A good brand of detergent is......

[andy]

I've been using Coldwater Tide, the 52 Load bottle, it's gone up to around $12 a bottle now, pretty pricey. It creates absolutely no suds at all, not bubble number one shows up, but it does create milky water.

The clothes seem to come out fairly clean, not great though. Is there any brand out there any better and cheaper? What brands are those powdery detergents that create the suds? Are they good?

I'm not familiar with this "High Efficiency" detergent they have come out with now, but maybe Tide has teamed up with that to make it more pricey? Any thoughts?

Andy

 

[ronhic]

Andy,

...It is all going to depend on what type of machine you have.

 

If you have a traditional, high water level agitator or impeller style top loader, you don't need high efficiency detergent.....

 

If you have a front loader or one of the 'wash plate' style top loaders that are marked for 'He' detergent, then you need to buy that....

 

So to detergents....more than one poster on here has sung the praises of  Sears 'Ultra Plus'....and many of us, regardless of nationality, find powders work better than liquids....

 

[strongenough78]

<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; color: #800000;">I agree with ronhic, I have yet to use Sears Ultra Plus, but just about everyone here just raves about it. It's going to be my next purchase when I'm in need for more detergent myself. Many say it works better than Tide.</span>

 

[maytagbear]

Sears Ultra Plus (orange box)

Works VERY well on my soils, is totally inexpensive, and rinses well. It has a light, barely detectable citrus-ish scent.

Lawrence/Maytagbear[this post was last edited: 1/29/2011-06:39]

 

[sudsman]

I have used ultra plus (orange box ) for years.

I normally use it in the home machines  and  smaller machines, It does a good job on most all the work and is very inexpensive to use. compared with most other brands.  I do recommend it highly if  you have fairly soft water.  It does not do that well in hard water areas however.  

 

Just had a new rep leave us 3 50 lb bags of ALL to try yesterday and it does not do near as well as the Ultra plus does. And is no where near the Old  ALL that had the  3 "B's"   Bleach  Borax and Brightners.   It is now labled as "professional all" but just is not what it once was.

 

[peterh770]

On those bags of ALL, are they from Lever or from Sun?  You might have some rare leftover Lever product.  Check for phosphates...

 

[yogitunes]

Cold Water Wash.....I find it best to disolve SUP in warm/hot water then adding it to the machine......

maybe its the season, but it seems to stay crystalized in cold water if added direct

some cold water is too cold

but otherwise works great....savings you ask....most times on sale for 19.99 for 275 loads, thats a load a day for almost 9 months straight, your mileage may vary...but heck for heavy soil, you could double the dose, controlled suds in any machine, and still be cheaper than most any quality brand out there....

 

[bleacho]

let P+G keep their product!!!!

just bought sears 180 load HE dtergent for 11.99. works just fine. tide by the way has moved into 40 ounce bottles from 50 ounce containers.. when does it stop? they keep playing with the ingredients, more, and more marketing to make consumers think P+G brands are terrific!! there's just as good out there without the high prices..

 

[launderess]

Watch For Sales & Stock Up On Tide Products

Maybe it is because P&G has been feeling the effects of the bad economy, as consumers shun top shelf laundry products for cheaper brands, Tide is frequently on sale here.

It might be one chain of stores this week, another a week or several later but Tide has been on sale, usually with savings of $2-$4 (or more) off. Combined with a coupon you can save big.

Another route is to contact P&G/Tide via the customer service telephone number on the packet, and state your case. Often they will send a few coupons as one's reward for being a loyal customer.

Finally you can join Tide's websites, where IIRC you will receive news-letters and offers of discounts.

Regarding All Detergent,

Don't think those bags are from the Lever Bros days if only because of the "HE" on the packet. Could be wrong..

Have a huge box of vintage All detergent (with the Three B's), have yet to crack it open, maybe one day.... Always remember the televison commercials featuring the case of "Get Smart", touting All detergent.

 

[andy]

Considering the powder detergent and screens in the fill hos

I may try the powder detergent and see if it cleans better. I use a traditional top loader washer, with the tall agitator. It's a 2007 or 2008 GE.

There is no setting on the washer for a warm rinse like older models. It's strictly cold rinse only.

The fill hoses have those screens in them, and due to well-water, the little screens in the hoses get plugged up with sediment and have to be taken apart and cleaned or replaced about every month or two. It's a pain, really.

Are those little screen required? Or can the fill hoses have regular garden hose gaskets? I don't ever remember the old GE washer having this issue.

Andy

 

[DADoES]

 

Better to have screens at the taps to catch the debris before it gets to the machine and clogs the inlet valves, even if they need to be cleaned frequently.

 

[laundromat]

My favorite detergent currently is Gain with bleach. It is not HE but, I know exactly how much to use and have no issues at all with oversudsing.I use either the liquid or the powder but prefer the liquid because the powders have a tendency to leave residue in the sump. when I use the powder, I pour it directly on the clothes in the tub.My clothes come out real clean and smell real fresh.I always get complements on the nice smell that seams to linger around me.One night in Orlando, I went on my dinner break and a girl at Wendy's asked me what type of cologne I was using. I told her "Gain" and her boyfriend laughed his butt off.She was so embarrassed but, I told her that we would have made a great commercial for P & G and not to feel to bad about it.

 

[whirlcool]

 Don't forget the mexican detergents. We have been using FOCA powder for quite some time.  It's cheap too. It cleans really well and rinses out completely, which is important for us.  It's available at Walmart.  Use it with some STTP and it'll match the high price detergents every time in the way of performance.

 

 We liked Gain with baking soda powder, but it came and went before we had a chance to buy it again.

 

[toploader1984]

powder

i use tide mountain spring powder, sometimes tide original with bleach (love the smell) i always try other powders but go back to tide. i am still searching for a detergent that does a good job OTHER than tide.... i am trying to get away from PG products since tide is "reformulated" once a year... you just start to like it again and they change it. i also don't like what PG is doing with cascade all of the problems and they basically said they don't plan on reformulating cascade to adress the problems...... yet products like tide that work great they reformulate... go figure.

 

[matthewza]

i find that purex ultra liquids work quite well and last extremely long. the australian/new zealand x-pert is also a very good powder

 

[rayjay]

Persil

I find Persil Powder works very well, and is low sudsing. It also has a nice clean scent, not stinky mouldy like our liquid detergents. lol

Tide Powder HE is nice also.

 

[solsburian]

I like Persil (the Unilever stuff) too. We have still got two half boxes of Ariel and Ariel Colour to go through but once there used up we will switch (I'll feel a bit like a traitor though lol). I find Ariel foams up too much and is hard to rinse out.

 

[spookiness]

Gain HE powder

Upon recommendation of somebody here, I tried Gain HE powder, even though I have a regular top loader. I really like it, seems to work well, rinses clean, and doesn't have the too-heavy scent that I experienced with Gain liquid.

 

[re563]

well I can't believe that i'm gonna say this, but...

I've been using UP for a while and really liked it. I've kepted a bottle of ALL small and mighty in the cabinet for nicer clothes/delicates. Well, last week I decided to see how it would do on regular laundry. WOW--white whites, the colored clothes looked great. I paired it with final touch fabric softner and the scent on the clothes when the laundry was done was unbelievealbe--it took me back to when I was a kid and could smell the neighors laundry when they hung stuff out.

 

[gmmcnair]

I have tried lots of different stuff and....

...I still like my Sears Ultra Plus the best. I keep a jug of Seventh Generation Liquid on hand for my delicate cycle darks, but everything else gets the SUP with a little bit of STPP added if they're dirty dirty.

 

[franksdad]

STTP

What is STTP?

I use Sears Ultra Plus powder along with Borox or Publix Chlorine-Free bleach. I use Tide Free liquid with the gentle version of Clorox for whites and underwear. I sometimes use the Publix brand free and clear liquid detergent. I have had good success with Publix brand detergents, bleach, and fabric softners.

Jim

 

[toploader1984]

sttp

STTP stands for sodium tripolyphosphate "phosphates" found in laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. or formerly in detergent i should say.... there is also TSP trisodium phosphate which is what people use to clean walls before they paint but is different from STTP. phosphates is a main ingredient in detergents which act as a builder and water softener. a main ingredient which was removed recently bacuse of tree huggers and the government on one of their power trips.

 

[franksdad]

Thank you.

Appreciate the info. I didn't know.

 

[DADoES]

 

Not STTP.  Not TSP.

 

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">STPP</span> (Sodium TriPolyPhosphate).

 

[tomturbomatic]

Is there still a detergent by the name of DIXAN? Some was given to me in 2002, I think, and it was put away (hidden and lost). I just came across it a few weeks ago. It was put in a plastic container with part of the DIXAN bag around it. Tried one coffee measure (two Tbs) with an equal amt of STPP (same formula I use with powder TIDE he) in the Miele W1986 with a load of white bath sheets at 140F. The rinsing was superb; even better than with the same amount of powder TIDE he. There is probably no way to get it here if it is still made, but it seems to be a very good detergent and I am grateful that it was given to me.

 

[dj-gabriele]

DIXAN!

It's the Italian name for Henkel Persil, so it's a top quality detergent!

The 2002 formula might still have had phosphates in it as they phased them out later.
Anyway, even the current formula without them is just as great! Nobody over here ever missed phosphates, even in hard water!

 

[tomturbomatic]

They are blue and white mega perls.

 

[franksdad]

Not STTP. Not TSP.

Okay. I remember in the late 60s and early 70's seeing pictures of streams and rivers filled with dead fish and covered with soap suds everywhere. I honestly thought the EPA had manufacturers remove phosphates from detergents decades ago. I guess not all of them. Back in the 50's and 60's a large electronics manufacturer near my childhood home dumped tons of PCBs into the main river which was, and still is, used as the primary water source for many towns in northwest South Carolina. This area is one of the EPA's cancer hotspots as the PCBs dumped into the river which flowed downstream into area lakes and other rivers have been determined to be highly carcenogenic. I can take you to the street where I grew up, heck the little town of 800 where I grew up, and point out the houses of folks I knew growing up that died from cancer. On the street where I grew up it seems like everyone has died from, is suffering from, or will soon get cancer. Not meaning any harm, but as a "tree hugger" myself I would much rather have clean safe drinking water than super white laundry. Just my opinion. Thanks, Jim

 

[tomturbomatic]

It was not the phosphates making all of the suds on bodies of water. That was due to non-biodegradable surfactants which have been eliminated so we do not have sudsing on waterways. Phosphates are not fatal like PCBs. In proper amounts, they are necessary for life like in ADP adenosine diphosphate and ATP adenosine triphosphate. There is also adenosine monophosphate and its initials are like the first Maytag automatic with a pump.

We can hope that the souls of those who poisoned the environment and caused deaths are made to feel additional pain and writhe in greater agony as each individual dies from the polluters' deeds.

 

[franksdad]

It was not the phosphates making all of the suds on bodies o

Thank you for clarifying that. Apparently I was confused on what was causing the suds. I do know that phosphate runoff from agriculturial practices can cause excessive plant growth in bodies of water. I thought it was creating excess suds also. Jim