OK --- How much detergent do you use in your front loaders?

[roscoe62]

He Powder vs He liquid

Can anyone help me here??
I have a FL duet and I cannot get a liquid HE to work in my machine. I love the powder versions of Tide and Sears , the only ones I can get locally but after using for some time the whites seem to get a little dull. Is there any thing I can use with the powder without the door blowing off the machine from a suds lock?
And believe me when I say this because I have had more than my share of suds lock with liquids because I have really soft water. No amount of varying the liquid works, I don't get it?
I have heard about Persils but that is not available locally either.
Signed Frustrated (huh)

 

[retropia]

Well . . . a trick I learned here about how to knock down suds is to add liquid fabric softener. I've been experimenting with non-HE powder in our front loader. When the suds level looks ominous, I fill a measuring cup with hot water, add a tablespoon or two of liquid fabric softener, pour it in the detergent dispenser drawer, and that usually does the trick.

I don't have a clue about how to make your whites whiter, but the suds-knock-down trick might allow you to use a detergent you otherwise prefer for whites, but you've been avoiding due to the suds issue.

 

[DADoES]

 
Tablespoon or two .... depends on the detergent & softener involved and how much sudsing is happening, but may not need that much.

I had a potential oversuds happen a few weeks ago on my F&P during EcoActive. Less than 1/2 teaspoon was enough to cut the sudsing back.

 

[rinso]

We have a water softener. Never have to use more than 1 or 2 tablespoons of either liquid or powder in our Electrolux IQ.

 

[northernmary]

Persil Bio Small and Mighty

i only use the standard amount of 35ml of persil small and mighty

NorthernMary

 

[zanussi_lover]

My Detergent

Persil Bio/Daz Powder (Whites) - about 80ml per wash, 0r 130ml if they are quite dirty, i use a small amount of powder on towels, so they rinse really well.

Ariel Colour Powder (Colours/Darks) about 80ml per wash, a bit less if im washing only a few things.

 

[passatdoc]

always use HE powders (Tide, Gain, or Persil)

I mostly use domestic HE powders, Tide or Gain. For my work clothing (khaki trousers and button down shirts, either pastel or plaid or dark solid), I use European powders I bring back on trips: German Persil, or Unilever's Persil from other countries (UK Persil, Omo, Via, etc.).

My work clothing is rarely heavily soiled. In my 3.5 cu ft Frigidaire 2140, I use 2 tbsp per load. I just use a steel coffee measure (30 ml or 2 tbsp). Most of my work clothes are 100% cotton with wrinkle free finish from LL Bean, and I run them on a Perm Press cycle for both washing and drying. These loads dry in about 30 mins (including cool down phase of drying); if I use a regular wash cycle with longer/faster final spin, drying time is reduced by 5-10 minutes, but clothes don't look as nice (more likely to cause wrinkles during final spin)

For towels and sturdy cottons, I don't waste my European detergent and just use 2-3 tbsp of Gain or Tide HE powder. Both work fine.

In general, my amounts are about half of what are recommended on the box (including the European boxes) and everything comes out clean. I have hard water and no water softener. I do generally add some Borax to each load, which I am told acts somewhat like a water softener. What I have noticed is that detergent seems to rinse out of clothes better if Borax is added to the wash cycle. Without Borax, I tend to see more suds on the door and gasket. Borax is very cheap here, like $4 for a large box. My clothes seem to last a long time, so I would imagine that Borax isn't harmful to clothing longevity.