I've always viewed product demos with a mixture of skepticism and awe. There's no doubt that they're compelling, but I've been let down too many times by "miracle" products to fully trust in anything these days. So when I got an opportunity to review Tide Pods, I decided to put it to the test and see what it could really do. And since I'm a former lab geek, let's approach this old-school experiment style :)
Purpose: To test the performance of Tide Pods on frequently encountered stains like food, dirt, and makeup
Materials:
- White fabric swatch
- Tide Pod
- Food stain
- soy sauce - high usage frequency / high staining
- Dirt stain
- the black gunk stuck to the car. I don't know how, but the kids and I are constantly brushing up against the cars and leaving long, black streaks on our clothes
- Makeup stain
- black powdered eyeliner. I drop the container at least once a year making a giant mess of everything and nothing seems to completely remove it. I've tried makeup remover / dish detergent / laundry detergent, there's still a faded black glob. :(
Procedure: Apply stains to new white t-shirt fabric and toss it in with a load of laundry. Household of 5? You bet we always have some laundry somewhere at the ready.
Results: The whole load of laundry came out clean as expected, but I was really interested in seeing my fabric swatch.
I was amazed by how completely the stains had been removed. The swatch was 100% clean and there was no sign it had ever been stained. The best part? I didn't have to do anything special to achieve it - no soaking / stain sprays / scrubbing / pretreating at all. All I had to do was start the washer, pop the pac in with the laundry, and let it do its magic. Per the package, each pac contains 3-in-1 detergent technology that cleans, brightens, and fights stains.
Conclusion: While laundry isn't rocket science, I loved that this made it completely brainless. No more squinting at hard to read measurements on detergent caps and trying to determine which one best correlates to your load size, no giant, heavy detergent bottles, no crusty detergent caps, and no accidental spills - this might now be the cleanest, most organized room in the house!
Tell me what you think the toughest stains are for a chance to win a $100 gift card!
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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winner will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 10/03/2013 - 11/03/2013.
Thanks for the review. I just might have to try these. Curry, powder or sauce leaves a stain that won't budge. And I've got a lipstick stain on a favourite white blouse that I believe has become permanent. I am ready to pull out the fabric paint!!!
ReplyDeletecoconut oil! i always have to spot treat it with dish soap before the laundry. If these pods come in unscented, I may have to try them!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I'm sorry, but my eyes just widened and jaw just dropped. My worst stains.. are oil stains, esp. if it's in curry too. They are so difficult lol but that is one heck of a pod! I'm definitely adding this to my grocery/to-buy list for the weekend. Thank you so much for the review S!
ReplyDeleteReally great to hear that it worked so well! For me the toughest stains are sweat stains. Have never found anything to take them out.
ReplyDeleteGrease! I have a couple spots from Ramen on a skirt from Anthropologie that absolutely refuse to come out D:.
ReplyDeleteMy husband works in home repair so I see a lot of different stains but I must say one stain that always gives me a fight and most always wins is this stuff called purple pipe cleaner. He does not do plumbing often but when he does I'm quick to get his clothes in the wash! Thanks for your help in the fight agenst stains and thanks for the chance at your giveaway!
ReplyDelete*Jessica
juceyj03@gmail.com
The toughest stains for me has to be sweat stains (so so obvious on white shirts!) and whatever chemicals/solutions (Lugol's solution & permangante) from lab that somehow always find itself onto my clothes. Oh yeah, ketchup stains (darn you, kid who was playing with a pack of ketchup and popped it right in front of me...), soy sauce, and fruit (cherries...) stains are also a pain in the butt too.
ReplyDeleteGrease based stains are the worst for me! My pants always seem to brush against my bike chain. https://twitter.com/Ehhmi/status/386293814358339584
ReplyDeleteGrass stains are tough. My sons get really dirty when they play outside.
ReplyDeletemami2jcn at gmail dot com
tweeted:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/386516573101359104
Grease or motor oil stains are very hard to get out.
ReplyDeletejslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
tweet - https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/386527418652979201
ReplyDeletejslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
coffee stains
ReplyDeleteelena150980@yahoo.com
https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/386558935236239360
ReplyDeleteelena150980@yahoo.com
My kids manage to stain their clothes with ketchup all the time! I love how pretty the Tide pods are.
ReplyDeletewine and mustard are really hard....
ReplyDeletetweet https://twitter.com/MeandBells/status/386867600321282048
ReplyDeleteI am still struggling to get grass stains out of my girls leggings. amypugmire@live.com
ReplyDeletetweet. amypugmire@live.com
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/1amypugmire/status/386974224214007808
I actually used the pod and it didn't remove the black squid ink on my white t shirt :(
ReplyDeleteGreat review. Grease definitely tough to get out.
ReplyDeleteI would say oil is pretty hard to get rid off.
ReplyDeleteJust the other day, on the first day that I wore my new blouse, I got fountain pen ink on it!!! Uh, so frustrating!
Mustard and ketchup stains are the worst!
ReplyDeleteOily food stains
ReplyDeleteThe toughest stain for me to remove is baby formula spit up, no matter what I do it never disappears.
ReplyDeletemummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
tweeted
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/387712314385788929
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
Nail polish. I have some maroon-ish nail polish that I tried to get out with acetone before putting in the wash and it is sadly going nowhere.
ReplyDeleteWow. I never really considered using the 'pods' because I thought they were so weird. I didn't think they would work very well. Thanks for the demonstration!
ReplyDeleteTweet: https://twitter.com/OneFrugalGirl/status/388342176603574272
ReplyDeleteonefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com
Ketchup and mustard. Picnic season is still upon us, so is tailgating and we always end up with a few of these!
ReplyDeleteonefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com
To me, the toughest stains are from grass and red wine.
ReplyDelete-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/388507359900741632
ReplyDeleteGrease stains and grass stains are tough to get out in my experience.
ReplyDeletes2s2 at Comcast dot net
https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/389130982487359488
ReplyDeletes2s2 at Comcast dot net
Definitely grease! I can never get it out.
ReplyDeletethisisme79 @ gmail dot com
Anything you don't treat immediately! Oil, pen, etc.
ReplyDeletewine stains
ReplyDeletetina19820115@gmail.com
https://twitter.com/HappyTina0115/status/390290176003407872
ReplyDeletetina19820115@gmail.com
Ink! Such a pain to get out!
ReplyDeletelynnbulk83(at)yahoo
https://twitter.com/lynnlynnbobin/status/390466048899555328
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I'm definitely going to check them out!
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/channynn/status/390840812545662977
ReplyDeleteI have a tough time with oil and grease stains.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
tweet--https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/392700514254610433
ReplyDeletewildorchid985 at gmail dot com
Food stains from my kids can be impossible sometimes!
ReplyDeletechambanachik at gmail dot com
I think grass and tomato based stains are the worst.huntandride@hotmail.com
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/jen_r_horn/status/392997449360359424
ReplyDeletehuntandride@hotmail.com
Oil is the worst :(
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/imprfctbutloved/status/393193306156314624
ReplyDeletecooking oil and hair oil from my hard care line
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/394179074282631168
ReplyDeleteGrass stains are the worst!
ReplyDeletenuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net
tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/394262106880483328
ReplyDeletenuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net
With 3 boys food stains are everywhere, for me spaghetti sauce is the toughest stain
ReplyDeletenjharmonyg@aol.com
tweet https://twitter.com/hburmeister/status/394432527529566208
ReplyDeletenjharmonyg@aol.com
I always have a hard time with blood and grass stains.
ReplyDeleteMCantu1019 at aol dot com
Mysterious toddler stains. lol
ReplyDeletegigiofca@gmail
tweeted: https://twitter.com/gigiofca/status/395790891689840640
ReplyDeleteMy husband works at a golf course and sprays the greens to treat for bugs etc. However, they add a blue dye to the product so they know where they are spraying it and don't miss any areas. It not only stains all of his clothing but his shoes and feet as well. I am usually able to get a little of the stain out but he wears blue spotted clothing most of the time.
ReplyDeleteTweet: https://twitter.com/OneFrugalGirl/status/395985293142016000
ReplyDeleteonefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com
My son;s baseball pants are white. WHITE. WHY????? This might help
ReplyDeleteI have these mysterious grease-like stains that just won't come out with the usual methods (i.e. dish detergent).
ReplyDeletegrass stains! scg00387 at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/scg00387/status/396107366661255168
ReplyDeleteThe worst stains for me are from tree sap. Those never go away no matter what. =/
ReplyDeleteI think the toughest stains are the grease. No matter how I wash them...they are still visible!
ReplyDeleteamy [at] utry [dot] it
tweeted:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/uTry_it/status/396366310113697793
amy [at] utry [dot] it
I hate those sweat stains! I have ruined many shirts because of that!
ReplyDeletei find some food stains to be hard to remove
ReplyDeletedebbiebellows (at) gmail (dot)com
i posted a tweet:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/bellows22/status/396495196369612800
debbiebellows (at) gmail (dot)com
Grass stains are the hardest for me.
ReplyDeleterhoneygtn at yahoo dot com
Mud & grass stains on my son's pants.
ReplyDeleteccboobooy at gmail dot com
http://twitter.com/ccboobooy/status/396791336222744576
ReplyDeletefood grease for sure for me. I can get out most stains, even blood, with just one treatment. but grease? it can take three or four washes/treatments to get my clothing back to normal!
ReplyDeleteAngie
14earth at gmail dot com
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/397050907742846976
ReplyDeleteAngie
14earth at gmail dot com
my two year old makes the worst stains with her food pryfamily5@gmail.com
ReplyDeletetweeted https://twitter.com/pryfamily5/status/397085059762900992 pryfamily5@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteWine is the toughest stains.
ReplyDeleterounder9834 @yahoo.com
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/397103350799269888
ReplyDeleterounder9834 @yahoo.com
Definitely grease and grass!
ReplyDeletepittsy82@hotmail.com
tweeted https://twitter.com/pittsy82/status/397113104078622721
ReplyDeletepittsy82@hotmail.com
I would go with grease and spaghetti sauce
ReplyDeletetbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/397124141146312704
ReplyDeletetbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I think food stains are the toughest!
ReplyDeletepokergrl8 at gmail.com
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/397135349131907072
ReplyDeletepokergrl8 at gmail.com
Grease stains are the hardest for me to get out.
ReplyDeletewillitara [at] gmail [dot] com
Tweet - https://twitter.com/willitara/status/397144565611638784
ReplyDeletewillitara [at] gmail [dot] com
Right now the toughest stains are from the green makeup from Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
slehan at juno dot com
https://twitter.com/slehan/status/397160052617793537
ReplyDeleteslehan at juno dot com
grass stains for sure!
ReplyDeletedeeg131 at gmail dot com
https://twitter.com/DeeGee13/status/397206786463133696
ReplyDeletedeeg131 at gmail dot com
Grass stains
ReplyDeletewlbellows at gmail dot com
https://twitter.com/electricstar/status/397208136093691905
ReplyDeletewlbellows at gmail dot com