Oxy vs Bleach vs Powder vs Liquid etc etc
Laundress, to answer your Q above: I guess I've never had good results with any 'oxy' type of product. Perhaps it's because I've been using a crappy washing machine for so long, or perhaps it's user error, but oxy has never given me good results, even with household cleaning products. I was raised with Comet and/or bleach with hot water for all things 'clean', so I'm sure my perception is heavily influenced by my upbringing. I've never mastered perfect results with bleach but this doesn't seem to deter me from trying! LOL. Anyway, I finally scored my dream washer/dryer set a week ago (TOL, automatic vintage maytags) & I've been experimenting with various temps, cycles & detergents, trying to hone my craft.
As for the rest of the thread, mind you, I'm a fan of suds & like to see them in my wash, so recently I've purchased detergents that have been reported to produce sudsing action. Whether or not suds mean anything in terms of cleanliness, I don't know, but I like them regardless. I'm currently awaiting a few boxes of STP and STPP to use as a detergent booster. I've never used the latter but I've used STP before & found it to be remarkable for brightening dingy whites (although too much of it can turn clothing into Swiss cheese with the holes it creates

So, here's been my limited experience thus far:
Persil ProClean PowerPearls, Intense Fresh (US Henkel): Used as recommended in both hot and warm cycles with cold rinse. (Washing son's bio hazardous bed clothes.) No suds produced and the water turned dark gray. Finished product was clean but not completely spotless. However, his sheets are the most soiled of everyhing in the house and getting them spotless is always a tough job. The laundry smelled nice afterwards, not overpowering. Granted, it may take a few cycles of washing everything we own to rid clothing/sheets of body oil build up left behind from years of subpar washing. Overall, I was impressed with the power pearls but not blown away. However, it probably has more to do with the soil level of my sons sheets than it does the Persil itself. I'll give the powder a solid effort by trying it with a variety of clothing before rendering an informed opinion.
Persil Original Scent Liquid Detergent (US Henkel). Also used in hot or warm with cold rinse. (Washed my bed sheets and my son's bio hazardous socks.) This produced sudsing action, although not as much as I'd like. Everything came out very clean. I did boost it with a splash of borax and washing soda, not sure if this made a difference? Very pleased with the results.
Cheer ColorGuard Liquid in the black bottle. Used in warm wash/cold rinse for a various load of mixed darks. (For whatever reason I just can't force myself to wash in cold water, at least not yet.) Very nice sudsing and the colors came out 'invigorated.' I've never tried detergent formulated for darks before. I must say I'm very impressed, shockingly so.
I decided to experiment with the Cheer Colorguard a bit more, so I washed my white socks & in hot water/cold rinse using Cheer colorguard with a dash of Borax & washing soda. (I need a chemistry lesson as I don't really know the difference between the two or even if they counteract each other.) The results were really great & I'd like to know why that is? Here is a photo of matching socks. Both are 'clean' but one was washed with Cheer CG/Borax/Soda and one was washed in my old machine using a standard detergent (Liquid Tide 'he', IIRC. )
I'm interested to know what the colorguard has or lacks that seems to brighten (not fade) dark colors, as well as its ability brighten/intensify white colors. I'm also interested to know what everyone finds to be most effective for keeping and/or restoring whites to their original shade by eliminating the graying/dinginess that occurs over time? I have two teens, both VERY active in sports & deficient in areas of hygiene, so the soil level of my laundry is probably much greater than that of your average, adult household.
