When you’re washing your clothes, you’re always wondering what is best. Should I use liquid detergent, should I use powder or pods?
Those are the things we’re going to cover here.
We’re discussing the pros and cons of each one of these.
Based on our research, this is what we found in terms of what are pros and cons of each type.
Let’s jump into the different types of detergent.
Table of Contents
Powder Pros & Cons
We’re going to first start with powder.
There’s a couple pros of powdered detergent.
It is usually cheaper.
Powder is also very good for mud or clay because of its high ph levels.
Powder is also very eco-friendly. Many times you’ll see powder in cardboard boxes which have been recycled.
There are two additional pros of powder detergent.
You can use it to pre-treat your clothing if you have additional stains and soils that you need pre-treated.
Also depending on how you use the detergent when you pour it or store it, it’s not as messy or potentially sticky or messy as some of the other detergents are.
One of the major challenges with powdered detergent is as you use it in your washer, if you put it in the dispenser and you’re using a cold wash, that detergent many times can be stuck inside that dispensing tray and it doesn’t completely get rinsed out because it gets sticky with that cold water.
One tip if you use powder detergent you want to look at what type of washer you’re using.
Typically with a front load washer, the powder detergent gets rinsed through into the clothes, on the right amount, during the right cycle time.
If you have a top load, where you’ve poured the soap on top of your clothing, if it’s not rinsed completely, say you’re using the cold water, and the soap is not broken down, you could potentially get stains or spots that show up in your clothing.
Liquid Pros & Cons
Let’s go into the pros of liquid detergent.
Liquid detergent has a number of pros.
First off it’s in liquid form, which means there’s more water filler, which means it goes into a washer cleaner and as you rinse it, it doesn’t get stuck as much as some of the other types of detergents are.
It is also better getting out the grease or the oil type stains in your clothing.
A couple other pros about this is it’s very good for pre-treating clothes, because you don’t have to mix it with anything.
And finally you can use liquid detergent to hand wash your clothes as well.
To mention some of the cons about liquid detergent.
First off, it’s a lot messier when you pour it into the washer. Things can drip, it’s sticky, it gets stuff all over. Dirt sticks to it.
Second, it is not as eco-friendly. They’re always made out of plastic bottles, so it’s not as easy to recycle.
The final con we want to mention about liquid detergent is it’s too easy to over or under the correct amount of detergent that you need.
One key tip for this is many of the washers now have some smart dispensing options. This allows you so you don’t over or under estimate the amount of detergent you need to use.
You can fill some models up to 50 ounces of detergent and it dispenses how much it needs for that specific cycle.
That’s one way to get past one of the cons of liquid detergent.
Pods Pros & Cons
Our third option is pods.
What are the pros of pods when you’re using it to wash your clothes?
First off, it’s the simplest and lightest way to store your laundry detergent.
Also it’s the least messy. They come pre-packaged. You throw them in and they’re less messy.
Those are the pros. However, other than that, there’s not many pros about the pods.
Here are some of the cons.
First off, these pods are all one size. If you have a small load, many times you’re going to be using too much detergent, which is not great for your clothes.
Any of these options, if you’re using too much detergent, there’s many negatives that can happen to your clothes as well as the washer itself.
Not only on smaller loads can you use too much detergent, if you have a really big load and only use one pod, you have a chance of not having enough detergent.
That’s a major negative with the pods.
One last negative with pods is they are the most expensive option per load out of any three of these.
Conclusion
As we compare the three options of laundry detergent, the liquid, the powder and the pods, hopefully you got some great information about what’s going to work best for you.
You take this information and decide how is it best going to help you in washing your clothes.
After doing this research, our recommendation typically for most users is the liquid detergent would be the best.
However any one of these options will work. Just make sure you’re following the directions, you’re measuring the right amounts and it’s the best type of detergent for your washer.