Good house keeping

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Do you ever wonder how the powers that be come up with the number of uses on their products?
(sorry for the blurriness. these packages don't like their photo to be taken.)

I have been buying this laundry detergent for a number of years now. I love the way it cleans our clothes, and the scent it leaves. But it wasn't until recently that I thought, gee, I have been going through a lot of detergent lately. Sure there is another kid in the house, but that shouldn't account for so much laundry! No, there are other culprits at work here.
My girls are notorious for changing clothes; putting clean ones in the laundry basket; or using a towel once after a shower and dumping it in the basket.
So I began an experiment. Just to see how much we were using. I like to run a full load when I do laundry (twice a week these days!) so I fill to the 2nd line on the measuring cup. And that has made all the difference.

It appears that the "95 loads" is for those who don't have a full load. (no comment on their mental capacity). So I came out with 70. Not bad I suppose; if I really feel motivated I might break that down into price per load. Or else ask my husband to do it. OH, maybe it will be a good school day math problem!
All this to confirm what I thought - yes we are going through a lot of detergent. Yes, my kids are going to figure out how to get more wear out of their clothes. And yes, I want to find a way to do laundry only once a week.

Comments

  1. JLIMarch 30, 2011 at 12:24 PM

    If you have a front load washing machine, I was told to only go up to the 1st level, since you need considerably less detergent with a front loader. If you use too much, it won't rinse out and will eventually leave a sour smell on your clothes (front loaders use an average of 14 gal. of water versus 40 gal. for a top loader). And I think the load amount that's referred to is if you use the least amount. I know the first bottle I bought with our front loader lasted me for months (and it claimed 90-something loads; I'm betting I came darn close). Of course, there's only two of us, but we still go through a lot of clothes, and like you, I only run full loads.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 30, 2011 at 3:55 PM

    face it, until your children leave the house for good, you will be doing laundry 2-3 times per week. Now realize girls always have more clothes than boys ( higher standards of cleanliness? or never wear the same thing in the same week?) and you have a lot of girls. thus you will have a lot of laundry for a long time.
    Linda G

    ReplyDelete
  3. cm0978March 30, 2011 at 7:26 PM

    Don't you love it when your older sister gives you such encouragement? Let's figure out how many loads you will be washing between now and the time the youngest is out of the household. You'll have to figure that as the girls get older, you will have more laundry for the reasons specified above. Let's see, I come up with 1,356,937 loads.... Now let's move on to the number of meals you will be fixing....

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 30, 2011 at 8:39 PM

    Golly, Mary, you sure know how to send someone running out the door!!! Come on, Jules, one day at a time!

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  5. Patsy BakerApril 5, 2011 at 9:34 AM

    I would like self-washing clothes.

    ReplyDelete

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