JoBob- check out the smell of the liquid Ivory Snow next time you pass by it in the supermarket aisle....YUCKO! My DH first complained about it and I thought he was just exaggerating- how bad could it be?- until I washed my things and found he was dead right. And worse, the smell stayed in the wool through days of wearing it afterwards. I could smell it on a base layer right through my other layers! Sort of a sickeningly sweet artificial soapy smell. I bet you're right about the Ivory powder not smelling bad though. But DH and I are happy with the Woolite now, so we'll stick with that. I also find that it doesn't take much soap of any kind to get the merino woolens clean and fresh- less is best.