SOS vs Brillo

SOS? Or Brillo? IMHO, there is no contest.  It’s hands down, SOS.

I think I have a lot of data to back me up here.  Being Italian-American, the 4th of 5 children, and being female, meant my dishwashing days began early.  I think KP duty for me began at around age 10. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the rules of being Italian-American growing up in the 60’s and 70’s as I did, it meant if you were a girl, you did the dishes.  You cooked. You cleaned. You did the laundry.  Your brothers? They mowed the lawn.

And no matter how your feminist ire was stoked by this and much as you spoke out against the injustice of it all, you were still the one doing the dishes and pretty much all the housework. Italian-American households back then believed in child labor, the division of that labor based on your gender, and ruled like Caesar was still a thing.

My mom, for those of you who may recall from other blog posts, was all about the brand name.  She was not one to scrimp, or buy off label.  She was all about top quality even if it was top price.

So, we had SOS pads.  And only SOS pads.  I didn’t even know Brillo pads existed until I married Ernie. 

They say most people marry people of the same socio-economic status.  And while that is true of me and Ernie, what is also true, which they don’t talk about but should, is that we were not of the same Consumer Thriftiness Score status.  The first time we went food shopping together as a married couple nearly resulted in an annulment.

Back to the SOS pads.  I have been washing pots and pans for nigh on 52 years now.  That’s a lot of data to support my claim that SOS is best.

Of course, I couldn’t confidently proclaim this without ever having tried the Brillo pad over the course of those 52 years.

Given Ernie’s Consumer Thriftiness Score, which on a 10-point scale with 10 being the thriftiest, is a 20, would buy the Brillo pads whenever he would go shopping.  He would go shopping a lot because once he realized I wasn’t even registering on the Consumer Thriftiness Score, he needed to proactively keep me out of the grocery store.

So, I have used Brillo. I have washed many a pot and pan with Brillo. I have scrubbed my sink with Brillo.  And let me tell you.  I know Brillo.  And Brillo is no SOS.

Let’s start with the level of soap.  The Brillo comes out of the box and it seems to have a decent amount of soap on it, which in Brillo’s case is colored pink.  As compared to SOS’s which is blue.  Fairly certain the color of the soap is not a factor in its soaping capacity.  But, who knows?

Because the problem is the longevity of the soap on the Brillo pad.  Or more accurately, the lack of longevity.  If you are lucky, you might get two uses out of one pad, maybe 3? Because before you know it that pink stuff is gone and all you are left with is a square of rusty steel wool. 

That’s another factor.  The Brillo pad seems to rust much faster than the SOS pad.

And that Brillo steel wool? It’s like those first few gray hairs you get as you age.  They are wiry. In fact, they are so wiry they are capable of poking your eye out. 

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve picked up the Brillo pad only to have it stab my fingers. It’s hard to get a comfortable grip on the Brillo pad without it hurting your hands.  Of course, wearing gloves would eliminate that problem, but this is a head-to-head comparison of Brillo vs SOS.  Not work arounds on how to use the Brillo without causing bodily harm.

SOS, on the other hand? Much longer soap life-span. And steel wool that doesn’t assault you.

It costs $3.19 for a box of SOS at my local Giant vs $2.49 for a box of Brillo pads for the same 10 count size.  Anyone with a Consumer Thriftiness Score of 7 or above is going to do what they think is the no-brainer and save themselves 70 cents.

However, I haven’t done the analysis yet to quantify how much, if anything you are really saving in the end, because the SOS pad lasts longer than the Brillo. But, I don’t even care.  SOS works better.

And when it comes to a chore like scrubbing pots and pans and kitchen sinks, how can you even put a price tag on anything that makes that easier? 

You can’t.  Consumer Thriftiness Score can take a backseat on this one.