The Gist: Nearly 20% of US Adults have converted to the pod. Laundry pods, that is. Laundry pods aren’t just for memes. It’s millennials who are more likely than other generations to use pods over other laundry detergents.

Laundry pods have been in the media lately for reasons other than cleaning clothes. Recent memes about eating them may have driven the (bad) phenomenon of teens actually doing so. There are even accounts of pods staining clothes permanently–yikes!

With all the (not so good) hype about pods, we wondered just how much of the US Adult population use them to do laundry.

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Check it out:

19% of US Adults most often use a laundry detergent pod when throwing in a load. Our data can tell us exactly who these pod folks are. 

Young people are likely obsessed with pods because they are using them. Looking back on my laundromat days in college and early adulthood, I would buy individual packs of powdered Tide directly at the laundromat, with a hefty price tag. A laundry pod would be cost-saving compared to individual detergent sold at laundromats (not in general, though-these pods are about 50% more than liquid detergent) and easier to lug several blocks. Maybe the convenience factor is part of the reason why the younger set uses them.

Laundry detergent companies should take notice–you have to convince the baby boomer generation that pods are cool and why they should use them. What is the benefit other than the convenience factor? Is there a benefit other than not pouring laundry detergent (liquid or powder) into a cup and then into the wash? Or is a nod from millennials all that matters?

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