I've done laundry since I was about 11. Our old washing machine needed a little help getting started so my father and I were the only ones brave enough (or possibly dumb enough) to reach under the washing machine, grab the rubber belt and give it a helpful little tug to get it started while being careful to not get your fingers caught risking amputation of the digits.
Here in my apartment on the North Shore I have had a love/hate relationship with my washing machines. I love the fact that it costs me 50¢ to wash a load and a quarter to dry. I hate the fact it's not insuite (a luxury I have enjoyed most of my life) and I hate that sometimes my wash is still very, very bubbly after it's done it's thing in the washing machine. For the past eight months I have blamed it on the crappy laundry machines the condo strata has been renting out. As I rode the elevator up after having to pay an extra 50¢ yet again for my wash (yes, I know. It's criminal isn't it?) I thought to myself, maybe I should use a little less detergent. After all, it does have a little smaller capacity than the last washing machine I had.
Growing up my mom used powdered detergent with a big orange scoop in it. From what I remember it always marked very clearly on the side how much detergent you should use. For small loads, fill to here. For regular loads fill to here. For large loads, fill to here. For extra large loads, fill to here. As time marched on and more powerful detergent came out that required less powder, the same levels remained. As I grew up and decided I liked liquid detergent better than powder because it dissolved more easily in the water, the four levels stayed the same. As high efficiency machines came out and again, the industry changed with even more efficient liquid detergent that required less stuff I continued to use the same markers to wash my clothes. Nothing has changed.
At least, so I thought.
I've always filled my detergent to the third marker. I sometimes find that I want a little extra detergent to get my clothes a little cleaner. Sometimes, I have some tough crap on my clothes that I want a little extra soapy power to get clean. I grabbed my jug of Sunlight Citrus Fresh, Green Clean, Cold Water HE detergent and flipped it over to read what they recommended for optimal cleaning expecting to see the same four markers, small-1, regular-2, large-3, xlarge-4.
What I found was, "for regular wash fill to 1. for large loads, fill to 2. Use more for heavily soiled loads."
What?! Wait a sec. what are 3 and 4 for then? After staring at the label incredulously for a minute I could only conclude the following:
Here in my apartment on the North Shore I have had a love/hate relationship with my washing machines. I love the fact that it costs me 50¢ to wash a load and a quarter to dry. I hate the fact it's not insuite (a luxury I have enjoyed most of my life) and I hate that sometimes my wash is still very, very bubbly after it's done it's thing in the washing machine. For the past eight months I have blamed it on the crappy laundry machines the condo strata has been renting out. As I rode the elevator up after having to pay an extra 50¢ yet again for my wash (yes, I know. It's criminal isn't it?) I thought to myself, maybe I should use a little less detergent. After all, it does have a little smaller capacity than the last washing machine I had.
Growing up my mom used powdered detergent with a big orange scoop in it. From what I remember it always marked very clearly on the side how much detergent you should use. For small loads, fill to here. For regular loads fill to here. For large loads, fill to here. For extra large loads, fill to here. As time marched on and more powerful detergent came out that required less powder, the same levels remained. As I grew up and decided I liked liquid detergent better than powder because it dissolved more easily in the water, the four levels stayed the same. As high efficiency machines came out and again, the industry changed with even more efficient liquid detergent that required less stuff I continued to use the same markers to wash my clothes. Nothing has changed.
At least, so I thought.
I've always filled my detergent to the third marker. I sometimes find that I want a little extra detergent to get my clothes a little cleaner. Sometimes, I have some tough crap on my clothes that I want a little extra soapy power to get clean. I grabbed my jug of Sunlight Citrus Fresh, Green Clean, Cold Water HE detergent and flipped it over to read what they recommended for optimal cleaning expecting to see the same four markers, small-1, regular-2, large-3, xlarge-4.
What I found was, "for regular wash fill to 1. for large loads, fill to 2. Use more for heavily soiled loads."
What?! Wait a sec. what are 3 and 4 for then? After staring at the label incredulously for a minute I could only conclude the following:
I guess this serves me right for not reading the label. Well, at least this means I'm going to start saving a lot more on laundry detergent...
