“Warning: Harmful if put in mouth or swallowed. Eye irritant. Pacs can burst if children put them in mouth or play with them. Keep out of reach of children.”

That’s the message that is displayed on the front of Tide’s updated 3-in-1 laundry detergent pouch. While the warning message is similar to what’s displayed on other laundry packages – and similar packages which contains potentially hazardous materials (i.e. fertilizer, dishwashing tabs, pesticides, etc.) – a new feature at the top of the package is the big differentiator. Specifically, Tide’s new laundry tab pouches are equipped with a Child-Guard zipper as a means of better keeping curious kids out of potentially dangerous packages.

Keeping such packages tucked away in cupboards and out of the reach of children is one thing, but accidents happen. In the United States, it’s estimated that about 0.5 percent, or about 12,000 of the total 2.2 million calls made to poison control centers each year are related to laundry packets of some kind. Tide’s parent company, P&G, has partnered with various organizations such as Safe Kids Worldwide and the American Cleaning Institute to help promote laundry safety. Its new package certainly helps, as the Child-Guard zipper is difficult for children to open, yet simple for adults to open and close. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 90 percent of all children under 5 cannot open it, even after being shown how to.

Tide’s redesigned packaging hit store shelves in May and was preceded by an April advertising campaign that demonstrated how quickly accidents in the home can occur and what parents can do to better safeguard their children from dangerous products. 

“Warning: Harmful if put in mouth or swallowed. Eye irritant. Pacs can burst if children put them in mouth or play with them. Keep out of reach of children.”

That’s the message that is displayed on the front of Tide’s updated 3-in-1 laundry detergent pouch. While the warning message is similar to what’s displayed on other laundry packages – and similar packages which contains potentially hazardous materials (i.e. fertilizer, dishwashing tabs, pesticides, etc.) – a new feature at the top of the package is the big differentiator. Specifically, Tide’s new laundry tab pouches are equipped with a Child-Guard zipper as a means of better keeping curious kids out of potentially dangerous packages.

Keeping such packages tucked away in cupboards and out of the reach of children is one thing, but accidents happen. In the United States, it’s estimated that about 0.5 percent, or about 12,000 of the total 2.2 million calls made to poison control centers each year are related to laundry packets of some kind. Tide’s parent company, P&G, has partnered with various organizations such as Safe Kids Worldwide and the American Cleaning Institute to help promote laundry safety. Its new package certainly helps, as the Child-Guard zipper is difficult for children to open, yet simple for adults to open and close. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 90 percent of all children under 5 cannot open it, even after being shown how to.

Tide’s redesigned packaging hit store shelves in May and was preceded by an April advertising campaign that demonstrated how quickly accidents in the home can occur and what parents can do to better safeguard their children from dangerous products.