What do you think about optical brighteners?

[jerrod6]

Many if not most detergents, especially liquid versions, contain them.  I think continued use on darks makes these clothes look faded. What about their use on bright colored greens, yellows, and blues and tans?  Will these colors be impacted by brighteners? 

 

[3beltwesty]

In the late 1970's a friend wore white pants and a white shirt to pickup chicks at the disco. He washed his 2 items in a TL washer with about 1 or 2 cups of TIDE; and threw in a few other brighteners like BIZ or SALVO tablets. His outfit would be real bright under black light due to the brightners!

 

[Pingmeep]

Similar to the 70's disco shirt phenomenon anyone with Optical Brightening Agents (OBA) show up real well when looked at from light amplification/night vision goggles or LED light. Soliders often avoid them because they help people discern movement and patterns better.

OBAs also make sweat stains look even more ugly.

Still if you want the whitest whites OBAs help. Some also add a bluing which helps make yellowing fabrics look newer.

As long as you know what you are doing and like the results OBAs are fine.

 

[whirlcool]

I wish I knew of a detergent I could use on dark clothing that didn't have any OBA's in it!

 

[tolivac]

Sporting goods Cabelas sells detergents that don't contain optical brightners nor scents for washing hunters clothes-like for solders-animals such as deer and turkeys can see the brightened clothing very well-its a beacon and even frightning to them and the scents of detergents-a deer can smell it more so than your odor.You won't fill your tag.

 

[qsd-dan]

Hate OBA's! They fade colors and are caustic to humans. It's virtually impossible for the body to purge them out of its system.

 

[frigilux]

I checked Consumer Reports online, and they tested one detergent with no brighteners. Unfortunately, it's the extremely poor-scoring Xtra 2X (non HE).

I use Woolite for Dark Colors HE for my loads of black clothes, and I'm certainly hoping there are no brighteners in it! I used to use Cheer For Darks, and it had no brighteners, but there is not an HE version of it. I'm determined not to use non-HE detergents in my new Frigidaire.

I wash a large load of blacks/very dark colors each week, so I'm always on the hunt for something that will outperform Woolite For Dark Colors, which is pretty wimpy in the cleaning department.

 

[launderess]

Two Sure Bets

Either Persil "Black Magic/FEWA" or the Miele brand of detergent for colours (not sure if they have a version just for darks).

On the Persil, some find the scent horrible (oft quoted comment is that is smells either like cheap hair dye or a cheap hooker's perfume), but it does clean quite well (contains enzymes so not for either silk or wool). Many swear that not only does the detergent keep their darks "dark", but enriches the colour as well.

Find that if one is really careful with dosage, and rinses well (the stuff does rinse cleanly), scent usually will die off after items are dried, ironed and aired for a day or so. Then again I line dry all laundry, then iron, so perhaps that is why the scent can linger. Perhaps machine drying will help get shot of the scent.

As with all Persil product you need much less than what the bottle recommends. Indeed find if one uses too much in the Miele it not only over suds and can be hard to rinse out, but the scent problems are worse.

Nabbed several bottles as a good deal on fleaPay years ago and still are on the first bottle. Mind you there is about a cap full left, and I don't have that many darks that are machine washable which aren't wool or silk.

 

[frigilux]

As always, thanks for the tips, Launderess!

I just ordered two bottles of Perwoll For Black & Darks (formerly Black Magic). I just noticed there's a typo in the ad ('Formally' instead of 'Formerly').

It was actually a dollar cheaper than a similarl-sized bottle of Woolite For Dark Colors HE (which is what I'm currently using).

 

[mrboilwash]

Word is that particularly lights and pastells can change their colors when washed with OBAs. Worst case scenario according to our consumer magazine would be a light yellow turning into pink. Personally have never noticed much of a color change with OBA containing liquids, I think the oxygen bleach in powders is much worse for colors.

Also the Stilbene-type OBAs which are common in detergents have been criticized for their estrogenic activity and IIRC being hard rather on the enviroment.

 

[jerrod6]

I currently use black magic for blacks and the Miele detergent for colors because both don't have OBAs.  I was thinking that I would try the new tide compact powder for He when I find it, and also try the Tide free and gentle but both of these have OBAs. If OBAs are not even good for brighter lighter colors, then I would only be able to use these detergents on the 1 load of whites I do....so.....?

 

Ariel color gel:  I bought this from the UK,  did a load of colored towels using it and found that under the lights they were shimmering.  I checked the bottle and found OBAs in it.  Since everything seems to have it do you think OBAs have been modified in some way so as to not cause harm to brighter colors?

 

[mrboilwash]

I think the damage of OBAs to colors is generally rather smallish compared to any kind of "colorsafe" bleach.
I suspect P&G simply sells the same product in two different bottles.
Ariel Excel Gel is marketed for washing in cooler temps so I could imagine they simply fear dingy results even on some colors. As we all know OBAs can counteract poor laundry habits to some point.

 

[gmmcnair]

For Darks....

...I keep a jug of the Seventh Generation liquid. It isn't in the current Consumer Reports lineup, but it's scored well in the past. It contains enzymes for stains, and doesn't contain brighteners. I have had very good luck with it on my darks. I tried it when it was on sale to replace a way too sudsy product. It's HE rated as well as for standard machines.

If you have a health food store close by, you might want to investigate the Bio-Pac liquid. It has no brighteners, contains enzymes, and you can usually get it in a refillable bottle for reasonable (at least here you can). I've had good luck with that product as well.

 

[spoodles]

Some months ago, I emailed P&G UK asking why Ariel Excel Gel Colour had OBAs in it, when "colour" detergents do not have them (including every other Ariel Colour format). Their short reply stated that, in tests they found that the OBAs in Excel Gel Colour didn't affect colours in any way.

Since then, I have noticed new stock in supermarkets no longer has OBAs in the ingredients list. Funny that, seeing as it supposedly made no difference to colours!

 

[launderess]

Colour-Safe Bleach

Is actually quite a good thing, as without even it's mild (in warm to cool water) bleaching action, certian stains simply will not totally shift.

Oxygen bleach also acts as mild disenfectant, and helps deal with odors.

Long as one keeps the wash temperature <100F, colorsafe bleach shouldn't harm anything, especially if one does not use it routinely.

OBA's OTHO present another problem.

First they can make colours and shades of off white such as champange or ecru fade and or appear different. They by distorting the way light is reflected from textiles, certian prints, weaves and or patterns can seem "off" as well.

 

[3beltwesty]

Optical brighteners makes the average Joe's clothes and inkjet papers and "Xerox/toner" copy machine papers whiter. It is that thing that many chase and worship as being better. In todays papers and ones grandmoms washing "bluing" is/was added. Thus some blue tint makes humans think the stuff is "whiter". OBA are in papers and soaps and are not always mentioned. Often they are short term in look. Ie a hyped shirt of OBA'd paper looses its brightness with exposure to UV. In color matching in printing; or color matching of clothes and drapes; OBA's add a variable that is not stable in stability, the brightners poop out in short order.

 

[lordkenmore]

Detergents without OBAs

Several "green" detergent brands, such as Seventh Generation, don't have OBAs--or at least didn't the last time I checked. I think this would be true of any real "green" brand, but in an era when "green" gets companies another sort of green, there may be "green" products that really are fancily marketed conventional detergent.

I've heard complaints that green detergents don't work as well. That may be true. In my experience (heavily using them for several years), it seemed like the cleaning wasn't as powerful. Although it's hard to say for sure--I've never tried any sort of formal test. Which would be a pain, since (ideally) the only variable that would change is the detergent--the clothes getting washed would be the same, with the same stains, same wash time, same wash temperature.

Still, I found products like Seventh Generation worked OK for most loads which didn't need super cleaning. And, of course, it's not an either/or thing--one can have a box of Seventh Generation for normal use, and a box of ultra powered something or other for tough loads.

 

[dirtybuck]

Cheer Powder

I can't remember how long ago it was, but I remember checking the package to see if OBA's were listed. No mention of them. I wonder if that's changed recently. I'm taking a trip to Walmart later, and will stop in the detergent aisle to check.

 

[lordkenmore]

I'd be cautious buying Cheer. Yes, historically it's been OBA free. But recently some versions of Cheer have had OBAs added. Thus it's a case of checking ingredients. And the box might or might not be enough. I notice some ingredient lists that say so little they might as well not be there. More detailed lists can be found for many detergents somewhere on the Internet. Plus, of course, things change--as we can see from the way Tide is New and Improved every other day (during a slow week), so checking before buying each time might be a good idea for those who want to avoid OBAs at all costs.

Here is a P&G site that SHOULD (I'm guessing) have current info for all P&G products. An ingredient search for Cheer turns up "Cheer brightCLEAN Liquid" for Darks has brightener on the list--which I assume is an OBA. The powdered in "Fresh Clean" scent does not mention any brightener.

One thing I like about this P&G site--the ingredient lists (of the 2 products I just checked) have the ingredient AND and tell one what it's for.

http://www.pgproductsafety.com/productsafety/index.shtml