Liquid Detergents Leave Laundry Softer. Don't You Find?

[launderess]

In an attempt to pare down my detergent/laundry product stash have begun using up things that have been sit sitting for ages gathering dust. One such product is something called "European Washing Powder" or some such, designed for laundering fine linens and danties. Product does not come with contents listed, but as it is designed for cold water use and can be highly sudsing, am guessing it is high on surfactants and low if nil sodium carbonate. Strange thing though, can swear that my linens have a much smoother hand after ironing, and even a slight gloss.

Now the gloss could be from my starch mixture, but the hand is certianly different. This leads one to wonder if all the noise sellers of special detergents for linens and delicates make about them not contaning caustics, bleaches and the like are really better for fine fabrics/linens.

Normally do not bother with such products as felt they don't clean very well, but a dash of STPP and enzyme containing oxygen bleach (Spray N Wash Pink) seems to do the trick.

Talk amoungst yourselves and discuss

L.

 

[exploder3211]

I like the way some liquids make my towles feel, esp. All and Gain

 

[~sudsshane]

Not a fan of Liquid

In my humble opinion, I don't think liquid cleans as well as powder. I don't understand why the trend has gone towards liquids in recent years and away from powder. I find if I use my Fresh Start, Bold Plus or Ariel powder, all I need is a little Final Touch and my clothes come out baby soft.

 

[launderess]

Don't think I'd use liquid detergent for heavy duty laundry days, but "light" laundry such as sheets and towels they seem to be more than enough. After all towels (aside from hand and kitchen towels), come into contact with a clean body (hopefully), and sheets (depending on various habits), shouldn't be that soiled.

L.

 

[westyslantfront]

I like Viva (Mexican detergent). It is a powder. I do use liquid Tide HE for front loaders and it seems to do an ok job.

Ross

 

[bingwsguy]

Laundress and Shane....

I agree with both of you.

Laundress, I have noticed that things are softer with liquids.
Liquids seem to leave behind an "oily" film much like a fabric softner does, therefor leaving a softer feel.

Shane, I also prefer powdered detergents...they seem to clean the best and rinse the cleanest for me. I like powders for the dishwasher as well...they will scour things that liquids can't touch. Powders are becoming extinct as more and more people think liquids are more convienient. I have always thought more is wasted with liquids that never completely come out of the bottle and I am willing to search to have powders for both.

 

[dixieland]

I definitely prefer powders to liquids. Tide liquids are good but they do leave behind that musty smell. Bold Plus is great as is Fresh Start.

I recently tried Charlie's Soap (powdered). I don't care for it at all though.

 

[pturo]

I think softness it is a matter of dyring techinques. Line drying would be the proving ground to test that. Machine drying, espeiclly my Maytag Halo of Heat seems to soften any harsh load as compared to my Kenmore at my summer place, which seems to leave lint and overheat. Line drying would be a fabric softner test.

 

[whirlcool]

We have tons of liquid on hand and only a small amount of powdered detergent. We are using it up as fast as we can, but it will still take a long time. But we still have large jugs of Tide with Bleach, Cheer HE, Arm & Hammer Clean Burst, and various large bottles of Persil UK.

We have decided that we like the powedered detergent as it has better rinsability. The liquid stuff can take forever to rinse out. Usually we have to resort to a touch of fabric softner or vinegar to get the desired results.
The only thing we launder that gets really dirty is dog beds. And powder does a much better job on those than does liquid.

Our powdered detergent stash is Persil Non Bio, Persil regular and Fab jungle scent.

 

[maytagbear]

I have found--

that powders work best on dirt--soil, earth, ground...and similar stains.

I find that liquids are better for me on greasy stains, like butter, or ball-point pen ink.

Right now, I have quite a collection on top of the dryer. Arm and Hammer with bleach alternative, all Small and Mighty(very good for a non-enzyme,) all regular, and Wisk small and mighty. The Wisk is labeled HE, but it makes lots of suds in my top loading Maytag.

You people have indeed rubbed off on me. Next time at Target, I am getting some Method.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[frigilux]

I used liquid Tide HE for several years with good results and I believe CR says that liquid Tide With Bleach Alternative is very good. Otherwise, many liquids don't perform as well in CR's tests, anyway.

Since Venus turned me on to Mexican powders and Launderess turned me on to Persil, I've become a powder man, once more. As a group, I think they clean a little better.

Liquids are so popular because they are easy to deal with and not as messy as powders, especially if you have to haul your detergent to a laundry room in an apt. building.

 

[exploder3211]

I dunno.. I have a Kenmore 110.86873100 (70 series i think) and if left on medium and you use the timer setting for 50 min. or so you get fairly soft cloths. Then again my Mannatag at the other house did very well and made stuff even fluffier. Also so did the dryer sheets. But i have educated enough not to use them any more. I still like liquids a little more

 

[whirlcool]

We also find that if we use the "delicates/woolens" cycle on the dryer the clothing comes out much softer. Since we run our laundry thru the pakistani spinner, it doesn't take anytime at all to dry.

 

[launderess]

Vinegar For Rinsing

Just as an aside, vinegar/laundry sours, will not remove surfactants/sudsing agents, nor detergent "residue". The purpose of a slightly acid rinse is to remove remaining sodium bicarbonate (what washing soda breaks down to during the laundering process), so laundry won't turn brown upon ironing.

Removing excess base and bringing the pH of the laundry down to near neutral also results in softer textiles in most cases as it is the roughing up caused by high alkaline detergents that makes items feel rough and scratchy. However if one brings down the pH too fast and or far, textile fibers will constrict, trapping the detergent in the laundry making it harder to remove.

Most liquid detergents are neutral to slightly acidic or alkaline as they do not rely on high ph levels (washing soda, borax, phosphates, etc), to break grease, soils and muck from fabrics. Rather liquid detergents use a cocktail of surfactants and enzymes to do the work. It is the surfactants that may cause a problems in rinsing, with some foam visable in the final rinse water. To an extent small amounts of left over surfactants aren't going to harm your laundry nor cause reactions, unless one is very sensitive to particular chemicals in the product.

One needs to use caution in using any laundry sour, including white vinegar on laundry. Both cotton and linen fibers are harmed by acids, but not bases. Too much laundry sour and or improper use can weaken textiles and damage some dyes. Indeed many men's dress shirts sold today come with laundering instructions stating to use either a neutral or skip the souring step all together.

If one wishes to remove detergent residue, the best method would be by rinsing in "soft" water. Soft water, especially water softened with STPP will coax out detergent residue from fabrics.

L.

 

[bongobro]

Liquids vs powders

I don't really notice a difference in softness since I add softener to almost every load. I do know that water in my area is super-hard--and powder detergents in recent years leave a lot of white dusty residue in the washer--and in my clothes--so I haven't used a powder in years!

 

[whirlcool]

Thanks Laundress, you are an encycliopedia of information. We haven't tried STTP before as we really don't have any staining problems or very dirty clothing, but if it makes things rinse better, just maybe....

 

[launderess]

Soft water in general is better for washing and rinsing. However unless one lives in an area with hard water (and you would know), softening rinse water is normally not necessary, and most TOL detergents do a good job on their own.

Being as all this may, the softer the water,the less laundry products (detergent,soap, powdered bleaches, stain removers,) one needs. Just as with using soap flakes (pure soap is a good water softener), some of the detergent dose goes to softening the water. This is what the various builders such as sodium carbonate, zeolites, borax, STPP, et al are there for amoungst other functions. If one adds say STPP or another packaged water softener to the wash water, then detergent/laundry product dosage can be reduced.

The above is the reason why one can use much less than the suggested dosages of European/UK laundry products in North America. Even the hardest water in the United States is still softer than most parts of Europe. Laundry products sold on that side of the pond must not only clean, but over come rock solid water as well.

Using a packaged water softener for rinsing is a hold over from when soap was used for laundry, and still is used when soap is used for washing and or one is trying to remove detergent residue. Just remember too soft water is just as bad as too hard. Water that is too soft will make rinsing extremely difficut. Many people who have whole house water softening systems go mad trying to find a detergent that "works" with their system. Some arrange for a system bypass for the washing machine faucet. If one has ever bathed in water that has been made too soft you get the picture. One can stand there rinsing for ages, and still feel slick.

L.