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On 19 June 2017 a Facebook user's warning about detergent pods clogging drains began to circulate, slowly racking up tens of thousands of shares: Detergent pods have caused intermittent controversy for years, prompting safety warnings in 2012 and 2017. But the household product has remained popular despite its drawbacks. The warning wasn't the first of its kind either, although we were unable to find a significant number of similar posts. In 2014, a separate Facebook user wrote: Moreover, in May 2017 at least one consumer lodged a complaint about Tide's detergent pods failing to properly dissolve: Another complained on Gain's Facebook page: However, those users didn't mention clogged drains or broken household plumbing. Other users attempted to replicate the problem, but their experiments did not use the product in the recommended way: Accounts of detergent pods (of any description) clogging drains were few and far between on social media, making unclear whether the problem is widespread, very rare, a random event, or dependent on circumstance (such as the temperature of water or the amount clothing in the washer). We contacted both Tide and Gain to ask for further information. On 21 July 2017, we received a response from Tide about the rumors: We also contacted the plumbing services company Roto-Rooter , whose employees are no stranger to plumbing oddities. Company representative Paul Abrams responded with information he obtained after sending an inquiry to all general managers and field training managers at Roto-Rooter locations, including 50 of the largest metro areas nationally. Abrams said of the replies received in response to our specific inquiry, there was no indication regular drain obstruction occurred in any market due to the use of laundry pods (or dishwasher pods): Neither detergent pods' manufacturers nor Roto-Rooter's massive network of plumbing experts were familiar with an epidemic of pod-clogged drain lines irrespective of type (clothing or dishes). While individuals reported some problems with dissolution intermittently, evidence for a widespread design flaw was slim to nonexistent.
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