Stain Removal Detergent Test Results

[frigilux]

Well, kids, it's all over but the cryin' as they say. Here's the hard-working Frigidaire FL'er that did the honors.

The test load was the same for each detergent---the tub was about 3/4 full. It was made up of dish towels, bar mops, a couple of chef's aprons and four medium-sized bath towels. Oh, and the stained test towel, too.

I used hot water and the WHITES cycle with an 18 minute wash. The temp inside the washer a few minutes into the cycle was around 120 degrees. I also used the extra rinse option to ensure the residual detergent from one load wasn't providing assistance to the next load.

 

[frigilux]

Here are the stars of the show. (Sorry, I threw the Persil box away.)

I used the amount of detergent recommended for a medium load. This was generally almost half of a scoop. The SA8 comes with a much smaller scoop, and the directions called for a full scoop in soft water. I used about 2/3 of a capful of the liquid Tide HE.

 

[frigilux]

Here is the original test towel. I added a coffee stain at someone's request which isn't shown here.

The stains are Worcestershire sauce, Ketchup, Chocolate syrup, Spaghetti Sauce, Coffee, Barbecue sauce and Mustard.

 

[whirlcool]

Well?

In what order was the ranking?
Do you have photos of the results?

BTW, you have a great looking laundry room!

 

[frigilux]

The unquestionable winner is SA8 with Bioquest®. Barely a trace left of any of the stains. Would it have done as well in a top-loader using only 1 scoop? I doubt it, as it would be much more diluted, but the directions say to use 1 scoop in any type of washer. Regardless of that speculation, it won hands down.

 

[frigilux]

Second Place: Persil

This surprised me a bit. When I did a load of highly-stained kitchen whites in hot water with Persil and chlorine bleach, I didn't think it removed stains as well as Tide CW and bleach. But on its own, Persil did very well, indeed! I have a new-found respect for it. Only a hint of spaghetti sauce and mustard were left behind.

 

[frigilux]

Third Place: Tide With Bleach (powdered version)

This also did very well. The mustard, coffee and spaghetti sauce were not completely removed.

 

[frigilux]

Fourth Place: Tide HE (powdered version)

Chocolate syrup, coffee, spaghetti sauce and mustard were not completely removed. Still, nothing to complain about, really.

(You'll notice I'd planned to test the Oxi-Clean detergent ball on this towel. However, after testing liquid Tide HE, I wanted to see how the powdered version would compare. I figured I'm probably the only person who used the Oxi-Clean ball---and only for bath towels, at that---so it would be more productive to test both versions of Tide HE.)

 

[frigilux]

Fifth Place: Ariel

This was my first surprise. I thought Ariel would do better on its own. But it left behind a bit of every stain.

 

[frigilux]

Sixth Place: Tide HE (liquid version)

Like Ariel, it left behind a trace of every stain. It left a lot of the mustard stain behind.

At first, I was just going to test the liquid version; after seeing the disappointing results, I decided to test the powdered version, too. The powdered version did a better job.

 

[frigilux]

Limping in dead last in seventh place: Tide Coldwater (powdered version)

OK, as you can imagine, I was totally surprised by my beloved Tide CW's poor showing. Before Tide CW came along, I used liquid Tide HE along with chlorine bleach on white loads and the Tide CW did a better job of removing stains. On its own, not so good!

Oh, and I tested this with temp-controlled cold water, not hot water.

All right, the "I told you so" line forms to the left, kids, LOL.

Final analysis: I think any of these detergents would have done better coupled with chlorine bleach. I also believe any one of these detergents will clean a normal load very well. Needless to say, I'm using SA8 With Bioquest® on my highly-stained white loads from now on.

Next round of tests: I'm taking requests! You ask for it, I'll test it. I'm planning to test Ace (Acti-Blu version), Viva, and the Oxi-Clean Detergent ball, all of which I have on hand.

 

[mrboilwash]

Very interesting to see the results !
Have you used regular Persil Powder or was it the Megaperls ?
I`m asking, because the Megaperls are compareable with the Ultra-Tide powders in strength. Whereas Persil powder is not concentrated and requires a double amount of powder.

 

[brettsomers]

Detergent suggestion....

how about Purex liquid? Unscented/non allergy style? and All? wonderful test, Eugene!

 

[pdub]

Thanks Eugene

What a great idea. Thanks for spending your valuable time conducting this test for everyone. I too am surprised by the Ariel's performance, and the liquid Tide HE, too.

Patrick

 

[whirlcool]

I must have sent in my earler post as you were sending the results in.
This is very interesting, and I am sure that this will become a "monster thread" of popularity. I really liked the way you conducted the test. I wonder how many boxes of SA 8 Amway will sell due to your testing (smiles)?

 

[launderess]

Have Done Told You

It is not good to add chlorine bleach to detergents with oxygen bleach, especially Persil which has a complicated activated oxygen bleaching system.

Persil, despite being sold in North America, really shines in traditional "European" type laundering methods. It would never occur to Madame to use chlorine bleach on badly stained whites/colourfast laundry. Rather one would simply crank up the washing machine's water temp to 160F - 200F. At those temps stain removal is excellent, and starting from cool, cold or even warm water would have allowed time for the enzymes in the detergent to work as well.

Remember chlorine bleach deactivates enzymes as well, which basically removes much of the cleaning power in today's TOL detergents.

Persil has changed it's formula to deal with changes in European washing habits,(shorter cycles, cooler water temps), but is still designed for a differnet market than say Tide with Bleach, or even Tide "HE".

On another note, excellent work! Job well done! Thanks for doing all that testing, and am as gobsmacked as others with the results of SA8. Sadly simply have no more room in my stash for yet another large box of detergent, so cannot add another just yet.

L.

 

[exploder321]

Suprised my self...Wouldn't have tought Bioquest would have done so well.. Would have thought Tide would have done better, with the exception of the Cold Water... Wouldn't have thought it worked well any way
What about testing Arm and Hammer (my fav), All small and Mighty and Wisk

Love the laundry room, which machiene sees more use the Top Loader or Front Loader and why don't ya have another dryer??
Just cruious

Viva sells laundry soap?

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Thank you for posting this great test. The laundry room floor tile and wall treatment are great.

I have an ordinary Maytag top-loader (A606). I always add my chlorine bleach after the detergent (regular Tide liquid) has worked for 6 minutes in hot water, timer showing 4 minutes left. This way the enzimes are finished and won't fight the chlorine bleach. Can this be done with Tide With Bleach Alternative (oxygen bleach)? If the oxygen bleach finished after 6 minutes in hot water?

Ken

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for checking in on this, everyone! It was a fun experiment, although I'm glad my laundry room no longer smells like Worcestershire, ketchup and mustard.

Stefan-- I have the standard Persil (Henckels) powder. Love that scent of rosemary.

Brett-- Your detergent suggestions for Stain Test Part Two are duly noted!

Launderess-- The chlorine bleach doesn't enter the machine until the first rinse, which gives the detergent time to work on its own. If I use LCB in the top-loader, I don't add the bleach until the last 3 or 4 minutes of the wash cycle. I've never believed in putting bleach in an untimed dispenser right at the beginning of the cycle. While you're here, kindly back up one frame and check out Kenwashesmonday's question about Tide With Bleach Alternative. I have no idea what the answer is. Maybe you can help him. Thanks!

Chad-- Viva is a Mexican detergent (as are Ace and Ariel). I have Venus (aka Retromom) to thank for getting me hooked on those, LOL. There is no 2nd dryer because I don't have a 2nd 220-volt outlet. The front-loader still gets the bulk of the laundry. I probably do 2 out of 6 loads per week in the top-loader. It cleans better, it extracts substantially more water from the clothes and it uses less water.

Ken-- The floor in the laundry room is actually painted concrete. The couple who lived here before me went crazy with that sort of thing all over the house. (Notice the pussy willows painted on the cupboard above the washers.) I can't imagine how many hours they must have put into that floor. Too bad it has been damaged by moving appliances around on it.