Joe, you are correct. Most are difficult to see.

My 62 year old mother just loves the Method bottles because she knows; 2 pumps for a small load, 4 pumps for a regular load, 6 pumps for a large load. She thinks it really simplifies the process plus no messy caps.

We both have detergent and fabric softener from Shaklee too that has a pump. Each pump is 1/4 oz. Much easier than measuring into caps.

One thing I read you can try; use a permanent black marker (like Sharpie) and mark the cap on the inside (and outside if you like). Make sure cap is clean and completely dry of course. This should help significantly.

I've never tried it so not sure how well the ink holds up but seeing that it's permanent marker - should do OK.

Let us know if you try it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Method Laundry

Thanks for the tip! The thought of using a sharpee did cross my mind, but then life got in the way and I never got back to it. I'm going to clean the cap out, now that laundry is over for the week, and mark my cap!

I guess it is just the principle of the thing - folks shouldn't have to mark their caps for ease of use îÂÂ.

Yes, liquid detergent & softener cap dosage markings are very badly engineered.

Bottle of Wisk Liquid I have, impossible to see, the cap is deep red and not translucent so holding it up to a window or light source does not help. Same for Snuggle softener, blue cap. Tried shining a hefty flashlight at the Snuggle cap a few mins ago and and was shocked (shocked, I tell you, LOL!) to find that I could vaguely discern markings for 4, 3, 2, and 1 dosage lines. Interestingly, Wisk and Snuggle are both products of Sun.

A Tide version I have (HE Coldwater) has a blue cap and IS nicely translucent ... but even so, one must hold the cap carefully level to get a proper reading.

Why hell can't the caps be translucent white, or even outright transparent, with black (or some color) dosage lines?

This gray cap example, I don't remember what was the product, possibly Wisk of some ilk. There's a lower "1" and higher "4" marking around the other side.

Detergent manufacturers could solve this problem once and for all by simply switching to translucent caps. Clorox 2 and Vaska do this, and both products are extremely easy to dispense. I'm sure some of these companies secretly hope that you'll use more than what is recommended.

This was a good read from the WSJ (The Great American Soap Overdose).

I do find the staggered numbers from P&G slightly easier to read. Although Tide Total Care is not staggered (weird)?

Clorox Greenworks is easy to see as the lines and numbers stand out well.

Realistically, they could develop an easy to read cap - why aren't they??

Here is a link that might be useful: The Great American Soap Overdose

@chuffle - I find the caps horribly difficult to read and my eyes are a little older than yours. I've been doing the Sharpie line on the outside for a while. I fear the detergent might lift some of the ink off and redeposit it permanently, somewhere, on my laundry.

The bottle cap of Small & Mighty 3x Ultra ALL F&C is completely maddening. The bottle label says line #1 is 1 oz. and line #2 is 1.5 oz, but when I measure those amounts in the cap, they are way off.

I have some nice Rubbermaid plastic measuring spoons that include a 1/2 Tb. and I use those, instead.

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one...

It was so maddening, spending ten minutes trying to get the light just right, so that I could measure the Snuggle the first time that I used it.

Maddening also, that Sun can't value their customers enough to send a form email, acknowledging the receipt of my politely worded message about the cap. But that's another story...

Joe

Snuggle is another Sun product? The ALL I mentioned above is another Sun product brand. Sort of makes one wonder about them.....

All Free/Clear 96 load bottle with a spout has a nice clear cap. I have this and use it for whatever brand detergent I am using at the time. #'s 1-4 and easy to see.

For softener, I use a white Downey Free/Sensitive cap. Easy to see inside.

Tide with Bleach HE has a white cap which is easy to measure correctly. I also have some Wisk HE, and it has a gray cap whose lines are not as easy to see. I have to tilt it in the light, which does enable me to see the lines. I use Tide Total Care HE frequently, and haven't noticed a problem measuring it.

My washer's fabric softener dispenser has a line showing the highest recommended level, so I don't have to measure that.

One thing I've noticed is that the huge bottles with dispensers are easier to measure (speaking mainly of ERA detergent and Snuggle f/s; I haven't bought other products w/ dispensers). The caps are clear, very easy to see through. It would be great if ALL caps were clear or white.

Powder detergent sure is easy to measure. :)

My Wisk HE's gray cap does have lines marked on the INside of the cup, not just the outside as the one pictured above. I have no idea why mine is different?