Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

May 18,2022

Miami Beach, Florida

Ladies and especially humble gentlemen who do not know much about doing laundry, beware of the Arm & Hammer industrial grade product called Super Washing Soda! I say "humble" gentlemen because women usually do the wash so know best what not to do to harm their babies and husbands.

This Church and Dwight product is the cheapest detergent booster on the shelf for good reason. To wit, you may be more than sorry if you do not wear underpants. Indeed, you may burn your scrotum off if you follow the instructions on the box and use the usual amount of your detergent and an equal amount of the chemical to do your wash in the same machine you always do your wash in.

First of all, do not mistake this stuff for sodium bicarbonate, called baking soda, and go ahead and drink some for your acid indigestion and wind up in an ambulance.

You may notice Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda on the shelf, and you can drink baking soda or use it in your wash but it will cost you considerably more than the Super Washing Soda, which happens to be sodium carbonate, called soda ash, a chemical highly caustic and dangerous to the skin unless adequately diluted. But be careful, even baking soda can irritate sensitive parts of your skin if you use too much of it.

Here is what happened to dumb me, a poor old man now living below poverty level in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., and who has been doing his own wash since he ran away from home 63 years ago, a few days after his 13th birthday. The ladies at the foster home had taught me how to fold clothes and to crochet but nothing about actually washing clothes in the big tubs they used or in machines. So I got by until last month with putting all my clothes regardless of colors in one hole along with any kind of detergent in the amount indicated on the container.

And then my friend Elizabeth, probably noticing how dingy my clothes looked, suggested I add some Borax with my detergent. Borax is disodium tetraborate, a so-called green product found in natural deposits left in lakes. The Borax at my local Publix was $6.39. I bought Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda for $3.89. What a deal! The package stated that the "Super Washing Soda is a natural detergent booster and freshener and can be used all around the home – not only in the laundry room! For "best results" for laundry, "Add to very load along with detergent in High Efficiency Washing Machines." Further, "ADD ½ cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda along with your regular detergent and the beginning of the wash cycle."

So I used Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda as instructed, in a front loader washing machine at my local laundromat. As usual, I used the Publix brand, Free & Clear Laundry Detergent, meaning it is a "green" product. The chemicals in that detergent are not disclosed on the package, which does have an eye irritant and "do not ingest" warning.

A rash developed on my legs and arms the next day after wearing clothes from that wash. The rash appeared all over my legs under my Wrangler jeans, under the sleeve cuffs of my heavy Carhartt Loose Fit short sleeved shirt, and in spots under my heavy Wilson athletic socks. Fortunately, I was wearing boxer underpants. It was obvious that the heavy materials had retained the chemicals and had caused a rash where they were rubbing against my skin.

The itching was so severe that I could not sleep. I became upset and angry. I tried various home remedies. Only the "Major" brand of Calamine Lotion provided relief. I soon ran out of it and purchased the CVS Health brand of Calamine Plus (pramoxine HCI analgesic), a watered-down calamine lotion, sold at $8, and that did not work. I am also took a children's dose of antihistamine. I figured the calamine lotion was drying out my skin, so I switched to tea tree oil. The slightly burning sensation from tea tree oil was better than the itching. I ultimately switched to an aloe lotion for sunburns.

Long story short, after two weeks of misery and recommendations from friends that I go to an emergency room, my skin began to recover, and, after four weeks, I was back to normal except for the post-traumatic distress.

By the way, I cannot believe any of the high star ratings and reviews on the internet for any product now, especially Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. I know people react differently to different things, but I am not a freak, and I think the ratings are manipulated and misleading.

I had mixed up my clothes in the toxic wash, so I had to wash all my clothes again in the medium washer, at $5.50 per load plus $2.00 dry. Still I was so frightened at what might be in the clothes that I washed them all again in the big new front loader, at $6.25 per load plus $2.00 dry. And then I tried the jeans, got a slight itch, so rewashed them again.

I communicated back and forth with Arm & Hammer on Facebook about my experience, recommending they at least change their instructions and provide a warning to launder users. I finally addressed the online representatives and the public relations department of Church and Dwight with the following questions and issues, which remain unanswered:

1. Why does the Super Soda Wash package warn kitchen and bathroom users to wear rubber gloves when using the product, but provides no warning at all for laundry users, which is the main use identified at the top of the back of the box? Is it because you know well that the substance burns the skin, but you guarantee that it will be adequately diluted in all types of washing machines if used as instructed, as I did?

2. Does your firm guarantee to reimburse any customer who is injured by Super Soda Wash providing they comply with the requirements you stated to me, i. E. a physician's examination and other documentation?

3. Why does Arm & Hammer advise the consumers to double the amount of chemicals used for each wash load? The instructions for laundry use simply advise the consumer to add a half-cup of Super Washing Soda to the regular detergent used at the start of the washing cycle.

4. Why does a box of Super Washing Soda sell for 61% of the price of the competing 20 Mule Team Borax, yet the Borax flies of the shelf? (See the photo of the Publix shelf with no available Borax at $6.39, that empty shelf stuffed with Super Washing Soda at $3.89)

5. Please answer my former inquiry asking for the volume of complaints received about Super Washing Soda.

6. Please answer my former inquiry regarding the lot number on my box of Super Washing Soda, since it is in peculiar form according to the normal characteristics you initially provided to me. Was that lot inspected according to the stringent requirement you mentioned to me?

7. Please answer my former question as to whether potassium carbonate might have been mistakenly substituted for sodium carbonate in the production of this product.

8. I suggest that you have someone in marketing tracking public media sources for statements about your product. As noted, I noticed one source identifying Super Washing Soda or soda ash with baking soda. Could not that lead to serious injury and death?

9. Regarding this mission statement in your 2020 Annual Report:

'CULTURE Our "secret sauce" is the Church & Dwight culture. We describe ourselves as blue collar with a high aptitude and an underdog mentality. Church & Dwighters exhibit an absence of ego, 'wear many hats' because the responsibilities often go beyond the job description and make decisions based on "What is best for Church & Dwight", putting personal goals second. We have evolved to be digitally savvy in order to win in the digital world.'

I believe a more sophisticated approach is needed to indicate that your organization is awake to social and individual responsibilities. As it stands, the statement seems to ask for the narcissistic submergence of the personal ego into the corporation for the sake of the bottom line, which, after all, is what the annual statements are about. I suggest that everyone concerned should have the welfare of the customer in mind, first of all, because that will ultimately lead to the financial success of the corporate entity, which rightfully depends, after all, on providing the public with the best product at the best price.

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The silence of the Arm & Hammer division, with its $45 million in annual revenues, and that of its parent, Church and Dwight, with its $5 billion in revenues along with a very healthy margin, left me to make a few assumptions.

Church and Dwight could care less about changing their advertising of the product based upon the complaint of a poor old man who got burned by it, so forget about him. The Super Washing Soda is a low-end product used by persons who are unlikely to have the knowledge or means to effectively complain about any discomfort or injuries they may suffer from its use. No, they do not have the funds to consult with doctors and engage attorneys for a class action lawsuit if that is warranted. And mainstream media are not about to alienate a major advertiser over a some burned skin here and there. Wherefore my questions and positive suggestions were ignored.

That being said, I have finally lived long enough to learn to be very careful to use just the right amount of washing chemicals in washing machines, taking into account the sort of clothes, how dirty they may be and their weight, and the kind of machine used. You may not want to use the amount of chemical recommended on the container. The last rinse at least should be clear of detergents.

As for Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, the representative asked me to return the product to them so they could see what it was, but I decided to keep the evidence. I tried it in the bathroom with rubber gloves. It lifts grime right off the bathtub.