Fabric Softener dilemma

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mralex

mralex

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Joined
Jul 26, 2017
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Location
London, UK
Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen! 

 

 

I just washed a few of my bf's shirts today, I was so lazy that I just poured the gel detergent and pressed start. 

 

 

After emptying the TL I was rather surpriser how clean it was, no smears on the drum or anything. Which resulted in me not having to wipe down the inside of the washer. 

 

Having around 100 washes left of my Lenor Spring Awakening FS (which is rather liquid) I'm now pondering if I'd ever buy FS again.. I do like the softness and smell.. But is it worth the extra cleaning? Maybe I'll just stick to distilled vinegar

 
 
have you considered diluting it down....

I always mix FS with a 50/50 water in the bottle itself....

this has eliminated the build up as well in the dispensers from too thick of a liquid......even though they flush with water, its usually not enough...

a shot glass provides the best measurement needed....

one or two machines I came across flushed dispensers with warm water...hot would have been better, and makes sense, since its recommended if the liquid separates or thickens from sitting in the bottle, to dilute with HOT water, not cold....

as I imagine for some softeners, cold rinses don't help the situation...

have you had issues before from this softener?, or any other?....you can always contact the manufacturer for ideas....you may have come across a bad batch...or they may offer a refund....
 
I believe it's the same brand as Downy over in the states. 

 

 

I did a second load of laundry now and I mixed the FS with 2 cups of hot water and in the final rinse, I just poured it straight into the drum. My FS dispenser doesn't hold that much (think 50ml) and Voila! No smears but it creates more work for me though! So.. Idk. 

 

I got the big bottle branded "professional" at a cash and carry store.. So it might be a bit old?
 
I'm confused Alex why you would have to wipe down the inside of the washer after using fabric softener? Is the dispenser poorly designed?

I use Downy scent-free in all wash loads but towels and it works really well without having to dilute it normally. It is rather thick compared to vintage Downy of the 1960's and 1970's. The only time I dilute it is if I use an agitator mounted fabric softener dispenser that uses centrifugal force to dispense the liquid into the rinse. I'm not a huge fan of agitator mounted softener dispensers and I usually enjoy adding it in the rinse myself anyways.

I have quite the collection of vintage Downy to use on special occasions and it has such such a nice mild clean smell, unlike today's heavy floral scented softener.
 
I can see stuff that looks like residue in the drum and it annoys me, it only happens when I use FS, doesn't matter if I'm using powder, liquid, gel or pods 

 

I think it might be too concentrated and therefor doesn't mix that well in the water? 
 
Please excuse me if I seem like I'm asking dumb questions, but here it goes.

Is the fabric softener still mostly liquid or is it clumped? If it's clumped it's probably way past it's time.

Are you shaking the bottle very well and then giving it a 20 second rest or so before measuring? Some formulas need to be mixed well every time and waiting a tiny bit lets most of the bubbles out so you can get an accurate amount measured.

Are you using the amount suggested by the manufacturers? Ideally, whatever detergent you used is rinsed out enough and the little there is by the last rinse is neutralized by the fabric softener and flushed out. If you still have smears, you might have too much unrinsed detergent or too much fabric softener.

To be honest with you, I've used all kinds of washers and dryers so far, and in over 40 years of doing laundry I've never even seen anything like you are describing, the closest thing I've seen is when fabric softener and laundry detergent mix prematurely and clump.

So, I was wondering if you have one of those machines that go straight from wash to spin and then last rinse without any spray rinsing -- you need at the very least a good spray rinse before you mix in the softener.

Good luck!
   -- Paulo.
 
earthling177- It states 20ml so that's the amount I use, It's smooth and very liquidy but I don't shake it. I'll try that.

When its done washing it drains & spinns, sprays down the laundry with water and spinns then does a deep fill and a final spinn when 1 rinse is selected.

Unimatic1140 - My washer is a LG WT6506 from Australia
 
foraloysius - Thank you 
smiley-kiss.gif
 
Had a similar problem with smears of FS at the waterline on the door glass.
Looked almost like a bathtub ring when using soap in hard water. Yuck !
The problem could indeed be the result of detergent residue mixed with FS. The two just don`t mix well leading to a greasy precipitate.
But that was not the case in my case because I never saw it occur when washing new clothes before wearing or when washing loads like towels that only carry a rather smallish oil load.
My remedy was to considerably increase the amount of detergent when washing loads like t-shirts or sheets. I have an oily skin and I think it was the residual body oils that led to that greasy yucky deposits when mixed with FS.

Alex, how do you like the Tide pods that we recently discussed ? I could never get away with only one pod in my hard water BTW. Otherwise it`s FS smears and clothes don`t smell clean enough for me after drying.
 
Hi all

Could the side effects Alex is noticing (smearing - but also `droplets' are common) be explained by the fact that big brand conditioners have tallowate (animal fat) as a main component? If you add any type of fat to cold water in my experience this can happen.

Possibly alternatives like Ecover (derived from plant ingredients) may alleviate the problem?

Take care
 
Yogitunes - You're most welcome to play with it lol

mrboilwash - I always use the recommended dose for my water hardness and I'm quite dry (to the point of moisturising) So I doubt it's body oils here? More like the lack of them lol..I haven't used the Tide pods yet, haven't even opened them! I'm afraid I'd love them, I saw that the new Tide pods looks exactly like the Ariel 3 in 1 pods I have at home

Nickuk - I thought tallow wasn't used anymore?? The thought makes me cringe!
 
Another perspective on tallow: it's in almost every real bar of soap.

That's the problem with "made from natural ingredients" or similar phrases -- by the time it became soap or fabric softener, it's not the original substance anymore.

And no, I'm not poking fun. If someone says "P&G makes soap with tallow from cows" I'm OK with it. If they told me it was from whales, or dogs and cats caught on the streets without licenses, I would react very negatively, but that has way more to do with something I do not support (killing whales or potential pets) than with the fact that tallow is used to make such things.

There are soaps made exclusively with vegetable oils, but they tend to be more expensive.

Cheers,
   -- Paulo.
 
As I said there could be several possibilities for problems with FS. Everyone deals with different soil levels, water qualities, machines, detergents and so on. If you can rule out residual oils I could imagine insufficient rinsing as another possible cause.

Unilever (Comfort), Colgate Palmolive and most store brands I know of use tallow as a raw material to derive the cationic surfactants found in their FS. "Dihydrogenated TALLOWethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate"... no need for a chemist`s degree to see the slaughterhouse in that funny word.
I do eat meat but I find it yucky to smear anything that comes from the slaughterhouse on my body and I don`t want it in my clothes either. There`s plenty of cheap alternatives today. When I use personal care products I prefer to imagine nice things like lavender fields in France or the benefits of miraculous plant extracts. The picture of a slaughterhouse just doesn`t satisfy my consumer demand. Ditto for FS.

Henkel, P&G (Lenor) and the greenwashed brands like Ecover seem to rely on coconut or palmoil for the softening surfactants instead. Not that good for Orangutans, but we can`t have everything afterall. At least their products don`t make me cringe and are easily biodegradable and don`t waterproof clothes as badly anymore as the ancient mineral oil based FSs did.[this post was last edited: 8/21/2017-16:00]
 
That could be the problem, it usually rinses the FS compartment several times but it might not be enough. If I’m not mistaken I think the manual said to mix fs with water or not use it at all lol
 

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