For Laundress (or anyone else for that matter)

[dirtybuck]

What is your take/opinion on "All" detergent? I'm using a box of the Free and Clear now ( I had a box of the regular until I ran out, and found the F&C on sale), with a bit of the liquid Oxi-Active Stainlifters that recently came out.

For the record, I use both a liquid and a powder together. I add the liquid for somewhat of a "power boost". I did an overnight soak on some whites last night, and washed them at the laundromat this morning. They were washed in a front loader double capacity washer with some pillows. The water temp was set to warm.

To be honest, I really wasn't thrilled with the results. They just didn't appear all that much whiter. My clothes have also acquired a rough and "harsh" feeling to them (I stopped using fabric softener a little over a month ago). I know there was adequate "roll over" on the wash cycle in the front loader and the 2 top loader Maytags I used. The thing I don't like about the Maytags is their extremely short rinse cycles.

So, I guess it's on to another brand after I use up this box? I'd really like to give Era and Great Value (powder) detergent a try and see how they perform. I also might go back to using Arm and Hammer (I would buy a Tide product, but they never seem to be on sale when I need to buy detergent).

Suggestions or comments, please.

 

[peterh770]

All does not have enzymes in it. Wisk (liquid) or Surf (powder) does much better if you keep with the premium Sun products.

 

[peterh770]

That is, Surf and Wisk have enzymes...

 

[sudsmaster]

It might also depend on the water hardness in your area. If it's more than about five grains, then hard water mineral precipitate redeposition on the fabrics may be part or all of your towels' harshness problem.

The only way to really cure this is to use a more expensive detergent, like Tide. I've found that Sears Ultra Plus with Oxyclean (in the big blue and white bucket) tends to give very good, soft results. I suspect it has zeolites.

Another possibility is to order some STPP from the Chemistry store and add an ounce (by volume, exact amount doesn't really matter) per load. That may help to brighten the fabrics as well as reduce residual harshness.

Persil powder (from Germany) is another good laundry detergent. Very low sudsing, leaves fabrics soft, and cleans very well without phosphates. However it is one of the most expensive powder laundry detergents you can get in the USA (although I understand it's more reasonably priced in Europe).

Me, for almost all my laundry I use Sears Ultra Plus boosted with STPP in a 33% by weight ratio. For bath towels I use a mild liquid, like Kirkland Env Friendly or their newer HE compatible free and clear liquid. I've found that with my water hardness (usually much less than five grains) this gives the best results.

Another hint: since you're using the laundromat, and washing whites, I strongly suggest you use hot instead of warm water. Hotter the better. Heat will greatly enhance most any detergent's cleaning performance.

 

[maytagbear]

I've used Sears Ultra Plus for

well over a year now, and it is one of the best detergents I have ever used. I use the one in the orange box. Very low sudsing, light fragrance....it's just very good, and reasonably priced.

all is good, for a NON-ENZYME detergent, but it is non-enzyme. It's much better (in my opinion-) than Xtra or Purex.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[launderess]

All Free and Clear

Never bothered with the stuff after an inital trial (also purchased on sale).

Good for lightly soiled items like bed linens, but for everyday heavy wash with stains, there are better choices.

All does not contain bleaches, or enzymes, the things one needs to shift really bad stains and soils. You can kick things up a notch by adding a good enzyme containing oxygen bleach (Tide Stain Release Powder or Pacs for instance), or using chlorine bleach.

OTHO as SudsMaster stated, just go with something like Tide or the Sears product for your more "dirty" laundry and save the All for light work.

 

[retro-man]

I have found any of the detergents that are free and clear leave my clothes very rough and wrinkled. Went back to tide powder with bleach and clothes are back to normal. a dose of fabric softener w/extra rinse and i can hang clothes up when they come out of the dryer

 

[passatdoc]

I use Tide HE or Gain HE powder for towels and linens. Eventually my towels become scratchy, but only after say 100 washings (to be expected, par for the course). I have very hard water and add some borax to the wash dispenser (FL Frig 2140).

For my perm press (all cotton) "office casual" work clothes, I use my cache of European detergents: either Unilever UK Persil or Swedish Via (Persil's brand name in Sweden), or real German Persil (Henkel) when either I am there or can ask friends visiting from Germany to bring some for me. Given the shrinking baggage limits on airlines, quite likely the overseas friends will have less space in their bags for such luxuries.

My last purchase of Persil in Germany was at a Rewe supermarket. It was priced about the same as [not on sale] Tide HE powder in the USA: premium priced, but not exorbitant, and given than 30-45 ml (2-3 tbsp) is enough for most loads, it lasts a LONG time. I use a coffee measure (30 ml) to dose it. I liked the fact it came in a tough plastic pouch---safer for airline travel. In the past, cardboard boxes of detergent were not always treated so nicely by security and sometimes they'd create a tear in the package---so with cardboard boxes I always pack them in zip lock bags.

Henkel Persil powder in the USA is sold only through a small network of Miele dealers, some of which sell the full line of Miele appliances and some of which are limited to vacuum cleaners (but you can still find the laundry products at such stores), as well as a few markets that carry imported German products. It is rare to see them discounted, however, as Miele seems to cut off any retailer who is caught cutting prices.

The link below shows an 80 load Persil "Jumbo" box for $64 with free shipping. The shipping weight is stated as 18 pounds. Last week I posted a deal on Amazon for Gain HE powder, three 8.5 pound boxes for $28 including free shipping, thus about $9 per box. If one assumes that the Persil box is 18 lbs (as opposed to the weight of the shipping package with contents + materials being 18 lb), then one of these Persil boxes is about twice the weight of the Gain box, i.e $64 vs $18. Gain HE is concentrated and one uses about the same amount as with Persil, though I would admit that Persil is superior in performance. But possibly not so superior as to justify a three-fold increase in cost. However, the reviewers seem to indicate that it's worth the price. One of the reviewers has five daughters and runs two loads per day, with the box lasting six months.

http://www.amazon.com/UNIVERSAL-POW...1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1288537870&sr=8-1-catcorr

 

[dirtybuck]

Tide With Bleach

I picked up a box at a reasonable 5.00 price at Family Dollar. I'll start using it on my next Sat. washday trip to the laundromat.

PeterH770: I checked out a box of Surf and scanned the list of ingredients. Sorry to say, no enzymes in Surf. Oh well, that's life.