Hi Pat!

P&G reformulated Tide F&G maybe about a year ago. Now I don't know for sure but believe they removed borax in order to obtain the EPA Safer Choice certification. As far as I know, it was only used as an enzyme stabilizer anyways, so removing it did not impact cleaning/odor removal. I have been using the new Tide F&G formula and find it cleans wonderfully.

Supposedly, they also removed the optical brighteners.

Yes, they removed optical brighteners from all their free and clear detergents. Tide F&G was at least five or six years ago. They were recently removed from their Tide Simply Free liquid for those that need an unscented detergent that does not contain enzymes.

Greeny, love you and thank you! I've been thinking about moving to the Tide Free/Clear PODS from the liquid (which I love. You just don't have to add anything to a Tide wash.) Why do you prefer the liquid over the PODS, please, I don't remember.

You're very welcome Pat! The pods clean wonderfully but contain optical brighteners, plus they are very expensive compared to liquids. I haven't used them in years as my washer automatically doses liquid detergent.