[Interview] Samsung Electronics x P&G: Tide POD Cold Wash Cycle Elevates the Laundry Experience on Samsung Washers1

Samsung DA interviewed R&D leaders Sung Dae Lee from Samsung and Jon Powell, Senior Director from P&G to highlight the companies’ collaboration on cold wash laundry innovation

Building on the strong foundation of a multi-year partnership, Samsung Electronics and Procter & Gamble launched the “Tide POD Cold” wash cycle on Samsung washers, making cold-water energy saving a convenient and effective reality for consumers across North America.

This type of joint innovation was made possible through close collaboration between two leaders in their respective industries. For example, Samsung continues to develop washer innovations with notable examples including AI Energy Mode, which allows consumers to save energy.

To delve deeper into this collaboration, we sat down with Sung Dae Lee, Head Engineer from the Digital Appliance (DA) Business at Samsung Electronics, and Jon Powell, Senior Director of Fabric Care Research & Development at P&G to get their thoughts on this cross-border, cross-time zone initiative. Below are some of the highlights from the interview:

Q: How did this collaboration come about?

Sung Dae Lee: The collaboration between Samsung and P&G has its origins in a simple idea. How can we deliver a superior cleaning experience when using cold water? The product developers at Samsung, together with P&G scientists, discovered that by combining key elements of Samsung’s hardware and software technology together with Tide’s unique formulation, laundry could be washed in cold water while still delivering excellent cleaning performance.

Q: Can you tell us about the synergy of this collaborative process?

Jon Powell: The collaboration involved technical synergy between P&G and Samsung, with both companies working together to design the Tide POD Cold cycle. This involved understanding the parameters of the Samsung machines and how the detergent chemistries interacted with those parameters to deliver optimal performance.

Sung Dae Lee: The Samsung washing machine with AI Energy Mode reduces electricity consumption for heating water, while the Tide POD Cold cycle ensures effective cleaning in cold water. Both companies prioritize energy conservation, which enhances our synergy.

Q: Can you tell us more about the formulation of Tide detergent? What makes Tide so effective, even in cold water?

Jon Powell: Tide detergent formulation incorporates special ingredients such as polymer systems to make it effective, even in cold water. Tide uses specially designed surfactants to help lift and remove soils, and these are especially effective at greasy food stain and body soil removal. Proprietary enzymes, which remain stable and effective at low temperatures, help remove specific types of stains like chocolate, toothpaste and grass stains. Polymer systems ensure that everything removed from the clothes gets suspended in the wash water and does not redeposit on the clothes.

To validate the performance of the new Tide POD Cold cycle, P&G performed certification testing. Stain removal tests were conducted using Samsung machines to compare the relative amount of stain removal between the normal cold cycle, the Tide POD Cold cycle, and the normal warm cycle.

Q: Were there any characteristics specific to the U.S. market or its users that were emphasized during development?

Sung Dae Lee: Generally speaking, U.S. consumers prefer shorter washing machine cycles, so we focused on achieving effective cleaning in cold water without increasing wash time. As a result of these efforts, the Tide POD Cold cycle only takes three minutes longer than the Normal cycle, while still delivering outstanding cleaning performance.

Q: What are your thoughts about Samsung’s laundry technology?

Jon Powell: Samsung has great machines, and their engineers have a deep understanding of designing machines that are easy to use and provide a high level of customization for consumers through AI. The LCD screen not only allowed for convenient product control but also provided easy access to various services such as the internet and YouTube. Samsung has designed a user experience that makes laundry easy and accessible for consumers.

Q:Please tell us more about P&G’s Tide Cold Certified program.

Jon Powell: The Tide Cold Certified program was launched to encourage more loads to be done in cold water. P&G aims to work with partners, such as Samsung, to provide an excellent wash performance, even when using cold water. Readers can learn more about the Tide Cold Certified program on the official website.

Q: Any final comments that you would like to share regarding the partnership, including your future vision or aspirations?

Sung Dae Lee: This experience has further encouraged Samsung to view consumer needs from many different perspectives and strive to deliver the most satisfying experiences possible.

Jon Powell: The partnership between P&G and Samsung is just getting started. The shared vision of both companies to deliver superior consumer experiences every day provides opportunities for future collaboration and innovation.

Together with P&G, Samsung shares a common vision to improve the consumer laundry experience through the power of innovation and collaboration. This partnership highlights how two global leaders are working together to provide more value to our consumers.

1 Available on select Samsung laundry machines in North America