Purex Liquid vs. OxiClean Detergent Ball (pics galore!)

[frigilux]

So, today was detergent day for me. I was in Mankato, MN and bought several kinds to try, namely Fresh Start, Purex HE liquid, OxiClean Detergent Ball, Cheer for Darks, powdered Tide HE.

I also bought a dozen large white bath towels at Sam's Club and decided to try a couple of the detergents on their initial wash. Each load consisted of 6 large bath towels, filling about 2/3 of the tub. The towels were a bit off-color toward almond from sitting around in the store.

First load: A medium dose of Purex HE liquid and 2 tablespoons of Snuggle fabric softener. Temp-controlled warm water (about 90 degrees) on the Whites cycle (18-minute wash, no extra rinse option, fastest final spin speed).

Second load: The OxiClean Detergent Ball. I approach this with great skepticism, especially given Jason L.'s experience with it. And he's right---the hardest part is getting the damn thing out of the packaging and into first the little nylon sock and finally the rubber dispenser ball. Same fabric softener, same cycle.

This picture shows the shocking results. The towel on the right, washed in Purex HE, has just emerged from the dryer. It is still almond-colored. The towel on the left was washed in the Oxi Clean Ball load and has just emerged from the washer. I couldn't believe the difference! The Oxi towels were brilliant white by comparison.

I'd also thrown in a white wash cloth which I stained with mud, ketchup and blueberry jam. Only the the ketchup stain was not fully removed. Unfortunately, I didn't take a before of it. You'll have to take my word for it.

 

[frigilux]

I was bewildered. I threw the now-dried Purex load back into the washer and used the Oxi Ball. Same softener, same cycle and options. The almond-colored towels emerged sparkling white, as can be seen in this photo.

Again, I was amazed and befuddled. I fully expected to hate the Oxi Ball. It made almost no suds at all, even in my uber-soft water. I can only attribute the difference between Jason's and my outcomes to the soft water and the wash action. That ball really bounced around in there, so perhaps it dispensed and dispersed a little more effectively.

 

[frigilux]

Final OxiBall test: Last night I entertained guests for dinner and had two food mishaps. First, a young tyke who loved the first few spoons of the pureed carrot baby food I made him decided he'd had enough and spit the sixth one out on my shirt. Then, I tilted back a big glass of iced raspberry Crystal Light a little too far and it spilled on down the front of my shirt. You can see the raspberry stain in the photo but the carrot didn't show up very well.

I threw in a load of light-colored dress shorts, shirts and gym shorts---it was only a half-load. Warm water, 18-minute wash, slow spin. Here's the before pic of the shirt.

 

[frigilux]

And here's the after pic: All the stains were gone!

I actually like the OxiClean Detergent Ball a lot!! Now I'll have to try it in temp-controlled cold water. The directions encourage you to use warm or cold water to increase the lifespan of the ball.

My clothes didn't feel like there was detergent residue or anything, which also surprised me. Each rinse had the same, almost negligible, amount of suds the wash had. The clothes emerged smelling only a bit of the Snuggle.

Unfortunately, you can't use the OxiBall with chlorine bleach and I refuse to wash my kitchen whites and underthings without LCB. Cold water and Tide CW for whites I've adjusted to---can't argue with pristine results---but I MUST HAVE MY LCB! (I've switched to Clorox's Complete Care premium bleach and really like it, too. Does a great job in cold water.)

And that's my adventure in detergent-land, kids. My Ariel and Persil should arrive early next week. Can't wait to try them!

 

[DADoES]

Wow!

 

[dalangdon]

I think you should have used sand, and had ladies from several of the Twin Cities leading women's clubs do the washing ;-)

(A nod to the great Westinghouse washing machine ad in the video section of aw.org)

 

[sudsdudeshane]

re: Purex

Purex has to be the worst detergent on the market!! No wonder it didn't get your towels white.
Also, remember until about the early 90's, they added phosphates to laundry detergents.. Well, many on this board,including myself have complained that todays modern detergents such as Tide,Gain,Cheer,Arm&Hammer,Oxydol etc.. don't clean as well as the vintage brands of the 1960's to the 1980's. Phosphates, although bad for streams and rivers, was what made the old detergents so effective. I for one, wish these companies would do something to improve the scents of modern day detergents. I miss the fresh clean smell of Vintage Ajax,Oxydol and Cheer. I was at Publix and bought a box of Cheer powder. I was very impressed with the scent and cleaning power. Give it a try! =)

 

[frigilux]

I'm getting back into the powders; I used liquids for a long time, mostly because the HE versions (except for Tide) were only available in liquid (at least in these parts).

I've mostly been on the hunt for a low-sudsing detergent for my bath towel loads, as they tend to hold suds unmercifully during the rinses. I think I found the solution with the OxiClean detergent ball. It makes almost no suds and the towels were soft and didn't feel like they had any detergent residue on them.

I'll continue to use powdered Tide CW and liquid chlorine bleach for my whites loads and Cheer for Darks for my dark colored loads---which constitutes most of my dress clothes loads from fall to spring.

I can't wait to try the Ariel and Persil that are on the way to my house. Hurry UPS!

 

[jasonl]

Maybe the Oxiball works better in regular top loaders than in HE top loaders/front loaders. I just know that some dirty washcloths came out just as dirty and then came out clean using TideHE.

 

[retromom]

WOW!! Those towels look terrific!

OK Eugene...

Let's get this straight...the OxyBall works best in soft water using a top loader? Should I even attempt to try it here using our over-calcified water?

I'm putting a write-in vote for you to replace Billy Mays as the Oxy spokesman! He's so annoying....OY, and you actually know what you are talking about!

Venus

P.S. If you would quit putting Tequila shots in that Raspberry Crystal Light, I'm sure the dribbling down the front of your shirt would stop. ;-)

 

[frigilux]

Venus, I'm afraid I can't blame my poor beverage control on alcohol. Now THAT'S sad, LOL! I'm turning into a doddering old man. Actually, I like to fill a glass almost completely with ice and when I tipped the glass, the whole iceberg therein let go and slammed up against my mouth, causing the drink to fly out all over my front. Everyone got quite a laugh from it, believe me, especially the 3 kids at the table who positively roared. Even the baby laughed!

I have a Frigidaire front-loading washer and the OxiBall worked very well in it. The ball gets a lot of action in a FL'er and it seems to dispense well in those conditions. I think the soft water helps. If your water is hard, you may find it doesn't work as well. Plus, the OxiBall is no fun at all to use---no measuring, etc. But I needed something that would be ultra low-sudsing for lightly-soiled but suds-retaining bath towel loads and I think I found it.

However, the realist in me believes this product will not sell well, and consequently will be off the shelves within a year. I'm going to stock up on the refill packs (there's currently a $1-off coupon attached to each pkg.) right away. There was also a $2-off coupon for refills in the starter pack (which has 1 detergent ball and the dispenser.)

 

[frigilux]

And Jason, I'm not doubting your results a bit! I think you're right---the ball will be more successful in a conventional toploader (more water to aid dispersion) and frontloaders (ball is constantly tumbling through the load). The only slightly annoying thing is that with small loads in a FL'er you can hear the ball bonking around in the tub sometimes. Sounded a bit like I had sneakers in the load. This won't be an issue in a toploader, of course.

Frankly, I think the biggest obstacle in peoples' minds for this product is that it's in the machine for the rinse cycle, too. That was certainly my first objection to it. I used an Oxi-washed bath towel this morning and it didn't feel any different than my conventionally-washed towels ever did. I'm not itching or having any skin reaction.