Are We About to Have a NATIONAL DISH SOAP Shortage?

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Sentry18

Sentry18

Thrivalist
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
19,105
Location
US of A
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/dish-soap-shortage/

Are We About to Have a NATIONAL DISH SOAP Shortage?

October 20, 2019

by Daisy Luther
For some reason, multiple stores have warned employees of an upcoming shortage of dish soap. A source at Wal-Mart went to work the other day and received this notice.



Huh. Dish soap.

My contact said that although the employees asked why there was going to be a shortage of dishwashing liquid, no explanation whatsoever was provided.

I’m personally not sure why this, of all products, should fall short, but it would be a good idea to pick some up. You can order a couple of jumbo jugs of Dawn or 4 bottles of Palmolive, and Amazon isn’t showing any messages to say “only 3 left, order soon.” But if everything is fine with the dish soap supply, you won’t have spent a lot of money on some otherwise useless item. Dish soap isn’t an expensive item and it’s not like you won’t use it up.

(The FTC wants you to know that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you’ll pay for that item.)
Despite that, if Walmart is putting out such an oddly specific alert to employees, I would suggest stocking up either on Amazon or at your local stores. It also might make one curious whether we’ll soon see shortages of other cleaning supplies, as many ingredients would probably be the same.

Why on earth is there going to be a dish soap shortage?
The only other information I could find about this was on Reddit, which of course, is a forum with people’s opinions, so I can’t vouch for the veracity of these claims. The people commenting seem to have some ties to retail.

haras718

I’m not a Walmart emp. But anyway…the dishsoap shortage, to my understanding, is mostly Dawn and P&G products. It has something to do with plastic, bottles, and tariffs. At least that is what I got out of the oddly worded message from our distributor.

AquaMarsh

Former Hellmart employee here and now truck driver. I pulled 2 P&G loads last week that were nothing but empty plastic bottles. The plant I got them from seemed super busy and more disorganized than usual.

Rybread1428

I had to put a sign up yesterday about it as I filled my shelves with dish soap. I’m curious to see how bad it actually gets because so far it I don’t see a shortage.

fidgit17

Same. That’s why I’m monitoring the situation. The letter says it could last til December 1st, so I guess we’ll see as time goes on. (source)

There are no substantiating press releases on the Proctor & Gamble website at the time of this publication.

You can also make your own dish soap.
The internet abounds with instructions to DIY just about anything. If you can’t find dish soap or just want to have the supplies on hand to make your own, here are some how-tos.

If you don’t already do this, add a splash of white vinegar to your rinse water to get things squeaky clean.

Have you heard anything about a dish soap shortage?
Why do you think we could be looking at a shortage of dish-washing liquid? Do you think this will carry over to other cleaning supplies?

Will you be stocking up on more liquid dish soap? I know we have quite a bit but I’m going to add more because who knows if this potential shortage will actually be over when it’s predicted to be?
Click to expand...
 
Just because Walmart is experiencing difficulties doesn't mean there is going to be a shortage. Walmart pays less for products from the manufacturer than any other business as they promote themselves as the highest volume purchaser in the market. If a supplier or manufacturer doesn't want to deal then they have to pay more or go someplace else. Since the name brands are popular they might be conducting a new contract and aren't getting the price they want.
 
SheepDog said:
Just because Walmart is experiencing difficulties doesn't mean there is going to be a shortage. Walmart pays less for products from the manufacturer than any other business as they promote themselves as the highest volume purchaser in the market. If a supplier or manufacturer doesn't want to deal then they have to pay more or go someplace else. Since the name brands are popular they might be conducting a new contract and aren't getting the price they want.
Click to expand...
BINGO! A shortage of dish soap at Squalmart, probably.
Walmart is bad about sending a memo to suppliers telling them what the 'new price' will be if they want to keep the "enormous Walmart contract".
Only one problem: that's not how a free market works.
They squeeze every dime out of supplier's profit that they can, even having them make a cheaper version (the WM store brand) to sell against their own product.
Walmart does not control commerce.
The tail does not wag the dog.
They have probably ticked off P&G enough to where P&G said:
"If people want our product we will make your customers go somewhere else to get them, take your contract and STUFF IT!".
(Ask Kmart how important that 'go somewhere else' phrase is:eek:).

There is no shortage of materials to make dish soap.
There is no shortage of companies to make dish soap.
There will be no shortage of dish soap.
 
Last edited:
Supervisor42 said:
...There will be no shortage of dish soap.
Click to expand...
I guess I should clarify my post and add:
...*except for that caused by panic-buying from the spreading of Walmart's message flying thru the grapevines.

I remember seeing the power of the "grapevine" before in the city next to where we lived in Alabama.
Like wildfire a rumor spread thru the grapevine that there would be a shortage of gasoline in the city and there wouldn't be any deliveries for 2 or 3 days (for no reason).
(Every station gets gas from a different supplier from different locations so that can't happen).
Within hours every gas station had lines of cars reaching out into the street.
Most of the cars from the entire city were in line.
Surprise, surprise, by nightfall the stations were all out of gas:rolleyes:.
Of course, the next morning there was a tanker in front of every convenience store... that was probably still busy, counting all the money:D.
 
Caribou said:
Walmart is running out of dish soap till December, so two questions. Which December? I'm set for at least the next two. Since I don't shop Walmart, do I really care?
Click to expand...
Guess who is going to have dish soap?
dollar-general-store-front.jpg

Just like always:).
Terri9630 said:
Why Dec?
Click to expand...
Likely WM made P&G so mad that P&G said: "We're not sending you
poop.png
at any price, until December:mad:.
Guess what? This is America and the dog wags the tail here.
And yes, P&G can certainly do that.
 
Last edited:
And since I have my finger on the pulse of business news, I should be able to give you the inside scoop on this squabble WM has gotten into tomorrow.
 
Weedygarden said:
I wonder if there is any connection to Wallyworld being low or out of other products and the dish soap being out of stock/
Click to expand...
Of course.
WM has an entire 'cubicle-city' of people at desks whose only job is continuously trying to coerce suppliers into accepting a lower price for their products or refusing to allow a price increase.
"...or you won't get the big contract:eek:"
Frequently they get fed-up and tell WM to 'take it and stuff it'.
I even remember one manufacturer that had the words "Never Sold In Walmart" printed on their retail boxes. (wish I could remember who it was).
brickwall100.gif

The other thing is supply and demand and price. Walmart is of course, "The low price leader". If you are shipping stuff to retailers and you won't have quite enough for everybody; are you going to short-ship to retailers that are paying 100% wholesale price or the one paying 78% wholesale price? This is why you frequently see 'hit & miss' out-of-stock conditions at WM.
Basically at their price-point, Walmart gets leftovers. If there is plenty, it's no big deal (which is typical).
 
Last edited:
Haertig said:
Not affected. We buy our dish soap at Costco, and their dual 55 gallon drum packaging is large enough to keep my family, and all our neighbors, washing in ignorant bliss for the next 300 years...
Click to expand...
There is something I am not familiar with. I buy the largest bottles of dish soap there, and keep several bottles of it. It will have many uses.
 
Meerkat said:
SuperV what you waiting for , lets hear it! How long we got? :eyeballs::sarcasm::) :dancing:
Click to expand...
No news announcement from P&G.
Checked the stock news. If P&G had the slightest hiccup in production, P&G stockholders would know first. (look under latest news) Nothing. Business as usual.
No need to even check WMT . They aren't even about to post a "We *ked up!" news article.
Everywhere I looked online there's just the same copy&paste in survivalist and prepper boards that is in the OP here.

I believed everybody jumped off the deep-end mis-interpreting what the store memo said. (do bear in mind, this was written by a Walmart employee:rolleyes:)
When it starts with the words "Dish soap" he is talking about this section of the detergent aisle.
When he says "national supply shortage" he means not just this store, but all WM stores to save people the trouble of driving to other ones.
That of course paints a completely different picture.
See the last 3 lines of post #3;).

@Weedygarden , Haertig was just making a funny about how huge everything is at Costco:D.
 
Last edited:
Sentry18 said:
You actually can buy dish soap in 55 gallon drums for $429 each.

http://powerconcentrates.com/valley-view-emerald-dishwashing-liquid-55-gal-drum/
Click to expand...
Boy! You'd be sitting on a gold-mine when the "NATIONAL DISH SOAP Shortage" gets here...(if it was real:rolleyes:).
My mother-in-law told me about the famous "National Toilet-Paper Shortage" scare in the 80's.
Everybody uses TP every day, right?o_O Running out would be unthinkable!
overreaction110.gif
panic.gif
They were among the herds that raced to the store and bought hundreds and hundreds of rolls.
HairOnFire.gif
Of course there was no shortage because dozens of different companies spread around the country make TP.

She said it took them years to use it up:rolleyes:.
 
Last edited:
Supervisor42 said:
Boy! You'd be sitting on a gold-mine when the "NATIONAL DISH SOAP Shortage" gets here...(if it was real:rolleyes:).
My mother-in-law told me about the famous "National Toilet-Paper Shortage" scare in the 80's.
Everybody uses TP every day, right?o_O Running out would be unthinkable!View attachment 27227View attachment 27226They were among the herds that raced to the store and bought hundreds and hundreds of rolls.View attachment 27228Of course there was no shortage because dozens of different companies spread around the country make TP.

She said it took them years to use it up:rolleyes:.
Click to expand...
I don't remember that but I guess the important thing is..... that she didn't run out and paid 80's prices.
 
Supervisor42 said:
Boy! You'd be sitting on a gold-mine when the "NATIONAL DISH SOAP Shortage" gets here...(if it was real:rolleyes:).
My mother-in-law told me about the famous "National Toilet-Paper Shortage" scare in the 80's.
Everybody uses TP every day, right?o_O Running out would be unthinkable!View attachment 27227View attachment 27226They were among the herds that raced to the store and bought hundreds and hundreds of rolls.View attachment 27228Of course there was no shortage because dozens of different companies spread around the country make TP.

She said it took them years to use it up:rolleyes:.
Click to expand...
It doesn't go bad, unless it gets wet.
I answered a Craigslist ad for a warehouse that was moving and had t.p. to give away. I filled my car and could have gone back for more, but thought I had enough. I have been using it for a few years now and still have years worth. It is not Charmin. I don't care.
 
@Sentry18 as this is something we should have in storage, well at least I do no-one should panic but the general populous does as they don't stockpile like most of us do. Grated soap or soap in a soap saver swished in water works as well.

I have a friend who lives in Scotland going through the Brexit thing and she is not a stockpiler and I told her to keep a few of everything just in case. They have been told being the latest news that toilet paper will run short so she purchased a few more.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top