Favorite Detergents~

[rolltideroll]

Gosh, I must be bored as helll on this nasty rainy Louisiana day to be asking this question. But what is your favorite detergent. Taking into consideration the effectivenesss of it, economicalness (if there is such a word), and the scent of it. My favorite nowadays is Tide's Simple Pleasures Lavender & Vannilla detergent. Ordered a free sample of it and loved it. I hang out my clothes on the line and the smell was so good near the clothesline that my neighbor over the fence commented on the smell which you can smell from 50 feet away while the clothes are still wet on the line.

 

[oxydolfan1]

I'm not sure. My tastes are changing, but one thing that's important to me (besides fragrance) is color transfer and prevention of fading, so I guess I'd have to say regular Cheer powder, since I still have a toploader.

I'm in the process of testing Gain with Bleach and Surf powder, as well as Persil Sensitive powder and the new Persil Color Gel.

Dont'cha just love a straight answer, lol?

 

[bandmom]

Right now Persil megaperls color and Sears Ultra in the big 5 gallon bucket.
I like my store brand HE liquid that is a "compare to tide" better than the Tide HE. It works better and rinses better too.
I prefer powders since I usuall do a prewash on clothes. But do like a liquid on some items.

 

[DADoES]

My latest detergent experience is ... I washed an old mattress pad and some rags in the garage using Tide Coldwater Fresh Scent. Not sure if it's the "open" box of detergent or the residual/lingering scent on the cloth, but the garage still was "out there" with it for at least a day.

 

[frigilux]

I'm totally sold on powdered Tide ColdWater. In fact, I recently tried hot washes for my white loads (using Tide With Bleach) and I actually switched back to Tide CW because I found it completely removed more stains. Note: I get these results using my frontloader, very soft water and the temp-controlled COLD setting (65-degrees).

Runner-ups include Tide With Bleach, Tide HE (frontloader only), Ariel and Persil.

I use Cheer For Darks for my black loads.

 

[whirlcool]

We use Persil UK liquids and powders mostly, with an occasional use of Tide with Bleach on Whites and Arm & Hammer Clean Scent on the less dirty items. On denims and darks we use Cheer HE with Colorgard.
Now last week we tried Arm & Hammer Clean Scent for the wash and Clorox LCB in the first rinse in hot water on some of our white sheets and pillowcases.
They really came out nice and bright white. We usually never use LCB on our clothing, usually as a disenfectant in the kitchen. But after reading Laundresses mention of washing with LCB this way we were very pleased with the outcome, and also how gray the water with the LCB turned.
Even though we have a TOL Whirlpool TL washer I am amazed at how little of these detergents we get by with in each wash. We probably have enough detergent on hand for another year or so.
We also have a couple of boxes of Fab powder on hand, and a bottle of All HE that we haven't even started on!
And a little off the subject, we have a Pakistani spinner that is still holding up to give us a really high speed spin so that the clothes are not in the dryer very long.

 

[oxydolfan1]

I'm sorry, what is a Pakistani spinner?

 

[scott55405]

Oxydolfan, I think he's referring to one of those separate spin drier units, such as a Spin-X, which is used after the washer to extract more water. It really does make a difference come dryer time, esp. if you're using a modern front loader that doesn't spin that fast.

I'd been a Tide devotee for years, but currently use Gain and have for some time. Like the scent and it cleans as well as Tide for less money. I use Woolite for certain things and have used Cheer for darks when I had more dark clothes (I tend to wear lighter colors year round in California).

 

[oxydolfan1]

Ah, I get it now (after googling, and remember a similar device I saw in France....)

Do cottons come out of it hyper-wrinkled, I wonder?

I like Gain, but only the original powder or the one with bleach.

 

[scott55405]

Yeah, that's it, and I meant modern top loader. Most modern front loaders spin pretty fast. I don't recall my friend having issues with set wrinkles, and it certainly makes towels dry fast!

The original is my favorite Gain as well, but I've had to do the tropical one a few times when that's all they had.

 

[volvoguy87]

My detergents of choice include:

Tide Original Powder for my whites and really dirty stuff, and Cheer Regular powder for my colors and mixed loads. Sometimes I like to kick things up a notch and add a bit of 20 Mule Team Borax powder if I am dealing with stubborn stains or oders. I'll also toss in a bit of 20 Mule Team if I am unsure if there is enough hot water left. Liquid detergents have no business being in my house! I also can't forget my trusty standby, good ol' Clorox Bleach. If I could find it in a powder I would buy that. Nothing gets white clothes white like Clorox. Sadly, I have been unable to find any bluing here in Savannah, which is a shame because the water here likes to turn things yellow.

Keep washing,
Dave

 

[agiflow]

Tide original scent in powder form or if not i will use liquid All on occasion. Original Gain powder is also good and has a nice smell to it.

I will have to look around for Cheer powder as i only have seen the liquids in the supermarkets around here.

 

[rolltideroll]

ya, the Arm & Hammer is good. My brother uses it on alll his dirty oilfield clothes. He seems to like it's power.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Liquid or powder? (I bought the powder-haven't tried it yet.)

An OILFIELD!! Wow!

 

[peterh770]

Mexican Viva
UK Persil tabs
ALL powder (when I can find it)

 

[oldwasherguy]

Tide free because the wife is allergic to other brands. Don

 

[lavamat_jon]

In order, my favourite brands are Persil, Ariel, and Bold. For whites I always use Persil or Ariel biological powder; colours I use Persil or Ariel colour powder or tablets, or will do anything that isn't whites - but mainly bedlinen - with Bold if I fancy a scented load. Gotta love the smell of Bold Apple Blossom & Lime Zest!

Fabric softeners, I tend to use sensitive now as I have an allergy both to Lenor and unfortunately to my all time favourite Comfort. So it's usually Surcare or Ecover fabric softener, though yesterday I did buy Tesco's own brand eco friendly softener, "Naturally" to use once this bottle of Ecover is done with.

Jon

 

[rolltideroll]

He uses the powder on his oilfield clothes. I guess you ain't never been in the oilfield up there in Jersey eh? Around here, you are either in the oilfield or in an industry that is connected to the oilfield in one way or another.

 

[rolltideroll]

Anyone on here ever tried an off the beaten trail brand of detergent called "POWER CYCLE?" I sometimes buy it at a grocery store chain called "Sav-A-Lot. I like it pretty much. I buy it when the money is running low in the old pocket cause it's cheap but good.