THE GREATEST DETERGENT EVER SOLD

[maytagbear]

Every time I get into a laundry detergent groove--

it is either discontinued, or reformulated, or otherwise flucked up.

To save me from laundry heartbreak, I have stopped being loyal, and buy whatever's on mark down that week.

First one I remember--Mom was still using the Maytag E2L, was Instant Fels.

Then, after the Whirlpool Imperial, Dash for a while, then Tide. Then, for a while, Bold in the original formula.

Then Mom had a fling with Amway SA-8. Pretty good, but highly expensive, and at that time, loaded with phosphate.

That Whirlpool had a recirculating brush filter with a window. Called "Magic Mix Dispenser Filter." You were supposed to put your powdered detergent in it before starting the washer. Mom did a few times, just to humor me, but she usually put it in the bottom of the tub, then the clothes, then started the machine.

Back to Tide, then, the liquids started coming on strong. By this time, I was doing as much of the family laundry as Mom was. (Venus, count your blessings!! ) Era for a long, long time. I liked the pump bottle.

Then, Tide, which I used again for years.

Now, I'd rather spend money elsewhere, so it's Extra, or liquid Ajax with bleach alternative (very nice, if strong! floral scent.) Or right now, liquid All.

As an Ohioan, I feel inclined to use a P & G detergent, but I think they are overpriced. I lead a fairly low soil life. Right now.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[partscounterman]

Back in the mainland, I was loyal to Tide.

Here, I buy whats cheap-either liquid All HE or Fresh Start and these only when they go on sale

 

[veg-o-matic]

Oooooh!

Quote from Maytagbear: "I lead a fairly low soil life. Right now."

Planning on getting down & dirty??

I am curious (off-white)

 

[kenmore1978]

clarification

Nowadays I use Xtra, which seemsm to wor fine for most things, but I keep powdered Tide around for the really tough jobs and may boost that with ammonia, color-safe bleach, or LCB, as appropriate.

 

[jdinstl]

I don't remember what brands....

...but I do remember the big motivator for Mom to buy detergent was what was in the box along with the detergent! I mean, glassware, towels, whatever -- remember those days?

She raised 5 kids who where aghast to discover that their was a whole aisle in the store for towels, that they weren't birthed from laundry detergent!

John

 

[laundromat]

dishwasher detergent

ELECTROSOL TABLETS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[laundromat]

laundry detergents

I use AllHE,GainHE,and WiskHE.The Gain and Wisk get my clothes the cleanest.I have a personal problem using Tide because if it hadn't been for their advertising that"suds get your clothes clean",front loaders would have been more popular here back in the 60's thru 80's like they were in Euope and more people would be familiar with them by now.It's just like the new detergents P&G have out now with "a touch of Downy"in them.That's realy bad for washing machines because it causes a build up like tar between the inner and outer tubs after a while and deposits it on clothes like oil spots.

 

[foraloysius]

Ariel!!!! At least the European Ariel Essential preferably the powder, but I have the liquid too. Ariel is more or less the European version of Tide I think. It's P&G number 1 detergent overhere. The scent is different from Tide and after using Tide I had the impression Ariel makes my whites just a little whiter than Tide did.

 

[david]

Goodies for Mom

John, I'm not a mom but i did the same thing for years. I liked those Breeze towels and Duz glasses. Breeze wasn't really a bad detergent. That's another one that's bit the dust!

 

[kirk280980]

Ariel is one of my favourites too, and is the detergent I buy most often and keep going back to because of its reliability. Always cleans well on the first attempt, and so far I haven't found a stain it won't shift. Mainly I use powder, but sometimes switch to liquid when I feel like a change.

Bold is a major brand in the UK, and offers a choice of three different fragrances. Although it contains a built in softener, from what I can tell this is only marginally better than using detergent alone. But it does smell very nice, with a strong, lingering scent that hits you from afar. Use this on bed linens, and the entire bedroom ends up smelling of Bold for days!

A good "green" detergent I used recently is Clear Spring. This colourless liquid is fragranced with lemon and rosemary oils, but in the bottle actually smells more like Halls Menth-O-Lyptus sweets. Great cleaning, however the suds level is totally unpredictable, varying from one load to the next. Sometimes you see no foam at all, other times you get several inches of dense suds. For this reason, the 5 litre bottle I have stashed away will be saved for future use in a top loader.

As far as dishwasher detergent goes, only brand I use is Finish, the UK equivalent to Electrasol. Powder or tablets, I'm not fussy in that respect, but always lemon scented.

 

[kenmore1978]

Finish DW detergent

used to be available here, is it still sold here?

In DW detergents, I don't like gel packs, tablets, etc, where the dose is "fixed". I like to be able to vary the amount of detergent I use depending on the load I'm doing.

 

[MikeS]

So Many Detergents, So Little Time

When I was a boy, I was assigned the laundry duties--even though Mom was the one that picked out the detergent. Still, in the 60's, I can not remember ever using Tide, even though just about everyone else on the block did (you could tell by the smell of their freshly-washed clothes.)
I loved Ajax ("Stronger Than Dirt"); when Bold came out, that's what my mother used. She also bought Cheer, Gain, All and several other brands if they went on sale. I also remember using the detergent sold by Alpha Beta stores in California; it had a nice citrus-like smell. So did a low-priced brand called Vogue.
These days, I like nice-scented products that do a good job--Ariel, Purex, All, and Kirkland Signature. But I sure miss the old Bold and Ajax of my youth.

 

[david]

Here's the bugaboo about Tide...

I have always heard this including from loved ones; "Tides too strong for me" As in itching from Tide-washed clothes? I don't know; it never has bothered me. But I suppose some people are sensitive to it and use other brands. A washer with better rinsing would take care of that-and I must admit our Kenmore 70 is a crappy rinser. For such a small amount of suds generated, the rinse cycle is still full of suds. I have learned to reset for a second rinse. Brighter and whiter, I say!

 

[kenmore1978]

MikeS

Sounds like your Mom was one of the "sensible, thrifty" people who bought whatever was on sale and wasn't loyal to any one brand, realizing that most every detergent gets most clothes clean, with differences between brands only showing up on clothes that were extra dirty or had stains. Apparently, she also wasn't picky about how a detergent smelled, either.

 

[westytoploader]

I am VERY picky about the scent of a detergent. One of the reasons I don't really prefer Gain is because of it's strong "bath soap" smell; I personally like the original scent of Tide w/Bleach, "After the Rain" scent of Purex (not too nauseating despite the name), Surf, and "Dark" Cheer.

Original Scent Tide w/Bleach is the clear winner for me though. Really makes the washer smell "new", plus I vividly remember the scent during laundry day when I was 4. Nothing else like it in the modern world.

Smelling vintage Tide is another reason I can't wait until the Convention...

 

[rickr]

Detergents

I have tried just about every name brand available around here. Cheer is ok,Purex is cheap and smells nice,All is middle of the road pricewise,and does a nice job.I used to use Gain in the 1980's and 1990's because it was cheap and smelled good.(at least I thought it did) It used to suds lock my 1971 1-18 at times.(the machine ate up three clutches, HUMMMM) I like Tide HE,even though it is more $$$.
Whisk was horrible,and I even returned it to the store. Right now I have: Two jugs of Purex,one jug of Tide HE,and one jug of All.
I guess like the Tide HE the best. It does a good job,is a low sudser,and seems to rinse clean. I use them all. Tonight it was: One load in the 56 WP--Tide HE/ one load in the 65 KM--All/one load in the 64 Filter Flo:Tide HE
I will launder the bed sheets with Purex later this weekend. I guess it's all about choice.
Rick

 

[westytoploader]

For clarification: I pretty much stick to powdered detergent (except for Dark Cheer which is liquid), but I do use Tide w/Bleach liquid once in a blue moon.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

did anyone like PUNCH detergent, phosphated of course?Who remembers DRIVE with the complimentary stain stick in the box and was that product any good?

 

[geoff]

As for me?

If it's got to be clean, it's got to be Tide!!

 

[angus]

Well, there is no comparison for the vintage phosphated detergents, that's a given.

I do use a fairly wide array of different products. I really think that Fab powders do the best overall job, they are low sudsing and there is hardly any powdery white residue left in the washer (even with proper water temp and rinsing - seems to be more of a problem with the P&G powders). However, their formula has changed once again and no longer contains enzymes. Plus, they are almost impossible to find as Colgate has stopped distributing them in the NOrtheast. ONce in a while you can find some in a dollar store...

I do use a fair amount of Tide with and without bleach and of course it does a grand job. And I actually like the All Citrus Breeze liquid. It leaves a great light scent on the clothes and it does a fairly good overall job. Not great on stains though - even with "stainlifters".

For vintage laundry - there is nothing like the Tide of old. But Punch, Ajax, Cheer, Oxydol, Fab (pre lemon freshened scent) and Rinso with Color Bleach were also favorites. I do recall that somewhere in the 60's we used Bold with the green and blue power granules. Then somewhere in the 80's it started with the fabric softener stuff added and the scent changed (not for the better!). Today's Bold powder does smell remarkably like the Bold of the 70's but it is hard to find and getting harder. My local Shaw's told me it was discontinued, but they say that about everything they don't like to carry.

It was an incredibly sad time in 1986 or so when Dash became a "value priced", high suds, lemon scented product. That was the beginning of the end and it left the world around 1996 or so.

THe vintage detergents are incredibly difficult to find here because the damp basements of the coastal Northeast turn any vintage box of powder into a solid mildewy brick.

One detergent I recall because it was available only briefly before all that phosphate craziness started was "Brillo Enzyme Detergent". We never used it, but I remember the endcap display at the local PAntry Pride. Great graphics - bright pink, white and blue box - and a lovely blue powder inside. I liked the commercial - a late model Philco duomatic that was designed as a box of the detergent - and the slogan..."New Brillo enzyme detegent - - with enough power to shake up every washer in America" Then after phosphate mania, it became one of those awful early 70's detergents (like Ecolo-G, PFD - pollution free detergent)that didn't dissolve, didn't clean and carried about 500 warnings on the box because of all the harsh replacement chemicals. UGH!!!