Mystery solved: The "load-down" on Tide detergent

Some grocery aisles are pretty easy to navigate. In the baking section, for example, you probably buy the same brand of baking powder all the time and choose the granulated sugar that's on sale. But when you head over to the crowded cleaning-supplies aisle to pick up laundry detergent, confusion can set in, especially when you're confronted with myriad formulations for powders and liquids touted to produce Brighter! Softer! Cleaner! loads.

Zack, an eagle-eyed reader of Consumerist.com from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, became a bit bleary-eyed several weeks back when comparing Tide laundry detergents (photo, right). As this post on the site notes:

". . . Each of these three kinds of Tide laundry detergent gives you a different amount of loads - 48, 52 and 64. They all weigh and cost the same, they're all '2X Ultra' formulation. The only difference is they have different scents, Clean Breeze, Mountain Spring, and Original. Can anyone crack this detergent dilemma?"

We're happy to report that we were able to suss out the situation:

Each container of the 2X Ultra Tide detergents shown holds 100 ounces of concentrated detergent. A bottle of Tide Mountain Spring scented cleaner (right) washes 64 loads. When Tide adds a bleach alternative (center), in this case to an "original scent" detergent, the number of loads per bottle drops to 52. Incorporating a fabric softener to the mix results in even fewer loads—a bottle of Tide Clean Breeze with Downy (left) delivers 48 loads.

Procter & Gamble, manufacturer of Tide, had two choices in determining detergent prices: It could have charged more for products with a bleach alternative or a fabric softener, cleaners that a company spokesperson, Lauren Thaman, calls "value-added products." Or the Cincinnati-based P&G could have set one price for the same amount of cleaner but with differing numbers of loads.

Thaman notes that P&G took the second approach, common among manufacturers, because it's more economical for the company and easier for retailers. What's more, things could get complicated when detergents with different prices go on sale.

As for the consumer, Thaman says, the same-size-and-price-but-different-loads method "is more transparent. . . . The shopper is used to shopping for a price, and the number of loads is right on the label."

Still, this pricing structure could be confusing, especially since a unit-pricing label indicating cost per quart like the one Consumerist.com reader Zack saw is not nearly as helpful as cost-per-load information.

Bottom line: When you're choosing among detergents, compare the cost per load (total cost divided by the number of loads). And, of course, use the ratings from our latest report of 34 detergents to find the product that can best handle a variety of tough stains.—Kimberly Janeway

Essential information: Before you shop for new laundry equipment, visit our washing machines and dryers product pages.

Photo courtesy of Consumerist.com