Sneaky Price Increase Coming On Tide Laundry Detergent

photo credit: Yahoo! Finance

If you're a fan of Tide laundry detergent, I have some bad news for you -- pretty soon, your bottles of detergent aren't going to stretch as far as they used to.

Tide is in the process of shrinking several of its laundry detergent sizes while keeping the shelf price the same.

That means that unwary customers could soon be paying up to 25% more per load of laundry!

Here's what to watch for:

According to Yahoo! Finance, the old 100 oz bottles of Tide laundry detergent, which used to promise a full 60 loads of laundry, will be shrinking to 92 oz bottles -- and just 48 loads.

Meanwhile, some 52 oz bottles will disappear and be replaced with 48 oz bottles -- again shelved at the same full price of the older, bigger bottles.

What does the Tide price increase mean for couponers?

If you plan carefully, this could actually be a good thing in the short-term -- it's likely that the older, larger bottles will go on clearance at various stores over the next few weeks.

I recommend clipping all the Tide coupons out of the 1/26 P&G insert and keeping them on you, just so you're prepared if you spot a sale.

Also, now might be a good time for warehouse shoppers to price laundry detergent by ounce out at their clubs -- especially those of you who have a Costco membership, since Tide is part of the current $33 Cash Card rebate offer.

What do you think about the Tide price increase?

Will you be more likely to try a different brand of detergent in response?  I'm curious to know how this change will impact your shopping habits.

Read the full article on the Tide changes over at Yahoo! Finance.