LA’s Totally Awesome Laundry Detergent (Dollar Tree)

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Laundry detergent is one of those things we all need. I typically buy laundry detergent at Aldi, but in a pinch I’ll pick it up at a regular grocery store, at Target or Walmart, or even a corner drugstore or a dollar store. One of the dollar stores, Dollar General, has some decent laundry detergent options. When I spotted several laundry detergent choices at another dollar store, Dollar Tree, I decided to give them a try and see if they were worth the $1.25 per bottle.

LA’s Totally Awesome Laundry Products at Dollar Tree:

Most of the laundry detergent at Dollar Tree is sold under the LA’s Totally Awesome brand. LA’s Totally Awesome is a company based out of Buena Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. (Hence, the company name.)

LA’s Totally Awesome manufactures a variety of cleaning products for use in and around the home, including laundry products, bathroom cleaner, drain cleaner, carpet cleaner, all-purpose cleaners, liquid soap, automatic dishwashing gel, fabric refresher sprays, pet products such stain and urine odor remover, and automotive products such as car wash and window glass cleaner.

Products made by LA’s Totally Awesome are sold in various discount retailers including Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Food 4 Less, Superior Grocers, and 99 Cent Only Stores. So you might spot this brand in other dollar stores besides Dollar Tree, which is where I found it.

LA’s Totally Awesome Laundry Detergent costs $1.25 per bottle at Dollar Tree. Most of the LA’s Totally Awesome detergents at Dollar Tree are sold in 42-ounce bottles, which comes out to about 3 cents per ounce. One larger bottle of LA’s Totally Awesome detergent with bleach alternative comes in a 64-ounce bottle, which comes out to about 2 cents per ounce.

So are these a good deal? A giant 154-ounce container of name-brand Gain detergent at Walmart costs around 10 cents per ounce at the time of publication, while a 154-ounce container of Tide with Downy at Walmart costs around 14 cents per ounce. Even a bulk 170-ounce container of Great Value brand detergent at Walmart costs around 7 cents per ounce at the time of writing. Naturally, the price per ounce goes up if you buy smaller containers of any of the name brands or the Walmart detergent.

That makes the Dollar Tree detergents the cheapest I’ve seen anywhere, even compared to other discounters such as Dollar General or Aldi. If you need inexpensive laundry detergent, Dollar Tree has it.

The one disadvantage is that these are only sold in small 42-fluid-ounce or 64-fluid-ounce bottles. This is smaller than a standard-sized detergent bottle such as what you’ll find at Aldi. So if you use this detergent from Dollar Tree, you’ll be buying it more frequently if you use it exclusively. This also means more plastic waste, since larger bottles make more efficient use of the materials involved in the manufacturing process.

The advantage is that if you only need a small bottle of detergent for, say, running a couple of loads of laundry while you’re traveling or on vacation, these bottles are convenient. They won’t take up as much space in your vehicle’s cargo area or in your trailer or RV’s laundry space. These might also be useful for single-person households or for college students who don’t need bulk bottles of detergent.

Other Laundry Product Brands at Dollar Tree:

Dollar Tree also sells a few other bottled laundry products that aren’t under the LA’s Totally Awesome label. Other options include 10-ounce bottles of name brand Gain fabric softener for $1.25 (about 13 cents per ounce) and 16-ounce bottles of Soilove Laundry Soil-Stain Remover (about 8 cents per ounce).

Of course, you can find Gain products at just about any retailer that sells laundry necessities. I also found Soilove also available on Walmart’s website and on Amazon, but you’ll pay a lot more ordering it online. I haven’t yet tried any of those brands from Dollar Tree, so I can’t speak to how well they work at this time.

Trying the LA’s Totally Awesome Laundry Detergent from Dollar Tree:

For review purposes, I focused on the LA’s Totally Awesome brand at Dollar Tree, and I purchased two 42-fluid-ounce bottles of LA’s Totally Awesome laundry detergent at Dollar Tree. I chose the Rain Fresh scented detergent with stain lifter (in a green bottle) and the Oxygen Powered detergent (in a blue bottle).

The detergent bottles state they are made in the U.S. and contain enough detergent for 21 loads of laundry. They also both advertise a “New & Improved Formula.”

You use these detergents as you would any other laundry detergent. Sort your laundry, then select water temperature. Pre-treat tough of set-in stains by pouring detergent directly onto the stain. Then measure half a capful of detergent for medium loads. Use 1 ounce for heavily soiled loads, and slightly less for small loads. Add the detergent to the washing machine, then add laundry and turn on the washing machine.

As always, these detergents are an eye irritant and are harmful if swallowed, so keep out of reach of children.

The first thing I always notice about laundry detergent is how it smells when I open the bottle. On that front, these detergents are okay but not standouts. When I initially uncapped them and sniffed them in the store, I wasn’t impressed. At first, I thought they smelled more chemical-like and less like fresh laundry. Once I got them home and gave them another smell, I thought they were decent to average in terms of how good they smell.

The bigger question, of course, is how good of a job these detergents do at getting clothing clean. I’ve used both of the detergents I bought several times now for different loads of laundry, from whites to brights. They seem to do as good of a job as any other laundry detergent at getting clothes clean, and they make my clean laundry smell fresh.

My only minor complaint might be that the bottle openings are large and the caps are not as deep as other laundry bottle caps, so be careful when measuring detergent into the cap because it’s easy to overfill it. I also noticed as I used this detergent over time that it seems to drip down the outside of the bottle after pouring and recapping it more than other brands, so I sometimes had to wipe small amounts of detergent off the top of my dryer where I keep laundry supplies.

Otherwise, these are surprisingly good laundry detergents, and I have yet to find better prices on detergent anywhere else.

The Verdict:

If you’re looking for laundry detergent at Dollar Tree, they primarily stock a brand called LA’s Totally Awesome. This detergent is produced by a company based out of California that makes assorted cleaning products for use in and around the home, and they sell their products in various deep discounters and dollar stores, including Family Dollar and Dollar General in addition to Dollar Tree. This detergent doesn’t have as strong of a scent as other detergents, but it does get clothing clean. It’s also the best price on laundry detergent I’ve seen anywhere, even compared to other store brands such as Walmart’s Great Value or Aldi Tandil detergent. The one potential downside is that it’s only sold in smaller bottles. Aside from that, this detergent seems like a good choice.