Arm&hammer powder detergent, is really that bad?

[kenmoreguy89]

Hi all, I've never personally tried the Arm&Hammer powder detergent just the liquid one and found it fairly good, and better than the liquid Tide, I was about reading some reviews online for the powder and found really bad and incredible comments about it.
The main complaints are about this detergent being "chalky" so it will leave a "chalky" white residue into clothes, so of course a white patina on colored and leaving laundry rigid and hard, as if you washed your laundry with gypsum or plaster powder instead of a detergent. This looks incredible to me, this would mean something weird happens at Church&Dwight factory!
Only thing I've in mind right now is that the're trying cutting it with some weird stuff to increase profits, would be absurd as well, nobody would buy it anymore......
I found plenty reviews stating this issue, if yes it is always been so? How can this brand just still being on the market?

 

[vintagekitchen]

White residue

That is from washing soda I beleive, a good old Arm and Hammer product, so of course they cram as much as they can into their detergent. While it is good to break down greasy type stains, it has several drawbacks.

It is harsh, both on the machin and the fabric if used in excessive amounts,
it is not an all around cleaner, it cannot outdo enzymes for food and protein stains, and it does not whiten as well as other products, though it does whiten to a point.

But the main drawback is that blasted residue. As many have pointed out, washing soda is a precipitating softener. It does soften the water, by bonding with minerals in it, but in doing so forms a precipitate which build up on your clothes and your machine, the white residue you speak of. This makes clothes stiff and harsh, and can't be good for the machine

So why do they use it? Its a main builder in many cheap detergents, as better builders and softeners are more expensive. And since they happen to be the US leading producer and distributor of washing soda, (to my knowledge), they have a lot of the stuff lying about. So rather than pay another company for a more expensive ingredient, they use what they have on hand, and get a bigger profit. Or at least thats my opinion of why they use it.

 

[rp2813]

When I first knew my partner Dave, he was using Arm & Hammer powder.  It was awful.  Even my acrylic dress socks were stiff from residue and felt like they were going to rip apart when I put them on.  I made him stop buying it. 

 

Stay away from it.  The comments you have read are not incredible, they are absolutely true.

 

[strongenough78]

Arm and Hammer powder was one of my favorites before I switched to Sears Ultra Plus. I never had problems with residue or harshness. And I loved the cleaning results I would get. Hmmm I wonder why some like it and some don't. I like it.

 

[rp2813]

It may have something to do with hardness of the water.  Most of the water in our part of the Bay Area comes from the ground-water re-charge process and is fairly hard. 

 

[vintagekitchen]

A lot probably depends on one's water hardness. Im guessing harder water means more minerals for washing soda to bond with, which means more stiff white residue. So softer water would mean less minerals, less residue.

Just a guess, as I have only had the benefit of washing in soft water a few times at the homes of friends with rain water cisterns instead of wells or public water supply. You wouldnt believe the amount of suds they got with that soft rain water.

 

[qsd-dan]

 

<a name="start_41985.618554"> </a>

<a name="start_41985.618554">Most of the water in our part of the Bay Area comes from the ground-water re-charge process and is fairly hard. </a>

<a name="start_41985.618554">
 

I believe you water comes from EBMUD, right? That water is pillowy soft compared to Zone 7!

</a>

 

 

[danemodsandy]

I Don't Know....

....If it's the fault of the detergent or not, but my sister uses A & H, and she has the grayest, dingiest whites you ever saw, plus the harshness others have mentioned here.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

THANKS TO ALL!!!!

Yes of course arm&hammer is the first producers of Washing soda and baking soda in USA, the fact of minerals and soda infact is what I was thinking, or at least a thing like that, but I know soda is a main builder in many detergents, not only cheap ones.....
So you say too much is "harsh" due to the fact that too many minerals builds up and precipitate.....
Yes I think it is the reason why.
But cannot help but think that I know that many detergents got actually good amounts (but within right limits) of washing soda and actually most of people does not complaint about residues from what I know.
So why with Arm&hammer mostly?
And why these minerals residues does not get rinsed away during rinses as likely happens with others containing good amounts of it?
Because as said probaly A&H contains too much of it.
But why and how it happend????
I've thought about this and conceivably I got a response, maybe obvious, maybe stupid....

You know washing soda is one of the main builder of many detergents or can be found in good amounts, as I know for example for persil (Dixan in Italy)and even american detergents as Ultra plus (Sears) or Sun is, I also have used washing soda once when it was feaest and stores were closed, I actually washed with soda and soap flakes grated from some laundry soap bars I had, but nothing happened to my laundry and we've very hard water, my father live in a farm and has his own well and even him never got issues with detergents containing great qty of soda like Dixan (Persil)....
Never had even a little trace of white residues.....as far as I know....

So I just can guess now, more likely happens this, I'm not a chemistry so I could even be writing a lot of b*******s but I think is so, being a too higher concentration of soda in an hard water it bonds in an harder and heavier way with minerals instead of creating smoother, lighter and softer crystals, that would be indeed created with a right amount and so be washed away with the rinses, the reaction of too much soda+ minerals results to produce very tough and "hard" crystals which cling and stick to the fibers, so of course these crystals are not soluble in water, and so nor even be flushed away as they will be calcified and "stuck"to the fibers kinda if they're impregnated with hard cement. Maybe you could break the bond by rinsing with acid so maybe vinegar or by using some calgon or a detergent containing non-precipitating water softeners.
Anyway, if really so it actually means just a thing, they put too much washing soda and that results in tragic laundry results for people with hard water, don't think their products will get much success in hard water areas......
Howevwer I personally think that a detergent having too much washing soda or having it as primar agent cannot be a good detergent of course, and of course not only for white minerals residues.
Please keep commenting, I'd like to hear most experiences is possible.
Thanks againe everyone.

 

[dustin92]

I have used it before and never had a problem, but I think it has been reformulated within the last couple years. It used to be a very fine powder and it had a very pleasant clean scent. It also created mountains of suds and cleaned wonderfully, I used about ¼ of a scoop per load. I had also used the free and clear version, which worked just as well. Maybe a year ago I bought a box, and it had changed considerably. It was now a more granular texture, the scent had changed completely, and it didn't clean as well. Almost no suds either. I was dissapointed and still have about half the box, because I don't like this new formula.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Dustin, thank you so you say it had it's formula cahnged?
It is maybe made to accomplish the use in "he" models?
So they actually could have set up a cheaper and pitiful low sudisng formula suitable for all types of machines,by putting less surfactans and soap and more soda, and by doing so reducing the amount anti-foaming agents and other more expensive ingredients for profit?
May it be a possibility?
Does it's box say it is suitable for both machines?
When in US I only use to find it in liquid version verywhere I usually go, no A&H powders, so never got a chance to read it's box....
Just guessing.....
Or maybe they tried to get a more concentrated formula by putting more washing soda with the attempt to make waters softer and try to enhance cleaning power instead of putting more concentrated surfactans and soap etc.....

 

[dirtybuck]

It seems when the new reformulated powdered detergents changed last year (or whenever it was), some got better and some got worse. I guess A&H went to the latter side of the scale.

I've not used A&H since it changed. Used to use it quite a bit (mostly the bleach alternative and mountain fresh formulas) and always got fairly good results.

Still with Sears Ultra Plus in the orange box and Foca. When it's time to replace one of those, I'll probably go with either Surf, All or All Oxy powders.

 

[dustin92]

I'm not sure if it was an "HE" compatible version or not, but my box didn't come with a scoop, so I was using over ½ cup per load (in a front loader no less) and there was not any oversudsing. The "old" formula would cause the whirlpool DD we had at the time to sudslock in the spin, if you used the recommended amount. In my opinion, it cleaned better than tide.

 

[rp2813]

No East Bay MUD water here.  It's a mixture of  1) Mountain run-off;  2) Ground water that is re-charged via strategically placed percolation ponds that are fed by water from reservoirs, and  3) Imported water from the state water project.  The predominant source is the re-charged groundwater, and it has a very high mineral content.

 

Oh, how I wish we had Hetch Hetchy water here.  It's high quality stuff that needs almost no treatment, and tastes great directly from the tap.  That's why my 20+ year old ISE dishwasher was like new when I bought it a couple of years ago.  It came from up the peninsula where it lived on a steady diet of Hetch Hetchy.

 

[washlogic]

I used to use the Arm and Hammer powdered detergent too till we got a new Washer. Its one of those stupid top loading Maytags with the Automatic Water Level control that, in my opinion, dont use enough water. We found that you have to dump it in before you put the clothes in or it will cake up and show a white residue, especially on dark clothing.

I dont have any issues with Arm and Hammer Liquid Detergent, though. It works like a charm. The scent and price aint bad either

 

[stan]

Powdered Tide

has 30 to 40 percent washing soda in in it!! so what's the dif

 

[lotsosudz]

Just so you know

The San Francisco water all the way down to Palo Alto, have Hetch Hetchy water from
Yosemite Valley, East Bay, I have not got a clue! Just say'in.

 

[combo52]

Arm & Hammer Detergent

Is it really that bad ? YES there is a reason it is so CHEAP. Most store brand detergents are much better than this crap.

 

[danemodsandy]

Ahem!

"YES there is a reason it is so CHEAP."

This is undoubtedly why my sister uses it. She doesn't squeeze a nickel til' the buffalo roars - she squeezes it til' he sings soprano.

Her lingerie looks like a secret that Victoria would keep forever.