Pod Type Detergents and Laundry Boosters
Since it is possible to mix oxgyen bleach with enzymes, nor for that matter are liquid hydrogen peroxide laundry bleaches as effective as sodium percarbonate or perborate based, what to do?
Enter "pod" technology where liquid detergent and or (enzyme)boosters and powdered oxygen bleach are in one packet but yet each separate. This give shelf stability and allows both to retain their power until dissloved in water.
P&G amoung others had early versions of pods with their Tide "Stain Release" sachets,which must not have been a hit as they seemed to have vanished in favour of the new pods.
All this palver is about how liquid detergents have pretty much taken over the market share in many areas of the US and or EU but that causes some problems.
Liquid detergents do not contain bleaches and without such substances certains soils/stains will not shift. More over whites and colourfast items may appear dull and dingy after repeated washings. To some extent detergent makers overcame the last bit by boosting the amount and or type of bluing agents that make textiles *appear* whiter, but that does nothing to remove stains.
Liquid hydrogen peroxide long used by commercial laundries does not function well at temps <120F or even 140F. It also requires an alkaline pH in the wash water to really become effective. Most liquid laundry detergents since they are based on surfactants rather than washing soda and other base substances tend to be neutral to only slightly alkaline.
OTHO sodium percarbonate is not only effective in cold water, but brings along it's own alkaline pH to boot. This removes the need for much if any extra washing soda. You can save money and cut out the middleman by simply purchasing pure sodium percarbonate (Ecover sells it in small boxes, or from a bulk chemistry source), and add it along with liquid/gel detergent. The only worry is that putting both into the detergent dispenser at the same time can cause clumping. I get around this by putting the liquid or gel detergent into one of the dosing caps that came with Ariel "Excell" which goes into the drum, and placing the oxygen bleach into the dispenser drawer. *NEVER* place powdered oxygen bleach inside the drum/on top of laundry. Once wet the stuff will start to bleach and can cause colour loss/textile damage.
All things being equal a good powdered laundry detergent with an oxygen based bleaching system such as Persil, Ariel, TWB,etc should handle most laundry day problems on their own. For really stubborn soils/stains one could add a bit of extra sodium percarbonate if required.