Whoever developed the latest incarnation of the All 2x Ultra Free and Clear laundry detergent container must not have ever done laundry in their life.
It is also painfully obvious that Sun Products either never ran this design by an actual consumer or they just don’t care what how inconvenient and messy their containers are.
This container, the 150 fluid ounce container, is the most inconvenient and messy laundry detergent container/dispenser I’ve ever seen in 35 years or so of doing laundry.
Most liquid laundry soap containers have a lip around the area where the measuring cup goes so that the liquid soap will drain into either the lip or back into the container itself.
All’s container does not, so you either have to rinse the cup completely out or you get a buildup of soap on the outside of the container.
And whats really fun for me is that I try to be environmentally sensitive and wash my clothes in cold water, so if I choose to rinse out the cup that means 2-3 minutes of holding it under an absolutely freezing stream of water. The word ‘icicle’ doesn’t even come close to describing how cold my hands are after (if) I choose to go this route.
The bulb-operated pump on the left side of the container is useless too. You need 5 hands (most humans only have 2) or a minimum of 2 human beings to hold the container on its side, operate the pump, and hold the cup.
The only way to make the container/pump work properly without 5 hands is to lay it on the short side with the spigot facing downwards. You have to hold the container with one hand to prevent it tipping over and use your thumbnail or the back of your thumb to push down on the bulb. Then you have to hold the cup under the spigot with your other hand.
Personally, I’ve been trying to do this with a mostly empty container for the last 5 minutes simply to describe the process and I find it impossible to get enough leverage on the bulb to operate the pump.
If I were doing this for real I would have given up after 30 seconds and either filled the cup from the other end or just dumped some liquid laundry soap into the washing machine.
Or you can just open the other end (screw top lid) and dump in an unmeasured amount of detergent, hoping that you’ve put in enough so your clothes will get clean but not so much that you have to run your clothes through 15 extra rinses just to get the laundry soap out of them. Oh yes, if you go this route you will also have liquid soap residue build up on the bottle clear down the side of it as well as on the screw top and the ridges around the bottle opening.
The container is also very awkwardly shaped which makes it difficult to get that last little bit of detergent out using my preferred method: stick the open and almost empty container under the freezing stream of water, then put the lid back on and shake it. Open it up, tip it upside down over your clothes in the washer, and pour the soapy water into the washing machine. Voila, you’ve used the last bit of detergent.
This method has worked for over 35 years with every other liquid detergent bottle I’ve ever used, but not this one.
This one won’t fit between the washing machine agitator and the side of the washing machine, so you have to fill it in the sink (where in my case the faucet is leaking so I don’t use it) or use the relatively small cup to fill it from the water flowing into the washing machine (more freezing water on my hands, how fun),
Now because I’m extremely sensitive (itching, watery eyes, etc) to the dyes and fragrances used in most commercial laundry detergents, I am stuck using products that are free of perfumes and free of dyes.
I like All Free and Clear quite well too except for the stupid container; the container is so inconvenient and messy that I am seriously considering looking for other products or making my own laundry soap.