First!!! (I think)

"High Efficiency" in this case means it's for high efficiency (aka front loading) washers - not that the detergent itself is more efficient. Supposedly if you use regular (inefficient?) detergent in a front loader, you might get too many suds.

So what's broken here is the name, not the concept.

Posted by: Sashazur at June 13, 2007 12:19 AM

Oh, no. It's high efficiency for the makers of Tide. They get more money per wash (greater profit efficiency) with the new detergent than with the other. It's a bit of packaging and formulation brilliance.

You might want to ascribe some mystic difference to the way they work, but trust me, follow the money.

Posted by: tartan at June 13, 2007 08:11 AM

You're both right. Of course, you can use regular-efficiency soap in a high-efficiency washer by just, you know, not using as much, and then get more than 32 loads per bottle to boot.

If it were specifically formulated to work in cold water (meaning higher energy efficiency) that'd be one thing but this is just a ploy to sell more detergent to people who blindly follow directions without learning from basic observations.

Posted by: fluffy at June 13, 2007 10:56 AM

High Efficiency means that it's formulated to work better in high efficiency front-loading washers that use less water, so it has something to do with its solubility in the water or its effectiveness at certain temperatures and concentrations.

Posted by: Oracle at June 13, 2007 11:22 AM

Tide is not "HE". It's full of fillers and other non-HE components that actually weathers your clothes making it fade more. Try the "SA8" brand instead that *works* as HE-compliant detergent, using only a small amount, no fillers and rust-inhibitors for the machine. Clothes get cleaner and last longer.

Posted by: goUseIt at June 13, 2007 12:10 PM

High Efficiency refers to the MACHINE not the detergent. They're usually front loading, and use less water as well as less electricity to run. Bonus is that most HE detergents are formulated to work just as well in cold water, saving more energy.

The MAIN difference between HE detergent and non-HE detergent is the amount of sudsing action. Regular detergents can over-suds in an HE washer, resulting in soapy clothes that require an extra rinse--which kinda negates the whole High Efficiency thing. HE detergent is low suds.

Also, since HE washers use so much less water, the water tends to get dirtier. Tide claims to have a special formulation to isolate dirt so it doesn't redeposit on clothes from the dirty water.

For what it's worth, Tide DOES make a "super concentrated" version of its HE detergent that uses a very small amount of detergent for HE washers. In the same bottle as shown here you would get almost 3x the number of washes.

As far as "goUseIt"'s suggestion, I sense an Amway distributor trying to drum up business!

Posted by: Erich at June 13, 2007 08:51 PM

This doesn't make any sense- why would you use MORE detergent in a machine that uses LESS water (and produces MORE suds)?!

Posted by: ambrocked at June 13, 2007 08:59 PM

As other's have said, "HE" means it works better in HE washers.

"This doesn't make any sense- why would you use MORE detergent in a machine that uses LESS water (and produces MORE suds)?!"

My guess is: since the HE soap produces less suds, it isn't as strong as regular, and therefore you must use more of it to get your clothes clean.

"Tide is not "HE". It's full of fillers and other non-HE components that actually weathers your clothes making it fade more. Try the "SA8" brand instead that *works* as HE-compliant detergent, using only a small amount, no fillers and rust-inhibitors for the machine. Clothes get cleaner and last longer."

Judging by your username, did you create a typekey account just so you could bash Tide?

Posted by: TIBE4ME at June 14, 2007 12:42 PM

In response - I am actually a regular on this website. I do indeed own my business as well, but I am NOT in Amway. If you must know, it's Quixtar (the fastest growing business right now). I've used Tide before (the powder version) and it hasn't been the best on my own clothes. The facts I've given you are the facts - for the powder version. As for these new products, I don't trust it since Tide seems to claim a lot of things but really fail to mention what their products really do. It's marketing with little facts to base anything upon their claims. To me, that's false advertising. As a side-note, I wonder what everyone else does - promote someone else's product where they don't even get an ROI back? Yeah, really smart "usability" there.

Posted by: goUseIt at June 18, 2007 04:17 PM

And there you go. goUseIt doesn't even know that Tide HE isn't a powder. Take the expert advice offered with a grain of salt, no pun intended.

Posted by: Gordon Meyer at June 23, 2007 04:24 PM

I recommending NOT using regular detergent in a HE washer. The representative from Sears was to my home to check something shortly after I purchased mine and he said to me, "glad you're using the HE detergent. if you fail to use it and they come out for a repair and determine by the residue that it's not HE detergent they can void all of your warranties." This is not worth it to me since the repairs on these machines are very costly.

Posted by: glysgirl at June 29, 2007 04:30 PM