Topic: Announcing my first product, Clothes Detergent (Read 3331 times)

If you actually believe this crap, then don't buy my products.  As you already have acknowledged, the residential contributions of phosphates to wastewater systems is miniscule; particularly as compared to what industry does, and industry isn't limited in this regard.  I should know, since I use industrial chemicals to create my products, bought legally & without restrictions within the commercial/industrial cleaning products market.  The big complaint about phosphates is that there is some evidence that phosphates favor the growth of freshwater alge (pond scum), thus negatively affecting the habitats of fish.  This has nominally zero bearing on the environment, unless you happen to be directly dumping your wastewater into streams untreated; which is and has been a crime anywhere in the US for at least 80 years.  And if you are doing any such thing, there are many other things more hazardous to fish in there than phosphates.  If you use a municipal treatment plant, they artificially create conditions ideal for either anarobic or arobic breakdown; which happen to be conditions ideal for the growth of pod scum anyway.  If you live in the countryside and depend upon an individual system, they all pretty much do the same thing on a more local scale.  By the time the water leaves the system, it's oxygenated and not at all harmful for fish; even if the levels of phosphates that you use in you dishwasher or washing machine were not increadiblely diluted just by the amount of water you flush down your California approved toilet.

There will be phostphates in my formulas.  It does wonders for the dard water problem that aaffects just about every American household that is not within 100 miles of the West Coast.

Phosphates are expensive, not only in production but also in cleanup. They need to be removed from the wastewater, or they will disrupt the phosphor cycle and cause eutrophication. Admittedly, the phosphates contained in laundry detergent are unlikely to cause a major issue, being dwarfed by phosphate mining and water purification.

I believe the environmental concern is the reason recent editions of Tide have elected against phosphate use, and phosphate laundry powders need to be hunted down in retail stores (once, they were ubiquitous).

I already had phosphates in my clothes detergent.  Did you want the remainder of the batch?

After reading this thread, I started looking up the phosphate issue and ordered a batch of "bubble bandit" with phosphates. I believe soaps with phosphates would be a perfect product for the libertarian minded bitcoin community.

If you make up a batch of dishwasher / laundry / detergent with phosphates, put me down for a large order.

Definately works better than Tide.


Quite a bit more than Tide.

Color me interested.  If it works better than Tide, then I know my wife would like it.  So, what's the cost per load at 2 tbsp per load?

Yes, I have.  They don't really offer any advantage, because the powder is relatively light and volumous.

I'll see what I can come up with, and I'm certain that a powdered dishwasher detergent would be much more economical to ship; both because it requires even less per load and because I think that I can make it even more concentrated than the clothes detergent, due to the fact that a couple of those sodiums serve no purpose in a dishwasher.  As long as I don't need to substitute other ingredients, I can make this stuff very concentrated.

I am more interested in being able to boycott Walmart or other retailers along with the banking system and credit cards than save a few pennies.

Plus, my cups all have scum on them unless I wash by hand because the dishwasher detergent does not actually clean!

I agree with this guy. Have you checked the "If it fits if ships" boxes?

https://www.prioritymail.com/flatrates.asp

$15.45 for the largest box. Also, the boxes are free at the USPS (you can even have them dropped off at your house for free). It ships priority, which at it's slowest is 5 business days domestic.

How much do you think you could fit in a Medium or Large flat rate USPS Priority Mail box?

I am aware of the value of phosphates.  The real question is the bitcoin community aware of the value of phosphates, because they aren't cheap and they aren't in any residential/retail cleaning products (in any significant concentration) anymore.  That is what I'm competing with, BTW.  If the bitcoin community wants phosphates in their clothes detergent, I have that; and if the bitcoin community wants phosphates in their dishwashing detergent, I can do that too.   As I said before, my detergent has five ingredients, all of which serve a particular purpose and only one of which is actual soap.

As someone who knows his soap history, I can say this is very true!

Phosphate-based soaps were banned for causing algae blooms (and other environmental problems) and nothing since has worked as well.

Thinking about it, perhaps using old washing-machine water (with phosphates) in a greywater system, would make excellent water for plants! 

Okay.  Fully wrapped and ready to ship, the remainder of my first batch weighs 4.52 pounds.  I checked the major package shippers' websites for quotes, using my own zip code and one chosen for California to get an idea how much it would cost to ship.  The cheapest quote that I could get was from UPS Ground for $17.62, but my prior statement about costs says that 4.5 pounds works out to be $14.40, so the actual cost of shipping is going to be the minimum and I'd certainly be taking a loss at anything under a $25 sale.  So it looks like I can't compete here with the cost of shipping, which is what I was afraid of.

If anyone is willing to pay 2.5 BTC for my remainder of a batch, just let me know.  Otherwise I'm just going to use it myself.

I'm sorry.  I forgot about this.  You'll be at the top of my list as soon as I make another batch.  Assuming that I do.

I don't meet the post count stipulation but I would be willing to try this in my HE (high efficiency) washer and report back.

Asked previously, HE washer is this:
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-an-high-efficiency-washing-machine.htm

Normally needs "special" detergent to avoid suds which don't get cleaned off the clothes due to the different agitation, and your washer will get smelly over time if you use regular stuff.

I'd buy some to try whenever you get around to it.

You could make a small fortune selling "illegal" dishwasher detergent with phosphates in it.

Are home detergents regulated by the FDA (in the US)?

I don't mean to throw any unwarranted suspicion upon your product, I'm just wondering if anyone, historically, has had any issues with homemade concoctions made by unqualified individuals.

Alright, I've been neglecting my business here too long.  So far, I have made exactly one batch, from which a few samples have been sent.  I have taken the remainder of that batch, and poured it into a cleaned & dried plastic coffee can.  The large size you can get from Sam's Club.  It's not quite full.  I've taped it up, and intend to weigh it.  I'm not sure exactly how much a fluid ounce (one washload) of this mixed power actually weighs, but I intend to offer it at the BTC equal to 20 cents per ounce or actual shipping costs, whichever is greater.  This is a little more than what Gain costs per washload at my local WalMart; but 1) I think my stuff is better (although I might be biased) and 2) there is bound to be more washloads than ounces.  If it all works out okay, I'm going to start ordering my materials in more economical volumes; as well as work on a dishwasher formula.

Flat rate if you can manage, maybe an envelope if you are sure as hell it will not leak. Maybe Shipwire might be helpful if you need to get it to a lot of places fast.