u/ThrowAwayInDisguise-

TL;DR: I bought 16.5 kg of laundry detergent made in Canada for $105+tax CAD 2 years ago, and it's still going strong. It will last me 20+ years, I pay less than 5 cents per load, and pretty much zero waste to environment as I do not need to repeat buy and trash plastic (plus can re-use container when it empties out in far future).

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I first bought a 16.5 kg pail of Nellie's Laundry Soda in 2024. 2 years later I've barely made a dent in my supply. I am basically paying less than 5 cents per load. Based on rough math, my pail will last me close to 20 or more years! This is one of the best 'small' buying decisions I've made in my life.

To put it simply, you are getting A LOT for little. In general, liquid or gel pack detergents require you to pay a premium, where you're essentially paying extra for water. Powder detergents tend to be much more efficient but for reason seem less popular (or stores are pushing liquid/gel far too much).

Assuming you're not doing your own way of laundry and still want to be able to use detergents, I highly recommend going this route. That $100 to $130 CAD or so goes a long way. At the time I only paid $105 + tax. I noticed at my local Costco they actually put these pails in store for the first time ever, and it was only $100 which is a big sale considering their normal cost is $140.

Normally this is only available from online Costco, but like I said for some reason I spotted them being stocked in store for cheaper, so who knows, check your local Costco.

Pro tip, you can use less detergent than you think. Powder detergents are generally quite efficient. Nellie's in particular is advertised as 'super concentrated', so you REALLY do not need to waste a lot of detergent per load. I generally only use half a scoop (the small scoop it comes with) for my loads, hence why I'm basically only paying less than 5 cents a load. I recommend experimenting with it as obviously most people will have different needs than me.

As a nice bonus, you'll also contribute way less waste. Being environmentally friendly doesn't have to cost you much sometimes! Most households trash a ton of plastics thanks to repeated buys of liquid/gel detergents. This big pail not only will not run out anytime soon, but I can also re-use the container in the far future when it does run out! It's a big dry pail after all that I could easily convert into a storage bucket or use it for something else.

For those curious, for me it cleans quite fine despite me using half scoops, and there is no scent (which I prefer). My loads are generally just regular washes from life, typically the most dirty loads are gym clothes. It is advertised as hypoallergenic, made in Canada, and 'super concentrated' on the product page so yeah, it's pretty good value.

Edit: As expected other people will have different needs. I see bunch of people mention Nellie's wasn't sufficient enough for family with kids. It works super well for me but I often do not have tough stains to deal with.