90 Degree's Wash!

[gorenje]

Hello Flo,

thanks for the answer.

It's nice to hear that you had so many spetial editions of the powdered Formil. It would be nice that we had in Slovenia so many variants. And it would be nice if the package would be smaller. 100 loads is a huge amount. I bought a 100 loads box of the "rising sun" for my grandmother and I was tired of using it because it didn't wanted to end up.

I figured that you were also a detergent collector. (and detergent expert)
Yes right, those for the collection I don't use. If I want to use them I buy two, one for the collection and one to be used. (It happens many times because I'm too tempted to use them)
I guess you have already seen my blog. http://wash-me-up.blogspot.com/

Ingemar

 

[liberator1509]

Once a week

So others use the 90 cycle too! We do one 90 a week for dish-cloths, tea-towels, oven gloves, napkins and table linens - it all goes into the Zanussi top-loader with a pre-wash and long cycle. I use Persil NB, some oxi-white and own-brand fabric conditioner (Tesco blue at the moment). It takes about three and a half hours, but everything comes out spotless.

Everything else is done as follows: whites (shirt, sheets and 'foundation wear' - love that term) at 60 in the Hotpoint TL, Persil NB and with or without heater (45 mins without, about 55 with so depending on how much time I have), brights on 50 or 40 and colours on 30 - all with Persil Colour liquid. Again, I use the 'economy' setting which bypasses the heater, and just takes the fill-temperature to knock a few minutes of the cycle time if I'm in a rush.

The only stain the refuses to budge is iron staining from a disastrous period when our well-water conditioner failed - a load of nice white towels ruined. It appears nothing with shift this (bleaching, boiling etc). anybody got any experience of this?

 

[nrones]

Always

I use 90degree wash for all whites and resistant colours!

I do that basicly because I hate complicated procedures with stain removers and other additives, so it's just easier to put the POWDER detergent and ALL stains are GONE on 90c.

I also don't want to waste my time separating ''stained'' and ''non-stained'' (although I could), but when I see a non-stain load (which happends max. once in 1 or 2 months) I do it on 60 or 40

Also, high temp washers are healthy for machine, so one more benefit too!!

Dex

 

[foraloysius]

Iron

If you have iron stains, you need a good detergent with enzymes. Overhere in the Netherlands we still have a prewash detergent called Biotex. It's working wonderful on such stains. Wash at 40*C, not hotter, otherwise the iron stains might burn in.

 

[servisslimline]

85/90/95c

i do boil washes quite often for white towels and other white items but im cutting down to only boil washing white towels now, plus i also do a 90/95 for maintenance cycles but depending on my machines, the other reason i boil wash is because i like to use all programmes as much as possible becuase i find it boring just using cotton 40's and 60's all the time
phil

 

[liberator1509]

@ foraloysius

We can get Biotex here too - I'll try it, but I think I managed to set the stains in with a hot wash! Well-water is not all its cracked up to be!!!

 

[MrX]

The only advantage of a very hot wash is to kill bugs and activate oxygen bleach to the maximum level.

A good biological (enzyme-containing) detergent should be able to remove everything very effectively at lower temperatures. The very hot water stops enzyme activity and also deforms some of the polymers that are used to remove stains in modern detergents.

I find a 40ºC wash more than enough to remove pretty much anything, provided you use a good detergent.

I've been using the new Persil Bio S&M recently and I have to say it's excellent.
So's ariel excel gel, but I can't stand the scent.

I must give some of the Aldi and Lidl detergents a try. Any suggestions?
They seem to be made by a division of RB (Reckitt and Benckiser) so, they have to be pretty good.

 

[paulc]

mrx

I am also using Persil Small and Mighty for all laundry apart from whites and love it. I have to say I thought Ariel Excel Gel with Actilift seemed to make holes appear on t-shirts, tea towels and underwear so I stopped using it, plus hubby hated the smell when drying indoors.

On my whites I am using Persil Bio tablets.

I think Aldi's detergent is made by McBride....well their gel is for sure, not certain about the powder.

 

[MrX]

Yeah, I had that problem with Ariel Excel Gel too.

The last Aldi detergents I used were definitely made by ProPack gmbh which is a division of Reckitt Benckiser (RB). It's their private label brand for supermarkets.

 

[paulc]

MrX

I have an Aldi less that 2mins walk from my house. I have used their tablets but found them way too sudsy and sent my machine into a hissy fit. Tried just using one tablet and did not get good results. I haven't tried their powder though. Back to the subject of 90deg washes, I very rarely use the 95deg setting on my machine. Only if I have a really big load of heavily soiled white cotton. I mostly use 60deg for those loads and get great results.

 

[hassney]

Well...

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">lol don't get me started on Ariel Excel Gel... Ariel Liquid = yes Ariel Excel Gel = no! Thought I was the only one who thought the smell of Ariel Excel Gel smells and smells harsh too.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">
</span>

 

[lavamat_jon]

I like to use the Cottons Hygiene 95*C on occasion to wash teatowels/cleaning cloths etc... otherwise highest I go to is 60*C .

 

Got a load in at the moment with the new Persil tabs...

 

Jon

 

[paulc]

Jon

I think you'll be impressed, the new Persil tablets are very good.

 

[hassney]

95*C Cottons Hygiene...

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hi Jon, lovely machine you have there. I'm interested to know what Cotton's Hygiene 95*C exactly means, I'm hearing more machine's having this cycle now. Is that another way of saying boil wash? Or is it a extended washing time? </span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hass.</span>

 

[lavamat_jon]

Cheers Hass;

 

Basically, there are two cottons cycles on my machine - Cottons Universal and Cottons Hygiene.  Cottons Universal is your standard, everyday cycle 30-60*C, does longer rinse spins, and has a different final spin profile. It also has more a more intensive wash rhythm; basically it's intended for most of your daily laundry needs - I use it for almost everything.

 

Cottons Hygiene consist of the higher temperature cycles; 75 and 95*C temps available, still fast spin but it has a different run up, it does standard tumbling throughout the wash rather than employ the wash rhythms that Mieles normally do on a cottons cycle, the interim spins are shorter (only a min, versus 3 or 4 mins for some on Universal), and also does a cooldown at the end of the mainwash.

 

It's different to the Hygiene cycles on the newer machines... my mums Miele is newer and has a Hygiene cycle, and that is only at 60*C but it maintains the temperature for over an hour I think and does extra rinsing compared to the normal cycles.

 

Jon

 

[lavamat_jon]

Paul - halfway through the box of Persil tabs now, am pretty impressed with them; got a 90 wash box of the bio powder to use next.  Have a box of lavender Bold, and whilst it does smell absolutely gorgeous and is nice for bedding or normally soiled laundry, it struggles with stains and definitely nowhere near as good as the A's or P's for cleaning performance.

 

Then again, I knew all that exactly when I was buying it, but when you see 80 washes and special offer it's a must buy for a detergent freak

 

Jon

 

[paulc]

Jon

I too love the smell of Bold but am with you on the cleaning performance....it is not great, especially at low temperatures. As regards Persil, I really think the tablets are better than the powder, I think the tabs must have more OBA's as they whiten better than the powder in my opinion.

 

[lavamat_jon]

And in the Lavatherm...

 

Have to say that I'm impressed! Even the mophead looked brand new, my previous Ariel powder always got it clean but it always had a grey tinge...

 

Jon

 

(apologies for the crap photo, just shot it quickly on the phone whilst making dinner...)

 

[hassney]

Bold

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">I love the smell of Bold but not really sure if it cleans well? What's your verdict on this gang? </span>

 

[superelectronic]

The main problem with Bold (powder) is that the oxygen bleach content is under 5%; in Ariel, by comparison, it's 15-30%. If you were to use it on whites/lights it would struggle to remove anything bleachable. I daresay if you pepped it up with some stain remover or plain old oxy bleach (e.g. Ecover - but only now available in Waitrose or online) it would do well enough! Trouble is, that isn't a cheap option.

 

I've not used Bold in years to be honest and last time I did the OBAs were a bit rudimenary, making the whites look a touch dyed rather than brightened. I'm still tempted to buy some though...so I can have a bit of softness in the whites wash without splitting the load and running a separate rinse (don't want softened towels etc but do like it on sheets/shirts/undies).

 

Ultimately, it's a 2 in 1 so you'll never get as good a result as with separates; depends what you're willing to sacrifice really!