Everything is becoming so expensive these days. The items that used to be commonplace in many households do not fit into the budget anymore. Where should you save money? Can you save money by using a cheaper laundry detergent?
I decided to try that for myself. I picked All Free and Clear and Purex Free and Clear because there are a lot of allergies to laundry chemicals in my family, so we can’t use any old laundry detergent. I wanted to find out if I would just be paying for the name when I bought All Free and Clear.
Size
There are many different ways to buy the laundry detergent but for the sake of this product review, the 32-load size was used. All Free and Clear has two different varieties of the 32-load size. There is the regular bottle and the Small and Mighty. Since Purex Free and Clear only has one variety, the regular, the regular bottle of All Free and Clear was used.
Price
The first thing you will probably notice when you think about the two is the price. Of course price varies all over the country but in my small town, the price of Purex Free and clear ranged from $2.99-3.49. All Free and Clear was a little bit more expensive, the prices ranged from $3.99-4.49. So there is $1.00 difference between the two. I have periodically found coupons in the Sunday paper for both products. I have also found Purex Free and Clear on sale for as cheap as $2.50 per bottle and All Free and Clear for $3.00 per bottle.
This is the category where there is no difference. As you would expect, All Free and Clear and Purex Free and Clear are both pretty much clear. They have a yellowish tint and the same density.
This was a surprising category. After all, a laundry detergent’s purpose is to clean laundry. But there was a difference. I used Purex Free and Clear for about a month before switching to All Free and Clear. I used a pre-wash treatment on most stains but with a one-year-old who goes through so many clothes, some went through the laundry without being pre-washed. I had a lot of nice stained clothes that have become play clothes.
I didn’t think anything of the stained clothes because it was my fault for forgetting to pre-wash the clothes. I switched to All Free and Clear four weeks ago, and the difference was astounding. The clothes came out much cleaner. Not only that but the clothes that went though the wash with the Purex Free and Clear came out with less stains. All Free and Clear was not able to get all the stains out because the stains were set in the dryer from before.
I still pre-wash some stains with the All Free and Clear, but only the extremely stained ones. Now when I use All Free and Clear and some clothes fall through the cracks and don’t get pre-washed, there may only be a tiny stain, if any at all. And if the stain is there, only I will notice it.
Fading
Neither the All Free and Clear nor the Purex Free and Clear claimed to keep colors bright. But there was a difference. I used the Purex Free and Clear for around a month and I noticed the clothes weren’t as bright as they once were. My husband required red shirts for his workplace dress code and the red was turning very dingy. My son’s baby clothes were no longer bright fun clothes after just a month. I thought perhaps there was something wrong with the water in our home.
When I started using the All Free and Clear, there was a difference. I resorted to buying my husband new work clothes so that he would look nice and the color has yet to fade. My son went up into a new size and his new clothes haven’t faded yet either. So I found out nothing was wrong with my water, it was just the detergent.
ConclusionThe only thing Purex Free and Clear has going for it is the price. You can save $1.00 per bottle, which is nice on the budget. All Free and Clear does a better job at cleaning and keeping laundry’s color bright and vibrant. This actually saves money in the long run. You will have to buy less clothes because you will not have to replace the stained, faded clothes as often. So you will actually save money in the long run by paying the extra dollar for laundry detergent and using All Free and Clear.
