Oxydol liquid

[retromania]

Hmmmm

I did not know the original Oxydol is still available. I will have to get a box to put in my stash. It was pretty good laundry detergent back when I was in college.

 

[danemodsandy]

Stan:

"Is that box the detergent, or soap version?"

Your answer's right there on the box, where it says:

"OXYDOL combines the finest washday detergent with color-safe bleach," plus:

"For best results, use no packaged water softener with OXYDOL. In hard water areas, using a little extra OXYDOL works better than adding a water softener, gives a whiter wash, and saves money, too."

That would mean a detergent jam-packed with lovely, lovely phosphates.

 

[stan]

Oh yes

see that now. I paid more attention to the front of the box than the back. ( where it says detergent )

Freddy, the bottle I have, is as you, and others have described, watery solution not even as thick as dish detergent, but for $1.00 who cares, I'll use it to wash the car, or something, not a big deal.
I'll go back to my own stuff for laundry.
And I think your right, for $1.00 I could have got a small box of Sun Detergent (not the best stuff either) but would have been better than this liquid. Oh well!

 

[danemodsandy]

Um, Actually....

....Since I had some brights to wash in cold water today, I made sure to take a whiff of the Dollar Tree Oxydol liquid while I was using it.

The scent is mild, but it does remind - I said remind - me of the old Oxydol scent. It is not the same, and it's not at the eye-watering intensity of the old scent, but it does make me think of the Oxydol scent I remember from all those years ago.

 

[supersuds]

Yes, Sandy is right, Stan...as you noted. Detergent all the way. I'm guessing late 50s? The lady in the frilly apron doesn't look very 1960s.

Andy, unfortunately the original Oxydol isn't available. I wish it were! This is a vintage box. My fault, should have started a new thread.

 

[mrboilwash]

Viscosity

of a liquid detergent has absolutley nothing to do with the detergent`s strenght.

Just add some really strong brine (table salt) and it`ll thicken like magic.
All those gel type detergents as Ariel Excell are only marketing BS making you believe it`s super strong. Just think of detergent Pods, the dosing is approximately the same as gels but no need for viscosity control.

But I agree, the buck store Oxydol hasn`t impressed me either. Guess it`s really just watered down.

 

[launderess]

Detergent

P&G tried out and perfected perborate bleaching systems with Oxydol before giving the full treatment to Tide With Bleach. Biz also shared some of the same activated oxygen bleach technology.

Thing is because top loading washing machines and all domestic washers for that matter lacked internal heaters wash water never reaches the temps to really get Oxydol going. I mean you didn't see Persil recommending soaking laundry with chlorine bleach before washing did you?

Unless very well rinsed a good portion of the perborate bleach in Oxydol would be negated by the remaining LCB if used for soaking. On the bright side if enough Oxydol was used it would drastically cancel out LCB thus acting as an anti-chlor.

Have a box of 1970's Oxydol in my stash am going to break out next in the vintage product usage rotation. Sadly though had hoped to save my box of DASH for awhile the box is starting to leak and maybe becoming swollen. This tells me the product might be on it's way out so time to start using it up. Maybe will give vintage "ALL" detergent (with the three B's) a rest and use Dash instead. If it is truly low sudsing and easy rinsing can use it in the AEG.

 

[launderess]

Ariel Excel Gel

I don't down about all that, but can tell you must use *VERY* small amounts in both the Miele and AEG or have terrible rinsing problems. The stuff just does not want to come out.

Problem is the stupid dosing cap while having indicator marks does not take into account gel does not spead out like liquid. So you have to shake or whatever the silly thing to make dispensed product level. By that time you may have put in too much. I've gone to using the small kitchen digital scale one uses for baking to weigh out product instead.

One thing with the AEG is that due to the low water levels in most wash cycles it does take awhile for the Excel gel to fully dispense. First time used in Lavamat was worried that the cycle would end before all product fully was shifted out.

 

[supersuds]

Leaking Dash

That's a shame. The one box I have arrived solid as a rock (well, almost), but with a little careful massaging, without opening the box, it seems to be powdery again. The Monsanto All, on the other hand, is bulging in spots.

I put one of those Damp-Rid things in the closet where I keep detergents to see if that would help keep them from getting clumpy.

As for Oxydol, I suppose some people in the Fifties had those dual-temp water heaters that have been mentioned here (there was a gas company film with Darren McGavin that showed how it worked.) Didn't they have temps up to 180°?

 

[launderess]

You're Better Off Using It Now If Ever

Unless you are simply planning to keep that box of DASH for display you might want to consider cracking it open and putting contents to use.

Having acquired a rather decent powdered detergent from both sides of the pond now, know what to look for in eBay adverts and thus aren't seeking to increase my lot.

Unless stored in a dry and climate controlled space all powdered detergent products absorb moisture from the air via carton. Now if the stuff is stored in dry cabinet or shelf that process is slowed. If OTOH stuff has been stored in a damp basement, under sinks, or so forth then all bets are off.

Now when looking at detergent offerings on fleaPay or some such I look for clues of damp; mold, staining, bulging and or leaking boxes..... Unless we're speaking of something extremely rare I'll take a pass.

 

[retromania]

Old Powder Formula

Too bad. It did seem a little too good to be true, but I was going to search for it anyway.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Launderess

Machines lacked internal heaters in the USA, true... but that does not absolutely mean they could not have temperatures to have the oxydol (perborate ingredients) going as you say, I mean starting from 140F and more... loaded from the tap...
I do that with my washers (no heaters) and also I use pure perborate alot while doing laundry with soap flakes, and that do a nice job.
Like it is for me, for many others it was and it is the same thing...

So it does not make sense for me what you say...sorry...

I don't also get your statement about Persil not suggesting using bleach in prewash...what you mean? What you refer to?
About the fact it contained perborate maybe so no suggesting use of chlorine?
Most european detergent does not, never did..like most american ones also does not..

As far as I know no detergent both vintage/old or new from me tried, never suggested or mentioned to have prewash with chlorine... I'm not saying it is no possible, just not commonly..especially as we look for more modern stuff (from the 60s to present)...
All the things I could seldomly read indeed were: "If chlorine bleach is needed add it in the last 5 minutes of wash cycle" this for american products meant for top loader machines and they did contain perborate....but never in a detergent box I've read run a pre wash cycle before wash one, never, just a few times in low end chlorine bleach bottles... but again, not saying it is impossible..
But this makes me think at the fact you say of perborate and chlorine eliminating each other...
If it is no good to have chlorine left in clothes then it is even less good adding chlorine to wash solution..so where's the point i this?
I'm puzzled...

European washers ( at least many ones you'd find in Italy) because of the different washing and cycle of the machine, would do chlorine bleaching automatically and this would take place in the first rinse (if needed), or in case of lack of automatic bleaching cycles manufacturers suggest to run a rinse or prewash before wash, or wait to add it manually after wash cycle ( this is the preferental method suggested)...

But I see that when one use bleach would probably never mind, care and need to benefit of perborate though rhen...

I also found weird what I heard about some machines from elsewhere in europe that would mention that machine gets ruined from bleach???
I find it crazy! Silly!

I would never have a machine that gets ruined just for some bleach, moreover in the eventuality I'd need it to get something white before home dying or simply fix a wash error, rare event but possible.
I feel like I should be allowed to use bleach in washer! Like a normal machine should..
I mean..
Okay it ruins clothes time after time, but a washer??? Is that made of paper maybe?? Ahahahah! It's not acid!

Anyway, as you well know I don't like front loaders and how they do (not) work....so this thing is not going to touch me minimally...[this post was last edited: 9/18/2013-18:47]

 

[danemodsandy]

180 Degrees?

Yikes!

Even in the days when energy rates were low compared to today's (adjusted for inflation), I can't imagine many people electing to pay for such a high hot-water temp.

There is a little-remembered secret about the '50s and the early '60s - economy. Our parents had grown up with both the Depression and wartime rationing, and now that they had it good, they still didn't waste stuff, or money. It was also a single-breadwinner economy, meaning that one parent (usually Dad at that time) brought home the bacon, with all other members of the household dependent on that person financially.

I well remember all the home sewing, home freezing and canning, the seat covers and ring-and-valve jobs and Earl Scheib paint jobs to make old cars last a while longer, the constant reminders to "Close that door!" and "Turn out that light!," the self-administered home permanents, the careful use of coupons and the drive to get the most bang for the laundry buck.

All of it was necessary to stretch that single, intractable paycheck, and all of us did it without even thinking; it was just the way things were. We were not lower-income people, either; my Dad earned excellent pay for that time and place. It's just that we were buying a house and raising three kids. Millions of new suburbanites lived exactly as we did - getting ahead, but not having it all.

Anyone turning a water heater to 180 in my family (immediate or extended) would have found themselves in a comfy institution getting 72 hours of psych evaluation.

 

[retromania]

Yeah!

That's a bit hot. Phew! Yes, Sandy. Our parents were products of the depression and war rationing. My mother didn't do all those things you listed, but she did slip-cover some of our furniture. She sewed a lot and was a perfectionist with her sewing. I wish I had the Halloween costumes she made for me. One was a dog and one was the devil. She kept a spotless house and kitchen.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

My apartment taps (common condo heater) gets out hot water never less of 150°f, it even regularly reaches 170°f - 180°f in high demand times such as lunch hours, morning or dinner times...
I pay for hot water so I want hot water, not warm, hot...but that's just the norm for how I see things...I mix it with cold of course if I need it warm, as it should be..
At the seaside house we indeed have a wall instant water heater that heats water and produce hot water for radiators (like many people do have here) from Vaillant, the max set up gets water at stationary 182 F°....

Also....where I work we have an electric acculumatory water heater, never measured temp there but is as hot as the one coming out my apartment...
Electric water heaters over here are not very commonly found because of cost of electricity...

I think these temperatures are just the norm....as they should be..

If you don't want to have set up a temperature that high you could easily increase it when you have to do laundry..or even better have a small one installed just for laundry use..maybe filling already warm water from your general household one and you could just turn it on at the time of the need to turn water actually hot (you'd need to let flow some other water to empty the cold one and have it filled with warm)..
Anyway...I find the instant ones to be the best choice, they runs at the exact time you need hot water and shuts off at the time you close the tap.. if you have a gas hook up and possibility to install one that's good...then running on gas, the cost is so low than electricity...
[this post was last edited: 9/18/2013-17:52]

 

[danemodsandy]

Andy:

I didn't mean every family did all those money-saving things, but most families I knew back then engaged in one or more of them.

Fred:

How cheap are your utility rates in Valenza? Heating water to 180 here in the States would cost a bleeding fortune.

Or are you actually the Duchess of Alba, so the cost isn't important? ;-)

 

[supersuds]

Exactly right, sandy

Nobody would have dreamed of hiring a lawn service -- you did it yourself, or hired a neighborhood kid if you were away. Paint, wallpaper -- DIY. Simplicity dress patterns, check. Church rummage sale for kids clothes, check. Cousins' old tricycle and swingset, check.

Here's the dual temp gas water heating setup video, at the 11:00 mark. The whole thing is worth watching, it's a hoot! Great appliances, too.

 

[supersuds]

Using old detergent

I know I won't be able to hold off using it forever, Launderess, but am going to take my time and enjoy it. As you once pointed out, there's no use dying with unused detergent!

At the same time, all the old stuff is 40+ years old now, so waiting a few more years shouldn't be a dealbreaker for any of it at this point.

 

[launderess]

@Kenmoreguy90

Someone upthread made comment about the directions on the Oxydol box suggesting for heavily and or badly stained items that could not be shifted with washing, soaking and or boiling with the product that a one hour soak with "bleach" could work. In the United States "Bleach" universally refers to LCB unless "oxygen" or "all fabric" proceeds the word.

Most American homes today do *NOT* give water temps >130F and certainly not 180F from the taps. Back when the package of Oxydol in question was printed it was possible to purchase heaters that gave water at 180F or even 140F but that does not mean water which reached the machine equaled those temps. Distance from the washer along with other factors would influence what temperature "hot" water was when it entered the machine. Then there is unless the washer had good insulation water temp would certainly drop as it encountered both the cooler laundry and the appliance tub/parts themselves. Depending upon cycle length the end temp might be ten or more degrees cooler.

Also the package gives the standard washing directions in terms of water suggestions many housewives on this side of the pond followed; that is "hot", "warm", or "cold" water based upon soils and or other factors. Since American washers then and to a large portion still today do not heat water a separate wash or soak with cool or cold water is required before starting a wash with hot. Filling a washer directly with hot water will set certain stains. This was something known going back to soap and water days.

Persil and prewash:

Unless grossly filthy European washing machines and soiled laundry do not require a prewash. This is because as noted above it is possible to start the wash with cold or cool water and gradually reach hot or boiling. Many machines did include and recommend such a cycle for heavily soiled whites because two washes give better results on such things than one long. Also if the washer was plumbed with both hot and cold the main wash cycle could be started with hot water thus saving a bit of time and costs in heating to very hot or boiling.

Adding LCB Five minutes after....

Aside from Oxydol and later Tide few if any domestic American detergents contained oxygen bleach. This was fine because Americans by and large prefer LCB by a wide margin for stain removal and overall whitening and sanitizing of laundry.

Chlorine bleach however can affect two components of laundry detergents, bluing agents (OBAs), and enzymes. Once one or both began to be included in American detergents makers began to suggest waiting a period of time after the wash had begun to allow the bluing agents and or enzymes to do their work before adding LCB.

Chlorine bleach residue:

Commercial laundries have known for ages that the residue from chlorine bleach is harmful to textiles, and by the way the stuff is very hard to completely remove from fabrics. Various chemicals and multiple rinses are used after a bleaching cycle to remove and or neutralize traces of LCB. American housewives OTOH have largely been left to fend for themselves.

Older laundry manuals one has read do give instructions about the care required to rinse all LCB away from fabrics and the various techniques and domestic chemicals that will neutralize bleach, but you rarely if ever find such information on a packet of Clorox.

In general if you can still smell LCB then it still remains on textiles. Further exposure to heat (drying and or ironing) will activate the bleach and cause fabric damage. This damage can range from yellowing to outright disintegration of textiles. Remember watching someone who had pre-treated a stain with LCB, rinsed, then washed the thing in an automatic washer that had several rinses. She went to iron the shirt and when she came to the area treated with LCB soon as the heat touched area it became one huge hole. That was that for that shirt.

Water heaters:

Many persons have no choice where the heater is installed and few if any are interested in installing a second unit just to provide hot water for a washing machine. As one has stated again and again, Americans are not that bothered by washing at temps below boiling or even very hot because they are wedded to the use of LCB.

Chlorine bleach does all it's whitening and stain removal in five minutes or less. Colder water will clock in near five and hot much less. This is why among other reasons commercial laundries have long had a separate short "bleaching" cycle that comes *after* the main wash. Most housewives either add the stuff at the start of the wash or return during the cycle to do it then. Some top loaders then and now along with most front loaders sold today have bleach dispensers that will add LCB at the proper time. Some do this at a certain mark during main wash, others during the first rinse. [this post was last edited: 9/18/2013-23:10]

 

[launderess]

Machines runied by LCB

No, it is not crazy and many European washer makers from Bosch, AEG, Asko, and even Miele warned against frequent use of LCB and in the case of one (Bosch or Asko cannot remember) used to warn that use of the stuff just once would void their warranty.

If you read the package of any chlorine bleach you will see the words "corrosive" because that is what the stuff can do. LCB can and will harm many types of metal such as some forms of stainless steel and so forth. Front loading washers often have SS inner and or outer tubs. Modern front loaders also have a wide array of sensors between the tubs that can have metal parts that are subject to harm caused by bleach. Some brands of SS sinks sold here advised against using cleaners containing bleach (chlorine) routinely. This advice comes because most cleanser and more and more cleaning products sold in the USA are loaded with LCB.

American top loading washing machines OTHO usually never had sensors between the tubs and the latter were made from vitreous porcelain/enameled steel which in theory is not harmed by LCB. Long as the surface is not damaged or chipped to expose the underlying metal things should be fine.

In any case both for top and front loading machines have gone to plastic inner and or outer tubs. This fiberglass or whatever is not harmed by LCB. Then all you need worry about is the sensors.

European washing machine makers from Miele on down threw up their hands in defeat trying to convince American housewives and others *not* to use LCB. Now all if not most washers from that side of the pond sold here not only allow/recommend LCB but provide a space in dispenser for it to be used.