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This week's newsletter is oddly specific and I hope you're here for it:

All Things Powdered Tide.

Yes, the laundry detergent.

I first learned that powdered Tide could be used for more than laundry from Go Clean Co. She uses it to mop, wash walls, scrub toys, etc.

What I was immediately drawn to: minimizing the number of products I needed to use to keep my home and belongings clean while using something accessible and affordable.

Spoiler: I do not use Tide for laundry! 🫢

I have made my own powder laundry soap since I got married over 14 years ago! I had found this old, random recipe on a blog and I've made it ever since.

Like literally everything else in life, it's controversial. go figure.

Some people say it won't get clothes clean, others say it can ruin your washing machine.

I can only speak to my experience: I use about a tablespoon of powder per load, I do 6 people's laundry, and I have lived in 8 different houses with 8 different washing machines yet have never once had to call an appliance repair tech for washing machine issues.

But I use it for eeeeeevvvvveerrrrything else.

Mopping - I use my O Cedar mop with the hottest water I can get, about a teaspoon of powdered tide, and ringing the mop head out as much as possible so that it's barely damp. Yes, I use it on hardwood floors.

Carpet and Upholstery - I use it in both the Bissell Little Green Machine and the Bissell carpet cleaner. You guessed it: about a teaspoon of powdered Tide and the hottest water I can get straight into the clean water canister on these machines.

It cleans better than the liquid formula included with these Bissell machines, doesn't have strong fragrances, and is SO much cheaper.

I do this for carpets, area rugs, couches, mattresses, cloth vehicle seats.

I have even done this on an enormous squishmellow that fell victim to a stomach bug but was too large to fit in our washing machine. Was it a nasty job that I only did because I love my children? yes. Did it work magically? also yes.

Seats in Cars - The first time I got the Bissell Little Green Machine and used it on the cloth seats in Kyle's 2006 Prius, I had to do 3 rounds on the seats before the dirty water looked like anything other than a bottle of Coca-Cola. That's how much it was pulling up from the seats.
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Now there are strong opinions on this one, but I do use it when a car seat is in dire need of cleaning. I don't do it all the time - but there's an ideal world and a real world. And in reality, sometimes a diaper blowout or curdled milk requires a bit of flexible problem solving.

​This video tutorial shows how I use the Bissell with Tide in my van!

before

after

Walls - Because powdered Tide is a bit gritty and made to lift dirt out of fabric, it works so well on flat surfaces like walls to get grimy fingerprints, markers, scuff marks, etc. off without ruining the paint. At the risk of being completely redundant: hottest water you can get with about a teaspoon of powdered Tide in a bucket with a microfiber rag.

Shoes - To brighten up shoes that have fabric on them like tennis shoes, I take the laces out and soak the shoes upside down in a bucket of the hottest water I can get with powdered tide and leave them there until the water isn't hot anymore. Sometimes while soaking, I'll take them out and give them a good scrub with a bristle brush. Then I'll toss them in the washing machine with a towel or two. When it's warm outside, I'll put them in the sun to dry. Or a Care Creates community member just reminded me today to put them over a floor vent when the heat is running!

Cabinets and Surfaces - Basically if there's a flat surface with scuffs or marks, I'm going to try Tide detergent with hot water first. One of the main reasons it's my go to is because much like Dawn dish soap, even if it doesn't work, it's not going to damage the surface like a stronger cleaning agent might.

FAQs

1. Does it have a strong scent?
   ​Not at all! Think about how diluted it is - one teaspoon in a full tank or bucket. Tide is already a very lightly scented detergent. Mix it into a bunch of water and it's even less.
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2. Where do you buy it?
   ​I grab it at the grocery store whenever I run out: Walmart, Schnucks, Amazon, etc. Since I'm only using it for cleaning, a box lasts me over a year. If I was using it for my daily laundry detergent and buying it in bulk every month, I'd be more specific about pricing out the unit price and shopping around. Paying $15 or $18 isn't going to make a difference when it's an annual purchase, so I save myself the time and grab it the next time I'm at a store that has it.
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3. Does liquid detergent work the same?
   ​No! Liquid detergent is mostly water and has a completely different makeup than powder. It also won't give you any scrubbing power and will leave a film on anything you wipe with it. No liquid, only powder!
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4. Have you tried the Bissell formulas instead?
   ​I have! The Bissell Little Green Machine and the carpet cleaner both came with a bottle of solution so I use it because I don't want to be wasteful.
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   I do not like the smell and I don't think whatever I'm washing looks as clean as it does when I use powdered Tide. The few times I've used the solution, I always wish I had used the powdered Tide instead.
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5. Doesn't using powder Tide in the Bissell machines technically void the warranty?
   ​I'm sure it does. But here's a bit of mom math for you: the official Bissell formula is $12 per 32oz bottle and 4oz per full tank. That's 8 uses per bottle or $1.50 worth of solution each time I use it.
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   The small box of powdered Tide is also $12 and has hundreds of teaspoons of Tide in it. We're talking like 5 pennies per use.
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   So no, the guaranteed massive price increase of using the Bissell formula is not worth the potential benefit of cashing in on the limited Bissell warranty. Warranties are known for being tricky, hard to prove, and full of loopholes. I'll stick to my powdered Tide for a few pennies.

I used the Bissell Carpet Cleaner in every single room of our house before we moved in. The lines speak for themselves - it was the most satisfying part of prepping to move in: knowing that every square inch of carpet was freshly shampooed.

So next time you get the urge to buy an expensive cleaning product that can only do one specific thing, remember this newsletter and take that same money and buy a small box of powdered Tide. It's my cleaning MVP for anything that's a smooth surface or cloth!

xoxo and happy budgeting - and cleaning!

PS: Next week I'm hosting my first workshop of 2026: Budget Tracking and registration is open!

Teaching is really at the heart of how I want to spend my time here at Debt Free Mom and there's really only so far I can go with 1 minute Instagram story slides.

​This workshop on Tuesday, February 17 will focus entirely on how to actually use the Debt Free Mom Budget Template once the pay period starts and you start spending money! Planned or unplanned.

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