ONCE upon a time all it took was a big bar of yellow soap and a poss tub - and a penny blue bag for the whites. (The last time I saw a bag of Reckitt's Blue, I think it cost the equivalent of ten bob. Does anyone still use it?)

Then there was powder, then liquid, then concentrated powder. No sooner are they being cleared to a corner of the shelves to make way for tablets than we now have yet another development - capsules.

These are tiny squidgy little bags full of liquid. You pop one in the wash, put your clothes on top and that's it. "No measuring, no mess, no need for a net," says the blurb.

True. But pouring liquid from a bottle into a dispenser doesn't take rocket science. And putting the liquid in a bottle instead of soluble plastic could save an awful lot of packaging and possibly expense. But it wouldn't be so new and exciting, would it?

Anyway, there's only one way to judge, so we tried them to see if it all came out in the wash...

ARIEL £3.48 for 12

Recommended dosage: one/two for heavy soiling in medium or hard water

Cost per wash: 29p/58p

Results: Excellent

ASDA LOGIC £2.18 for 10

Recommended dosage: one/two for hard water or very dirty clothes

Cost per wash: 22p/44p

Results: Excellent. Only one didn't dissolve in low temperature wash.

BRIO ACTIPODS £3.99 for 20

These were horrid. The liquid had already started seeping through the capsules, making them unpleasant and slimy to deal with. And after beginning to disintegrate in the box, some still refused to melt in the wash.

Recommended dosage: One/two for hard water or very dirty clothes

Cost per wash: 20p/40p

Results: Good when the capsule dissolved - but it didn't often do that, though they seemed to dissolve quite happily in the box. So very mixed.

PERSIL BIO CAPS £3.09 for 20

Recommended dosage: two for light soiling/three for very dirty clothes

Cost per wash: 30p/46p

Results: Very good - but only when we used three capsules. Capsules didn't always dissolve in low temperature wash.

SAINSBURYS £2.19 for 8

Recommended dosage: one - however dirty the clothes or hard the water.

Cost per wash: 27p

Results: excellent. These really did work well. One capsule was enough for all but the greasiest, dirtiest wash for which we used two. Only one didn't dissolve fully.

TESCO £2.69 for 10

Recommended dosage: One/two for heavy soiling and hard water

Cost per wash: 27p/54p

Results: excellent, but some didn't dissolve fully in a 40-degree wash.

VERDICT

These are a very expensive way of doing your washing, especially if, like me, you live in a hard water area. 58p per wash can soon add up to serious money. They also have their limitations:

* They can't be used on pre-wash or economy cycles;

* They can't be used on silk or wool;

* They can't be used for hand washing;

* Some tablets say they are not suitable for temperatures below 40. But we found that even on 40 degree washes at least one capsule from every packet (apart from Ariel), didn't dissolve completely and left a glutinous green slime in the machine;

* They aren't adaptable. You either use the standard dose or twice as much. You can't, like powder, use just a little bit more.

BUT...

... when they work, they work very well. So occasionally, for particularly dirty washing, they might be worth the money, but for ordinary grubbiness they are an unnecessary extravagance.