you aren't foolin' me, Tide!
I usually buy all free and clear. Saw that Tide's version ('free and gentle') was on sale at the local supermarket so figured, what the heck, I'll try it.
I am single and so only buy laundry detergent a few times a year. An interesting new trend I am very happy about is the listing of complete ingredients. When did this change? Had to be in the last year or so? Anyhow, I had already put it in my cart because I was going to take advantage of that sale. But then in the checkout line (longer of late cuz of COVID I guess) figured I would actually read the ingredient list.
In order of listing
1) C10-16 pareths these are nice linear alcohol surfactants
2) C10-16 alkyldimethylamine oxides zwitterionic detergents probably help solubilize protein residues for the proteolytic enzyme
3) C10-16 alkylbenzenesulfonates - very standard laundry surfactants
4) sodium cumenesulfonate - a total mystery to me, never heard of this molecule before. I've heard of cumene of course, as someone who took organic chemistry and liked it. Seems these are something called a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrotrope
SO, those are the 4 big ones so far. A suite of 4 different types of synthetic surfactants. NO surprises so far.
5) Sodium borate. Ruh roh! Hope my balls don't fall off after my first load! If only I had the EU to protect me!
but here was the real surprise:
6) "sodium salts of C12-C18 fatty acids" - Remember how I said I took Organic Chemistry and I liked it?
THIS IS JUST A FANCY NAME FOR SOAP LOL. Granted, it's the 6th ingredient so maybe not a lot of it present but I was surprised to see it. Surprised they don't use the potassium salt and not the sodium one...if nothing else, it seems it would make the product easier to formulate. K salts are more liquid in nature than Na salts of fatty acids. (soaps)
7) sodium citrate - common buffer and chelator. Not actually made from citrus fruits - this is a comical misunderstand frequently seen on the interwebs.
8) subtilisin - powerful proteolytic enzyme
9) sodium formate - preservative almost certainly. Chemically related to formaldehyde.
10) amylase (enzyme) 11) mannanase (enzyme) 12) Polyethylenimine alkoxylated - exotic surfactant needed in some small amount 13) propylene glycol 14) water
So, since when are they putting plain old soap in laundry detergent?
Wish Mamapinky was around to give her 2 cents!
Comments (12)
davidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoright well there seem to be fairly regular discussions here about the use of borax...looks like Tide is "on board" no pun intended
SEA SEA
3 years agoI've read that soap is added to reduce suds, thus fitting HE format for today's lower water use washing machines. How long it's been there, I don't know.
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked SEA SEA
dadoes
3 years agoSoap may be to help control sudsing?
An acquaintance researched one of the old/classic low-sudsing detergents a few years ago (may been Dash) to determine what was used for suds control in preparation to develop, formulate, and market his own powder detergent. IIRC, he found it was fish oil.
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked dadoesdavidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoAwesome responses! This is the place to get answers on laundry detergent!
I sometimes make what I will only describe as a "very advanced protein shake" and medium chain triglycerides were the only way to cut down the frothiness in the blender. I would think the unsaturated fats in fish oil might leave a peroxide odor in some cases...or just a fishy odor. MCTs taste weird on their own, in my opinion, but the taste of them disappears when added to any other food, even other oils. They aren't as prone to oxidation as fish oils, but more prone than longer chain fatty acids. Of course they would be way too expensive to use in a laundry product. But yeah I totally get that traditional soap would reduce the sudsing caused by all those synthetic detergents. Fascinating!
SEA SEA
3 years agoCoconut oil is an ingredient in some detergent formulas. Perhaps to reduce frothiness? Coconut oil is a medium chain fatty triglyceride.
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked SEA SEAdavidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoWell it contains them. They are made from the shorter chain FAs in coconut oil, which is why they are a liquid at room temp and not a solid. They could be made from the shorter chain fractions of certain other oils like palm kernel oil. In contrast I think some oils naturally don't have many C length < 11 fatty acids so it wouldn't be very economical to extract MCTs from them.
arkansas girl
3 years agoInteresting...now I know why I'm allergic to most laundry detergents since they became HE. I guess I'm just out of luck and will have to wash my clothes in plain hot water...HA!
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked arkansas girlCavimum
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago"One thing you might not have noticed about Tide F&G liquid is it does not contain optical brighteners (OBs). It's one of the few liquid detergents without OBs."
Good to know it is safe for dark clothes, littlegreeny. Thnx!! This is the only liquid detergent in my arsenal In addition to Woolite for Darks, whose perfume annoys me.
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked Cavimum
doreycrouse
3 years agoTide plus Downy FREE is the same plus cellulase. I have been using it with great results. It is far less sudsy than it used to be!
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked doreycrouseSEA SEA
3 years agoCavium, I'm REALLY liking the new formulation of Tide F&G liquid, and I'm not a big user of liquids because we need the power of powder most of the time. I am having excellent results this new formula. Plus sudsing is not an issue. The fact that we have one more choice for darks is bonus points. It works better here than the previous formula did, for whatever the reason.
davidrt28 (zone 7) thanked SEA SEA
littlegreeny