"New Formula" Ariel now phosphate-free

[sudsmaster]

I tried some Lirio on a couple loads. Seems to work well enough, although dosage is tricky if over-sudsing is to be avoided. It also has a lingering fragrance, but it's not too bad.

Speaking of which, just gave my cat some flea drops. The mfg has added fragrance to the drops. Not sure it's an improvement - she smells like someong spilled a whole can of baby powder, or maybe Chanel No. 5 - they both smell about the same to me.

 

[launderess]

It is not the alage per se that kills waterways/depletes oxygen, but what happens when the alage blooms die off and decompose that can use up available oxygen.

From a laundry point of view, I'd rather have STPP alone as a builder than the rather complex chemical brew of chemicals that is required as a replacement.

Washing soda is very alkaline and can form "scum", Zeolites can be abrasive to fabrics (it is after all a type of clay/mineral that does not break down in water), and so forth.

In addition the use of all and sundry types of builders/fillers, especially in powders leads to a gradual build up over time. Some studies suggest that over a period of years, textiles laundered in many of today's detergent powders actually gains weight from the various residues. That "lint" one sees when shaking out freshly washed laundry can actually be left over Zeolites,washing soda, saw dust (used as filler), and god only knows what else from powdered laundry detergents.

This is one of the reasons people report laundry washed in liquid detergents is "softer". Liquid detergents simply do not have all that gunk.

L.