CR's Latest Detergent Ratings

[frigilux]

I finally received my CR in the mail today. SA8 With Bioquest® detergent (from Quixtar, nee: Amway) scored through the roof with a 99---11 points higher than Tide With Bleach Alternative.

A few newcomers to the top end of the rankings included liquid Gain HE.

Most notable to me was the Oxi-Clean ball ranking dead last with a score of 20. I use that only for my bath towel loads, which are very lightly soiled. It doesn't make suds so I don't have to use a softener in the final rinse. I've never really used it on many other loads. However, I have to say the towels are sparkling white after several months of washing them with da ball.

I own the 'holy grail' of ineffective laundry equipment/products: The barrel-scraping Frigidaire TL washer and the barrel-scraping Oxi-Clean ball. Put them together and clothes should come out dirtier than when they went in, LOL!

Oh, well.... I make up for it with my shelf full of Tide, Persil and Ariel variants and the front-loading washer.

ANYWAY, I couldn't help myself; I ordered a 150-load box of SA8 With Bioquest® online. Hopefully I won't be visited by the Pyramid Schemers. Total cost, $43.51.
Still substantially cheaper than the Persil I ordered online...Does anyone use this product, and if so, how do you like it?

 

[sudsman]

Eugene

I have used all the Amway laundry products here and most have been good i have found that the bioquest was very good and left all the work with a nice clean smell and most of the work had a nicer feel of softness to it. Not a bad product at all.

 

[chachp]

SA8

I looked on Amway's website to see if they suggest how to use SA8 in a TL vs. a FL or if there is an "HE" version. I couldn't find anything like that on their site.

Are you expected to just use less in the FL or does the box indicate suggested uses? I am a hard core Persil fan and it will take a lot to get me to switch but after reading your posts about SA8 I am tempted to try it. I just bought my yearly supply of Persil (that huge box) so the timing isn't the best but I may still order a box and try it.

I have also used OxiClean for years. I never tried the OxiBall because I always thought it would have to dispense OxiClean in the rinse as well as the wash. Wouldn't it? How would it know the difference between the wash and the rinse?

 

[lederstiefel1]

...how would it know...?

....by temperature! There's a coating between each layer of bleaching agent and that only dilutes in warm or hot water, as far as I know!
So, a use in cold water is not recommended, I guess.....
Same way as with 3-stage dishwasher cleaning tabs with the rinsing-agent ball in the middle! The ball dilutes in 65°C (final rinse phase), so the cleaning phase must not be hotter than 60°C! Bad for really sticky pots and pans as machines usually give these programmes a 70° or even 75°C phase during the cleaning cycle!
That's why I do not like the use of them tabs - I only use powder, salt and rinsing agent!
Ralf

 

[chachp]

Thanks Ralf!

That makes sense. I never thought about that. I know with OxiClean powder I read that it really isn't very effective in Cold Water washes so I never use it with Cold Water. Although I seldom wash in cold water.

 

[frigilux]

Ralph-- I was concerned about detergent residue with the Oxi-Clean ball, but for whatever chemical/formula reasons, it doesn't seem to. My bath towels are soft, but I have soft water, so that may make a difference. The instructions infer that the colder the water, the longer the ball will last. This leads me to believe it doesn't dispense much in the cold water of the rinse cycle. I've had no itching/skin reaction problems with my towels, so there can't be a lot of chemicals left in the fabric. But maybe that's why its cleaning score is so low. The ball gets a lot of action in my frontloader, but it just bobs around the top of the load in my TL'er, so I don't see how it can dispense/disperse the detergent very well. Jason from this site tried it in his Oasis and it performed horribly for him.

I guess I'll find out about the performance of SA8 very soon! I'm anxious to try it. If it cleans well and produces as little suds as the old SA8 did, then it may just become the daily driver detergent for my frontloader.

 

[frigilux]

Ralph-- I thought it might not dispense in cold water, but the instructions actually encourage you to use warm or cold water for the wash. It's not a great product---it doesn't do well with greasy stains, for instance---but I needed it for a specific use with very lightly soiled articles, so it fit the bill. I would never use it as my regular laundry detergent.

Lee-- I'm happy to get your good report on SA8! I seem to have a never-ending quest for a detergent that produces very little suds in my FL'er in soft water, so that I don't have to use a liquid softener on loads like stained kitchen whites and bath towels. All the HE products I've tried so far don't oversuds in the wash portion of the cycle, but the suds just don't seem to go away during the rinses. Maybe SA8 will be the one detergent that fulfills all these requirements.

 

[irishwashguy]

Big SA-8 fan

I have used the old and the new Bio quest SA-8, and I have always had good results. I am at the moment using the SA-8 plus till I run out of it. I always put Oxy clean with it for good measure and have Fabulous resutls. Amway has always been H.E.(low suding)They just started putting on their boxes, same soap.

 

[oxydolfan1]

I've used the SA-8 powder, excellent cleaning and whitening, nice suds control....but this was about ten years ago, and I do not believe Bioquest had been introduced yet.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The family that owns AMWAY gives huge amounts of money to right wing causes and candidates. What you want to use for laundry is up to you, but I don't want to give them a cent. It will be interesting to see how many loads you get out of the box when you increase the amount to the concentration CR used. Of course, if you have a water softener or a front loader, you might get more than 150 loads.

Just remember what causes those people connected with AMWAY support and the vision that they have for our society. I am not going to respond to anyone who tries to argue AMWAY with me. I have heard all the BS before, read the literature & heard the confessions from insiders who became uncomfortable with the agenda and became outsiders. This is, at least for the time being, a free country. Use the detergent you want. Pay money to whom you wish. If you are not aware of the causes that various corporations support and if it means anything to you, there are ways of finding out.

 

[alr2903]

so in a measure ?

How much would one use in the lowly rated frigidaire T/L, i ordered some to give it a try. doubt a one time purchase will fuel too much Right wing agenda. I am a registered voter, I feel more empowered, with the power of my vote, than a box of SA8 with bioquest. No disrespect intended. alr2903

 

[frigilux]

From what I read at the website, you'd use one scoop (comes with the product, I assume) if your water is soft or moderatly soft; two scoops if it's moderately hard to hard.

I seem to recall that CR tests its detergents in moderately hard water, which is probably why they used the double dosage.

 

[exploder321]

Has any one used the all small and mighty stuff? Bought three bottles for $12 at sams today..

 

[tomturbomatic]

I wonder why they did not test Tide HE powder or Arm & Hammer HE liquid?

 

[veg-o-matic]

I've been using All Small and Mighty for a while now. Seems to work as well as anything else I've tried.

Mostly using it because Safeway had it for (are you sitting?) 99 cents a bottle! I got 8 bottles. Oh, and I had a coupon for $1.00 off.

veg

 

[oxydolfan1]

Tom, by me, you can no longer get Arm and Hammer HE, anywhere.

The Tide HE powder is anyone's guess (I really like the fragrance on that one)...

Veg, do you mean the All in the teal-colored bottle? It cleans well but I can't get used to the fragrance....

 

[peterh770]

ALL S&M seems to do pretty good. Low sudsing in every formula I've tried. The green bottle smells really nice, but the scent does not linger.

What takes some adjusting is using such a small amount in the frontloader. It seems like just a few drops does a good job, but so little!!!!

 

[tomturbomatic]

WAAAAY back in 1967, when WISK still was sold in metal cans with the little plastic cap, I was amazed that a friend's mom would use just one of those little capfuls of WISK in her big 33" Whirlpool Washer-Dryer Combination to do a whole load of clothes. The suds level was just right in the little window and all of their clothes looked & smelled clean, so I guess it worked. Of course, after saturating the clothes, the sump only held about 3.5 gallons of water, so maybe that was not so small a dose.

Bei Mir Bist du Schoen...Sorry Scott, when I read, "by me," in your post it was such perfect Yiddish construction either way that you meant it that I could not resist. Many Target stores have all kinds of HE detergents and this is where I find the best price on powder TIDE HE because they put TIDE on sale about once a month. Arm & Hammer HE is still in some stores here. I first saw it at Safeway on sale. I like the scent, but mostly use it for Perma Press loads. In the TL Maytags and KA, it does not suds much and there is no suds to speak of in the rinse.

When y'all use liquid HE detergents in your FL washers, do you usually use the recommended amount or do you use less so that you have fewer suds bubbles in the rinse?

 

[frigilux]

Tom--I use about 1/3 of the recommended dosage of liquid Tide HE for lightly-soiled loads. When I used to use it for loads of highly-stained kitchen whites, I'd use the full recommended dosage. Then I'd usually have to add a bit of softener to the 2nd rinse (there would be bleach in the 1st rinse) to cut the suds. The 3rd rinse would also have a little softener in it.

I'm over liquids. I'm a powder-lovin' guy once again. Tide HE, Tide w/Bleach, Ariel, Viva, Ace, Persil, Tide Coldwater....The only liquid I use is Cheer Dark Formula for black loads.