I'm just about to bin the empty container from a liquid laundry detergent.
But is it really "empty" ?
The labels say, "Easy to Use Tap" and "80 Washes". Yes, it's a very easy to use tap, that's one reason I bought the product. It's also a well known & long established brand, another reason for buying.
I use this liquid detergent till the liquid stops flowing. Probably nowhere near 80 washes but that's not a problem. Amount actually used varies depending on the dirt that I see on the laundry.
The detergent stops flowing through the easy to use tap. The container is heavy plastic, I can't see inside. There is no way to see whether there is any detergent still inside. Nothing flows through the easy to use tap so the container seems to be ready to be thrown out.
It is not empty.
First, I leave the container standing on its side between washes. This allows detergent to run down to the tap -- and be ready to flow out for the next wash. I have just gained three or four "extra" washes from the "empty" container. (Sorry, I was not actually counting.)
Then the tap stops flowing, again. Detergent has flowed down the sides of the container towards the easy to use tap. The detergent is all gone...
The detergent is not all gone.
I unscrew the tap. There is so much detergent still inside that some spills out, I need to catch it, stop it, mop up what has spilled out.
For the next few washes I can get no detergent through the easy to use tap. I bypass -- remove -- the tap and wash five more loads. Each load uses as much detergent as I would normally use.
Did I really get 80 washes from the container? I do know that I wash at least eight more loads after the easy to use tap stops working.
That adds up to at least ten percent wasted detergent -- if I depend on the easy to use tap.
That adds up to at least ten percent extra profit for the manufacturer if I throw out the final -- invisible and inaccessible -- detergent.
No wonder Choice recommends powder detergent over liquid.
My next laundry detergents will be dry powder.
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"A lot of people cry when they chop onions. The trick is to not form an emotional bond." … Jimmy Carr
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Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:
