I would not classify myself as "cheap", but I get annoyed when it is obvious that some random company is trying to take advantage of my wallet. Below is something I have known about for a while, but last night while at Smith's (our grocery) store the difference was just so blatant that I had to blog about it. Is this going to be interesting? Probably not. Potential to save you some money? If you actually follow the instructions. Will you save enough to take a vacation? Not bloody likely.
Ok... So... You know that special "foam" based hand soap that came out a couple years ago? Much easier to use and wash off than the original gel-like hand soap. After trying it once, I quickly replaced all the soap in my house for this new fangled type of soap. I didn't love that it was more expensive, but I figured that with a better product you have to pay a little more. No big deal.
About a year ago I read online that the only difference between
the old style soap (pictured left)
and the new fangled foam soap (pictured right) was the little dispenser nozzle and the amount of water. The soap is exactly the same... only watered down. So... the soap company (dial in this case) actually uses less of their soap product... waters it down... puts a dispenser that infuses air to the mix to make foam... and "voila"... New product and they charge about twice as much. Color me annoyed.*
So what can we as consumers do? Follow these instructions....
Instead of paying $1.90 for the foamy soap, spend $0.99 for the old school gel soap. (You will actually have to have one of the foamy soap containers to start with.... sorry.)
- Take an empty foamy soap container.
- Marvel at the marketing that managed to pull one over on us.
- Fill the bottle 1/3rd to 1/4th full of the old school soap.
- Add water to fill the rest of the bottle. (do this slowly or you will end up with a mess)
- Put the foamy soap dispenser cap back on.
- Shake a little to make sure it mixes up well.
- Enjoy stickin' in to the man by making that one $0.99 bottle of soap last the equivalent of 4 foamy soap bottles.
--C
*Disclaimer: I say there is no difference other than the dispenser and more water being added. This is my observation and not based in any research. I could be wrong, but to me the results seem to indicate I am correct. But I leave the determination up to you. So... Dial people... if you stumble across this blog... Don't sue me for shedding light on this!
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