Washing Machine Cleaners

[stan]

Was moved to ask these question by another posted thread... has anyone used, for instance the Clorox washing Machine Cleaner, and I think Tide has one also?

Are they glorified citric acid or Sal Soda, or something more ominous?
Are they for Top loaders as well as Front ?

Who's got the straight dope on this?

 

[jmurray01]

I have the same question Stan.

Here in the UK there are adverts on TV often about this sort of thing, the leading brand being Calgon, with their catchy jingle "Washing machines live longer with Calgon!"

 

[aquarius1984]

JM

calgon is not as folk think, Have heard it way too many times that Calgon cleans washing machines. It actually dosnt. Its merely a substance that precipitates lime in water and stops it from attaching to heaters and other internal parts of the machine.

It basically softens water just like the salt in the dishwasher.

IMHO Washing machine cleaners have no place in the UK considering our machines heat water up to almost boiling, our advanced washing powders (liquids are just not in the same league and actually cause mould and bacteria issues) keep scum at bay and our regular laundry habits of at least one a day or every 2 days should mean your machine keeps clean.

Dosing the full amount of powder for water area and soil is key. All this crap about using calgon (- Expensive) Soda crystals (- rots fabrics) isnt worth noting.

Never seen the point of running a boil wash empty to clean out a machine once a month or so when I can do 1 boil wash a week, have WHITE whites all the time - Have proven this time upon time that below 80*c just does not work. Only a couple of weeks ago another member compared their 60*c whites next to my boiled ones and the difference was shocking! Needless to say hes boiling em up too LOL.

Bleachy bio powder - Ariel/Daz is the best for whites and colour powder or any liquid for colours and delicates is fine. Gels are only as good as liquids.

follow these golden rules and you wont need any dedicated WM cleaner at all.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Liquids

@ Aquarius1984 you say any liquids are ok for coloured items but non colour liquids contain optical brighteners. Don't these optical brighteners cause coloured clothing to fade? Thats what i have been told by Procter and Gamble. In that case the only colour liquids available are Ariel, Persil or supermarket own brand.

 

[jmurray01]

I presumed as much, Robert (I didn't know you were on here too!)

 

[revvinkevin]

Follow these golden rules & you wont need any dedicated WM c

 

 

I would tend to agree.   Though... here in the US the government has been dumbing down "hot and warm water temps" in machines the last 5 - 10 years in an attempt to save energy and resources.   With only the top of the line front load machines having built in heaters, very few have the option of doing anything close to a very hot wash.   I assume that "we" generally wash in cooler temps and many refuse to use anything but cold water and liquid detergent.   This is where the problem lay, in my humble opinion.

 

I have a 13-14 year old Frigidaire front loader and 2 year old TOL Kenmore Elite steam washer (among others).    I wash loads in cold, warm and hot (depending on what it is).   Except for one time years ago when my ex bought one, I've never used any of those "washing machine cleaners" since and have never had ANY issue with any slimy build up, mold or unpleasant odors.    I always leave the door open when not in use and I believe that is key.

 

Kevin

 

 

 

[aquarius1984]

Liquids

for coloureds.

There is that school of thought yes liberator but I have never noticed any fading using liquids on coloureds and I use most of the liquids in rotation. Saying that I also think that I have probably been too careful with my clothes over the years and still have garments that are over a decade old in my wardrobe that have been worn weekly with no signs of obvious wear. Frustrating being a time capsule as fashion has moved on tenfold yet I refuse to throw away perfectly good clothing when it still fits and looks good.

Use anything on anything now in the hope I might be wearing 'In' clothes by the time im 30! lol.

P&G might be good at the powders they produce but then they are also good at marketing thus wanting you to buy many products. I dont believe in seperates anymore these days. Bleachy powder and a liquid is fine for my needs. Liquid suits my coloured loads as it is generally great for removing grease and being a messy eater suits my clothes LOL plus what else could I pour into an Arielette? I suppose I buy liquids for the fun of it I think mostly.

Green box Powder suits mineral and other stains better so you get a bettwer white wash although I dont get left with grease stains so maybe I could use it on coloureds.

Now down to 1 true woollen jumper and the bottle of Persil Silk n Wool liquid suits that best but its not something I use in quantity.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Liquids

So have you tried the bio bleach powders on coloured clothing @ Aquarius? Do you notice any colour fade? Oxygen bleach is supposed to be colour safe and not fade clothes so why clothing manufacturers tell you to use colour friendly must be to make more money out of you. If someone can tell me if they notice a difference in colour fading between non colour care and colour care powder ill go back to one box powder.

 

[launderess]

There Are Colours and There Are Colours

Oxygen bleaches (sodium percarbonate and sodium perborate) do not bleach beyond the original colour of a textile. That is to say unlike chlorine, oxygen bleach will not remove colour.

Being as as this may there are several factors that can affect how powerful the bleaching action of oxgyen bleach.

First and foremost is temperature. IIRC the formula is that for every 10 degrees in temp increase there is a 40%-50% increase in bleaching action. However there is another factor in that activated oxgyen bleaches will start bleaching at cooler water temps and in the case of sodium percarbonate cold water. For this reason many laundries or stain removal manuals advise to remove stains with oxygen bleach on colourfast fabrics to soak in cold or cool water. At that temp whle the action is slower, it is less likely to cause loss of color.

Now one might get away with using oxygen bleach on say a dark red blouse or navy blue shirt in warm or cool water once, but I shouldn't make a habit of it.

Far more worry one should think is the amount of OBA's added to detergents for whites. There is where one will see results of fading as the bluing agents change how our eyes perceive the color.

 

[Bonnie]

clean front loaded--affresh

Just had the washer repair guy out because my fl Samsung machine didn't smell fresh. He pointed out that there is always a little water left in the bottom of the tub and in addition to draining the tub with the drain hose & keeping the door open, to use affresh once a month. I bought some; it is expensive. He suggested vinegar as an option. I used the affresh; it worked. Since I purchased a package I will try it for 3 months, but I think that vinegar or Lemon Shine will probably do the same job at much less cost.
The repair guy indicated that soap builds up on the filter; I could see it even though I had cleaned it a week earlier. I have hard water & a softner--that is also a factor. He recommended using 50% less detergent. Fabric softner also adds to the build-up on the filter.
So, I will drain the tub, clean the filter and run a hot/normal load with 2 cups a vinegar each month to keep my machine fresh.

 

[frigilux]

I use Tide washing machine cleaner when prompted by my 2010 Frigidaire washer (every 50 cycles).
It has a strong scent which dissipates quickly. Hope it works as demonstrated in the TV commercials, LOL!

 

[labboy]

Washing Machine Cleaners/Gimmicks

I used Tide Washing Machine Cleaner once when I got a great deal on it with coupon/sale. I don't know that I would have purchased it otherwise. The fragrance was very strong but dissipated within a day. It is basically oxygen bleach and surfactants.

I think for a machine in bad need of cleaning (I've had friends who washed only in cold, used way too much detergent...what we all preach against) a hot cycle with bleach and STPP is more effective. If there is lime scale as well, I'd probably follow with another hot cycle with citric acid powder. These compounds are way cheaper and much more effective than any of the marketed cleaners I've seen (Affresh, Clorox Washing Machine Cleaner).

Bob

http://www.pgproductsafety.com/productsafety/ingredients/household_care/laundary_fabric_care/Tide/Tide_Washing_Machine_Cleaner_Ingredient_Disclosure.pdf

 

[frigilux]

I would imagine there's not a lot of mucky build-up in my Frigidaire. I run a Sanitize cycle with liquid chlorine bleach (155 degree water) at least twice a week on loads of greatly-stained kitchen whites, and my go-to cycle for loads of bath towels or bedsheets is Heavy with the Allergy option, which heats the water to 132 degrees. I'm tending to use more powdered and less liquid detergent, too. I used to use UK (Unilever) Persil Bio powder only on aforementioned loads of kitchen whites, but I'm using it on more loads these days. I'm also using powdered Tide HE with Bleach Alternative instead of liquid. I use liquid Perwoll for Blacks and liquid Tide Cold Water on some loads.

I stopped using fabric softener when I bought the Frigidaire in 2010. Don't miss it a bit! The Anti-Static option in the dryer (a shot of steam right before cool-down) takes care of static problems in the winter.

 

[stan]

happened

to be in the laundry section of the store today, and looked at the "Clorox Washing Machine Cleaner" ingredients. From what I could see...Sodium Carbonate, Surfactants, and Sodium Hydroxide (lye)
So there you have it.

Discuss among yourselves *LOL*

 

[sudsmaster]

Here's what's in Clorox Washing Machine Cleaner:

Water
Sodium hypochlorite
Sodium chloride
Cetyl betaine
Sodium carbonate
Sodium hydroxide
Sodium silicate
Sodium xylene sulfonate

http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-washing-machine-cleaner/ingredients-and-safety/

Here's what's in Tide Washing Machine Cleaner:

True to form, Proctor and Gamble tries to keep its formulations as mysterious as possible. However, there is the legally required MSDS:

Sodium Carbonate Soda Ash 497-19-8 10-20% None established
NOBS Proprietary Mixture Proprietary 10-20% None established
Sodium Carbonate Peroxide Percarbonate 15630-89-4 10-20% None established
Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate LAS

Also, the mysterious "NOBS" turns out to be an oxygen bleach...

"Chemical Stability: The product contains 10% to 20% of an oxygen bleach."

http://www.pg.com/productsafety/msd...old_cleaners/Tide_Washing_Machine_Cleaner.pdf

 

[launderess]

Actually Nonanoyloxybenzenesulfonate

Is an oxygen bleach activator and P&G holds numerous patents for it's use in North Amercia. TAED being the oxygen bleach activator of choice for European detergents such as Persil (Henkel).

NBOS has been behind every oxygen bleaching system in P&g detergents and other laundry products.Biz, Oxydol, Tide with Bleach, Gain with Bleach, Tide "Stain Remover" powder, and so forth. P&G may also use it in their automatic dishwashing powders as well.

Nonanoyloxybenzenesulfonate as an oxygen bleach activator was developed for American laundry habits; that is the dilute detergent levels (due to high water),low wash temperatures and fast cycles found in top loading washing machines. European front loaders with their longer cycles and internal water heating favoured TAED instead.

P&G's patents on it's proprietary oxygen bleaching systems is what keeps Tide detergents and others in the line up the top choice for laundry detergents/products.

 

[stan]

Thanks

Sudsmaster and Laundress for clarifying!
was not able to read all the fine print on the bottle in the store, ( without cheaters) and never bothered to Google it.

 

[mayken4now]

stinky machines

keep the door opened and dry your gasket in the front load machines after each use!

Then, forget about all the rhetoric and marketing scams to sell this crap.