Wait…Ariel Isn’t the Best?! Powder Laundry Detergent Might Not Be As Great As Our Latina Moms Thought

Don’t show your Latina mom this post because it might break her heart. Laundry is an essential part of life if you grow up Latino. Abuela’s hacks are our guiding light. So, we obviously believed her that the only choice in laundry detergent is none other than powder detergent. You might have heard them say that powder detergent gets clothes cleaner than liquid detergents. Unfortunately, people who do studies exist, and they might have debunked one of the most famous Latino ideas.

First, the good news is that powder laundry detergent is significantly cheaper

Consumer Report conducted an extensive study on liquid versus powder laundry detergents. The study, which Latina moms and abuelas didn’t ask for, really investigated the popular household cleaning agent.

According to the study, powder detergent can save you quite a bit of money. The data from the Consumer Report study shows that powder detergent costs between 11 cents and 34 cents per load of laundry. Meanwhile, liquid detergent costs, on average, 88 cents per load.

Clearly, powder laundry detergent is superior in this regard. We are all living through a cost-of-living crisis, so saving money everywhere you can is very important. Bonus is that your mom will be proud that you are saving money and that you listened to her when she said that powder detergent is the best. 

The bad news is that it might not be the supercharged cleaning agents they think

The report further states that powder detergent is not better than liquid for removing stains. However, they did determine the best powder detergent for this purpose, and it is not the Ariel detergent we all know and love. The best powder laundry detergent is Tide Original Powder. Again, don’t show this to your mom or abuela. They couldn’t take this news.

Tide Original Powder, when compared to Ariel, came out supreme but didn’t meet the challenge of removing chocolate, coffee, and salad dressing from test fabrics. Ariel, however, only succeeded in removing blood stains from test fabrics. So, not only is powder laundry detergent not the best, Ariel is in the back of the pack.

There’s some good advice for getting the most of your detergent of choice

Consumer Report wouldn’t just tell you something is bad and not give you some guidance. If you want to get the most out of your powder laundry detergent, here is what Consumer Report recommends.

First off, Rich Handel, the laundry expert at Consumer Report, warns that people are using too much detergent when they do laundry. Handel suggests that people use the recommended amount on the packaging to make sure they are getting the most out of their laundry detergent.

Another thing to keep in mind is not mixing liquid and powder detergents. Mixing laundry detergents doesn’t offer any exceptional benefit. Instead, doing so could cause you to waste laundry detergent and essentially overdo it.

Do you use powder or liquid laundry detergent? Let us know.