The other day I made a new store brand purchase of Market Pantry Instant Oatmeal. I wanted to determine if this would be an item that we could make a switch to, to save a little money. I try to make a purchase like this at least once or twice during our two large shopping trips for the month. When we make these purchases, they are intended to determine if the quality is similar to the brand that we normally purchase, so that we are able to replace the more expensive brand.

I chose Market Pantry’s Instant Oatmeal Maple & Brown Sugar to compare to Quaker Instant Oatmeal Maple & Brown Sugar. While the flavors are somewhat similar, the Quaker has a much sweeter, fuller flavor. This wasn’t an area that discouraged me from making the purchase again in the future. The major difference in the oatmeal was the tenderness of Quaker’s oatmeal compared to Market Pantry which seemed a little like cardboard.

In Market Pantry’s defense, I have tried Aldi’s brand of instant oatmeal as well, and the taste was definitely lacking there too. It really makes me wonder how there could be such a difference in the quality of the oatmeal when both are oatmeal. It’s not as if there is some inferior cardboard oatmeal growing in a field somewhere. After some research about oatmeal, I figured that the difference is probably in the manufacturing process where the oats are steamed and roasted.

I may be a Quaker Instant Oatmeal snob, but I do like to enjoy a bowl of oatmeal when I am eating it. I am not paying an excessive amount for the Quaker, since I usually wait for the oatmeal to go on sale, but it is a little frustrating when the store brand quality is so inferior that it isn’t even worth buying, even if the Quaker oatmeal isn’t on sale.

I learned of Dryel several years ago and have used it many times since discovering it. Dryel was introduced by Proctor & Gamble as a product for dry cleaning in your home as an alternate to traditional dry cleaning. Dryel was the first product created to clean and deodorize clothes intended for dry cleaning in a household dryer.

I will start by saying that I absolutely love Dryel. I initially looked into using Dryel as an alternate to dry cleaning due to several sweaters worn during the summer and winter months that require dry cleaning. Dry cleaning for a sweater is on the pricey side, around $4 or $5 for each dry cleaning. In the winter I can get away with wearing my sweaters two to three times, but the summer proves to be a different story and I may only wear a sweater once or twice.

Wearing my sweaters and utilizing a dry cleaning service can add a good sum of money to my monthly bills which is something I want to avoid. Not only was I sending my shirts, pants, and suits to the dry cleaners on top of that I had my expensive sweaters. I had heard of Dryel but was skeptical about using it since dry cleaning seemed to be such a tried and true method for laundering dry clean only garments. I knew that I would not be able to use Dryel for things that require meticulous ironing. Ironing is one of my weak areas, but I was certain that I could at least try a sweater since there was nothing to iron.

Dryel retails for around $12 for a starter kit and the same price for the cleaning cloth refills. They Dryel dryer bag is intended to withstand approximately 50 loads of dry cleaning and each load will hold up to 12 garments. Although the start-up cost for purchasing the Dryel starter kit seems high, it reduces my overall spending for dry cleaning.

What I like about the product is that it not only saves me money, it does a great job too. Since using Dryel, I have not taken any of my sweaters to the dry cleaners. I have even thrown a few of my pants in the bag as well since I know that I can iron the crease back in, but I have not been brave enough to dry clean any of my shirts yet.

For best results I recommend reading all of the Dryel instructions included with the kit, and reading garment labels to determine if Dryel would be a good alternative to traditional dry cleaning. If you are interested in trying Dryel, they currently have a $2 coupon available on their site that can be mailed to you that can be used on their starter kit or refills. Dryel can be found at Target and most other retailers that carry laundering products.