Keeping your clothes clean can get expensive. But many people are nervous about switching to a cheaper brand of laundry detergent for fear of ruining their even more expensive clothes.
It’s also easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of brands, sizes, coupons, and additives on the shelves. How can you tell whether the 150oz container of Tide or the 75oz container of generic stuff will be cheaper in the long run?
While I’m not a laundry scientist, I am a mom to three little humans who generate a LOT of laundry. So I risked my own family’s clothes, sheets, and towels in the name of a frugal experiment to hunt down the cheapest laundry detergent that wouldn’t ruin everything we own.
You might also be interested in: My Ultimate Guide to Saving Money on Groceries in 2023
If you just want the quick and clean (not quick and dirty) answer, here it is. After rigorous testing, the best, cheapest laundry detergent was Purex. At only $0.07/load, I found it got the job done about as well as the big brands like Tide and Persil, but at a fraction of the cost.
But how did I arrive at that decision? Let me explain. This is a longer explanation though, so feel free to jump ahead if any particular section interests you:
- The Experiment
- Limitations to the Experiment
- Most Effective Laundry Detergents
- Top Ten Cheapest Laundry Detergents
- Complete Laundry Detergent Price-Per-Load Comparison Chart
- Prices of Other Laundry Detergent Brands not Sold at Walmart
- Saving More Money on Laundry Detergent
- The Cheapest, Best Laundry Detergent- Final Answer
The Experiment
Before we talk about prices, here’s exactly how I tested the detergents.
I collected fourteen different brands of laundry detergent, spanning all varieties from pods to powders, liquids to sheets. Some of these I bought. Some of these I received for free. Many came as gifts from my local Buy Nothing Facebook group, after creating a very interesting post, though some were free samples from my local pediatrician’s office or, in one case, the company.
Then, for the next three months, I catalogued every load of laundry I washed. For each load, I noted the following:
- The kinds of stains that went into the washer
- How large the load was
- How much detergent I used
- Whether I washed with hot, warm, or cold water
- Which stains were successfully tackled by the detergent.
Luckily, having a newborn baby gave me a ready supply of a repeatable “control” stains, namely bodily fluids.
I determined whether a detergent was effective or not based on how well it removed stains, how the clean laundry smelled, and whether there was still buildup or reside in the washing machine after the load was finished.
After running countless loads of laundry with each of the brands of laundry detergent, I checked the prices of each at Walmart (to control for differences in price between stores). Then, I compared THAT to the prices you could get by using coupons, cash-back apps, or shopping at a competitor’s store.
Limitations to This Experiment
Of course, I have to admit that this experiment isn’t perfect. I only tested each detergent once or twice, with a max of six times. I also only ever tested them in my washing machine instead of using a variety of models or styles. My determining of whether or not a stain was fully removed is, of course, my own personal opinion, too. I wasn’t examining fibers under a microscope.
When it comes to brands, I also only used one kind of each. So for example, I didn’t try Tide pods, Tide powder, Tide liquid, or the dozens of combinations like “Tide with Downy/Oxi/Febreeze” etc. I just stuck to the original blends, with the exception of Arm & Hammer, which I was gifted the “with Oxi” blend.
Unfortunately, I also was unable to get one of the most popular brands of budget laundry detergent to try, Costco’s Kirkland brand, as I don’t have a Costco anywhere close to me.
Finally, the way our noses help us decide whether something is clean or not is SUPER subjective. Companies often add scents to their products because simply smelling good or familiar can trick us into thinking our clothes are cleaner. I am not immune to these effects, so what I thought smelled good might be different from what you think smells good.
Despite all these limitations, I’m still publishing the results of my personal experiment, since I couldn’t find any similar experiment anywhere else on the internet. I figured even if my results weren’t perfect, they still would be able to help someone else looking to learn more and save money on laundry detergent. So let’s talk about those results.
Most Effective Laundry Detergents
Once I completed all my tests, I was able to break all 14 detergents into one of three groups in terms of their effectiveness: Bad, Good, and Fantastic. And just as a reminder, my goal was to find detergents which did the job without needing to pre-treat stains. If you are ok with taking the time to pre-treat (either with a dab of the detergent itself, as many detergents recommend, or with specialty stain-fighting products), many of the detergents in the “good” category would work well enough to be considered “fantastic.”
The Bad Detergents
In this category are the detergents that smelled awful, didn’t get any stains out, and/or left a ton of residue on the clothes and my washer. Let’s look at them alphabetically.
- All: I did multiple loads with All, testing it against blowouts, spit up, food, and grease. It didn’t get ANY of the stains out, even with pre-treating some of them. It smells good, though.
- Charlie’s Soap: This detergent made my clothes smell *worse* after they went through the washer, and I didn’t know that was possible. It also didn’t get even the few stains (mostly baby spit-up) in its load out.
- Earth’s Breeze: This detergent came in sheet form, which I was excited to try. But though it smelled fine, it didn’t get out any of the stains: spit up, blowouts, or mold.
- LA’s Totally Awesome Detergent: This is the brand I found at the Dollar Store, and it shows. Honestly, I didn’t even do one test load with this brand because the smell was so awful. The smell alone sinks this brand into the “bad” category.
- Xtra: A couple of the food stains came out with Xtra, but not all. It also had a smell that gave me a headache, and left my washer full of suds even after an extra rinse cycle. It did work on some stains when applied directly to the fabric as a pre-treated option though, as recommended.
The thing that surprised me most about this category was the All! That’s the brand of detergent I’ve been using for years, which my mom used for years before me. I was shocked at how bad at removing stains it was compared to the other brands.
The Good Detergents
In this category are the detergents which got most of the stains out, or at least got all of some stains out but missed one or two categories of stain. Good detergents might also get some stains out, but not smell great (in my opinion).
- Arm & Hammer: Arm & Hammer got the blowout residue and spit up stains out, but didn’t smell the best after coming out of the wash.
- Dreft: As you would expect, this sweet-smelling, baby-friendly detergent did a great job with baby stains like blowouts and spit up. However, it had a harder time with food stains.
- Gain: Gain’s original blend, in my opinion, smelt very artificial. However, it cleaned out the food stains and soiled baby clothes.
- Great Value: Walmart’s generic brand of laundry detergent did get out some tricky food stains like chocolate, but it didn’t get out the blowout or spit up stains.
- Homemade detergent: This was one of the biggest shocks to my system when I conducted my experiment. Homemade detergent was actually pretty good! It got out nearly every stain I threw its way, aside from one blowout (which might have had more to do with an overly large load and not the detergent itself). The rest of the blowouts got clean. Unfortunately, homemade detergent can have a negative effect on your washing machine, which I’ll talk about in a future article.
- Up & Up: While it did get some stains out of our clothes, the blowout stains remained.
The Fantastic Detergents
And finally, here are the detergents that got out more stains than any other brand, even when I gave them harder and harder stains, including set-in stains the other detergents couldn’t touch. And they all smelled great. (The two stain exceptions? Grass and mustard stains! I couldn’t get them out without pre-treatment using any laundry detergent alone.)
- Persil: I tested Persil against tons of tricky stains, from coffee to blowouts, strawberries to spit up. Everything was spotless after a spin in the washer, and it smelled absolutely amazing.
- Purex: I tried Purex on more loads than any other brand, some with some nasty stains and smells, and it washed away almost everything without any pre-treatment. The only thing it couldn’t handle was a few old, set-in stains. But all the baby stains, and all other food stains were gone. And of course, to be in the fantastic category, Purex smelled really good. (Though I will say I preferred the “Free & clear” detergent to the “forrest” scent, even if it’s $0.09/load instead of $0.07/load.)
- Tide: As you’d expect, Tide was phenomenal. All the baby stains were gone, all the food stains were gone, and even some impossible set-in stains vanished. And of course, it has that great Tide smell.
Top Ten Cheapest Laundry Detergents
Next, let’s talk just about prices across different brands. To calculate the following, I used the “as directed” labels on each container, even though you can often get clothes just as clean when using somewhat less detergent than recommended. So if the bottle was $20 and said it contained “40 loads,” I took it at face value and arrived at $0.50/load.
Of the 14 brands I compared, 8 brands had options that equaled $0.12 or less per load.
| Brand | Type | Size | Price Per Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xtra | original, liquid | 312fl oz | $0.05 |
| LA’s Totally Awesome Detergent | original, liquid | 42fl oz | $0.06 |
| Purex | original 4 in 1, liquid | 312fl oz | $0.07 |
| Arm & Hammer | original, liquid | 170fl oz | $0.08 |
| Arm & Hammer | original, powder | 9.56 lbs | $0.10 |
| Great Value | original, liquid | 170fl oz | $0.11 |
| Tide | Simply All in One, liquid | 184fl oz | $0.11 |
| All | Fresh & clean, liquid | 150fl oz | $0.11 |
| Kirkland (Costco) | original, liquid | 194fl oz | $0.12 |
| Up & Up (Target) | original, liquid | 150fl oz | $0.12 |
You’ll notice that the above sizes tend to be quite large. That’s because, in almost every case, the largest bulk size container equals a cheaper per load cost. Even the cheapest brand, Xtra, is more expensive per load (by about 4 cents) when you buy the smaller container.
Complete Laundry Detergent Price-Per-Load Comparison Chart
Do you want to look up your current laundry detergent and see how their price compares to all the others? Here’s my complete table exploring all the major brands and their different types (liquid, powder, pods, etc).
When making my initial list, I also included a breakdown of prices among different sized containers of the same product. However, it made the chart nearly unreadable due to how many lines it included. Instead, I only included one size of each brand and type. I tried to include only the cheapest price-per-load offering by each, which often was the largest size.
The following list is just a sampling of laundry detergent prices from Walmart. Keep scrolling down to see the comparison chart for those brands not sold at Walmart. Prices can change frequently and vary by store, but I wanted to show the average prices at the most popular store in America. (And yes, I did check and compare the prices at Walmart to those on Amazon, and Walmart was cheaper every time I checked.)
| Brand | Type | Size | Price Per Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tide | Original, liquid | 146fl oz | $0.20 |
| Tide | Simply All in One, liquid | 184fl oz | $0.11 |
| Tide | Original, powder | 95oz | $0.21 |
| Tide | Original, pods | 112 count | $0.24 |
| Tide | Original, pods | 16 count | $0.34 |
| Tide | Plus Oxi or Downy, pods | 85 count | $0.30 |
| All | Fresh & clean, liquid | 150fl oz | $0.11 |
| All | Fresh & clean, pacs | 75 count | $0.15 |
| All | Free & clear, liquid | 141fl oz | $0.18 |
| All | Free & clear, liquid | 184.5fl oz | $0.16 |
| All | Free & clear, pacs | 60 count | $0.28 |
| All | Free & clear, powder | 52 oz | $0.20 |
| Gain | original, liquid | 184fl oz | $0.15 |
| Gain | original, powder | 91oz | $0.14 |
| Gain | original, “flings” (pods) | 60 count | $0.27 |
| Arm & Hammer | original, liquid | 170fl oz | $0.08 |
| Arm & Hammer | plus oxiclean, liquid | 166.6fl oz | $0.11 |
| Arm & Hammer | plus oxiclean, power packs | 42 count | $0.23 |
| Arm & Hammer | original, powder | 9.56lbs | $0.10 |
| Persil | original, liquid | 150fl oz | $0.20 |
| Persil | original, “discs” (pacs) | 62count | $0.32 |
| Purex | original 4 in 1, liquid | 312fl oz | $0.07 |
| Purex | Free & Clear, liquid | 150fl oz | $0.09 |
| Purex | original 4 in 1, pack | 56 count | $0.16 |
| xtra | original, liquid | 312fl oz | $0.05 |
| Great Value | original, liquid | 170fl oz | $0.11 |
| Great Value | original, pacs | 60 count | $0.18 |
| Dreft | original baby detergent, liquid | 92fl oz | $0.27 |
Price of Other Laundry Detergent Brands not Sold at Walmart
I wanted to separate these laundry detergents from all the Walmart-sold brands specifically because by switching stores, I’m no longer just comparing “apples to apples.” Here are a number of other stores generic brands in addition to some specialty brands that are typically considered more “eco friendly” laundry detergent.
| Brand | Type | Size | Price Per Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland | original, liquid | 194fl oz | $0.12 |
| Kirkland | free & clear, liquid | 194fl oz | $0.14 |
| Kirkland | original, pacs | 152 count | $0.15 |
| Up & Up | original, liquid | 150fl oz | $0.12 |
| Up & Up | original, pacs | 45 count | $0.23 |
| Makers mark | original, pacs | 130 count | $0.15 |
| Makers mark | original, liquid | 196fl oz | $0.13 |
| Charlie’s soap | original, powder | 8lbs | $0.18 |
| Charlie’s soap | original, liquid | 128fl oz | $0.21 |
| Earth breeze | original, sheets | 20 count | $0.20 |
Saving More Money on Laundry Detergent
If you’re still not sold on using a more “budget” detergent, but really want the budget price, you can get it done with a few tricks. Here are some money saving tips for laundry detergent.
Cash back apps
Using cash back apps like Ibotta or Fetch can bring down the price of your favorite detergent by as much as 25%. However, you don’t get those savings instantly, like when you use a coupon. Instead, you’ll need to wait to earn enough points to “cash out” and receive a gift card, PayPal payment, or other form of reimbursement.
If you’d like to try Ibotta and earn $5, you can use my code: qrrmmai
If you’d like to try Fetch, you can use my code YM42W for free bonus coins (amounts vary by season).
Coupons
I am not an extreme couponner, but I do know enough to check the Krazy Coupon Lady and my local newspaper’s flyer inserts. If you’re able and allowed, you can combine coupons with cash back offers for up to 45% (in my experience).
Using coupons on already moderately priced detergents like Arm & Hammer can bring the prices down a ton. For example, if you like the smell of Arm & Hammer and use a coupon, it ties Purex as the cheapest, best laundry detergent.
Using coupons on more expensive brands like Persil or Tide, however, still won’t make them the cheapest. When I hunted for coupons, I could save up to $6 on a $20 bottle of either Tide or Persil, but that only brought the cost per load down to $0.13, which is still nearly double what Purex costs.
Use less detergent
This is the biggest, most useful tip which doesn’t require learning any complicated coupon schedules. While you should never use MORE detergent than your washing machine’s manufacturer recommends (as that can overwhelm the machine), you can definitely use less.
If your current brand suggests using “up to line three” in the cap, try going to line two and seeing how clean your clothes get. Then, if that seems perfectly fine, you can try going down to one. This instantly saves you 33% or 66% on your laundry costs, if the lines in your cap are all equally spaced.
I personally found that around two tablespoons of liquid detergent seems to be the sweet spot for lightly to moderately soiled laundry. However, I certainly didn’t test this amount with all fourteen brands of detergent, so your milage may vary.
Conclusion: The Cheapest, Best Laundry Detergent
To come up with my final recommendation, I looked at the list of cheapest detergents and compared those options to the testing results.
The dollar store brand and Xtra both had awful smells, and Xtra missed lots of stains and left my washer full of suds. But the next cheapest detergent was the Purex, and that did a very respectable job. Thus, Purex is the winner as the best, cheapest laundry detergent.
I’d especially recommend using Purex in loads without lots of stains, like loads of towels, sheets, or clothes with only normal wear. If you have a heavily soiled load, make sure you pre-treat as many stains as you can for best results.
There you go! I hope this article was helpful to all you laundry enthusiasts. If you’d like to know the next time I post an article about saving money on a budget (especially with a family), you can subscribe to my email newsletter below.
