Stain Removers? Why Do we need them?

[zanussi_lover]

What is the point of Stain Removers? Ive never understood why we needed them,

In the 60's and 70s a majority of people were washing clothes at 60-95*c degrees
because automatic powders had the bleach which activated at high temps.

Then in the 80s and Early 90s there became a trend of Lower Temperature washing at 40*c, due to an accelarator in the powders which activated the enzymes at lower temps.

Today 30*c is the New 40*c and while most things can be washed at 30 degrees, like Bright Colours and Dark Clothes to stop fading, and detergents do clean at 30 quite well if they are lightly soiled. Ive never understood why we need stain removers

Like Ariel Stain Remover for example, we've never had Ariel Stain Remover in the Past, until now, Do they expect us to wash everything on Cold or 30*c? and if its stained add a stain remover?

If Ariel is meant to be the best powder and a Which Best Buy, then it should clean all the stains off perfectly at 40*c at least.

Its more eco-friendly to wash a full load of Normally soiled clothes at 40*c with a detergent that is going to clean all the stains off in one go at the right temperature, than washing dirty clothes at 30*c and using an added stain remover, which is adding more chemicals to the wash system.

I personally think detergent manufacturers should re-evaluate their philosophy, and should work towards bringing out detergents that can remove any type of stain on a low temperature, with-out the need for stain removers.

about 6/7 years ago detergents cleaned really well in one go, Particularly Ariel Powder, which was in its quickwash action formulation (2004), my White Socks were perfectly white at 40*c, and it had a lovely refreshing smell, Surf was very good too, as they had that removes 99 top stains or your money back...

I used Ariel the other day, and wasn't impressed, it didn't get my white socks clean enough at 40*c, and it stinks!!, it has a disgusting stong lemony pine odour, and it said on the side, for tough stains use ariel stain remover.

I think Persil cleans very well in one go, without any stain removers, has a mild scent too and removes dirt easily and rinses clean

P&G give us detergents that clean properly!!!! and stop altering the formulas!!

 

[gorenje]

my opinion...

...the answer is simple. Because today's modern washing machines and washing habits are not able to wash well.

Because washing machine producer and detergent multinationals are lobbying to make people buy somo others products and not only the detergent alone.

This days if you have a modern washing machine (that uses almost no water and tumbles like a slow motion) and if you want to have clean clothes you have two possibilities:
or you change the clothes and other stuff every day, or if you have something more dirty to wash you have to pretreat or add some others additives.

If you have an old washing machine and you use high temperature and a good powdered detergent (like in the past) you don't need nothing at all and everything will be spotless.

(the only one stain remover I've ever used is a laundry bar soap for grease stains)

Ingemar

 

[gmmcnair]

(the only one stain remover I've ever used is a laundry

Same here...that's the only one I've needed. As long as I use a decent quality detergent, my top-loader seems to shift everything else.

 

[dj-gabriele]

I second everything zanussi_lover said

but then again I never wash under 40°C and whites go at 60°C.

I also try to avoid using P&G stuff as it is overpriced and oversmelling!

 

[spoodles]

I think the sole purpose of Ariel Stain Remover is to take some of Vanish's market share, not some sort of admission that you need to use it with Ariel detergents. If Ariel (or Persil for that matter) can't shift a stain, an added stain remover won't make any difference in my experience.

 

[launderess]

Depending Upon The Stain And Laundry Methods

Not all will come out simply by laundering, hence the need for stain treatment products.

Certain stains such as lipstick, cosmetics, ink, blood, tannin based (wine, berries, tea, coffee etc), are famously hard to shift, especially if allowed to sit. While washing in a front loader starting from cold water and heating to temps >120F probably will deal with most, often even then traces can remain.

Also there are times one does not have the time for long pre-soaking and or wash periods required to remove all stains. I'd rather treat stains before laundering and run things through a "quick" 100F wash program on the Miele than wait ages for water to heat an the long "normal" cycle to do it's thing.

Finally certain fabrics simply cannot withstand prolong wash times such as fine and or deliate linens. For those items as well I'd rather pre-treat.

 

[arbilab]

Blood is essentially rust, understandably hard to deal with.

Eww, LEMON-PINE?

 

[jerrod6]

The business of business is - business

I agree that some stains need extra treatment and I pre treat some stains with a product named Zout, but I think nowadays part of the "push" for stain treatments is more about getting people to buy a product. They buy it, they feel good about doing something "good", meanwhile the company goes off your their money.

Liquid detergents where marketed as being convenient because you could use it as a pre treater without the need to purchase another pre treatment product. Now liquids are almost all you can find...NOW we need new stain pre-treaters?

 

[dj-gabriele]

fabrics simply cannot withstand prolong wash times such as f

That's when the drycleaner comes handy!

 

[launderess]

Out Out Damn Spot

I wouldn't dry clean linen,well not at least bed and table textiles made from that fiber. *LOL*

Also for one or two stains I'm more than not going to haul out the big guns of a long boil wash and heavy chemicals. A fresh blood stain hit first with a chemical pre-treat product (from my stash of Ecolab, vintage Zout or Shout) then hydrogen peroxide comes out almost everytime. No muss, no fuss and no huge energy costs of using high temp wash cycles.

Thing about dealing with a stain before it goes into the wash is you *know* it's gone. Nothing is worse to my mind than taking an item from the washer to peg out the wash only to find that spot still there.

 

[gorenje]

...and what about the so called disinfectant additives for the wash....

...useless...

Everyone of us know that it's enough to wash the hands with soap for 30 seconds to kill the germs.

For the laundry is the same. The detergent alone with the water is enough to kill the germs. (in hot water even more)

And if you look the content on the disinfectant you will see that is the same of an ordinary detergent. ...so...!? no need to waste money!

Ingemar

 

[gorenje]

I prefer to wash on higher temperature that use lots of chemicals (pretreater + detergent + wash booster + stain remover...) but most of all to do the laundry by myself before it even goes in the washer. That's the washer job, not mine. And it is not necesary if the washer is good enough to deal with this.

 

[launderess]

Ingemar

A registered disinfectant will *kill* all manner of germs, viruses, bacteria, molds, mildew including things such as HIV and TB. There isn't a laundry detergent sold for domestic use on either side of the pond that can make these claims.

What proper laundering can do is remove *germs* from textiles and send them (still alive)down the drain with the wash water. This renders cloth more than sanitary enough for all normal purposes. Unless someone in the home has smallpox or a small number of diseases that can be transmitted via contact with infected articles, there little to worry about.

Hospitals and other places dealing with the public obviously, and for good reasons are held to a different standard. Just as restaurants and places that serve the public food must wash dishes to a different level of "clean" than one's standard home dishwasher can.

 

[petek]

So if Tide is always advertized on TV as being tough on stains blah blah blah then why the H are they selling Tide Stain Release tabs ? I thought their detergent was supposed to remove them...

 

[3beltwesty]

not everybody cares about ruining their clothes

It really depends on who pays for your clothes.

If you own an oil well; or get free clothes you really do not care.

ie that grease spot on a 35 dollar white dress shirt does not matter to you.

If one actually pays for ones stuff; one might have a concern of ruining a 35 dollar shirt;

thus 100 years ago one uses Fels Naptha and removes the spot manually; before the main wash

today one might use a spot remover

 

[3beltwesty]

In the usa here many folks use electric or gas dryers. If that spot does not come out completely in the wash; the darn dryer's heat sets the stain and thus one has a ruined shirt

 

[gorenje]

Hi Launderess

Chlorine Bleach is a registered disinfectant but cannot be used with all fabrics and some others specific powdered additive for coloured clothes are also registered as a disinfectant.

I totaly agree with you about the Hotels, Hospitals, Restaurants and other places dealing with the public. Thay have different standards of cleanliness and hygiene and it is good and right to be so.

But at home I think the detergent and the high temperature does the job. For example I like cotton handkerchiefs and I wash them (No Chlorine Bleach used) with the other white wash at 95°C and than I iron them.
But I'm sure after this my handkerchiefs are completely hygienic. But yes, I understand that is not possible to do this with all the fabrics and clothes.

 

[gorenje]

Here in Slovenia for what I know and can tell we do not have any specific product to disinfect the laundry. We only have Liquid Chlorine Bleach but we use it to clean the toilet bowl overnight or to sanitize the floor. Few people use it to treat the stains on the laundry.

But I know that in Italy there are some disinfectant for the laundry, like for example "Napisan" or "Amuchina". We do not have this.
Maybe they will start selling it also to us.

 

[chestermikeuk]

What is the point of Stain Removers?

"To use with inferior powders" not the likes of Ariel etc. and to take a share of the market which sells them....

 

And people like new stuff to play with, like us here if you pick  a good powder, correct wash programme, and load accordingly  then stains shouldnt be a problem, occassionaly ( thinks rugby kit after a mud bath and left a week) then one may prefer to use a little help!!

 

Would be interested to hear if you are saying the latest batch of detergent (and type) is not performing how you think it should??

 

Cheers, Mike

 

 

 

 

 

[launderess]

At least on this side of the pond, once automatic washing machines took hold in earnest, many housewives skipped the first step of their grandmother's laundry day; a pre soaking in cool water before the main (hot) wash. Sending soiled/stained items into very hot water is a recipe for turning those spots into permanent marks.

Yes, many washing machines did have a pre-wash/soak cycle but lots of people didn't bother in favour of getting wash day over with and or to save energy/water.

To get around having to pre-soak/wash for stain removal, products were invented to "pre-treat" stains. Mind you in days of old everything from bile, urine, pepsin, petrol, soap and so forth had been used to deal with stains before things went into the wash, but these new products generally produced consistent results and certainly were much more pleasant to use.

Things really took off when enzymes were added to stain removal pre-treat products as they truly removed the need for all that pre-soaking, provided the stains were few. If there was a large number of stains rather than coating items in all that product it generally is best to do a pre-soak instead.

Of course on the other side of the pond there were front loaders with built in heaters. Starting with cold water and gradually heating to hot generally removes the need for pre-soaking. Being as this may many washers included a "Pre-Wash" as part of the "normal" cycle until perhaps the 1980's or so. My Miele W1070 uses a pre-wash this way and only skips it when one choses "short" cycle.

Enzyme containing detergents on both sides of the pond didn't really come together until around the same time (1980's or so), but there were plenty of enzyme pre-soakers (Bionet, Biz, Axion, etc) and that is what one used (mainly) for the pre-wash. Once Persil, Tide, Ariel and the lot perfected enzyme containing (Bio for you Brits *LOL*) detergents, the need for a separate product much less cycle was reduced or eliminated. What European front loader makers did do is either incorporate a "Bio" portion of the main wash cycle or some how find a way to pause the heating of wash water at the proper temp and for enough time to give enzymes a chance to do their thing before the higher temps of hot or boiling water took over and killed them.

As for the bleach additives such as Tide "Stain Release", Ariel and so forth: yes many TOL and MOL detergents already contain oxygen bleaching systems, but that is restricted to powders and even then only those for use on whites and colourfast items. While not as common in the states, there are many detergents for colours sold across the pond that do not contain any sort of bleach. Regardless of what enzyme makers state some stains simply will not totally shift without the use of a bleach.

Liquid and gel detergents do not contain any sort of bleaching system at all (bleach alternative is just that, the product still does not contain the stuff), so as market share increases for such products consumers may still find they need a bleach now and then.

At least as far as the UK is concerned, those using a "non-Bio" detergent may also require some sort of bleach (with or without enzymes) extra product for certain wash loads.