaning. If you use less detergent, there will be no sludge in there.

I think that the pods are a marketing ploy for lazy housewives.

[Hudds Lad]

1 minute ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Most soap drawers are designed to be removable for cleaning. If you use less detergent, there will be no sludge in there.

I think that the pods are a marketing ploy for lazy housewives.

 

Yes, i can pop the drawer out, but the hole it sits in and pipe down into the darkness is where the gunge accumulates over time and is tricky to access. All i put in it now is a capful of Dettol Laundry Cleanser.

[Tracy D'arth]

2 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

 

Yes, i can pop the drawer out, but the hole it sits in and pipe down into the darkness is where the gunge accumulates over time and is tricky to access. All i put in it now is a capful of Dettol Laundry Cleanser.

Agreed, that black gunge is bacteria which grows due to the soap box on most modern washers only ever getting cold water. The manufacturers recommend a hot wash occasionally in the hope that any steam and splash will kill the bacteria and wash it away, it doesn't work. The disappearance of hot and cold fill machines is a great loss in my opinion.

 

My washer fills with 45 degree C  water from a blending valve and I don't seem to get this problem any more.

[restlessnomad]

I use the liquid one, so many flavours available in market. the powder needs cleaning more often. why do you specifically need that type tablet?

good thing about liquid is, I can control exactly how much I need based on amount of clothes and how dirty they are.

Edited May 19, 2021 by restlessnomad

[Tracy D'arth]

My Zanussi soap box does not take liquid detergents.

The tablets come in pairs. For a normal full wash I use both in the drawer. To do a prewash, one goes into the tub and one in the drawer. I find using the prewash on oily overalls and anything heavily soiled gets me a better wash.