Recommended Laundry Detergent and additives

[jp10558]

So as discussed here http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?63219__0#start_63219.858187

I'm getting a new Speed Queen top loader. I've been googling on detergents as in the Delux forum it seems close to consensus that washing with just cold water and the PureWash contributes to early washer failure, which I'm trying to avoid this go round.

Google leads to quite a lot of "best detergents" so I'm wondering what you'd all recommend? I prefer free & clear / no scent when finished washing - that's one reason I went with the PureWash to start with. The other was thinking it might save money or at least storage space, but given my experiance with its lifetime (2 years), it's got to be more expensive than any detergent / additive mix in that time period. I only still have it because I thought it worked well enough, and my extended warranty got me an upgraded replacement one for $13...

 

[mamapinky]

I read your post in Delux...several things you need to address dear...first you cram a lot of clothes in that Queen, way to many IMO. A washer isn't designed to keep up with such heavy loads not to mention the clothes can't get properly cleaned. I see you don't sort, if you decide to begin sorting you will notice brighter colors and whiter whites. As for detergents. ..wasn't that Pure Wash rated next to washing in just water in Consumer Reports? I think I remember reading that. You want a scent free detergent so if it was me I'd try Tide Free Powder. However IMO Tide with Bleach powder is the best in the US for whites, yes it has scent but out of all the Tide offerings its the most tolerable scent and your Queen if its a TL should rinse so well no scent is left behind...but its your call and since you choose Free Id go for the Tide Free and hot water...believe me your machine will thank you for using hot or at least very warm. Was it you that stated you wash in cold so as not to shrink clothes in your other post? If your using a dryer its probably hotter than your hot tap water. These were just a few suggestions since you ask lol...Cheryl

 

[jp10558]

Thanks for any suggestions. I tried the "I know better than mom" and broke a washing machine, so now I'm looking to do better. That said, I'm also not interested in spending forever doing laundry - I really haven't had a problem with the PureWash when it's been working. It definately made the clothes smell better and fresher with the new working one vs the old one that wasn't working well. So it does more than just water.

I do think it's interesting how much variation there is in that "Tide is going to kill your (washer | septic | clothes)" or "Tide is the best", powder is bad for TLs, powder can't be used with septic systems followed by I have to use powder because I have a septic system... I'm beginning to think it may not matter much, your mileage is going to vary so much that no one can really give useful recommendations, or at least they're not an obvious choice.

I haven't put anything in the Speed Queen yet, I don't have it yet - my loading was of the Kenmore. I'm inured to the fact that I need to start doing 2 loads vs 1 load each week. I'm also thinking my no detergent is coming to an end, not because I was unhappy with the cleaning, but for saving the washer seals. This is the only place on the net that even talks about TL washer seals at all that I've found. PureWash, The Sweet home, CR etc never mention it.

OT a little: I really don't put stock in anything Consumer Reports says anymore. Far too often I've seen them review things I or a friend know about, and they give obviously crazy or misleading advice. Or they compare apples and oranges and don't mention that the products *literally* do different things to maybe get to the same end result. Yes, if you care about exactly what CR cares about (and who knows what that actually is in a given comparison), and only care about the result - how you get there has no interest to you, bang for buck doesn't matter, then CR might be OK. Also, they do reviews so infrequently on so few items that even if you agree with their pick, it can be hard to have that model still available for sale!

 

[mamapinky]

Don't depend on CR for everything..its more of a guideline IMO...but you should listen to the guys here at AW...they know what their talking about. I only gave a few simple suggestions without going into a lot of detail. Detergents are a little bit personal choice and a lot what's going to clean the clothes and keep the washer clean .... I'm sure no expert in which detergent is best for the machine. I just can't see Pure Wash cutting it....but what do I know.

 

[DADoES]

 
As I understand, detergent helps with longevity of seals by way of sequestering mineral content in the water.  Residual water left in the lip/area of the seal dries and leaves mineral residue which is abrasive on the seal.  Too much rinsing flushes away too much of the detergent ingredients that deal with the mineral content, which leaves "hard" water to dry on the seal.

 

[jp10558]

So if the main benefit of detergent is cleaning (which I find - for me only, I'm not saying anyone else ought to do this unless otherwise interested - is rarely necessary) and dealing with hard water, then the Sodium Carbonate / Washing soda would do the same thing for saving the seals... right?

 

[stan]

James

For a additive... Have you considered Sodium Tripolyphosphate, for your hard water conditions?
Works differently on hard water than washing soda, in so much as it forms a complex with the hard water minerals, rather than biding them up.
I don't usually have very dirty loads of laundry and I don't care for scents left on my clean clothes either.. however besides pretreating your hard water..it's important to reduce the surface tension of the water for cleaning.. AKA detergent.
After reading what your situation is, and what you want and don't want, and considering your new machine.. you might try pre filling the machine, add some STPP, agitate for a min or two, add your detergent, agitate another min, then add clothes. But no more than the machine can comfortably handle.
You can get away with adding a small amount of STPP to the rinse as well. (Can't do that with washing soda)

 

[stan]

The STPP also can be

premixed in with powdered laundry detergent.
I also agree with Russ about the need for warmer water temps.
HTH

 

[midcentnurse]

I don't have any long term experience but have been using SAMs liquid detergent and about a tsp of TSPP with a half a cup or so of baking soda in our TL has been working really well. No scent leftover, hubby doesn't like flavors of the nose .
We have pretty hard water here and I can't attest to the seals being harmed or helped at this point, we've only been with these appliances a few months but the washer is 25 years old so we may find out soon, or it will run forever!
Tide has a really good reputation and it has enzymes which many do not but the SAMs brand members mark does. And Persil has been getting good reviews too. Good luck finding something that works well for you.

 

[stan]

TSPP?

You mean STPP don't you? (Sodium tripolyphosphate) Not trisodium phosphate (TSP)
TSP would be way to harsh, and is precipitating.

 

[mamapinky]

I second Stans recommendation for STPP it will go a long way in helping to keep your machine clean. Cheryl

 

[maytagbear]

My experience tells me

This is just my experience and opinion.....if you (one) buys a good detergent, Persil, real Tide (not the yellow bottle), or Wisk, and use it in hot to warm water, then at least in my town's water, you don't need a lot of additives.

I completely LOVE Persil 2 in 1 Original Scent. I am so grateful that there is no need any more to go to Wal*Mart for it. Hate that store. In NE Ohio, the alternate is the locally owned Marc's. I look at my clothes, towels, and bedding as investments, and that makes the 20-25 cents a load for Persil or Tide not as painful as it could be. Why buy a cheap but weak detergent,(Xtra, Ajax. Purex...) and buy washing soda, Borateem, or Biz to bring it up to Persil or Tide level?

It's static cling season here, so I've been using Downy, cut with the scent free (white bottle/refill carton).

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[stan]

Agree with Lawrence

But James doesn't want any scent!
That leaves him with
Tide free liquid (powdered version will be hard to find)
All Free n Clear liquid ( powdered harder to get)
Ecos free n Clear..also free of OBs (Target)
Seventh Generation (liquid) free of OBs
Sun free n clear liquid or powder (Walmart)
Liquids are going to need a little help (additives) in really hard water.

 

[jp10558]

I can order a lot of stuff from either Amazon or Jet.com. So if it's available reasonably on there, I might order it assuming it actually helps. I do have Whisk available, but it also seems like powder (for me anyway) might be better. Other laundry users really don't like powder for some reason (my biggest issue with detergent has been the mess measuring out liquids is, I just always thought powder was worse / the cheap choice, and that seems to no longer, or never was true)...

I'm certainly not adverse to spending the aggregate cost of additive (considering oxyclean, Sodium Carbonate, and now will look into this STPP) and All Free and Clear liqid from Sams Club pricing.

As you probably can guess from my looking at Speed Queen, I'm not price sensitive exactly, I just don't like spending a lot on consumable items, unless it really does a better job.

So I buy members mark tissues vs Kleenex - as far a I can tell, the only thing I miss is the higher cost.

So, anyway, if one of the powdered detergent works as well as liquid or the water softener additives for the same or close to the same money, I'm willing to try it, especially if I can order it online.

One interesting thing is in my old Kenmore (waiting for delivery of the new washer) since I started using the washing soda in tests, my clothes coming out of the washer STINK vs when I just used the Pure Wash. I tried adding the All Free and Clear liquid, and using the Warm / Cold wash (I really don't know if any of my colors would run with Hot water) to see if that helped, and it hasn't.

I can't tell if it's losening up "smell" that was stuck on the clothes and hadn't come out with the cold / cold + PureWash, or if it's working much worse somehow than with just the PureWash a week ago!

 

[stan]

Warm water

And the washing soda would enable oil residue to convert to another substance.
More than likely the soda is breaking loose build up that was there.
You might try filling the machine with the hottest tap water you can get, wait for agitation, then add a cup or more of the washing soda (no clothes) agitate for 5 min then stop the machine and let sit for 30 or so, then turn on machine and let go through it cycle.
If your able to look in, or see what comes out of the drain hose, you may be surprised to see suds.
This will probably take care of the odor.

 

[midcentnurse]

Yes! Stpp

 

[jp10558]

So, coming back to this, I eventually am thinking about trying Ecover Zero powder as it was highly rated for a free and clear powder. As to the additives, how much for a SQ TL should I use for a full load? I got some STPP and used about a quarter of the cup it came with from dafna. Didn't do anything I could tell. I have used some old oxiclean that partially hardened up, also didn't seem to do much. I've tried mixing some together, i.e. STPP, Oxiclean and All, warm wash - none of it is different that I can tell vs a Cold / Cold with the Purewash only and a second rinse in the old washer. Stains still don't come out, even ones I tried using Shout pre-treat on.

The cloths smell about the same, they seem as clean to me, maybe I need a second rinse in the SQ to get out all the detergent? But I'm worried about running with just the purewash now after reading AW where it seems prevelant that running without some additive kills the washing machines.

 

[stan]

James

I'm not sure but I'm guessing that the Ecover powder contains a fair amount of sodium carbonate AKA washing soda. It also may contain a certain amount of sodium per carbonate? Oxiclean is washing soda, and sodium per carbonate. So I'd check the Ecover before adding more if the same with OxiClean.
The STPP is a safe bet with your hard water. A guess would be three TBLS per load along with your Ecover.
Dont know what the cold washing is about, but if you going to be using powders, in cold.. I'd pre-dissolve the powders in a cup of hot water before adding to the machine.

 

[joeypete]

I wash in cold quite a bit (for dark colors) and I've never had any issues with the Sears, Cheer, A&H, or Ariel powders not dissolving properly. I think most new detergents have that problem covered. I remember as a kid that was why we didn't use powder detergent. But things have changed, obviously