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Why You Should Not Use a Dishwasher Pod for Your Laundry
While they might look alike and serve similar purposes, dishwasher pods and laundry pods are very different, and it is not a good idea to use dishwasher pods in the laundry machine.
The reason for this is that dishwasher pods are designed to clean very different materials.
You may have noticed that advertisements for dishwasher pods market their toughness. That’s because they’re designed to scrub off or dissolve grease, fat, and other food particles.
To do so, they create many more suds and bubbles than your standard laundry detergent pods.
Your washing machine isn’t designed to rinse away that kind of lather. More than likely, if you use a dishwasher pod in the laundry machine, your clothes will still be soapy and coated when you move them into the dryer.
In the worst-case scenario, your laundry machine could overflow with bubbles, damaging it and the area around it.
Are Laundry Pods OK for Dishes?
Laundry pods might not do as much harm to dishes as dish pods do to your laundry machine, but that still doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use them. While dish detergent washes away grease and food, laundry soap contains fabric softeners, brighteners, stain removers, and other features that it achieves using chemicals.
Those chemicals absolutely should not end up on your plates, in your food, or ingested into your body. Not to mention, you might get a funny taste when you prepare food with cookware washed in laundry detergent. It’s best to avoid it.
What’s the Difference Between a Dishwasher Pod and a Laundry Pod?
We’ve touched on this a bit already, but dishwasher pods and laundry pods are very different.
They serve other purposes: dishwasher pods create tons of bubbles and suds.
- They contain enzymes designed to cut through grease and solid food particles, completely break them down, and wash them away.
- They’re also designed to withstand the very high temperatures that dishwashers reach. Laundry pods will work in lukewarm or even cold water.
- Laundry pods also contain more chemicals than soap. These chemicals brighten colors and whites in clothing, soften certain fabrics, and provide a protective layer against stains.
- Laundry pods also very often contain scented agents. These are purposely intended to last a long time, so they don’t wash off clothes or dishes easily. You certainly don’t want your dishes to smell like a spring meadow, much less your food to taste like one.
Luckily, there are viable alternatives when it comes to washing clothes and dishes and using laundry pods. Let’s take a look at that next.
Good Alternate Uses for Laundry Detergent Pods
There are several different ways to use laundry pods. One handy use is to whiten yellow pillows. Simply combine one pod with a cup of bleach, a cup of powdered dish detergent, and ½ cup of borax.
You can also use laundry pods to cut through grease. Dissolve a laundry pod in a spray bottle with a couple of tablespoons of bleach and the rest water. Use it on your stove, countertop (as long as it’s bleach-safe), bathtub, and anywhere else you have tough grease stains.
If you have young children, clean toys by adding a couple of laundry pods to the bathtub and the water-safe toys. Grab a scrub brush and gently wash away any built-up grime or stains. Rinse in hot water to kill the germs.
These are just a few of the alternative uses for laundry pods. There are several others, including using them to hand wash towels or clothes in the sink. Peruse the world wide web for more ideas and put these to the test.
Good Last Resort Laundry Detergent Alternatives
If your problem is that you’ve run out of laundry detergent, don’t fret. You have alternatives around your house that you may not even realize are much safer to use than dishwasher pods.
Washing Machine-Safe Alternatives
One alternative to laundry detergent is baking soda. If you’re not using baking soda in your cleaning, you really should be; it works wonders on several surfaces and materials. Combine equal parts baking soda, shaved castile soap, and Epsom salts for delightful homemade detergent.
You can also use other types of soap to wash clothes. Almost any kind will do: shampoo, bar soap, and body wash will all do the trick. If possible, use gentle versions of these items, such as products made for babies.
Lastly, borax is the original clothing detergent. You can certainly substitute it for laundry detergent if you so desire.
Hand Wash Soap Alternatives
Any of the items listed above as washing machine alternatives will work for hand washing clothing as well. Take care that if you’re washing a particularly delicate item that you use the mildest soap.
You can also use liquid dish soap (not dish detergent) with handwashing since you’ll rinse the excess suds manually. Just be prepared to use a lot of water!
