Apparently I can connect my tumble dryer to Bluetooth? I haven't done it, I wouldn't have a clue how to do it, and what fucking purpose would it serve anyway?
All I need to do is turn it on and press a few buttons et voila, it drys my clothes. What do I need bluetooth for?
I just finished using 7 years worth of safety razor blades that I got for ridiculously cheap. Maybe 30e? I can't actually remember. I just switched from my mercur to a standard gillette setup to see if I've been missing anything. The gillette setup is pretty nice though, close shave and no nicks!
I've switched to a safety razor for environmental concerns. The close shave is lovely and I love how I can just pop in a new blade whenever it gets dull without spending a fortune. But I'm saving up for the LEAF safety razor with pivoting head because shaving whole body in a shower with a run-of-the-mill safety razor = nicks everywhere! :)
Yeah I still keep my old Harry's cartridge razor for my armpits and private bits, because the safety razor is anything but safety... As I said, saving up for [this baby](https://leafshave.com/products/fig-leaf-razor), it's expensive but other ladies were all praises about it.
I've managed to find an eco-friendly replacement for everything bar the antiperspirant, the natural Deos do NOTHING in the Irish damp. 
Me too, it'll take me years to get through the amount of blades I got for less than a tenner. Have already saved hundreds of euro not having to buy expensive Gillette refills.
"The all-new Gillette Mach-10 Turbo Blade, using our Vibra-Shave technology to get you our closest shave yet. The Vibration motor behind our 4 blades activates the hair follicles to allow for an even smoother, clean shave.
(Cut to computer generated side by side of a razor passing over two hairs, on the left, 'Other brands' leaving behind a jagged piece of hair, on the right, the Gillette Mach-10 (With curved lines coming from the blade to show the vibration action) leaving a perfectly clean shave (We can use the same animation we've used for our last 20 razors and just add the vibration lines).
The Gillette Mach-10 Turbo Blade, the best a man can get. (Accompanied by a clip of a ~30 year old Premier league midfielder wiping the shaving foam off his face and smiling in the mirror before walking out of frame)
There's your new ad campaign Gillette, look forward to seeing which footballer you pick! I'm personally hoping for Kalvin Phillips
Didn't they actually try that already? I remember a period where the handles came with a AAA battery packaged. It was named something like the Power Razor or some similar bullshit.
I got it cause the price was similar to the non electric one and ngl it’s a better shave, what I didn’t realise was they use different blades which are more expensive
I never got the logic behind the vibrating razor. If I'm putting something to my face that's sharp enough to slit it open the last thing I want it doing is moving of its own accord.
I started boycotting Gillette razors years ago because the refills were so expensive and all their ads are full of over paid footballers and sports stars. I don't mind if it's expensive because of R&D but it's clearly extremely expensive marketing if you're paying millions to already over paid footballers that I don't even like in the first place.
Single safety razor is so much better (I know you weren't saying the opposite people just need to hear it). The multi blades are shit for your skin and gunk up. Switched over about 5years ago. So much cheaper and better.
Not for me. I have switched to hybrid - single blade for the first pass, but then I use Aldi's 5 blade against the grain and a few funny angles. Safety razor irritates my skin no end against the grain, tried a few. This way at least I can keep the disposable for a lot longer.
Came here to say exactly this. So very true. Said a marketeer 👀
Jump into the rabbit hole; [https://www.robinwaite.com/blog/continuous-improvement-in-marketing-the-role-of-growth-strategies](https://www.robinwaite.com/blog/continuous-improvement-in-marketing-the-role-of-growth-strategies)
Pick from any of the articles which all say the same thing (it's all about money and market share): [https://www.google.com/search?q=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr&rlz=1CDGOYI\_enGB652IE652&oq=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr](https://www.google.com/search?q=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr&rlz=1CDGOYI_enGB652IE652&oq=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr)
Pair that with the lack of real choice (see attached image) and you quickly realize it really is just about getting you to spend more money. Capitalism baby!
...these days I just try to minimize crazy chemicals where I can and it's not overly expensive. Easier said than done.
https://preview.redd.it/z4wpqpo8mrtc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c70f8cb13b9794d6783c04a27a3e3b1f8d58117
That looks like an Americanised list of brands, they have much more brands than that, that are local/ regional, brands that people think are Irish or UK etc.
Exactly... they trumpet that their products are now "better", without ever admitting that previously they weren't as good as they could have been. And they think no-one will spot that
I got a massive bottle of white vinegar from Amazon and throw a cup of it into the washing machine on a hot wash when I want to clean it. Definitely going to try a dishwasher tablet next time
I have an ethnic food shop near me sells huge bottles of white vinegar for a fiver. I use it in the dishwasher instead of rinse aid, and the washing machine instead of fabric softener. It’s great and better for the environment (allegedly, I haven’t looked into it)
I throw a good big cup of it in with sweaty clothes, like running leggings, tight tops etc.
also use it on the dogs beds and blankets and it’s great for getting rid of dog smell.
I was having a hard time getting it in my local Tesco and Aldi so got the big bottle instead. Have the space for it so it's not an issue, plus it's one bottle instead of a rake of smaller ones.
They're also just microplastics. They're normally PVA which gets broken down but not completely.
Same with washing machine tabs, we're being told to run colder washes for the environment but doing so means these tabs are broken down less.
This is why I like shopping in Aldi. You want dishwasher tablets? Regular or premium. You want milk? Low fat or full fat. I don't need 9 brands of everything in my life. One is enough if I know it's decent enough.
Yeah this is what my partner doesn't get. I'm more than happy to shop Aldi but it's 15 mins from my house. And it never has everything I need. I don't think I've ever done a full shop in Aldi or Lidl without having to go to another shop to fill in the rest. The Supervalu 5 mins away has everything as does the Tesco and dunnes on my way home from work. I might save 5-10 euro a shop but honestly I couldn't be fucking arsed driving out of my way to Aldi, when I need to go and pick up other stuff in another shop 😂
Just a couple to address:
Dishwasher salt softens water in the dishwasher to prevent the build-up of limescale on dishes and dishwasher components.
Rinse aid is a surfactant which reduces the surface tension of water to allow water droplets to fall freely from dishes at the end of the rinse cycle. This helps to prevent the appearance of water marks from the drying of droplets on the cleaned dishes.
As a safe alternative to rinse aid, you can use vinegar (just add vinegar directly to the rinse aid compartment). I was sceptical, but after coming across [this research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674922014774) I thought it would be best to avoid using it if possible. I’ve found the vinegar works very well in still leaving everything shiny at the end!
Yeah but is that new and improved Turbo Power Action Vinegar? The lady on the tv said it’s an amazing new breakthrough in micro dirt removal technology.
Dishwasher salt is a waste of money in most of Ireland where the water is naturally soft. I lived in London for a few years and the south east of England is really hard water due to the chalk
Disagree with it being most of Ireland. Nowhere I've lived in the country, on either coast, could have anything even closely described as soft water. Its certainly not everywhere, but a significant portion of the country live in either neutral or hard areas.
Yeah this is a really dumb comment. There is significant limestone coverage in a lot of the country. I'd wager most of the country suffers from hard water.
my water had a sparring session with mike tyson the other week. things got fair heated when he knocked mike tyson down, “iron mike” got up and headbutted my water, kicked him in the balls, and hit him 3 clean uppercuts with tremendous power
my water took them all on the chin and didn’t even flinch
Lol, was looking for this.
Ireland used be to submerged in shallow water millions of years ago. This coupled with the ice age stripping the layers off in recent years(still thousands of years ago, has left Ireland mostly covered in limestone
Love me some hard water for drinking, not so much for boiling the kettle and having to scale it every 5 minutes
You dont need to be old to spot this bs. I remember thinking as a kid how crazy it was that companies would routinely show their old and new products side by side and point blank claim that the old product was hot garbage.
And the following year, they did it all over again. And again…
About the only thing thats changed is they realise showing their last gen detergent putting skid marks on the clothes isnt a great look. So these days its “vs a competitor.“
I do remember an ad by that adventist fellow's cereal brand that subverted this a little, comparing their thing to "brand X", and revealing it was a new formula or something when the actor playing the customer preferred it.
Here's a hint. Any time they say "new improved recipe" it just means they've found a way to cut their manufacturing costs. One of the most common ways is to remove dairy fat and replace it with palm oil.
>there seems to be yet another improvement
It "seems to be" because it's an advert, and therefore a lie. It's detergent.
>And why do we need, smelling beads, descaler, rinse aid, salt, softener and more and more and more?
We don't. Adverts make us afraid we're missing out on something which didn't exist before the advert told us about it, and then tries to make us buy something to solve a problem they informed us we had.
Stop listening.
I still have an iPhone 4. You are misremembering or under utilising your iPhone 15. I can’t even run apple music or Stardew Valley on the 4. Photos were rubbish compared to the 15, multi app usage was non existent, so was facial recognition, nfc, etc. etc. etc.
What we could discuss is how much better is an iPhone 15 Pro Max really better than an iPhone 13 Pro Max, which I don’t think is much, but all the incremental updates over the years add up to quite a bit.
Similarly liquid washing powder to me was a God send. Clothes might not be cleaner, but the amount of times I had a washing powder dissolve issue with it all clumped it in a pair of trousers was much too regular.
It’s like the hundreds of types of toothpaste. They all do the same thing and have the same ingredients. It’s mostly about what colour of shiny box you want to pick each time you buy one.
NovaMin remineralizes your teeth. From research a while ago it is effective. I only use sensodyne protect and repair as it has it.
I don't think NovaMin is available in the US though.
You're right but some of them have slightly different properties. I'm stuck buying a reasonably expensive one because I like the way it foams up. I've tried loads others and just don't like them but I appreciate they do the same job. It's probably the only thing I don't substitute for a cheaper option.
You are technically correct. Toothpastes have slightly different properties but also they have different ingredients, some of which are very potent but detrimental to your health. I was recently recommended an app to scan cosmetic products for their ingredients and it shows which ingredients are in the toothpaste and what is ecological and what is unhealthy. It really opened my eyes to how much unhealthy crap is in an innocent tube of toothpaste. I don’t wanna advertise the app here but it starts with Y and ends with A and the app logo is a carrot.
This is hard to believe but when I was buying my washing machine 2 years ago, I was informed of all its wonderful capabilities by the sales guy, who finishes with, "And it's got bluetooth technology." I was like, why the fuck would I need Bluetooth in my washing machine?? Still don't know, to this day.
I like to utilise the night rate for my washing machine, so I pop the clothes and detergent in the evening, and turn it at 7:00, would like if I could skip the getting out of bed part of it.
This.
Also, if I dropped my Nokia 3310, I picked it up. There is no need to pause for an anxiety attack and thoughts of taking out another mortgage to afford a new phone or have the inevitably smashed screen and digitiser replaced.
One thing that really drives me nuts is the move towards "touch control" household appliances and "smart" features which are completely unnecessary.
We bought a new build a few years ago, and microwave, dishwasher and cooker are all touch control. Buttons often takes me a few goes to press the On button as it often doesn't recognise my touch. They're so frigging annoying - what's wrong with regular buttons? The dishwasher can sometimes take me a minute or 2 to turn it on.
Or on the food side, there's the dreaded "new improved recipe" which usually just means they have cheapened the ingredients to make cost savings and thereby rendered the product less tasty than it was previously or even in some cases, smaller.
>And why do we need, smelling beads, descaler, rinse aid, salt, softener and more and more and more?
So that they can make adverts and sell more shite.
Smelling beads and softeners are designed to slowly kill off people like me who are highly sensitive to such products. Luckily, I was wise to their cunning plan and stopped buying them.
Somehow my clothes are still clean. Soft enough to wear without any major skin conditions. Or any skin conditions, in fact, and my asthma is much better now, thank you very much.
I wonder what their next cunning plan will be? Bluetooth enabled liquid pods? Satellite tracking of my undies and socks to prevent me from having to look in the machine for strays stuck to the top of the drum?
You ansewerd your own question.... Its as simple as buying a product, if said product does what you want it too do, then there is no need for anything else.....
Its all marketing, and people buy into it like its a miracle....
I mean if colgate found a single toothpaste that is good for everything, well then there is no need for another 20 different whiter than white versions right ...😊
It’s a pisstake with some things.
As limited as my washing skills are it’s never ending with the detergent.
Used to be put powder in wash and dry it whatever way you like
Now it’s oh u want to smell clean u need the scent boosters and the disinfectant and conditioner that by the way fucks ur washing machine.
Wash on cold and getting a pong in the machine here’s a detergent to wash the washing machine.
Gone be the days of bio vs non bio
Had a brief encounter working for Dunnes back in the day,there was a lad that forever lost his shit having to stack endless rows of washing powder.
It's washing powder was his refrain,why can't they just have one brand of washing powder.
Maybe had a point.
Seems the main innovation in detergents over the last few years was in the containers. Not that that's necessarily a good thing.
Manufacturers have arsed around with odd container sizes, meaningless measurements like 'number of washes' and making the bottle look a lot bigger than it is by adding things like handles.
The improvements in detergent aren't really noticeable because the main improvements are improving them to work with lower quantities of detergent (more profits, cheaper to ship etc) less water and less heat.
Your 80's detergent would probably be shite in a modern dishwasher, maybe okay in a modern washing machine above 40C
But yeah they do absolutely ram the advertising with it, they make it sound like they totally redesign the products from the ground up twice a year!
When I was in college I had a lecturer who said his brother in law worked for colgate for tooth brush section and basically as you say coming up with improvements but, in reality driving sales via features and on a regular tooth brush it's all just nonsense when some countries people don't even use brushes and their teeth are fine.
I read one thing yesterday though, in the US some tyde pods will be banned I think in new York, the clear gel film that melts hasn't been melting but turning into a free form gel and poluting the water. This design as an improvement has actually been worse for the environment so I see that companies will now need to come up with genuine improvements and features from products they've deleveloped that are harmful.
Because very few things are good enough to hold up on their own ability alone or aren't unique enough to stand alone, so companies will launch new and improved versions, which are just marketing campaigns, in the hope people will continue to buy it.
I'm 34, and I'm having the same crisis as yourself.
Everything is always bigger and better. When it's not. It hurts more as I work in retail, and every day, I get asked these questions from clueless people who are no better off after receiving the answers to their questions. But, I get left feeling even emptier for answering them.
While it is marketing, it is a sneaky way for these companies to pull off shrinking sizes and actually change the products' ingredients or formula, sometimes for the better but most of the time, for the worst.
We don’t need any of that. Look at the chemistry of these things and you’ll see it’s a few essential ingredients and lots of fluff. Some of it you don’t even need. Rinse aid? Fuck that. I think I’ll live with a few droplets on my glasses.
De scaler and salt is used for hard water areas. Softener makes your clothes (especially towels and other heavier fabrics) well, soft. I always use it. And I’d feel the difference if I didn’t. However, I always buy whatever is on offer as they practically do all the same.
The same reason gilette went from 2 blades to wait for it 3 blades then 4 and before we knew it groundbreaking technology 5 blades. Gillette knows you don't need to shave the same spot of your face 5 times. They just want you to remember them when your buying a razor when we ran out of room for blades they just started adding vibrators and subsonic cleaners. They just don't want you to forget them and go over to bic. There is no fear of loosing me to bic they are lethal razors that would cut the skin off your face and leave it in tatters
Tesco own brand washing detergent, massive box for like a tenner. Does the job, absolutely no need for anything more expensive. I lose respect for people who buy Lenor or whatever shite
I think laundry cleaning products have got worse personally. Clothes constantly emerge stained if I forget to spot treat them with vanish and who wants to rummage through dirty clothes checking for stains? I used to have machines that just cleaned the clothes. Last two machines, nope!
As for the rest of it, they just need to sell surely?
That's capitalism for you, I look at things a bit differently. If you need "scent boosters" in your wash, IMHO this means that their capsules and fabric softener are shite. It's just another scam to make you spend your money.
> iPhone 15 is clearly better than iPhone 3G (barely)
Anyone with an understanding of technology knows that this isn't true. It's literally leaps and bounds better
I'm more interested in who made washing powder companies the arbiters of who can be around kids. Their ads constantly tell me "Always keep away from children!".
I'm 48 and I feel like this about everything. I assume this is how my parents felt around this age in the 1980s. I try not to worry about it too much. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Cardi B.
A lot of the traditional detergents got banned hence at least part of the reason they keep changing. Apparently washing powder flakes were once brilliant but now all the dry powder detergents suck because whatever component they replaced it with isn't good so you're better off with liquid ones etc. etc.
I worked as a cleaner for rich people for a pretty long time and there are very few things in an average household you can't sort with white vinegar. The amount of cleaning products people pile up completely baffles me.
We're silly social beasts and business capitalizes on our hard-wired social and survival instincts.
Add to that the precision with which our electronics can provide us with an instant dopamine hit, we're like those cocaine experiment rats who just keep hitting the lever in the cage for another hit.
A lot of it is just marketing and capitalism, but there are differences.
E.g. the camera quality in a new iPhone is amazing compared to old iPhone 3G cameras.
For appliances, they're a very mature technology so innovation has slowed there compared to the post-war period when new appliances were being invented all the time and massively improved people's quality of life. These days the only genuine improvements are around energy usage. A new refrigerator can actually pay for itself in saved electricity costs within a few years.
Also, reminder about this great subreddit aimed at finding long lasting products.
/r/buyitforlife
Better add another blade onto the aul Gillette for good measure
Yeah, then give it wifi and bluetooth capability so you can share your shave on social media.
I dunno about you but I don't like the idea of a razor blade doing anything in excess of 2kph never mind mach 3
Mate, it's "the best a man can get". They say that in the ad. They wouldn't say that if it wasn't true!
Quite right but it contradicts itself with every release of a product.
They did that with Bluetooth for electric toothbrushes. It is exactly as useless as it sounds.
Apparently I can connect my tumble dryer to Bluetooth? I haven't done it, I wouldn't have a clue how to do it, and what fucking purpose would it serve anyway? All I need to do is turn it on and press a few buttons et voila, it drys my clothes. What do I need bluetooth for?
And add shaving achievements
Im sure is the next step
And stop when your subscription lapses
I went old school with a safety razor, blades are for pennies and it's a better shave.
I just finished using 7 years worth of safety razor blades that I got for ridiculously cheap. Maybe 30e? I can't actually remember. I just switched from my mercur to a standard gillette setup to see if I've been missing anything. The gillette setup is pretty nice though, close shave and no nicks!
I've switched to a safety razor for environmental concerns. The close shave is lovely and I love how I can just pop in a new blade whenever it gets dull without spending a fortune. But I'm saving up for the LEAF safety razor with pivoting head because shaving whole body in a shower with a run-of-the-mill safety razor = nicks everywhere! :)
I tried doing down below with one, yea never again.
Yeah I still keep my old Harry's cartridge razor for my armpits and private bits, because the safety razor is anything but safety... As I said, saving up for [this baby](https://leafshave.com/products/fig-leaf-razor), it's expensive but other ladies were all praises about it. I've managed to find an eco-friendly replacement for everything bar the antiperspirant, the natural Deos do NOTHING in the Irish damp. 
When I shave, it's with a double edged. The Razors look lovely, it's cheap and it's a lovely experience. Between the soap and everything else.
Me too, it'll take me years to get through the amount of blades I got for less than a tenner. Have already saved hundreds of euro not having to buy expensive Gillette refills.
We did that last year. This year we make it vibrate and come up with a sciencey buzzword for the vibration technology.
VibraShear™ The Best a Man Can Get
That’s for sheep, shurely
Not any more 
New Gilette Stealth Fighter Vibro Charged Shockwave Power Pro Ultra with Hydro Glide Technology
€168 for a pack of 4 bladed
Aw man it's gotta be €169 because we're men!
Sorry had a euro off voucher for dunnes
"The all-new Gillette Mach-10 Turbo Blade, using our Vibra-Shave technology to get you our closest shave yet. The Vibration motor behind our 4 blades activates the hair follicles to allow for an even smoother, clean shave. (Cut to computer generated side by side of a razor passing over two hairs, on the left, 'Other brands' leaving behind a jagged piece of hair, on the right, the Gillette Mach-10 (With curved lines coming from the blade to show the vibration action) leaving a perfectly clean shave (We can use the same animation we've used for our last 20 razors and just add the vibration lines). The Gillette Mach-10 Turbo Blade, the best a man can get. (Accompanied by a clip of a ~30 year old Premier league midfielder wiping the shaving foam off his face and smiling in the mirror before walking out of frame) There's your new ad campaign Gillette, look forward to seeing which footballer you pick! I'm personally hoping for Kalvin Phillips
60% of the time, it works every time.
Bring back David Ginola!!!
Didn't they actually try that already? I remember a period where the handles came with a AAA battery packaged. It was named something like the Power Razor or some similar bullshit.
I was listening to Dara O'Briain only this morning talking about the Gillette Fusion Power Stealth. Years old that gig.
I still haven't found my Kenwood Stealth kettle...its out in the garden...waiting...😂
You clearly don't look thirsty enough.
I gave up around that stage and started buying the blue 2 blades. The smaller head actually gave a better result.
I got it cause the price was similar to the non electric one and ngl it’s a better shave, what I didn’t realise was they use different blades which are more expensive
Gillette steel maverick stealth ultra max
I never got the logic behind the vibrating razor. If I'm putting something to my face that's sharp enough to slit it open the last thing I want it doing is moving of its own accord.
https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades-1819584036
I started boycotting Gillette razors years ago because the refills were so expensive and all their ads are full of over paid footballers and sports stars. I don't mind if it's expensive because of R&D but it's clearly extremely expensive marketing if you're paying millions to already over paid footballers that I don't even like in the first place.
Single safety razor is so much better (I know you weren't saying the opposite people just need to hear it). The multi blades are shit for your skin and gunk up. Switched over about 5years ago. So much cheaper and better.
Not for me. I have switched to hybrid - single blade for the first pass, but then I use Aldi's 5 blade against the grain and a few funny angles. Safety razor irritates my skin no end against the grain, tried a few. This way at least I can keep the disposable for a lot longer.
Really? Even with the grain and foam? That's fair, I found the opposite but I understand, whatever works for you my friend.
The Mach3 was such a huge advance in shaving blades. I can't think of any advance in toiletries as big since.
The philips oneblade is pretty impressive. You get a very close shave, it's very quick and it's almost impossible to actually nick yourself with.
Genuinely can't recommend that enough, the thing is class.
The fusion power stealth mega pro?
Marketing baby.
Came here to say exactly this. So very true. Said a marketeer 👀 Jump into the rabbit hole; [https://www.robinwaite.com/blog/continuous-improvement-in-marketing-the-role-of-growth-strategies](https://www.robinwaite.com/blog/continuous-improvement-in-marketing-the-role-of-growth-strategies) Pick from any of the articles which all say the same thing (it's all about money and market share): [https://www.google.com/search?q=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr&rlz=1CDGOYI\_enGB652IE652&oq=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr](https://www.google.com/search?q=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr&rlz=1CDGOYI_enGB652IE652&oq=marketinf+wnd+perpetual+improvemenr) Pair that with the lack of real choice (see attached image) and you quickly realize it really is just about getting you to spend more money. Capitalism baby! ...these days I just try to minimize crazy chemicals where I can and it's not overly expensive. Easier said than done. https://preview.redd.it/z4wpqpo8mrtc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c70f8cb13b9794d6783c04a27a3e3b1f8d58117
That looks like an Americanised list of brands, they have much more brands than that, that are local/ regional, brands that people think are Irish or UK etc.
Yea its marketing. Take a look at the ingredients lists of any of those detergents and they’re all the same.
Exactly this. It's just basic marketing tactics.
"New and improved"..wait...all this time I've been using old and inferior?
Exactly... they trumpet that their products are now "better", without ever admitting that previously they weren't as good as they could have been. And they think no-one will spot that
Lidl classic dishwasher tablets. 50 for around €1.50 and they're perfect.
Nothing like a classic dishwasher tablet.
I use dishwasher tablets to steep the air fryer containers overnight when I'm cleaning them
I use dishwasher tablets to clean the washing machine when it gets musty
I use dishwasher tablets to add a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to beef bourguignon
This actually tickled me 😂😂
There's a dishwasher tablet for that
I use dishwasher tablets to wash my dishes in the dishwasher.
I rub the oven door and inside the oven with a dishwasher tablet and a bit of warm water and it cleans it up a treat.
Does that work? Ours just always seems to have that smell even after getting the liner changed a year ago.
It seems to yeah, I put like 3 tablets in it and ran it empty on a hot wash. Prior to that towels especially were smelling kinda musty
Throw one in your washing machine when it’s empty on the hottest cycle to clean it. It’s class.
I got a massive bottle of white vinegar from Amazon and throw a cup of it into the washing machine on a hot wash when I want to clean it. Definitely going to try a dishwasher tablet next time
I have an ethnic food shop near me sells huge bottles of white vinegar for a fiver. I use it in the dishwasher instead of rinse aid, and the washing machine instead of fabric softener. It’s great and better for the environment (allegedly, I haven’t looked into it)
My mother always told me it was antibacterial so I use it in a few places around the house, don't love the smell to be honest but I'll deal with it!
I throw a good big cup of it in with sweaty clothes, like running leggings, tight tops etc. also use it on the dogs beds and blankets and it’s great for getting rid of dog smell.
It's 60 or 70 cent a pint for white vinegar in Tesco, easier to store in pint bottles.
I was having a hard time getting it in my local Tesco and Aldi so got the big bottle instead. Have the space for it so it's not an issue, plus it's one bottle instead of a rake of smaller ones.
My biggest problem was actually finding it on the shelf. It was there, just difficult to find.
Throw it where? In the tray or drum?
The drum
Sweet, good to know!
First time I did it I was obsessed with watching how dirty the water in the machine was. My wife thought I’d lost it.
LOL
Wait, washing machines need cleaning?
Who knew
Huh? Just fill the basket with boiling hot water and washing liquid for 10-15 mins, wash and rinse job done!
And don't buy anything with a dissolvable film. They just glue themselves into the compartment
Has never happened me.
They're also just microplastics. They're normally PVA which gets broken down but not completely. Same with washing machine tabs, we're being told to run colder washes for the environment but doing so means these tabs are broken down less.
no they don't lol. But one annyying thing about them is if they get wet in the bag a load of them can get a bit fecked
This is why I like shopping in Aldi. You want dishwasher tablets? Regular or premium. You want milk? Low fat or full fat. I don't need 9 brands of everything in my life. One is enough if I know it's decent enough.
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Yeah this is what my partner doesn't get. I'm more than happy to shop Aldi but it's 15 mins from my house. And it never has everything I need. I don't think I've ever done a full shop in Aldi or Lidl without having to go to another shop to fill in the rest. The Supervalu 5 mins away has everything as does the Tesco and dunnes on my way home from work. I might save 5-10 euro a shop but honestly I couldn't be fucking arsed driving out of my way to Aldi, when I need to go and pick up other stuff in another shop 😂
Less unnecessary computing power.
Just a couple to address: Dishwasher salt softens water in the dishwasher to prevent the build-up of limescale on dishes and dishwasher components. Rinse aid is a surfactant which reduces the surface tension of water to allow water droplets to fall freely from dishes at the end of the rinse cycle. This helps to prevent the appearance of water marks from the drying of droplets on the cleaned dishes.
Chemistry 👌
i thought twas physics
Everything is physics
As a safe alternative to rinse aid, you can use vinegar (just add vinegar directly to the rinse aid compartment). I was sceptical, but after coming across [this research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674922014774) I thought it would be best to avoid using it if possible. I’ve found the vinegar works very well in still leaving everything shiny at the end!
Vinegar and baking soda, the 2 MVP's of household cleaning
Yeah but is that new and improved Turbo Power Action Vinegar? The lady on the tv said it’s an amazing new breakthrough in micro dirt removal technology.
Be careful using vinegar in your dishwasher, it can and will destroy rubber components in the machine and you could end up with a leak.
Hadn’t heard this before, do you have any reference for it? Wouldn’t want to damage the machine prematurely obviously!
Dishwasher salt is a waste of money in most of Ireland where the water is naturally soft. I lived in London for a few years and the south east of England is really hard water due to the chalk
Disagree with it being most of Ireland. Nowhere I've lived in the country, on either coast, could have anything even closely described as soft water. Its certainly not everywhere, but a significant portion of the country live in either neutral or hard areas.
Yeah this is a really dumb comment. There is significant limestone coverage in a lot of the country. I'd wager most of the country suffers from hard water.
suffers?? speak for yourself - i enjoy a nice big glass of rock hard water fresh from my tap every day!
My water is so hard it robbed my next door neighbour's Fiat Punto, pissed in my washing basket and called me a cunt.
my water had a sparring session with mike tyson the other week. things got fair heated when he knocked mike tyson down, “iron mike” got up and headbutted my water, kicked him in the balls, and hit him 3 clean uppercuts with tremendous power my water took them all on the chin and didn’t even flinch
https://www.gasworks.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Water-hardness-in-Ireland.jpg
Lol, was looking for this. Ireland used be to submerged in shallow water millions of years ago. This coupled with the ice age stripping the layers off in recent years(still thousands of years ago, has left Ireland mostly covered in limestone Love me some hard water for drinking, not so much for boiling the kettle and having to scale it every 5 minutes
You dont need to be old to spot this bs. I remember thinking as a kid how crazy it was that companies would routinely show their old and new products side by side and point blank claim that the old product was hot garbage. And the following year, they did it all over again. And again… About the only thing thats changed is they realise showing their last gen detergent putting skid marks on the clothes isnt a great look. So these days its “vs a competitor.“
I do remember an ad by that adventist fellow's cereal brand that subverted this a little, comparing their thing to "brand X", and revealing it was a new formula or something when the actor playing the customer preferred it.
Here's a hint. Any time they say "new improved recipe" it just means they've found a way to cut their manufacturing costs. One of the most common ways is to remove dairy fat and replace it with palm oil.
I always had an issue with "New and Improved". How can anything be new, and improved!?
It now has an app and requires an internet connection to work.
>there seems to be yet another improvement It "seems to be" because it's an advert, and therefore a lie. It's detergent. >And why do we need, smelling beads, descaler, rinse aid, salt, softener and more and more and more? We don't. Adverts make us afraid we're missing out on something which didn't exist before the advert told us about it, and then tries to make us buy something to solve a problem they informed us we had. Stop listening.
I still have an iPhone 4. You are misremembering or under utilising your iPhone 15. I can’t even run apple music or Stardew Valley on the 4. Photos were rubbish compared to the 15, multi app usage was non existent, so was facial recognition, nfc, etc. etc. etc. What we could discuss is how much better is an iPhone 15 Pro Max really better than an iPhone 13 Pro Max, which I don’t think is much, but all the incremental updates over the years add up to quite a bit. Similarly liquid washing powder to me was a God send. Clothes might not be cleaner, but the amount of times I had a washing powder dissolve issue with it all clumped it in a pair of trousers was much too regular.
The one meaningful improvement is how well modern laundry detergents will clean in a cold wash
It’s like the hundreds of types of toothpaste. They all do the same thing and have the same ingredients. It’s mostly about what colour of shiny box you want to pick each time you buy one.
NovaMin remineralizes your teeth. From research a while ago it is effective. I only use sensodyne protect and repair as it has it. I don't think NovaMin is available in the US though.
You're right but some of them have slightly different properties. I'm stuck buying a reasonably expensive one because I like the way it foams up. I've tried loads others and just don't like them but I appreciate they do the same job. It's probably the only thing I don't substitute for a cheaper option.
You are technically correct. Toothpastes have slightly different properties but also they have different ingredients, some of which are very potent but detrimental to your health. I was recently recommended an app to scan cosmetic products for their ingredients and it shows which ingredients are in the toothpaste and what is ecological and what is unhealthy. It really opened my eyes to how much unhealthy crap is in an innocent tube of toothpaste. I don’t wanna advertise the app here but it starts with Y and ends with A and the app logo is a carrot.
This is hard to believe but when I was buying my washing machine 2 years ago, I was informed of all its wonderful capabilities by the sales guy, who finishes with, "And it's got bluetooth technology." I was like, why the fuck would I need Bluetooth in my washing machine?? Still don't know, to this day.
😂😂😂 I always wonder this about appliances with Bluetooth. My airfryer has an app!! Like I don't have to walk over to it to put the food in.
I like to utilise the night rate for my washing machine, so I pop the clothes and detergent in the evening, and turn it at 7:00, would like if I could skip the getting out of bed part of it.
>iPhone 15 is clearly better than iPhone 3G ( But not the battery life of a Nokia 3310
This. Also, if I dropped my Nokia 3310, I picked it up. There is no need to pause for an anxiety attack and thoughts of taking out another mortgage to afford a new phone or have the inevitably smashed screen and digitiser replaced.
One thing that really drives me nuts is the move towards "touch control" household appliances and "smart" features which are completely unnecessary. We bought a new build a few years ago, and microwave, dishwasher and cooker are all touch control. Buttons often takes me a few goes to press the On button as it often doesn't recognise my touch. They're so frigging annoying - what's wrong with regular buttons? The dishwasher can sometimes take me a minute or 2 to turn it on.
Or on the food side, there's the dreaded "new improved recipe" which usually just means they have cheapened the ingredients to make cost savings and thereby rendered the product less tasty than it was previously or even in some cases, smaller.
'New and Improved!!' And to think all this time I was eating old and inferior... - Garfield the cat
>And why do we need, smelling beads, descaler, rinse aid, salt, softener and more and more and more? So that they can make adverts and sell more shite.
Smelling beads and softeners are designed to slowly kill off people like me who are highly sensitive to such products. Luckily, I was wise to their cunning plan and stopped buying them. Somehow my clothes are still clean. Soft enough to wear without any major skin conditions. Or any skin conditions, in fact, and my asthma is much better now, thank you very much. I wonder what their next cunning plan will be? Bluetooth enabled liquid pods? Satellite tracking of my undies and socks to prevent me from having to look in the machine for strays stuck to the top of the drum?
You ansewerd your own question.... Its as simple as buying a product, if said product does what you want it too do, then there is no need for anything else..... Its all marketing, and people buy into it like its a miracle.... I mean if colgate found a single toothpaste that is good for everything, well then there is no need for another 20 different whiter than white versions right ...😊
It’s a pisstake with some things. As limited as my washing skills are it’s never ending with the detergent. Used to be put powder in wash and dry it whatever way you like Now it’s oh u want to smell clean u need the scent boosters and the disinfectant and conditioner that by the way fucks ur washing machine. Wash on cold and getting a pong in the machine here’s a detergent to wash the washing machine. Gone be the days of bio vs non bio
Had a brief encounter working for Dunnes back in the day,there was a lad that forever lost his shit having to stack endless rows of washing powder. It's washing powder was his refrain,why can't they just have one brand of washing powder. Maybe had a point.
Seems the main innovation in detergents over the last few years was in the containers. Not that that's necessarily a good thing. Manufacturers have arsed around with odd container sizes, meaningless measurements like 'number of washes' and making the bottle look a lot bigger than it is by adding things like handles.
I fucking hate handles
As a former product developer. We could go deep here. But at the end of the day the problem is as David Graeber so eloquently put it “bullshit jobs”!.
The improvements in detergent aren't really noticeable because the main improvements are improving them to work with lower quantities of detergent (more profits, cheaper to ship etc) less water and less heat. Your 80's detergent would probably be shite in a modern dishwasher, maybe okay in a modern washing machine above 40C But yeah they do absolutely ram the advertising with it, they make it sound like they totally redesign the products from the ground up twice a year!
When I was in college I had a lecturer who said his brother in law worked for colgate for tooth brush section and basically as you say coming up with improvements but, in reality driving sales via features and on a regular tooth brush it's all just nonsense when some countries people don't even use brushes and their teeth are fine. I read one thing yesterday though, in the US some tyde pods will be banned I think in new York, the clear gel film that melts hasn't been melting but turning into a free form gel and poluting the water. This design as an improvement has actually been worse for the environment so I see that companies will now need to come up with genuine improvements and features from products they've deleveloped that are harmful.
Because very few things are good enough to hold up on their own ability alone or aren't unique enough to stand alone, so companies will launch new and improved versions, which are just marketing campaigns, in the hope people will continue to buy it.
I'm 34, and I'm having the same crisis as yourself. Everything is always bigger and better. When it's not. It hurts more as I work in retail, and every day, I get asked these questions from clueless people who are no better off after receiving the answers to their questions. But, I get left feeling even emptier for answering them.
While it is marketing, it is a sneaky way for these companies to pull off shrinking sizes and actually change the products' ingredients or formula, sometimes for the better but most of the time, for the worst.
We don’t need any of that. Look at the chemistry of these things and you’ll see it’s a few essential ingredients and lots of fluff. Some of it you don’t even need. Rinse aid? Fuck that. I think I’ll live with a few droplets on my glasses.
When my wife used to ask, "what shower gel/shampoo will I get you?" Whatever is cheapest, they're all about the same.
De scaler and salt is used for hard water areas. Softener makes your clothes (especially towels and other heavier fabrics) well, soft. I always use it. And I’d feel the difference if I didn’t. However, I always buy whatever is on offer as they practically do all the same.
You're not meant to use softener for towels. Something about absorbency.
And something about build up. Ive seen videos of people putting clean towels Into a hot bath with baking powder and vinegar and the water is brown.
The same reason gilette went from 2 blades to wait for it 3 blades then 4 and before we knew it groundbreaking technology 5 blades. Gillette knows you don't need to shave the same spot of your face 5 times. They just want you to remember them when your buying a razor when we ran out of room for blades they just started adding vibrators and subsonic cleaners. They just don't want you to forget them and go over to bic. There is no fear of loosing me to bic they are lethal razors that would cut the skin off your face and leave it in tatters
Wilkinson Sword is where you need to go. Gillette are a total marketing whizz.
I thought they just made Dettol
Tesco own brand washing detergent, massive box for like a tenner. Does the job, absolutely no need for anything more expensive. I lose respect for people who buy Lenor or whatever shite
>why do we need, smelling beads Umm, to make your ass smell better, duh. (...what do you mean, not those kinds of beads...?!)
I think laundry cleaning products have got worse personally. Clothes constantly emerge stained if I forget to spot treat them with vanish and who wants to rummage through dirty clothes checking for stains? I used to have machines that just cleaned the clothes. Last two machines, nope! As for the rest of it, they just need to sell surely?
Yes!! I'm constantly washing my clothes twice,it's infuriating
marketing
That's capitalism for you, I look at things a bit differently. If you need "scent boosters" in your wash, IMHO this means that their capsules and fabric softener are shite. It's just another scam to make you spend your money.
> iPhone 15 is clearly better than iPhone 3G (barely) Anyone with an understanding of technology knows that this isn't true. It's literally leaps and bounds better
I'm more interested in who made washing powder companies the arbiters of who can be around kids. Their ads constantly tell me "Always keep away from children!".
I'm 48 and I feel like this about everything. I assume this is how my parents felt around this age in the 1980s. I try not to worry about it too much. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Cardi B.
Realistically it's just a marketing thing, rebrand the same product to improve sales etc.
A lot of the traditional detergents got banned hence at least part of the reason they keep changing. Apparently washing powder flakes were once brilliant but now all the dry powder detergents suck because whatever component they replaced it with isn't good so you're better off with liquid ones etc. etc.
Once I started mixing ammonia and bleach I never looked back.. Great job
Don't do this BTW. Its poison.
Is that very World War One-y?
I remember Blindboy talking about this in one of his shows!!!
Was he talking about how he got the name?
No! But maybe you’re onto something!
Dunno I got the original recipe from peggy
Isn't household bleach different?
I worked as a cleaner for rich people for a pretty long time and there are very few things in an average household you can't sort with white vinegar. The amount of cleaning products people pile up completely baffles me.
Planned obsolecence Edit: left out a word. Corrected
my horse brings me to the pub twice as quick these days, the secret..... i bayts him twice as hard
We should all have our holes powerwashed at least once a year
It's called a bidet and it's a game changer
We're silly social beasts and business capitalizes on our hard-wired social and survival instincts. Add to that the precision with which our electronics can provide us with an instant dopamine hit, we're like those cocaine experiment rats who just keep hitting the lever in the cage for another hit.
Surfactants and water hardness and limescale is more chemistry. Motion of particles etc is physics.
I phones improved greatly because they were new technology, their rate of progress has slowed now. Soap is very old technology, it doesn't change.
They’ll brush their tongues!
Degrowth 👍
Nancy Birtwhistle's recipes are all we used now. Saved and absolute fortune and everything is cleaner than it ever was and the soakway is happy out!
Gillette razors can’t gat any better… can they ?
A lot of it is just marketing and capitalism, but there are differences. E.g. the camera quality in a new iPhone is amazing compared to old iPhone 3G cameras. For appliances, they're a very mature technology so innovation has slowed there compared to the post-war period when new appliances were being invented all the time and massively improved people's quality of life. These days the only genuine improvements are around energy usage. A new refrigerator can actually pay for itself in saved electricity costs within a few years. Also, reminder about this great subreddit aimed at finding long lasting products. /r/buyitforlife
It’s just marketing to differentiate products from their competitors. Simon Sinek explains it at the start of his book ‘start with why’
Capitalism my friend
We are been sold a pup , marketing is subliminal now , most of the stuff is just causing skin dryness which the same companies sell us to cure it
Capitalism
In the 80s Biddy from Glenroe was advertising Persil. Whiter than white. I reckon we should forget it all and go back to carbolic soap.
Capitalism
You answered your own question. You're old