Testing Like CR Does: All Mighty Pacs Oxi in Cool Water

[frigilux]

Consumer Reports has lowered the water temperature from 90 to 75 degrees for their detergent tests as new washers have dumbed-down their warm settings to roughly that temp. A new detergent on the market, All Mighty Pacs Oxi, was included in CR's latest test. It received an overall score of 69 with a rating of 'Very Good' for cleaning, and notations that it removed blood, grass, and ring-around-the-collar stains well. It is currently the top-scoring pod/pac detergent. (Tide Pods came in at 68, noting it did not remove grass stains well.)

 

Reference point: The top scoring detergents are Tide Ultra Stain Release HE (liquid) and Tide HE Plus Bleach Alternative (powder), both of which received overall scores of 81; 'Excellent' cleaning and removal of above-mentioned stains. These were the only detergents to receive Excellent ratings for cleaning. Note: Most detergents lost 1-4 points of overall score in new tests using 75 degree water. Scoring a full 12 points lower than the top performers, even the highest scoring pods still lag behind the best liquids/powders in cleaning power.

[this post was last edited: 7/22/2014-06:52]

 

[frigilux]

I weighed the load of white mixed cottons using a kitchen scale with a large bowl placed on it: 8 lbs.

 

To that load I added bed linens (2 queen-sized sheets + 7 pillowcases) weighing just over 5 lbs, and a few extra pieces found around the house that added 1 lb.

 

Total load weight: 14 lbs. 3 ozs.

 

A 2010 Frigidaire front-loader was used for the test, but first I wanted to see how the load looked in the Speed Queen. With just a bit of compacting, the load fit comfortably; the tub is at maximum capacity, but not overstuffed.

 

Photo #1: What 8 lbs. of mixed cottons looks like.

Photo #2: 14-lb. load in the Speed Queen

Photo #3: 14-lb load in the Frigidaire; tub close to 3/4 full.

Photo #4: Load was weighed in batches using very accurate Oxo kitchen scale.

[this post was last edited: 7/22/2014-07:28]

 

[frigilux]

Cycle: Normal cycle with highest soil level selected, as CR does. However, I wanted this test to mimic the cycle of a 2014 machine (which is generally between 80-100 minutes). To accomplish this, I reset the machine twice before the wash water drained. The total cycle time was actually 84 minutes. Wash tumble time was 53 minutes. Right on target!

 

Temp: I chose warm water and did not purge the hot water line. Wash water temp shown in photo #2, below. CR tests at 75 degrees, so this is very close.

 

Photo #1: Cycle and settings (NOTE: Before starting the cycle, I realized that Hot water had been mistakenly selected. I changed it to Warm and took a photo, but it was blurry, so I used the original photo.)

 

Photo#2: Wash water temp taken soon after fill was completed.

[this post was last edited: 7/22/2014-07:00]

 

[frigilux]

Results: A mixed bag. Many stains (chocolate, ketchup, coffee, tomato, grass, dirt/grime, mustard, Worcestershire, blueberry among them) were completely removed at cool water temp using no liquid chlorine bleach.  Dish cloths had several types of stains on them, all of which were completely removed with the exception of the tomato/grease combo stains.

 

As you can see, the detergent failed to remove tomato + grease-based stains in cool water. Stains not removed from the dish cloths were from spaghetti and barbecue sauces. Stains not removed from the bar mops---which had been used as napkins---were from eating barbecued ribs.

 

These items were re-washed using All Mighty Pac Oxi, hot water, and 2 tablespoons of liquid chlorine bleach on the Heavy Cycle + Allergy option (heats water to around 130 degrees). All stains were fully removed.

[this post was last edited: 7/22/2014-07:06]

 

[frigilux]

And now, just for fun... Here's a 17-lb. load of bath linens.

 

Out of curiosity, I put them in the SQ. Heavy compacting got the load down as far as shown in photo #2. The machine is unacceptably overloaded.

 

I tossed an OxiClean detergent pod into the empty drum of the front-loader, added the load, chose the Normal cycle, hot water, and the Steam option (extended hot 1st rinse; warm 2nd rinse. I love to pull steamy-warm towels from the washer at the end of the cycle.)

 

Upcoming: Will test a 14-lb. load of stained white mixed cottons + bed linens using 75-degree water and All Mighty Pacs Oxi in the SQ when I wash again later in the week.

 

Photo #1: 17 lbs. of bath linens (8 bath towels; 14 hand towels; 7 wash cloths)

 

Photo #2: Loaded and heavily compacted in the SQ. (It was a full, but not overstuffed load in the Frigidaire.)

 

Photo #3: OxiClean Detergent.

 

Photo #4: Cycle selection (61 minutes).

[this post was last edited: 7/22/2014-07:35]

 

[washer111]

Thanks for the performance test Frigilux!

 

Great to see someone test the effectiveness of cold-water on harder stains. However, I'm still going to be bigoted and stick with warm and hot washes

 

It would have been interesting to see how well the SQ would have handled the oversized load, the turnover (if any) especially!

 

[frigilux]

washer 111: I will always wash loads of kitchen/personal whites using the Sanitize cycle and liquid chlorine bleach, which never fails to completely remove every stain. This test was a one-off, to see the results when a load with tough stains is washed as Consumer Reports does.

 

The top-loader will be tested with a similar load using the same detergent later this week.  The mighty SQ will have no problem turning over the 14-lb. load test load. 

[this post was last edited: 7/22/2014-07:10]

 

[washman]

Frig, please tell me

you did not stay up all night doing this!

 

[gansky1]

Thank you!

Very interesting, I wouldn't have guessed the results would have been as good as they were in the "cool" water temps with the All pacs.

 

[aldspinboy]

Could you see a family of 5 with a basic top loader, washing in cool water on a 12 min cycle and little boys & girls whites.

Like socks ,play clothes, funky underware..on one Pod..

 

I dont no Eugene ...

what a great test me thinks you should 

take over Consumers washing lab Really !

Thank you for your time ..on all your experiments.

 

[frigilux]

Ben-- Did I stay up all night doing the test load? No. They were done Monday morning/afternoon. I'd planned to post Monday night after returning from a gig, but was exhausted, so I waited 'til morning. I'm a morning person, often getting up between 4:30-5:00 a.m. Sleep patterns have been very erratic during the staycation due to some late-night gigs, but that's fun for me, so no problem.

In the meantime, I've been cooking the same foods I did last week so Sunday's test load for the SQ will be made up of the same stains. The SQ is in use as we speak, washing a load of casual clothes. I was surprised at the incoming warm water temp: 87.6 degrees; thought it would be cooler than that, but my water heater delivers approx. 142-degree water at the tap so that probably raises the SQ's warm temp a few degrees. Will adjust the temp at the faucets so that the water in the tub is between 75-80 degrees for the test.

Gansky-- You're welcome! I'll admit to being surprised at the number of stains that were completely removed by the All Oxi pacs, but its complete failure to budge greasy tomato stains was disappointing. The detergent does a far better job on that stain in very hot water--surprise, surprise--which is normally how I wash whites. I'll test a similar load in the Speed Queen on Sunday, then I'm going to hang up my "tester's hat" for a few months.

Darren-- Well, the clothes of families of five (and more) were washed in traditional top-loaders for decades, so it can certainly be done successfully. You'd definitely have to use two pods/pacs for large loads, though. It's obvious pods are more ideally suited to HE machines, whether top- or front-loading. While I prefer front-loaders, I would gladly use the SQ as my daily driver if circumstances required it, although I would switch back to a liquid or powdered detergent. I'd also be a little more diligent about pre-treating/pre-soaking stains, as every vintage washer's manual instructed--and this was back when detergents had phosphates, even. By the way...what washer is pictured in your post? Those rounded angel wings on the agitator look like WCI-era Kelvinator/Gibson.

[this post was last edited: 7/23/2014-08:01]

 

[washer111]

New Warm Temperatures

I think anyone who has the gumption to call 75º "Warm" is seriously misguided at best. 

 

If I stick my hands under the tap, then that temperature feels COOL to me. 

 

Perhaps newer washers should have their temperatures labelled 

Cold

Colder

Freezing

Ice

 

[aldspinboy]

Eugene I got that picture from Robert..
I really like the Male hand in the picture.
You really dont see male hands in photos
of washers back then.

Plus it looked very technical with the
A - B...thing going on.
Experimental...lol

It seems to me it is a Kelvenator,,,
But the basket has a Whirl/kenmore look to it.
Even thou it is not.
So Not 100 % sure but seems Kelvi to me.

 

[frigilux]

**See follow-up test using same detergent and cool water with the Speed Queen AWN542 top-loader in the Deluxe Forum.**