Soap suds

[liamy1]

I know it's common topic on here about how some detergents are hard to rinse out.

Thought the below from Persil UK was interesting, saying they could make detergent without any suds, but wouldn't as we like them.

Just wondered what your thoughts were?

 

[BoschExxcel]

Interesting. I'm the same, I like to see some foam, otherwise I worry I haven't put enough detergent in!

 

[launderess]

Love of froth by housewives/persons doing laundry

Isn't new, nor is Persil's response.

Back when true soaps were used for laundry yes, froth levels were an indication of performance. This is due to several reasons but mainly because soap can and does act as it's own water softener in water. That is soap binds to hard water minerals but the process but this is not very efficient nor economic hence water softeners/builders such as phosphates, washing soda, borax, etc....

When doing laundry with soap either via machine or hand one was supposed to watch for a certain level of froth as an indication enough product was being used and was not consumed by hard water minerals and dirt. This is especially true if the water was being reused for subsequent wash loads (twin tubs, wringers, by hand, etc..). If the suds level went down you either added more soap or better simply started with fresh.

When P&G first introduced Tide as a "heavy duty" laundry detergent sales were horrible. Women conditioned to using soap found the non-sudsing product wanted becasuse Tide as then formulated didn't make mountains of suds. P&G reformulated the product using high frothing surfactants and viola, Tide instantly became a sales hit. This set the pattern for not only the USA but elsewhere as automatic washing machines spread.

However the problem for Europe is that on that side of the pond as front loading washing machines became the standard, high froth detergents had to go. Too much suds causes all sorts of problems in H-Axix washing machines (as it does in top loading but few want to hear), so Henkel, P&G, Lever Bros./UniLever et al all had to come up with detergent formulas that used low frothing surfactants and or chemicals to control foam.

Dash, All, and a few other products were the first low/controlled suds detergents and were aimed mainly at those owning front loading washing machines. That market was never very large in the USA, and even though it could be used in top loaders many housewives still equated foam with cleaning power and so...

 

[liamy1]

Thanks

Thanks for that Laundress and Bosch

 

[twintubdexter]

what a mess I used to make

Back in my teenage days when I'd bring in an "acceptable" washer from the parking lot to test it I was famous for what the service guys called "a suds phenomenon." The test area was a big long galvanized trough with hookups for about 5 machines. There was 220 and gas there too. There were always boxes of Tide around since it came packed in a lot of new machines. A load with no clothes, hot water and a couple of heaping cups of Tide (who measured back in those days?) and presto...you had a white Christmas. Many times I had to use a floor squeegee to push the soapy water out of the service department and into the warehouse. Of course the concrete floor was spotless.

 

[launderess]

Liamy1

Equating froth to cleaning performance is why many early laundry detergents were marketed as creating "mountains of lasting suds" or some such. Much as one sees with washing up liquids then and today.

Thing is washing machine manufacturers of both top and front loading variety have long known excess froth is bad for not only results but machines. However again Her Indoors mostly insisted upon seeing lots of froth, so there you are then.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoLxW_3cLT4

 

[hydralique]

"mountains of lasting suds"

That line just makes me giggle, what vintage American sitcom didn't have a sudsy laundry disaster at some point! Maybe Dexter made some surreptitious trips to the studios during his formative years . . .

 

[twintubdexter]

Beverly Boyer (aka Doris Day) had experience with too much suds. 

 

[askolover]

I remember my mother actually opening the lid of her 1966 Maytag and using a piece of wood to "froth up" the water because she thought bubbles meant cleaning ability. My dear hubby is kind of that way now even with our Asko and a water softener...which means it doesn't take much to make whipped cream...I didn't have this problem when I did the laundry.....
Even with Persil we have to be careful. The Asko rinses 4 times and that's not enough if it's really sudsy...we pretty much HAVE to use some fabric softener to cut the bubbles.