Laundry Detergents 0 Old School vs New

[launderess]

Like most of us here have a pretty decent sized detergent stash, thus able to play around with various products and examine results. Old school detergents, basically from soap to detergents up until around the 1970's or so depended mainly on somewhat high alkaline levels (washing soda and or borax, phosphates), along with various surfactants ranging from petrol (Naptha and so forth),to modern "eco-friendly" versions. All and all the process simply was to remove dirt, oils and muck, keep them suspended in wash water, then drained away. Then came enzymes.

Enzymes have been a boon to laundry detergents as they allowed for a wider range of stain/soil removal, at lower wash temps, and more important for textile life and skin comfort, not nearly so alkaline levels as before. Commercial laundries seem to have been early adopters of these products, and indeed much of today's laundry detergent chemistry seems to have filtered down from top shelf commercial products. For a commercial laundry, using a neutral or near neutral pH detergent (as most enzyme based are), means souring can be skipped, which means one less step, less water used thus savings.

When using an old school product like the Ecolab in my stash on say bed linens or towels, one really has to crank up the temp to remove the oils and muck, which are merely suspended in wash water. While the laundry is "clean", to my nose a good enzyme based detergent does a better job a removing body oils and their odors than just a plain "detergent". Laundry just seems to smell "fresher", and since can lower the wash temp to 100F or 120F, there is less wrinkling and other problems associated with high temp washes.

Thoughts?

 

[hoovermatic]

I am not so au fait with the chemical composition of detergents as you are but I remember that as a child, my mum always used Persil and Fairy Snow. Both of these were soap powders and as mum had a twin tub, she used the regular Persil. There was Persil Automatic but that was virtually 'top shelf' in the 1960/70's. She always washed in high temps and the results were dazzling but I don't beleive it would work well at low temps like the new biological detergents today do. The other difference was that we wore a lot more natural fibres, no nylon, polyester or acrylic, at least not in our family, and the fabrics seemed much more sturdy and durable, which is just as well when you have a Hoovermatic twin tub as they are not renowned for their gentle wash action. Fast yes, gentle, no!

When I had a twinnie I used to use soap flakes as they are brilliant rinsers and disappear without a trace leaving the most wonderful natural soap/fresh/line dried fragrance and feel to clothes, particularly underwear, towels and cotton tees. I wish I could combine the two, soap smells with bio performance at low temps.

 

[pulsatron]

Older ones for me.

I personally prefer the older formulation detergents which used to be available here in Oz.
I too am not really into chemical compositions either, but I still feel that the older detergents cleaned better than the new ones.
I remember the old Omo,Rinso(not available any longer),Lemon Fab,Ajax(not available any longer,but one of my faves with it's"blue beads of bleach"),Blue Torrent(the 1st cold water powder),Aura(the 1st liquid detergent)Persil(only available in very selected outlets not standard supermarkets).
I HATE!!Dynamo liquid (it is too thick and gluggy and stains worse than undissolved powder.)Cold Power is out as with Radiant,Spree and Hurricane.
I am really only using liquid Surf because the local deli still have not restocked German Persil which I am a big fan of.
Cheers.
Steve.

 

[peterh770]

With many US detergents, the high scent leads the user to think "Smells clean must mean clean." With wimpy agitating toploaders, stingy water using frontloaders, corner cutting to obtain that all desirable Energy Star, cold water washing, most of the public is duped by the smell. Thus, I really don't care for the performance of US detergents. Yeah, I will use Tide when I have to, and I look for ALL when I can find it, but the detergents from Mexico and the UK do just as good if not better than our domestic brands without the overly lingering scent.

I am still in the "dial up the temperature" phase. Can't have good cleaning without temperature. Crank it to as hot as the fabric and the dye will tolerate. Maybe my phase will change once I move the Miele out and rely on my hot water heater, but even then I will probably have the dial set to "hot" more often than not.

Enzyme detergents are excellent, but they really excel when doing a soak. When you give the enzymes time to really work, you have the freshest clothes in the universe!

 

[hoovermatic]

When I lived in Oz, I regularly used Radiant granules, Cold Power (my fave for performance and smell) and Hurricaine 'cos it was value for money, I thought. I know exactly what you mean about Dynamo - it is very thick and gloopy. I occasionally used Rinso and am sad to hear that it is no longer available. It disappeared in the UK years ago and I have always associated Ajax with scouring powder so I was put off using it. I loved the smell of Fab!

 

[sudsdudeshane]

Nothing in my opinion compares to vintage Oxydol,Ajax and Tide. Right now I am using Cheer powder on my darks and Tide with Bleach on my whites and linens.
Both detergents are very good and have a pleasant scent

 

[frigilux]

I dialed the temp down to cold (65-degrees) when I began using powdered Tide Cold Water. After almost a year of washing whites that way, I tried going back to hot water. To my complete amazement, I found stains more thoroughly removed with Tide CW and temp-controlled cold water. Oh, and my water is very, very soft. This may make a difference.

I vote for the new formulations.

I use Ariel on in warm water for non-white loads.

I use Cheer For Darks for black loads.

 

[oxydolfan1]

I have very soft water, and I like the Tide Coldwater powder for non-colorfast loads as well as the new Cheer True Fit, but I use the latter as a substitute for Woolite, not a daily detergent for colors. I like the Tide Coldwater powder, but I've found it has a tendency to fade colors.

I always used powdered All, but it was always harsh on colors. I tested it recently and found that it simply won't dissolve in anything but hot water. Then I bought a box of powdered Surf (inexpensive, at Target only), and it dissolves well, but the cleaning is only middling (I adjusted the wash water temperature and the performance definitely approves).

I like the Gain with Bleach powder and the Tide with Bleach powders very much, but they are very sudsy. I like the Persil Sensitive product for whites and colorfasts, and the Persil gel for colors, but I'm putting them aside for when I get my front-loader/F&P/Oasis, because I'd be spending beaucoup bucks if I used only that in my beloved Whirlpool toploader.

Out of exasperation over not having found the best all-purpose detergent for me (and having coupons on hand), I bought a bottle of the new Tide HE and the Arm and Hammer 2x liquid products, and I'll test them over the next few days. In addition, my ex-whatever very thoughtfully brought in a large box of Tide HE powder. If I remember correctly, I liked it on whites with chlorine bleach added, but I don't recall how it worked on colors fading-wise.

I don't care for the All liquid formulation anymore, and here is my theory. I have a family member who is an appliance tech...out of nine TLs he's seen last week, eight were seriously leaking, and all of those had used All or Wisk liquid recently! I've heard this before, particularly on GEs, so I've got the notion that these liquids aren't good for the seals on toploaders, so I'll avoid them entirely!

Since my water is so soft, and I hate all of this sudsiness, I guess in a perfect world, I'd like Concentrated All and Dash powders back, just with the updated stain-removal technologies!

Most of all, I'd like Fresh Start back in stores, to buy by the bottle without the expense and inconvenience of shipping charges.

And I believe, as consumers, we can't be like our moms were. We have to be brand dis-loyal....they've brought this on by changing the formulas perpetually, and sadly not usually for the better.

 

[scott55405]

Do the Mexican detergents have phosphates in it?

 

[frigilux]

Scott-- I use Mexican Ariel and Viva and they both have phosphates.