Why are people popping laundry pods?

Dousing oneself with a bucket full of ice water isn’t much fun, but at least that craze was cool. It had a point: raise money for ALS research. Biting into a laundry pod has no point, other than to demonstrate the mental shortcomings of the biter. For some bizarre reason people have been posting videos of their grimacing faces as they chomp down on a laundry pod. If they get away with just a grimace, they are lucky. They could just as well end up in hospital with chemical burns to their mouth. If they are dimwitted enough to consume a whole pod, they could end up with a premature date with the undertaker. Laundry pods are meant to be consumed by washing machines, not by people.

These pods are the product of a great deal of research and were designed to ease laundry chores. Consumers had expressed dissatisfaction with having to carry large boxes or bottles of detergent and they didn’t like having to measure out product. That sent researchers scurrying to find an easier way of transporting these goods and a more convenient way of introducing detergent into the washing machine. Enhanced convenience, producers figured, would enhance profits. And so the hunt was on for a concentrated, pre-measured form of the detergent that could be dropped into the washing machine. This turned out to be a formidable task.

CONTINUE READING ON mcgill.ca