Are Laundry Sheets "Good Enough"

[Anonymous]

My oldest son is heading off to college.
The idea of laundry sheets is intriguing - but everything has pros and cons.

I tried to find "real reviews" and not sure if there is a clear POV.
I felt the NYTimes review only looked at alternative brands - but not sure if this is just the reality of a product that is just going to phase out.

[Anonymous]

What is a laundry sheet?

[Anonymous]

I tried them for a while and they were fine, but didn't want to deal with having to manage a subscription. I had the same thought about sending them to college but my son just ended up getting regular detergent once there.

[Anonymous]

I also have a daughter headed off to college and was considering them.

I read an article - NY Times? - that tested a whole bunch of laundry sheets. They said most didn't clean that well.

On some Facebook groups, some parents were also saying that their child's schools don't allow pods or laundry sheets.

[Anonymous]

DS took an initial supply of concentrated detergent at move-in when we mde the long drive. He flew home at Christmas and there aren't stores near campus, so ordered more through Amazon in January.

[Anonymous]

Pp. Hit submit too soon.

With Amazon availability, there was no reason to worry about weight or packing space. No need for laundry sheets.

[Anonymous]

The Arm & Hammer Power ones are excellent. I live with 3 guys who are into sports and working out daily, so we need something heavy duty.

[Anonymous]

I bought laundry sheets for my kid and then saw all the bad reviews. I asked him about them, and he said they were fine. He doesn't need something packed with powerful stain removers; he's not dealing with spills and stains. His laundry is mostly about freshening up his stuff, plus a little dirt removal here and there.

[Anonymous]

There's a scientist guy on either TikTok or YouTube who tests random items for their cleanliness.

Anyway, he tested dirty laundry and found that the laundry washed in hot water with liquid detergent produced the least bacteria growth on the Petri dish.

Cold water + liquid detergent had some growth, cold water + laundry sheet had a moderate amount of growth, and hot water + laundry sheet had about the same amount of growth as cold + soap.

From dirtiest to cleanest it went:
1. straight dirty laundry swabbed
2. laundry washed in cold water + no soap
3. laundry washed in hot water + no soap
2. laundry washed in cold water + laundry sheet
3. laundry washed in cold water + pod
4. laundry washed in cold water + liquid detergent
5. laundry washed in hot water + laundry sheet
6. laundry washed in hot water + pod
7. laundry washed in hot water + liquid detergent

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine they get sudsy enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a scientist guy on either TikTok or YouTube who tests random items for their cleanliness.

Anyway, he tested dirty laundry and found that the laundry washed in hot water with liquid detergent produced the least bacteria growth on the Petri dish.

Cold water + liquid detergent had some growth, cold water + laundry sheet had a moderate amount of growth, and hot water + laundry sheet had about the same amount of growth as cold + soap.

From dirtiest to cleanest it went:
1. straight dirty laundry swabbed
2. laundry washed in cold water + no soap
3. laundry washed in hot water + no soap
2. laundry washed in cold water + laundry sheet
3. laundry washed in cold water + pod
4. laundry washed in cold water + liquid detergent
5. laundry washed in hot water + laundry sheet
6. laundry washed in hot water + pod
7. laundry washed in hot water + liquid detergent

well what about warm water? I wash most things on warm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine they get sudsy enough.

If you are getting loads of suds, you are using too much detergent.

We use laundry sheets are they work great. I do add Oxiclean if my kid's laundry has stains or is very dirty for some reason. But for regular wash, a normal sized load, one laundry sheet works great.

They are a bit more expensive, but I like that I'm not paying for water to be shipped and trucked all around the country. Liquid soap is so incredibly dumb, when you think about it.

[Anonymous]

I used earths breeze and they work just fine for normal adult laundry. I stopped using them because they made my back itch. I used them for a year before I realized that was the likely cause of my itchy back—I thought it was perimenopause. I switched to something else and the itching stopped. To be fair, I didn’t try the unscented. If they didn’t make my skin itch, I’d still be using them.

[Anonymous]

They should have tested a load with detergent and sanitizer. Bet that would have been No. 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a scientist guy on either TikTok or YouTube who tests random items for their cleanliness.

Anyway, he tested dirty laundry and found that the laundry washed in hot water with liquid detergent produced the least bacteria growth on the Petri dish.

Cold water + liquid detergent had some growth, cold water + laundry sheet had a moderate amount of growth, and hot water + laundry sheet had about the same amount of growth as cold + soap.

From dirtiest to cleanest it went:
1. straight dirty laundry swabbed
2. laundry washed in cold water + no soap
3. laundry washed in hot water + no soap
2. laundry washed in cold water + laundry sheet
3. laundry washed in cold water + pod
4. laundry washed in cold water + liquid detergent
5. laundry washed in hot water + laundry sheet
6. laundry washed in hot water + pod
7. laundry washed in hot water + liquid detergent

well what about warm water? I wash most things on warm.

Probably between cold and hot.