Honestly, washing doesn’t get any better than using pods, at the moment. Just toss them inside the washer with the bulk of your laundry and you’re on your way to retrieving a perfectly washed batch in no time!
But sometimes, even procedures as basic as this can be fraught with problems too. You can still run into laundry that hasn’t been washed properly or has streak marks distributed all over it.
Sometimes, out of frustration, when you lift off clothes to take a peep at what has and hasn’t been ruined, you can find some clothes smeared with bluish or purple detergent deposits on them.
What is the cause of this problem? Why are your tide pods not dissolving when you put them in the washer?
1) The water is too cold
The most common reason why your Tide pods aren’t dissolving in the washer is because the water is too cold. If you have a water temperature less than 60°F, then that may be too cold to make the pods dissolve as efficiently as possible.
Some of the detergent may cling onto the garment instead of mixing with the wash water and you may end up having discoloration! Or, if the detergents are not mixed well with water, then your wash cycle wouldn’t be great!
So what is the solution to this? It’s very simple: heat up your water to at least 60 to 75° F if you must use cold water. Anything higher than that temperature would ensure that your pods are dissolving the way they are supposed to be dissolving.
But when you look at it, nowadays, most pods are created to work even in very cold mediums, including pods from Tide. So with most modern pods, you shouldnt be running into this kind of problem, and therefore you should check the other causes below for troubleshooting.
2) You didn’t add the pod into the washer well
There is a technique for adding pods in the washer. You don’t just toss them on clothes and call it a day, or sandwich them between garments and expect a perfect laundry! You’ll run into all sorts of problems when you do so!
In order to clean clothes the way they’re supposed to be cleaned using pods, you should ensure you’re putting Tide pods exactly the way the manufacturer recommends.
And how does the manufacturer recommend you put pods in the washer? Simply place the pods in an empty drum first, and then add the clothes in afterwards.
Don’t do it any other way aside this way, so no putting of pods on top of clothes or between them, and also no putting of pods in the detergent dispenser of the machine as it won’t dispense or dispense pretty roughly, and so you won’t get any meaningful wash.
If you’re using a front loading washing machine, the process is still the same, so also a high-efficiency model for both front and top loaders.
3) You overstuffed the washer
Overstuffing or filling washers beyond the recommended capacity means you won’t be giving room for detergent to disperse appropriately and also for agitation to carry water efficiently to the surface of fabrics.
Not only will you suffer poor stain or soil removal, you also would most likely have detergent deposits on clothes which can cause it to discolor!
The best way to determine whether or not you have an overload is to try and fit your hand between the clothes and the top wall of the drum. If you find it hard to do so, then you’re most likely stuffing too much clothes and so you should remove one or two.
Why are there streaks or coloration on my clothes after washing
Coloration on your clothes after washing with tight pods is a result of improper dissolution of the tide pods. This leads to the deposition of the detergent on your clothes which eventually causes the area to discolor.
To prevent this problem, you want to make sure you’re using tide pods exactly the way the manufacturer recommends which is what we have discussed above, and also not overloading the washer.
Now that’s for discoloration, what about streaks? What causes them?
Streaks are mostly caused by the use of too many pods in the washer. When you use too many pods, suds form and accumulate on clothes, and when you have so many of it, it can be hard to get rid of them completely during the rinse cycle.
This is how suds persist on clothes and end up causing streaking.
You’ll most likely run into this issue in a high-efficiency washer during heavy loads where you’re advised by manufacturers like Tide to use up to three pods for best cleaning results!
What to do when Tide Pods Stain Your Clothes?
The best thing you can do when you have discoloration as a result of using Tide pods, is to wash the affected clothes all over again.
This time around opt for a liquid or powdered detergent so you don’t end up wasting pods (which are expensive).
If this doesn’t work to remove the coloring: follow the procedure below.
First, rinse the affected spot with hot water. Then wring and apply rubbing alcohol to the spot. Before using rubbing alcohol however, make sure you do a quick spot test to determine whether or not the fabric can actually tolerate the chemical.
Allow the alcohol to sit on the stain for about 15 minutes or more and then rinse with warm water. Repeat the steps all over again if some stains still persist on the cloth.
Are pods better than liquid detergents?
You can never pick which is better between pods and detergents as both are equally good in cleaning, and have the upper hand in various situations.
Take for example handwashing, when the need to wash clothes by hand arises, the obvious choice is liquid detergents, as you normally shouldn’t extract the liquids in pods to do so!
One one side again, if you crave convenience, for instance, you’re going to the laundromats, then having to pick up pods of detergent as opposed to a large bottle of liquid detergent is much easier.
When also trying to treat stains, you can only do that with liquid detergents and not pods as the way they are meant to be used is to toss them into the washer and let them do their thing!
The best thing to do when it comes to detergents, is to stock up on all forms possible, from a quality, trusted and reliable manufacturer like Persil or Tide. This way, you’ll be able to tackle any laundry situation that arises using the appropriate form of detergent.
Will a Tide pod damage a washing machine?
Tide pods are just as safe as liquid and powdered detergent (except when you talk about how kids mistake them for candies and end up swallowing their contents).
Tide pods will not harm your washer, unless maybe you’re deliberately stuffing pod after pod into the draining pipe of your washing machine to hide them for kids, in which case the drainage will be blocked for sometime! That aside, I don’t see any other way that Tide pods can actually cause your machine to break down.
Final Thoughts
If you have any issues with using Tide pods in the washing machine, then it’s most likely the result of improper usage of them in the washer.
Tide pods are meant to be tossed into an empty drum first, before clothes are added later on and the wash cycle kicked off.
If you’re doing it the other way round or any other way that is different from this way, then the likelihood of running into issues with your laundry, especially if it’s a front loader is pretty high!
