You might need 3 laundry packs to actually clean your clothes

Those single-load liquid laundry packets are super convenient, but will just one of them really clean your clothes? You have to wonder after reading updated dosage instructions for Tide Pods.

Read more: New laundry machine promises to fold clothes for you!

Tide: Use up to 3 laundry packs per load of laundry

As the Wall Street Journal reported, the makers of Tide now recommend up to three laundry packets for the heaviest loads of laundry.

Here’s what Tide says on its website about the use of Pods:

• 1 laundry pac for medium loads
• 2 pacs for large loads
• 3 pacs for extra large loads

Procter and Gamble says the change was the result of customer feedback and research, but one competitor says it’s just a way to boost sales.

Single-use liquid laundry packets are already more expensive than liquid detergent. According to the Wall Street Journal’s cost comparison, Tide Pods are 25 cents per capsule, compared to 19 cents for one liquid dose of detergent. Now, if you used three packets, it would cost 75 cents per load of laundry.

Read more: Laundry pods pose hidden dangers to kids

To be fair, several of Tide’s competitors suggest using two packs for heavy loads, but Tide is the only one to recommend up to three. Notice in this commercial from 2015 that two Tide Pods were used:

Consumer Reports no longer recommends the product – or any others like it – because kids have mistaken the packets for candy and swallowed them. Poison control experts stress that you must keep them out of a child’s reach.

No matter which type of laundry detergent you use, if you’re using too much, you’re wasting your hard-earned money.

Here are five tips from Good Housekeeping to avoid that:

• Choose the detergent that works with your machine.
• Make sure you’re measuring.
• Think about how much you’re washing (and how dirty your clothes are).
• Watch out for suds.
• Check your clothes after you wash.

Read more: Best laundry detergent for your money