British Essentials Sent The Wrong Persil: Non Bio Instead of Bio

[launderess]

Just a suggestion but you may want to do things other way around.

It's never good to start washing with water above 100F as it "cooks" protein soils onto washing. Also when it comes to chlorine bleaching it's best to do it in clean water rather than dirty. This is why commercial laundries when using chlorine bleach do so in first rinse after main wash.

Bleaching/stain removal powers of chlorine bleach are less temperature sensitive than oxygen types. Chlorine bleach will remove stains and whiten in cold, warm or hot water; only difference is time. Things happen faster at higher temps than cooler, but in any case soils or stains not removed by chlorine bleach in about five minutes aren't likely to be removed. The whitening and stain removal are just that quick. Longer contact time only leaves room for potentially damaging textiles.

Where your system does shine is that oxygen and chlorine bleaches cancel each other out. Thus following your chlorine bleach wash with main cycle using Persil non-bio )which contains lots of oxygen bleach) should help neutralize chlorine bleach remaining in textiles. This is important because chlorine bleach residue will yellow textiles upon contact with heat (ironing or tumble drying) and also weaken same.

Chlorine bleach has an affinity for cotton, linen and some other fibers. Thus it's often difficult to totally rinse out. If you can still smell chlorine bleach on textiles after use, then the stuff is still there and more rinsing or neutralizing is required. Commercial laundries will use various "anti-chlor" chemicals in subsequent rinses after bleaching to get the stuff out of goods using fewer rinse cycles.

 

[frigilux]

Launderess— I like the simplicity of doing the bleach cycle first, so will probably stick with that. I’ve purposely stained kitchen towels, bar mops and even bath linen hand towels with all sorts of common cooking-related stains and my admittedly reversed process has yet to fail. Every single stain has been consistently eliminated. However, I’d like to try using warm water for the bleach cycle to see if it produces similar results.

The default wash tumble for the Quick cycle is 4 minutes (Light Soil=2 mins; Med=4; Heavy=6; Max=8). If needed, I could increase the wash time by a couple of minutes. The 1960 Kenmore Model 80 I grew up with dispensed bleach the last 4 minutes of the wash agitation, which seemed ideal.

I suppose I could return to the washer after the 1st fill and load the bleach compartment at that point. I’m pretty sure water enters that compartment for the wash and the first rinse. Too bad it doesn’t dispense in the first rinse like every other front-loader known to man, but it is what it is. At any rate, this washer is quieter than the top-loader was and even though the machine is technically located outside the apartment, it’s just on the other side of my kitchen wall—maybe 6 steps away. I don’t always hear the progression of the cycle, especially if the TV or radio are on.

Whether I bleach a load of whites is entirely dependent upon how seriously stained the kitchen towels and my chef’s aprons are. Some stains are lifted with detergent and a 30-60 minute wash tumble. Others require bleach to be fully removed in the time frame I’ve allotted. The super-stained kitchen whites can often sit for a couple of days before being laundered, so I consider them a tough test for detergent and the machine’s wash action.

I haven’t experimented much with the SQ’s soak cycle. I’ve soaked a couple of loads for 30-60 minutes which seems to help completely remove some stains. The soak timer goes up to 24 hours. I should try an overnight soak in a strong dose of Persil Bio. The soak water drains without spinning; then it proceeds into the selected main cycle.

I’ve tried the Stain Boost option, which is a 20 minute tumble in cold water, a spin, then into the main cycle. Was a little underwhelmed with the results on tough stains like Rao’s Marinara Sauce and G. Hughes Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Sauce.

 

[angus]

Eugene, glad you are having success with both versions of UK Persil. I might have to try some myself. To your point on using the stain boost cycle on things like marinara or barbecue sauce, one of the issues I have encountered is that anything tomato based is very difficult to remove in cooler water - even with a soak or agitated soak. Maybe it has to do with the amount of oil it contains. But then anything with tomato is a pain... so if it isn't a meat gravy, like barbecue sauce or marinara, I'll do a hot soak and then wash with Clorox if the garment is white and if colored, I'll make a paste of "All OxI" powder and rub it into the stain or soak in a similar solution. While I am not a fan of the "Oxi Clean" brand itself, I like the "All" brand - seems like it isn't as full of fillers as OxiClean. Usually works very well. However it has almost doubled in price in our grocery stores (from $3.99 to $8.99). I have found it recently at "Big Lots" for $5.99... Clorox used to have its own Oxi powder and even a spray called Oxi Magic - the spray made it easier to treat colored table linens after a nice, red gravy based Italian dinner, but that stuff was discontinued a few years ago.

 

[appnut]

Eugene, my LG washer dispenses LCB during the last 5 minutes of wash cycle for all cycles except for Bright Whites, which dispenses said chemical during the last 10 minutes of the main wash. Seems so counterintuitive to me since so conditions from the Duet's dispensing LCB at the first rinse.

My most difficult load is cotton/terry cloth meal napkins. I use powder Biz and a bit of Tide w/Bleach Alternative for both prwash and wash. Cycle is Normal with extra hot boosted to 155-161 and 90 minute main wash. All stains removed. Personal whites Sanitize with lightest soil and temp gets anywhere between 138 & 144F and said menitoned Tide detergent. I've also started using delayed wash timing for early morning when needing those prolonged ultra high wash temp cycles. For cottons & towels I use the maximum number of available rinses which is usually 3 or 4 with Turbowash.

I've not used LCB in laundry since the arrival of the Duet with featured gradual heating from warm to very hot with steam capability and I'm able to duplicate that on the LG with some finageling.

 

[DADoES]

 
AquaSmart dispenses LCB in the last few mins of the wash period.  The optional 2-hr soak follows the wash and thus has the load soaking in LCB for the duration.  Although, the user guide advises to dose only 1/4 to 2/5 cup (60 to 100 ml) of LCB.

Calypso instructs 1 full cup of LCB for Whitest Whites, which is a huge dose considering the super-low fill level.

 

[frigilux]

Bob- I still say that the gold standard for front-loaders is an onboard water heater, but in my circumstance, the Speed Queen was about 1-1/2 inches shallower than an LG 4000 and space is so tight in front of my laundry pair that the 1-1/2 inch difference won the day. I didn’t realize that LG dispenses liquid chlorine bleach near the end of the wash tumble. I’m also surprised that powdered Biz still exists! I see the liquid version at the local HyVee grocery store—the only grocery store in town—and at Walmart & Target in neighboring towns. I’ve forgotten which LG model you have. Sounds like you’ve been very pleased with its performance, which doesn’t surprise me. LG really nailed it with their washers. I’ve recommended LG to a number of friends, all of whom are very happy with them.

Glenn- Thanks for the info regarding the Fisher & Paykel bleach dispensing protocol. Wow, a full cup of bleach recommended for the Calypso! That really is a strong dose given the water level. I haven’t measured the amount it takes to fill the bleach compartment in the Speed Queen. I just pour to the max line. I’d ballpark it at somewhere between 1/3-1/2 cup.

Angus- I’d been using OxiClean White Revive in the SQ top-loader, but I agree that the brand does add a lot of fillers. Haven’t used it in the SQ front-loader yet, mostly because the detergent compartment is already pretty full using a 40g dose of powdered Persil. Suppose I could put it in the prewash compartment. That gets flushed along with the main compartment during the first fill of a regular cycle. Haven’t noticed All Oxi on the shelf. Will have to look for it.

 

[angus]

Eugene, I should have mentioned that the All Oxi powder isn't in every store. For some reason, I have seen it only in ShopRite - but not in Stop & Shop, Big Y or Price Chopper, our other local chains. Unfortunately that doesn't help you in Minnesota. Do you have a Big Lots somewhere near you or even a smaller IGA type market?

I guess you could also try looking on line...

 

[launderess]

All Oxi booster powder is on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Laundry-Boos...lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Stuff is pretty basic, just washing soda and sodium percarbonate mostly.