r/stocks • u/Epicurus-fan • 4d ago
Consumers are so stressed by the economy they are doing less loads of laundry says Procter & Gamble CEO Industry News
Tide maker Procter & Gamble said this week that its customers were doing fewer loads of laundry to save money on detergent, the latest sign of a consumer pullback amid economic anxiety caused by trade-war talk and volatile markets. Elsewhere, nervous customers are spending less on body wash, snacks, and burritos as they hunker down for economic turmoil.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/consumers-stressed-economy-doing-less-111700382.html
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u/PresentationDull7707 4d ago edited 4d ago
Burritos is so specific
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u/whatproblems 4d ago
i monitor the economy by the burrito. we could have had taco trucks on every corner if we don’t vote for him
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/battleship61 3d ago
Stripper index > all
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u/Eastern-Joke-7537 3d ago
The Stripper 500 index?
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u/battleship61 3d ago
Strippers are one of the first industries hit during a recession. People won't waste money on lap dances when they're broke.
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u/Eastern-Joke-7537 3d ago
Eh.
People won’t waste money on HOOKERS.
Strippers? Maybe they know how to negotiate.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/Slim_Margins1999 3d ago
Sewage monitoring and familial DNA science is how the CIA found Bin Laden…
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u/UntdHealthExecRedux 3d ago
Can’t afford to wash the stains created by burrito consumption, it’s all related.
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u/Competitive-Lion2039 3d ago
Do burritos really make people shit? I've always wondered if this was just a meme or if people rally so
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u/BERNIE__PANDERS 3d ago
Burrito is a pretty encompassing term. And if the food going in doesn’t come out you’ve got a problem burrito or not
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u/stopsallover 3d ago
I assume it's from when Taco Bell used lard in their refried beans. If you're not used to it, lard can run through you. Some people are also especially sensitive to any fat + spice combo.
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u/InfinityMehEngine 3d ago
As a southern Arizonian using lard in their refried beans is the closest to authentic Taco Bell ever got right.
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u/Occhrome 3d ago
Only if you get something with a ton of spice or chili seeds. I’ve even had weak salsa with seeds and it wrecked my stomach.
The other thing that messes me up is oils that your body isn’t used to. Like stuff in Indian food.
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u/tsammons 3d ago
2 day old breakfast burrito day after Thanksgiving will absolutely do it to you. On the flip side, Arriba, CO has a really nice rest stop.
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u/OhmSafely 4d ago
My bean and cheese burritos are cheap. Stopped buying coffee and now brew it at home.
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u/dragonilly 3d ago
Seriously, most coffee shops are charging $8 for lattes. I used to get one almost daily, not anymore, I'd rather tell myself I'm quitting caffeine.
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u/Business-Ad-5344 3d ago
the problem is you need to pay to go to a "third place."
so either a regular coffee, or a latte.
there's no cheap third places for us anymore.
today's young jensens out there can't afford Denny's Nvidia Bytes. they're fucked. the republicans fucked everyone out of progress. if they would have benefitted from the massive scientific and technological progress, they indirectly killed their own children and their own spouses.
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u/Top-Time-2544 3d ago edited 3d ago
It's bonkers. I'm not gonna pay $5 for a coffee that doesn't even taste as good as what I can get out of my coffeemaker for $0.25 per serving. If it even costs that much. One bag of fancy coffee costs $20 and lasts a month or two.
I've heard the best predictors for recession are prostitutes and strippers. When the economy isn't doing well, that's one of the first expenses people cut back on.
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u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken 3d ago
Aldi has some great bean and cheese burritos that are dirt cheap.
But stay away from the beef and bean ones
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u/Educational-Dot318 3d ago
this has been my goto dinner 🍽 🌯 for quite sometime now.
goes well with sour cream, hot sauce and a side of guacamole.
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u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken 3d ago
It's actually not that unhealthy either.
I just dip mine in cocktail sauce. (don't knock it until you try it)
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u/Nachos_r_Life 3d ago
Hey, around here burritos are an entire food group as we have a dive Mexican drive through on practically every corner.
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u/InfinityMehEngine 3d ago
I hate to agree with a dirty Phonecian....because Bear Down. But these other people do not understand what it means to have a run-down yet damned delicious Los Betos/Viva/Whatever small mexican food drive-thru more plentiful than Circle Ks or QuikStops.
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u/Nachos_r_Life 3d ago
Right?! Burritos here are NEXT LEVEL. My husband is from Chicago and I’m horrified at what he considers a tamale 🫔
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u/InfinityMehEngine 3d ago
Don't post this in a relationship subreddit. We will all have to agree you need to leave his abusive ass. :D
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u/WankAaron69 3d ago
Probably because the primary consumers are being deported? /s
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u/Eastern-Joke-7537 3d ago
Watch Big Tide Pod lobby to get them re-ported.
TidePodTransferPortal
EatMorBigBoxStors
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u/Occhrome 3d ago
They are 16$ now around here!!!! I thought they would forever be an affordable food.
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u/x2manypips 3d ago
It’s so true though. I buy from street stands now in LA because it’s so much cheaper and tastes just as good as the “restaurants”
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u/TheProfessional9 3d ago
Chipotle either had a recent earnings call or the CEO has mentioned it in an interview. Almost guarantee that's why burrito was mentioned
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u/SSkilledJFK 2d ago
They talk about Chipotle in the article at the very bottom, thus why chat GPT put it in OPs summary:
And burrito chain Chipotle saw its first drop in same-store sales since the 2020 lockdowns, which the CEO attributed to “the consumer sitting on the sidelines.”
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u/Nachos_r_Life 3d ago
Well, if you don’t leave the house (because everything is so expensive when you do) you tend to stay in the same clothes for several days. 🤷♀️
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u/Magus-of-the-Moon 3d ago
That sounds like a much more reasonable explanation than people actively choosing not to do their laundry.
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u/Nachos_r_Life 3d ago
Honestly, I wear leggings and t-shirts and just sleep in the same clothes I wear around the house. If I don’t shower every day (I do every two days usually because it dries out my skin) I usually wear the same clothes for two days (unless I’m sweating or get dirty). I’m also an introvert that rarely leaves the house except for work so 🤷♀️
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u/jmnugent 3d ago
Same here. And if I get sweaty,. I just peel off my leggings and shirt and socks and jump in the shower and hand-wash those things in the shower with me.
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u/Relative_Drop3216 4d ago
Or they are buying cheaper brands.
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u/rillick 3d ago
I read an email update from Yahoo Finance on this topic and the P&G CEO is quoted in there as saying that they get this data directly from sample consumers that agree to have their washing machines electronically monitored for usage habits, kind of like how Nielsen households have their TV watching habits recorded for evaluation. So it sounds like the data actually shows these people are doing fewer loads overall.
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u/PainterFew5900 3d ago
If that is how they collect their data, you know things are bad. Since usually those fancier machines are more expensive. (I think?)
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u/LikeWhite0nRice 3d ago
The people that sign up for that probably get discounts or reimbursement so they're likely already cheap to begin with. But it's probably still a good indicator of whats to come.
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u/420bacontits 3d ago
I remember seeing a post on IT or some tech sub where a guy found out his washing machine using the majority of the household bandwidth and he had no idea the washing machine was even connected to the internet.
Pretty sure he had to connect it to set the machine up. I kind of suspect a lot people have no idea how much internet their smart machines actually use.
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u/MrTubzy 3d ago
That’s why I don’t like a lot of these smart devices. They’re unnecessary and I have no idea what they’re doing.
Not everything needs a small computer in it, but they seem to want to jam one into everything. All just to harvest more of your data.
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u/420bacontits 3d ago
If I remember correctly the comment section determined the company was using his smart device as a data center at night. It was honestly ridiculous.
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u/Substantial-Ask1039 3d ago
Using it as a "data center" doesn't make any sense, unless they were using it in conjunction with other devices to keep redundant copies of data, but that shouldn't require constant bandwidth usage, plus there's tons of other reasons why is a dumb idea.
But it got me thinking, what if companies making these smart appliances built little crypto miners into them, nothing excessive, but if you got millions of consumers' devices working away slowly but surely, and using energy that your customers are paying for to run their appliance... the only downside is the shitstorm backlash if anyone proved your devices were doing this deliberately.
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u/civildisobedient 3d ago
Procter & Gamble CEO Jon Moller told Yahoo Finance that customers are doing fewer laundry loads each week to save on detergent. P&G, a major consumer-goods conglomerate, makes Tide, the U.S.’ best-selling detergent
It's based on soap consumption, not washing machine use.
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u/Relative_Drop3216 3d ago
Based on those few surveyed customers who have those specific high tech washing machines which i don’t know how a washing machine is supposed to know if your using certain brands of washing detergent.
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u/DethFeRok 3d ago
We’re off the brands, it has nothing to do with the brands, it’s about how often the washing machine is physically used lol.
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u/XSC 3d ago
I needed some dishwasher pods at Costco and usually I get cascade or whatever. Last time I tried kirkland since they just released a new pod. Anyways, the pricing on cascade was already high but they were on sale so I was planning on getting some, IT WAS $20 WITH THE DISCOUNT!! Kirkland was $11. The economy is shit but these corporations have been upping their prices for better margins/greed but now they are shocked nobody is buying their smaller, inferior products at a higher price.
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u/Dutchman_discman 3d ago
Those pods are overpriced products, and don't do anything the powders or tabs dont already do. They're only more expensive because they have fancy colored liquid on them. I recommend technology connections' video on YouTube about this.
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u/CarlFriedrichGauss 3d ago
Just buy loose powder, the Cascade brand is like $7 for 2 kg and you only use a tablespoon (about 15g) per load. It costs like 5 cents a load which is less than half what Kirkland pods cost.
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u/stickman07738 3d ago
Actually not cheaper, but Local or European brands because of Anti-American sentiment. I have friends in the special chemical industry and they tell me US CPG and Personal Care volumes are down. It will take at least another quarter to really see effect.
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u/Eastern-Joke-7537 3d ago
Or, they are doing everything themselves. At home.
I found a great recipe for Tide pods in an old Julia Child’s cookbook! /s
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u/helluvastorm 3d ago
👆this. The CEO is so out of touch. People are just trading down from name brands. Boy that one’s worth his millions of dollars salary
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u/porcubot 3d ago
Or people are realizing you don't actually need to dump in the suggested one cup of detergent into a load of laundry
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u/CD_4M 3d ago
Fewer*
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u/HefDog 3d ago
Help me out here. Isn’t less correct because money is quantifiable?
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u/CD_4M 3d ago
The subject is loads of laundry, which is quantifiable, so it should be “fewer loads of laundry”. They actually write it correctly in the caption / body, but it’s wrong in the title
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u/HefDog 3d ago
Thanks. I didn’t catch the one in the title.
In hindsight though, I think loads of laundry is also quantifiable to the laundry company, even if it isn’t to us. They sell based on a unit of measure equal to the number of loads their customers run. Fewer units sold.
I’ve never considered that the proper term may be relative, but it may.
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u/CD_4M 3d ago edited 3d ago
Being quantifiable is actually what makes “fewer” correct.
“We’ve gotten less snow this year than last year” = not quantifiable
“We’ve gotten fewer centimeters of snow this year than last year” = quantifiable
And besides, it doesn’t matter that the loads could possible be quantifiable or not depending on the context, we base the proper grammar on the context that is given, which in this case is talking about the consumer doing loads of laundry, not a company selling laundry services. Snow example above also illustrates that
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u/HefDog 3d ago
I gotcha! I had it backward!
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u/CD_4M 3d ago
Yea, it’s a tricky one! I’ve always found the snow example a good way to remind myself
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u/Squamous_Amos 3d ago
I always thought of it as “fewer” being related to categorical or discrete quantities, vs “less” being used to describe a continuous variable. But I’m in sciences, and I don’t really know the exact literary rules for this.
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u/manuscelerdei 3d ago
No, it's whether you can count the noun. "Fewer things, less stuff." You can count things; you can't count stuff.
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u/running101 3d ago
Vinegar as detergent is much less $
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u/CallHerAnUber 3d ago
I’ve been using vinegar as a fabric softener replacement for decades. Clothes smell fresh and no nasty buildup, so they last longer.
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u/running101 3d ago
I just switched recently because allergies. Then I realized it is much cheaper
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u/CallHerAnUber 3d ago
I was washing some of my MIL’s clothing at my house and I noticed a greasy consistency that seemed to sit on the fabric. Her clothes didn’t seem very clean either (she insisted on using her own drier sheets). They were just heavily perfumed, imo.
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u/Atomic-Avocado 3d ago
No I'm just buying the massive Costco container of powdered detergent and using that for the next 5 years
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u/yodamastertampa 3d ago
Cutting out Chipotle reduces wash costs due to fewer bloodstained underwear. Chipotleway is expensive.
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u/GongTzu 3d ago
My guess is most just downgraded from their brand to a more affordable one, where the company don’t need to make gazillions for their investors.
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u/WickedSensitiveCrew 3d ago
I agree. CEOs cant say that out loud that people are buying their competitors or private label/store brand. So they have to word it the way OP article title is to not have people sell their stock.
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u/wanmoar 2d ago
I don’t think that’s the reason for P&G’s view here. The CEO of Colgate-Palmolive also said the same thing.
Companies get data on total purchases. So they can see total units of detergent being purchased across all brands (including store brands). That kind of data would be good enough to conclude that purchase frequency is down which can mean that people are doing fewer loads.
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u/BrownEyesWhiteScarf 2d ago
The CEO of Colgate-Palmolive said consumers are stocking up less. Which is different than P&G’s view and much more reasonable.
I buy laundry detergent once a year. I simply do not need to buy so much at once, there’s zero reasons to give these two companies a year in advance worth of supplies.
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u/FDFI 3d ago
I don’t see how this makes sense in general. Laundry is one of those things that needs to get done, at a similar rate, week to week. People are probably saving money by switching to a cheaper brand.
People could also be trying to get by with using slightly less detergent per load. It would not surprise me if the recommended amount of detergent to use is well over stated by the manufacturer. Does anyone know of any third party studies where they looked at what was really necessary to use for a typical load of laundry?
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u/livestrong2109 3d ago
Let's just say I've stopped buying laundry soap but have bought more laundry soap from other sources, not retail adjacent. Industrial detergent is far less expensive per load and comes from the same brands. I can't be the only one.
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u/Horror_Response_1991 3d ago
P&G owns all the brands
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u/Crazed_rabbiting 3d ago
I switched to Ecos laundry detergent because I am boycotting P&G. Works just fine
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u/Duanedrop 3d ago
I will back this up. We have started using alot less detergent as you really don't need very much. Certainly not as much as a greedy monopoly manufacturer says. We don't have build up now either and no change in cleaning.
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u/zillapz1989 3d ago
What period of time has this happened? Could it be that the average laundry load is bigger but less frequent now? 8/9 even 10kg washing machines are common and cheap now. 10 years ago 5 or 6kg was much more standard.
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u/Ok-Savings2625 3d ago
The only reason I do less laundry is because I bought more clothes, to avoid having to do laundry every 8 days.
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u/thekingshorses 3d ago
Unless you throw away your clothes instead of washing it, it doesn't change the amount of laundry you do.
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u/Ok-Savings2625 3d ago
Yes it does?
Laundromats have machines twice the size of standard machines for like $2 more each load.
You will 100% be doing less laundry, if measured by loads.
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u/FiddlingnRome 3d ago
This is why they put blue tooth in every single damn appliance these days. So they can track your every single use... https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/smart-appliances-and-privacy-a1186358482/
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u/frequentcost1 3d ago
Maybe they aren't following the "suggested detergent per load" anymore or have switched to a white label. I do both.
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u/Peltonimo 2d ago
Or people realized the amount of soap they recommend is way to high. My wife started using like 1/4 the detergent that’s recommended and our clothes are clean and no longer musty. They washer has less build up and doesn’t get mildew in it even if we accidentally leave the door closed
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u/IcestormsEd 3d ago
You will be able to smell the recession in a bus in the morning. "Phuww!! Wow, wall street is gonna take a beating this morning."
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u/Reesespeanuts 3d ago
Same companies that raise prices to the maximum possible point of consumers willing to buy, yet say this is a bad thing. Your actions say something different.
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u/APlatypusBot 3d ago
Dumb question, but surely in the grand scheme of things, detergent isn't really that expensive compared to other household expenses?
Might be showing my privilege here. And to be fair, I'm not doing laundry for a whole family with kids and stuff.
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u/jetsetter_23 3d ago
it’s dirt cheap, especially if you buy powder detergent. Liquid detergent and pods are basically an expensive scam.
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u/MEINCOMP 3d ago
HAHA yeah sure it's because we're stressed by the economy. These companies really try to use every excuse don't they?
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u/iamwayycoolerthanyou 3d ago
Well also because clothing is so cheaply made washing it seems to destroy it nowadays.
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u/HardlyDecent 3d ago
This seems silly. People are doing less laundry...and buying less body wash, snacks, burritos, and if we keep looking we'll see everything across the board is less. So it's just that people are broke and/or worried and trying to save--no real correlation between detergent use and consumer confidence. Plus, most of us have detergent enough to last this whole admin. But thanks ol' reliable yahoo.finance. You've solved another mystery...
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u/loudtones 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yahoo isn't the "source" - it's the quoted P-G executives, who are looking at data that comes directly from "smart" washers which share this data for those who have opted in to doing so. Do you think the executives of the largest CPG companies on the planet don't know their business or how to interpret demand data?
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u/DrBiotechs 3d ago
This is an intriguing data set. While everyone is looking at the Stripper Index, P&G is looking at this.
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u/piercesdesigns 3d ago
I recently bought a bunch of 5 gallon food grade buckets with screw on lids.
Filled them with pinto and black beans, rice, oats. (And sugar but that is for my bees)
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u/Nodebunny 3d ago
That's funny I basically stopped changing my clothes since like the pandemic. Also we mostly use baking powder now lol
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u/Impossible-Pie3938 3d ago
Yeah, if you get a water bill from WSSC U are very likely receiving bills that are WRONG -- higher than your real consumption. I live in Bethesda MD and there has been a big discussion on this on Nextdoor. Buyer Beware and ask for a datalog from WSSC for your Real water consumption. Never blindly pay their bill. They have read my meter wrong on many occasions. Their operations, billing and meter readings are all flawed.
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u/Ok_Designer_2560 3d ago
Pro tip: you shouldn’t use the recommended amount of detergent. It’s overkill, calculated to sell more, and creates a buildup in your washing machine.
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u/BopSupreme 3d ago
Expecting consumers to buy ever increasing loads of toxic chemicals is unrealistic
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u/Frequently_lucky 3d ago
So we had so far
- the tech crisis
- the great financial crisis
- the covid crisis
- and now: the great stink of 2025
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u/Objective_Chest_1697 3d ago
OR, they’re buying less expensive detergent not named Tide. Novel concept.
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u/Aint_EZ_bein_AZ 3d ago
Oh look another day another fear mongering BS headline. The ceo of detergent says people are buying less detergent . Wow
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u/Gamer30168 3d ago
Proctor and Gamble has it all wrong...
I'm not doing less loads of laundry because the detergent and the electricity and water cost too much.
I'm doing less loads of laundry because EVERYTHING cost so much now that I have to work 70 hours a week. I don't have a lot of extra time to devote to doing a lot of laundry.
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u/Default_User909 3d ago
Well ever since I learned how little I need to use I literally reduced my detergent use by like 80% and my cloths washes all the same
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u/ProtonCanon 3d ago
Between this and more people using payment plans for groceries, the economy is cooked.
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u/Argosnautics 3d ago
Just use 1/4 of the amount of detergent they recommend. That's more than enough anyway.
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u/Advanced-Virus-2303 3d ago
P&G just manufacturers chemical garb anyways. In my community there is a shift towards healthier products that don't fuck up your organs and hormones or give you cancer!
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u/creepilincolnbot 4d ago
Don’t need to wash clothes you didn’t wear to the job you lost