This week’s WTF? Friday Moment brought to you by: Downy Unstopables
As I walked through the grocery store this week, a curious product caught my eye: these Downy scent beads that go into your wash to increase the length of time your laundry maintains a scent.
A few things crossed my mind:
1)As a former English teacher, I take offense to companies that misspell words, not for the sake of fun or a catchy title, but probably because another product on the market already used the correct, double-consonant spelling of UNSTOPPABLE. Justt stopp Dowwwny. UR redickyoulus.
2)What is the purpose of this product? To make my clothes smell differently? I wash my clothes to clean them, not change their scent. If Downy really wanted to make a useful product, they would create something that turns my husband’s yellowed undershirts into gleaming-white, chocolate-scented, marshmallowy-soft confections of vestment delight. Sound asinine? So does a plastic container full of scented beads meant to make my laundry “Fresh” and “Lush.”
3)Speaking of plastic containers–why? Another useless piece of trash or, if a person recycles, more energy output to recycle it.
4)And what are these beads made of? I found this document on the Proctor & Gamble website. The product safety sheet says nothing about the actual ingredients of this product, only that it is “not hazardous,” or “not considered harmful.” It is noted that this product should be “dispersed” in water and not directly disposed into the environment–which sends up a red flag for me.
5) W.T.F. Are humans really so smelly that we need artificial fragrances to make us forget our sweaty birthright?
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My hubs had a second job for a while stocking shelves at Kroger. When he would have to stock the laundry aisle he would come home smelling like chemical fragrances and have nosebleeds. NOSEBLEEDS!
I can’t even walk down that aisle because the smell is so overpowering. Yuck.
That is insane! And I’m like you–I hate even walking past the laundry/cleanser aisle, but I needed Washing Soda, which is located in the same place 🙁 I also refuse to walk down the pesticide aisle at the home improvement store or go into any carpeting warehouses any longer: headaches immediately.
I agree with both of these comments, this IS insane. I too can’t even go near the laundry aisle without getting a migraine that usually lasts for the rest of the day. Why would anyone spend money on additional synthetic chemical fragrances? If the majority of people knew what were in these products I have a feeling there would be no market for them.