I just noticed that the laundry detergent I’m using today has an expiration date. I guess it’s a good thing I’m washing the sheets before 02/06/11.
I find it had to believe that laundry detergent expires, so I investigated a little.
Most of the sites I checked gave guidelines of “unopened: 9 months to 1 year” and “opened: 6 months.” But I searched for “why does laundry detergent have an expiration date?” Most of the sites I checked left the question “Why?” unanswered.
Does it become less effective? Does it become toxic? Is there really no reason, and they have built in an artificial obsolescence by providing an expiration date? One site, however, proclaims that it “will not deteriorate or lose its effectiveness, as long as it’s kept in its original packaging.”
Is this the voice of sanity in the wilderness of everything-must-have-an-expiration-date? And how were we “protected” when there weren’t expiration dates on laundry detergent?
It is worth mentioning that one site (FunAdvice) provides a stern answer that it can “chemically degrade into something else” and perhaps become toxic. Well, I guess that settles that!
Where are some other places you’ve seen expiration dates that you didn’t expect?
Patchwork Jumble 