Laundry detergents – Regular or H.E.?? Also, suggestions to keep whites, white?

[MrX]

HE in UK and Ireland

In the UK and Ireland, and I assume much of Europe, "HE" detergents were launched in the 60s really as "Automatic detergents'. E.g. Ariel Automatic, Bold Automatic, Persil Automatic, Omo Automatic, Surf Automatic, Radion Automatic etc.

The Automatic tag remained on most of them until the 1990s even though there were no longer any "non-automatic' detergents.

Automatic detergents were designed for "automatics" which in this part of the world were, almost without exception, front loading or H-axis toploading in some places.

Most of the automatic powders and liquids are pretty low sudsing to exceptionally low sudsing. Although, Unilever's Persil/Omo liquigels can be pretty seriously sudsy with their current forumulation.

 

[DADoES]

Maybe I'm missing a concept, but I don't think sudsing has anything to do with premature bearing failure. Doesn't WATER splash all up around the bearing, spider and drum shaft under normal conditions? How can suds be any worse? Of course, suds CAN migrate to other areas of the machine where they aren't intended to go and cause rusting or other problems over time (like on a continually oversudsed Calypso).

 

[retromom]

Low Sudsing Rinso

Hey All!

Rinso is still available! It is now manufactured in Indonesia. This version is low-sudsing and contains no phosphates. I purchased mine at a 99 cent store. There are several different flavours available, although none of them seem to have any real fragrance. I also noticed that it is quite powdery like the Chinese Tide.

I continue to get great results with the powdered dishwasher detergent and recommend it for all to try.

 

[retromom]

More Rinso info...

Here's a pic of the latest Rinso detergent version. They are also making a non-chlorine bleach.

I've had good results with it. Since it is relatively fragrance-free, it is quite compatible with those LOUD Mexican fabric softeners that I use.

 

[sudsmaster]

Glenn,

I agree that oversudsing is unlikely to be the culprit in bearing failure. I agree that in normal operation sudsy water is most surely splashed up onto the surface of the bearing shaft and seal.

I am more inclined to believe that chlorine bleach, which is corrosive, has more of a role to play. It may be attacking the metal shaft on which the bearing seal rides, causing premature seal failure and hence bearing failure.

 

[peterh770]

I am more inclined to believe in cheap bearings and seals used in the machines that fail prematurely due to the force placed on them, not from water or suds that splash up on them.

 

[oxydolfan1]

I've been using the powdered dishwasher detergent as a booster, with or without an added shot of Clorox as necessary, and it has definitely improved the whitening, brightening, and stain removal properties of the Tide with Bleach "High Performance" powder I get at Costco.

Also, I have tested with the Downy Whitening fabric softener, and now with Suavitel....no discernable difference (and I like the Suavitel fragrance and price much better)....

I've only tried powdered dishwasher detergent that has chlorine bleach incorporated into the detergent.