Arm and Hammer Powdered Detergent

[oxydolfan]

In my neighborhood, many dry-cleaning establishments are located within laundromats.

Yesterday, when I was in there picking up, I saw a sign over the machines:

"Please don't use Arm and Hammer POWDER detergent in our machines-they CLOG THE PIPES!! (The liquid or any other detergent is OK!!"

Has anyone else heard of this?

The supermarket I most often frequent now carries only Tide and A&H powders, so it's not inconceivable that I would consider purchasing this product for washing sheets, gym towels, etc.

Has anyone else had an adverse effect in their washer or in their pipes from using this product?

 

[launderess]

IIRC Arm & Hammer detergent is kind of high on baking and or washing soda, either if which can gunk up pipes if used in heavy amounts with anything but hot water.

Stopped using A&H detergent poweder after one try because it left my towels rough and scratchy.

L.

 

[cleanteamofny]

This is unheard of........

The pipes they must be talking about must be the detergent dispensers.
A&H does not dissolve well when the water temperature is cold so it clumps up like wet cat litter,
but it cleans pretty good in front loaders if the detergent was placed directly into the tub,
low sudsing and most comparable cleaning to HE detergents IMHO....

 

[agiflow]

Arm & Hammer wound up clogging the basket perforations in the last washer we had. Otherwise i thought it was a pretty good cleaner.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

I've seen A&H clog the holes in a GE Filter-Flow filter. At first I thought it was caused by hard water, but changing detergents solved the problem.

Many of the laundromats here have similar signs.

Ken

 

[agiflow]

We do have hard water and i thought it could be that. Though of all the machines we have had, we only started using A & H when we bought our last washer. Never had the problem before or since, as i have went back to using Tide.

 

[maytagbear]

I used it for a while

in the 1990s, and had no trouble with it. I used the "with bleach" version, and it cleaned well.

I always put the detergent in first, under the fill flume, give it a minute or two, and then start loading.

I stopped using it because the market I go to most often stopped carrying the big size, and I really don't have time or patience to deal with smaller boxes.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[oxydolfan]

Wow. Thanks for the feedback. I guess that rules that one out!

Well, I've seen powdered All at Walgreens, there's a possibility that Target still carries the large boxes of Surf, and the Fab and Dynamo liquids are priced ridiculously low on clearance around here. All of the above are less expensive than Tide and suds up less, so, if need be....

You'd think Arm and Hammer would have figured out a way to work the glitches out of such an old detergent. It must be popular, if it sells so well to be the second most-commonly found powder in an area full of growing families!

 

[sudsman]

A& H

I have tried it here , (only 1 box). If made a caked up mess of the injection system and left the patient gowns and scrubs very scratchy. I also tried it on kitchen towels and although it seem to clean good it left them almost brittle.

 

[wcd63]

RE A&M

Hi
bought a box of it to use in my front loader and did a load of towels and had to use two extra rinses not to mention that the machine had a very hard time going in to the first spin. just could not get going and stopped to drain again. I gave the A&H to a neighbor of mine. have not gone back.
I do recomend Surf,Purex,All, HE All. I DO not recomend HE Tide it is ok on whites but certainally recks colord clothes. had to rewash all of them on a different detergent. I only use it for washing my cleaning rags now and that is it. Regular Tide is very good or the powered All. hope this helps.

 

[launderess]

Follow the link to Arm&Hammer's "Fabricare" detergent. There you will see it contains about 75% washing soda (sodium carbonate).

Washing soda is a great detergent builder, but one can have too much of a good thing.

http://www.ahprokleen.com/products/msds/MSDS056.pdf

 

[oxydolfan]

Very interesting.

I deliberately don't use washing soda anymore, because my water doesn't respond to it!

More and more supermarkets around here only carry Tide and Arm and Hammer powders....to top it off, the only Tide I liked, the cold water powder, is being phased out (another Oxydol, lol!)

My visit to Target should be interesting tonight.

More and more, I'm just amazed at how quickly trends in laundry products change....

 

[oxydolfan]

I'm BACK.....from Target....

Well, they had powdered supplies, much more than my supermarket.

I bought two decent-sized boxes of Surf ("Ocean Breeze" and "Spring Fresh").

Only plain Tide, with Bleach, and with Downy. No more Coldwater or HE powders, only the liquids.

They had the Arm and Hammer, which I did not buy, and I was pleased to find Cheer and Cheer Free powder.

They carry one variety of Gain-the fruity version of "Expressions" powder, which I can't stand.

The Surf I bought seems to be marketed as a Target exclusive (the Target dog's picture is printed on the front!)

Spent way too much in the store tonight but that's a different story lol!

Tip to Coldwater Tide users: I'd stock up if you like it...it seems to have disappeared from every store I've hit this week.

 

[launderess]

No more TCW? Still have the one box I started with, and have only used about 4 tablespoons so far. Our local shops seem to have a good stock, but will ask if the stuff moves and if it is being discontinued.

While TCW does clean well, really find the "Glacial" scent a bit strong. Would liked to have tried the other scent, but my shops were out of stock.

If anyone has problems finding Tide Cold Water, let me know, would be happy to send a "rescue" supply! *LOL*

L.

 

[oxydolfan]

I've actually been giving the stuff I don't like to the local battered womens' shelter (their budgets are shrinking dangerously)....

 

[tolivac]

sodium Carbonate--At our transmitter site we have a dummy load for the transmitters -instead of a resistor or resistors-they would have to handle 750Kw of power-it has a solution of sodium Carbonate that is pumped thru a chamber with two electrodes are connected to the transmitter under test.The solution acts as the "load resistor"the heat from the solution is removed by a plate heat exchanger that transfers the heat to a Glycol solution that is pumped into air cooled radiators that are ducted outside.and thats a lot of heat!!4 blowers cool the radiators.when the solution needs changing-you drain the old flush out the tank-then add distilled water--connect the network analyzer to the load terminals and add the sodium carbonate until the right resistence is obtained.A messy job.These are often called "soda Loads"

 

[tomturbomatic]

A&H was one of the detergents that led the response to the no phosphate laws, but if the water was the least bit hard, you had to use a great deal of it to bind up the minerals, far more than was recomended and then it was no bargain. But they did not mention this on the box and so many people had severely mineraled up washers. This was also a period when our supply of low sudsing detergents hit a low and using a little less A&H kept the suds in check. Stiffness was covered up with lots of softener and more softener in the clothes the next time they were washed helped keep sudsing down. It was awful time and many washers died an early death from what the detergents did to them.

A way that A&H can clog pipes is that if minerals build up in pipes they way that they do in the machines, the pipes develop rough mineral deposits that trap lint which helps trap more minerals and that can lead to a clog, especially as slower moving water has more time to deposit minerals. The powder ALL of the time was bad also. It used lots of washing soda and then added soap to control sudsing. What a cocktail of poor washing choices. This is when people should have started using vinegar in the rinse. And the early liquids of the time ate up the rubber in even new machines, let alone in our classics. Those liquids might have attacked the bearing seals in the White-Westinghouse washers and at least partially be to blame for so many of those washers dying with shot bearings at about 4 or 5 years. A lot of them were mineraled up from powders also, using less of a higher sudsing detergent to keep suds down left mineral depsoits.

 

[jasonmarc52]

My drift on A & H etc...

I NEVER used A & H regularly, merely tried it ONCE when it came out in the early '70's. My friends in VA with really hard water use it regularly(they are "nature freaks"), and their towels are hard and smell really SOUR! I have actually in the past brought-as "gifts"- bottles of Wisk for them to use. Believe it or not, they gave them away, stating they are "not ecologically safe" like A & H! How stupid they are!
Coldwater Tide was far too sudsy, and the "Glacier" fragrance
was sickeningly strong. I can say exactly the same for the new 'Simple Pleasures" rose and violet fragrance, which I just got a sample of and did not like at all. Also, ditto for the Febreze stuff-it's just AWFUL!
The newest Tide powders now contain only anionic surfactants, which are good for mud and clay-soiled wash. If you have oilier soils from normal body sweat, etc.(and food stains, those won't work as well as liquid Tids. Besides, once-again, Tide powder contains hydrogen peroxide to help clean clothes. I have NO idea why anyone would want to use that stuff on ANY COLORED clothes of value! I'll stick with Cheer regular or HE liquid, and Dark Formula, too. Also, my Persil Color-Gel and Turkish Ariel Color powder do a fantastic job with my beautiful colored wash!
If anyone is using any "cheapo" stuff JUST to save money, It's NOT worth the poor results a few extra cents will ameliorate! Use Tide, Wisk and Cheer liquids and you WON'T be disappointed. They all even come "fragrance-free" for the fussiest user. With my Persil Color-Gel, I can get 40 washes from the 1.5 liter bottle at about .50 each. To ME, it is money very well spent. OH, one more thing-I NEVER NEVER use fabric softener! It is the biggest mistake I found out YEARS ago! The newest liquid detergents leave the clothes soft and fluffy, and they last alot longer. I cannot tell you the results of hard-water use, as my last regular dealing with that condition was 35 years ago in college in Maine.