Oct 18, 2008

More Quick Product Reviews

My first post on quick product reviews was well-received, so here are a few more reviews. I've included items that were new to me, but not necessarily new on the market. I acquired these items through The Drugstore Game and free sample sites.
  1. Bounty Basic paper towels - These are bigger and stronger than CVS brand towels, but not nearly as strong or thick as regular Bounty, which is our usual paper towel. I'll buy these again at a good price, but not as my first choice.
  2. Electrasol Powerball Tabs - I got these when they were a moneymaker at Rite Aid, but didn't like them because sometimes they didn't dissolve completely. This may be because I use the "short wash" cycle on my dishwasher, and/or because my dishwasher is quite old. I will probably still buy them if they are free, but they're not my first choice (which remains Cascade gel).
  3. Electrasol Gelpacks - These were also a moneymaker at Rite Aid, and I got them because I didn't like the tabs. I again found that sometimes there was a residue left in the dishwasher, which could be due to the reasons already mentioned. There was less residue if I filled the rinse cup with vinegar (which is a fabulous frugal alternative to commercial rinsing agents). Again, I'd buy these if they were free, but not as my first choice
  4. Kotex Ultra Thin Pads - The last time I used Kotex before I tried it recently was 20 years ago. I remembered them as unwieldy thick pads, and completely inferior to Always. But a free sample from Wal-Mart showed me that Kotex had caught up with the times, and that I was wasting money by being brand loyal to Always. I've since bought quite a few Kotex pads, since there are often good coupons and sales.
  5. Walgreens brand pads - These seem to work as well as name brand pads.
  6. CVS brand pads - Ditto. I'm definitely not brand loyal to any feminine pad anymore.
  7. Scott Extra Soft toilet paper - A month of two ago, Wal-Mart offered a full size roll of this toilet paper as a free sample. And it turned out to be a perfectly acceptable toilet paper, if you're okay with public restroom quality toilet paper at home. But since our preferred brand is Charmin Ultra, this Scott TP is just too thin for us and we won't be buying it unless it's totally free.
  8. Cottonelle toilet paper - Although we don't like Cottonelle as much as Charmin, it's an acceptable substitute at the right price. And the CVS deal a couple of weeks ago was definitely the right price - we actually have more Cottonelle than Charmin in our stockpile now.

3 comments:

Camille said...

We loved the Electrasol tablets in our old dishwasher, but they don't work as well in the one we have now (it is even older). The problem is that we have a gazillion of them and I fell in love with Cascade complete, too! We started using the Electrasol tablets in the part of the dishwasher that you close and then put the Cascade in the open spot. It's working well to use up the Electrasol tablets and still get clean dishes!

Mercedes said...

I love the electrasol tabs!! and am OK with cascade geltabs.

Funny, we also prefer Charmin TP and Northern Quilted is second best. My husband doesn't go for Scott or cottonelle. So I never buy those.

Anonymous said...

I love the Cascade tabs, but we do have a brand new dishwasher. I have similar TP preferences and strategies. I'm ok with the Bounty basic paper towels, but I don't have little kids to clean up after, so that may have something to do with it! :)

Jennifer