Washing White Bedding with Ariel - Still stained! :(

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richardc1983

richardc1983

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Joined
Oct 31, 2009
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Location
Leeds, UK
My partner had a cold the other week and he's got cough mixture on the duvet cover, its stained it a pink colour. I've washed it with Ariel powder for whites at 60C. Its been washed in my maytasko machine on both the normal 60C wash and also a heavy wash. I use approx 60ml of powder for my washing.

The stains are still stuck in there! I then made the mistake of eating a bacon sandwich in bed and got ketchup on the duvet cover as well. I was that the same way and that stain didnt come out either! So much so that I washed it again on its own on a 60C wash with 60ml of powder and it still hasnt come out! I thought Ariel was supposed to be the best powder? This is egyptian cotton bedding so it can be washed at higher temperatures so I am thinking of washing it at 90C next. I've tried everything other than a 90C. I've tried a heavy wash, a short wash & I've done a pre wash with Oxy Plus Powder also put a scoop of it in the main wash just as it says! It didn't do anything! Even tried thick household bleach and that didn't do anything!

Just how much powder should I be using? The instructions on the side make no sense really. If I put in more powder I end up with sudslock - especially on towels.

I even tried washing the mattress protector after the cat had been sick on the bed while we was away for the weekend. I had stripped the bed down before we went away and came back and the cat had been sick all over the mattress luckily the protector was on but ive washed that on a 60C heavy wash and it was still stained. I've checked and the washer is heating the water nice and hot.

Just how do you ensure your washing comes out really clean? Perhaps I am not using enough detergent I don't know but then we have problems with sudslock.

Please help!
 
Richard:

Does Ariel still contain enzymes? It used to, but formulations change and "oxy" is the currently fashionable concept.

You need an enzyme pre-soak, and perhaps a pre-treatment. Here in the U.S., we have Biz, an enzyme product that can be used as a pre-soak and a detergent booster. I use OxyClean's pre-treatment spray, and let it sit for at least a few hours. I then follow up with the enzyme pre-soak.

The reason for the enzymes is that all the stains you mention are organic ones - sugar and vegetable coloring in the cough syrup, ketchup and cat sick.

A long pre-soak in warm water is best; you need the warmth to activate the enzymes, yet not set the stains with hot water (hot cooks the protein in organic stains, wedding them to the fabric). At least four hours is needed; longer is better.

You will notice that this is not quick - a few hours for the pre-treatment spray, and then perhaps overnight for the enzyme soak. As in so many things, patience is a virtue when removing stains. I have a set of place mats bought at a thrift store that were horribly stained from poor storage practices. They cost me next to nothing, so there was no real risk of failure. Pre-soaking took one entire week, with two changes of water and enzymes. But the place mats came up like new.

Once soaking has shifted the stain, a hot wash for sanitizing and brightening is fine.
 
Yes Ariel still has the enzymes, its supposed to be the best detergent out there. So either I am not leaving it long enough but ketchup is one of those everyday stains you would expect to come out without having to give it a long soak etc.

As I have now "baked" in the stain, will a 90C wash bring it out? Or do I need to do a soak? On the washer I have a 2 hour soak option.
 
Richard:

You need to use a LOT of Ariel and soak a LONG time. On those placemats I mentioned, I soaked them in a bucket containing a cup of Biz and two gallons of water - a very strong solution. Every second or third day, the solution was changed. And I soaked for a week. It must be said I was dealing with very severe staining, much more so than you describe, but it shows the patience one must sometimes have with shifting stains.

You might also try a product sold specifically as an enzyme pre-soak. Many detergents contain enzymes, but the amount varies, from truly effective to "just-for-advertising-value." A pre-soak will get the job done.

I believe that the leading enzyme pre-soak in the U.K. is Bio-Tex, which Waitrose stock. It might be worth trying. Bio-Tex recommend 60C for pre-soaking.
 
I had some dirt stains in my shirts. Typically, these never wash out. And I can understand - if they get wet, they're set. No amount of rinsing under a tap or scrubbing with powder/liquid gets it out quickly.

This unfortunately happened to a nice shirt I had, when I had to quickly move the sprinkler out the back one evening while entertaining. I placed the shirt in a bucket, added enough water such that the shirt was soaking wet, and there was just a little in the bottom. I think added about 1-2 scoops of Omo (i.e. Persil) and a dosage of the White King Colour-Safe soaker (which had bleach/enzymes).
It was left in there for a week - and following, the dirt stains which I've never been able to wash out on other garments were completely removed!

You just need lots of time for these sorts of stains. Maybe some refreshed product too, and another shot of warm/hot water. Yes, washing machine should be able to move it, but using even more time to get stuff out that won't come without a long soak (which would indicate it needs a lot of surfactants to move) is just wrecking the fabrics long term.

Hope this helps!
 
I'm quite surprised to hear this.

I've had a cold too & also spilt cough mixture on the bedding. It was the mucous cough type so it was green. I also spilt a blackcurrant cold relief drink too when it got knocked out if my hand. When I changed the bedding on the weekend I used the 155ml dose of Ariel Biological Powder on a Synthetics 60c wash, when KG mode has finished the total wash lasted about 1hr 30mins. Everything came out clean, stain free & white! It was polycotton bedding, does that make a difference?

You say you use 60ml of powder, are you sure that's enough? I have medium hardness water & always use the recommended amounts on the box, otherwise the wash results vary.

Also, Ariel doesn't foam that much. It does foam but not to an extend where I have sudslocks.
 
Ariel should remove the stains, as it has enzymes and oxygen bleach.

Put in a FULL scoop, and activate the extra rinse option where available to counteract excess foam. Use the cottons cycle, as this has maximum agitation.
 
I have soft to medium water hardness. Do you really use that much detergent? A full scoop of powder is a lot of powder. How much do you use for normal loads? Are you using the blue scoop they give away free?
 
Yes I use the recommended amounts, I always find if I add less then the wash results differ & not come out as clean. I use the blue scoop which holds 200ml of powder at max, so using a FULL scoop Rolls_rapide is effectively twice the dosage since the new compact version uses 102ml which is half a scoop.
 
Still confused... I have the blue scoop.

For normal washing and lets say we have medium hardness what amount should I use in ml? For whites and stained loads such as in the examples in my first post should I use a full blue scoop?
 
Like I said a full scoop is 200ml. The amount of powder used to get the stated number of washes on the box is 102ml, that's for normal soiling. The amount for heavy soiling is 155ml. This is the dosage for medium water hardness. It also states that if you have a machine bigger than 6kg that you should add an extra 35ml to the dosage you have.

Are you using the latest version of Ariel? The New Compact one? Also how big is your washer because if I have a big load I always put a bit more powder in.
 
It's a 6kg washer and I bought the powders from makro the 90 wash one I think. I think it's the latest powder sure it says on that it's more concentrated or something.
 
Today I have started washing with 102ml of powder. The clothes smelt cleaner when they came out and there wasn't a foisty smell when they came out the dryer either.
 
It says super concentrated in the box I think... Will check the logo when I get home. For dirty whites would you do 155ml? Yes I use both whites and coloureds. However the coloureds has nearly run out and I'm going to be using bold 2 in 1 next.
 
Yes, 155ml for heavy soiled loads always does the trick for me. With Bold I have found it word quite well actually, it's just basically Daz with fabric conditioning properties & scent IMO, works exactly the same.
 

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