Class action claims All laundry detergent label overstates number of loads possible

All detergent lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A laundry detergent consumer is suing All. 
• Why: The plaintiff says the company falsely advertises how many loads of washing the detergent is sufficient for.
• Where: The All detergent lawsuit was filed in a Missouri federal court.

A laundry detergent consumer is suing the brand All, alleging the company falsely advertises how many loads of washing the detergent can do per container.

Plaintiff Valerie Waller filed the class action lawsuit against Henkel Corporation on April 17 in a St. Louis County Circuit Court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.

According to the lawsuit, the laundry detergent manufacturer falsely claims that enough detergent is provided for 58 loads when, in reality, consumers doing a full load of washing would only be able to do less than half the amount of loads. 

All advertises the “58 LOADS” claim prominently on the front of the product, Waller says. 

However, a mark on the packaging corresponds to small print on the back of the bottles that disclaims that the full number of loads is dependent on the smallest of four load sizes, the lawsuit states.

“Putting this all together — to the extent a consumer can follow the textual ‘clues’ riddled across the product’s container — the amount of detergent in the container is only sufficient for ’58 LOADS’ if a ‘load’ is a so-called ‘regular’ load, which is less than half a full load,” Waller states.

“Consequently, for the vast majority of consumers doing full loads of laundry at high efficiency … the most loads the product provides detergent for is approximately half as many, or roughly just approximately 28 loads, or less” 

‘Reasonable consumers’ wouldn’t read the fine print, lawsuit states

Based on the “58 LOADS” claim on the front of the detergent, a “reasonable consumer” would think they were buying enough detergent for 58 normal loads, Waller states.

She adds that the average consumer spends less than 20 seconds making any in-store buying decision, and the decision relies almost completely on front labeling when comparing products for price and value.

Waller is looking to represent a class of Missouri citizens who bought the detergent in the past five years.

She is suing for breach of warranty, breach of implied contract under Missouri law and Maine law, unjust enrichment under Missouri law, and violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. Waller seeks certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.

In April, Procter & Gamble (P&G) was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it falsely advertises certain containers of its Gain laundry detergent as containing enough detergent to do 32 loads of laundry, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

What do you think of the claims against All in this class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments! 

Waller is represented by Daniel Harvath of Harvath Law Group LLC. 

The All detergent class action lawsuit is Valerie Waller et al., v. Henkel Corp., Case No. 4:23-cv-00486, in the Circuit Court for St. Louis County, State of Missouri. 

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