Importance of enzymes?

[mich]

Is Tide Worth the extra money?

That's something, none of us can really answer. Only you can, really decide what'll work best.

That said. It's probably not a bad idea, to keep a half-full bottle, on hand at all times, for heavily soiled loads & pretreating.  

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Also. Try Powder. You might like it better. 

 

[polkanut]

Also, if you want to reduce fading and prevent your clothes from having a worn look to them, simply turn your clothing inside out before washing.

 

[mich]

RE - Charlies Soap.

I've heard really good things about it, for those laundering in soft water. That said... the product itself, doesn't contain water softening agents, or there so limited they don't really have a chance to soften water. 

 

So... if you have Hard Water. I'd recommend, adding something like Calgon, or a detergent booster to prevent greying from limescale and mineral deposits in your water supply. 

 

If you go on the Laundry Forum... you'll notice quite a bit of reviews, and really the significance of having softened water.  

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

When I got my Neptune set back around 2000, the only HE detergent I could find was liquid Wisk. It was very disappointing - didn't get out dirt and stains the way I thought it should. I quickly backtracked and started my research on what made older detergents better, and "discovered" STPP. Well, that's for another subject thread.

 

In any case, what I've noticed is that even HE rated liquids tend to suds far more than HE powders. Although I haven't tried the latest Persil liquid, maybe it's lower sudsing. But I tend to doubt it. My hunch is that most liquid HE detergents are high on surfactants and low on builders. Maybe OK for organic soils but relatively poor at real dirt. So the only things I use liquids for is bath towels (keeps them softer), throw rugs with rubber or rubberized backing (liquids are gentler on things like rubber), and of course woolens and delicates. The rest get (usually) Sears Ultra HE powder boosted by about 33% by weight with STPP. Works well for me, and Sears Ultra HE Powder is very low sudsing.

 

I still have some Wisk HE liquid from 2000... one of these days I'm gonna "donate" it to the local laundromat. Or, maybe use it on said throw rugs. For now I've been using some older Sears Ultra HE liquid on them, and it works well enough, although it tends to suds too much if one isn't careful.

 

Tide powder is a very good detergent with proprietary technology, but I don't think it's worth the extra $$$ for my purposes.

 

I have found that many "HE Compatible" powders also are too high sudsing. Kirkland being one of them. It's a bizarre product, which has backwards dosing advice, saying to use MORE of the product in an HE washer. Stupid. I think I returned the box I got to Costco for a full refund. They just don't seem to get it.