What powdered detergent to use in a Unimatic??

[rickr]

Any hints guys? I only use liquids in my other machines, so I am not in the know about powders at all. I looked at the powdered detergent section at the grocery tonight. They have these powders on the shelf: Tide, All, Gain, Cheer, and Oxydol Extreme Clean with Bleach. My choice was the Oxydol, but I did keep the receipt, so I can return it if it is not good to use in the Unimatic. BTW: I did replace both drain hoses on the machine, as one was split and leaking. I will be posting some photos of the machine in the Imperial Section soon.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

 

[westytoploader]

Hi Rick,

Any of those powders would be great! It's just liquids and chlorine bleach that tend to deteriorate the neoprene on the agitator. Looking forward to seeing pictures!

 

[sudsdudeshane]

Oxydol

Oxydol is a great powder. You are lucky they sell it where you live. add with a 1/2 cup of mule 20 borax and bluette bluing in your rinse and your whites will SPARKLE!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Rick any powdered detergent will do. I love Oxydol in the green box. That detergent by far has the best smell of any modern day detergent that I have found. The problem with it is it does not clean quite as well as Tide powder or Cheer powder, but it works perfectly well enough for everyday office clothes. For greasy workshop towels I go straight to Tide.

 

[rickr]

Thank you for your input everyone! Oxydol it will be then. I picked this brand of powder, because the scent most reminded me of the vintage powder smell that used the flood the detergent section of the grocery stores back in the 1950's/1960's.

The dirtiest towels that I get at home are "car towels". I clean those in the Filter-Flo with liquid Tide. They come clean, but what a bunch of suds the Filter-Flo kicks up with the Tide! The "car rags" are the dirtiest rags at my house, and they get thrown out, as they are just too greasy to put in any machine.

 

[sudsdudeshane]

Oxydol/Tide

Unimatic1140- I agree with you about Tide being a more powerful detergent. Oxydol is awesome, I don't understand why I can't find it here in Florida. It has the best scent of any powder on the market. Try Mule20 Borax powder with your Oxydol, Its really amazing for colors and whites. Tide is on my shelf right now, <Original scent only will do>. It cleans great but I don't think it rinses all that well.

 

[frigilux]

One thing I miss about toploading machines is they release more of the detergent scent into the laundry room/house than does a sealed up FL'er. When I had a suds-saver, it REALLY scented the house; it was great.

I used a friend's brand-spanking new TOL GE FL'er this weekend and noticed there was more detergent scent in the air and in the clothes after the final spin. I'd brought along a baggie full of powdered Tide Cold Water, so it was the same detergent I use at home.

Liked the GE washer, though. It was noisier than my FL'er, but it did a great job on the catch-all load I washed, which had everything from dirty white socks to synthetic shirts/shorts to a bath towel set. Nice big dryer drum, too! That's one thing I don't like about my Frigidaire set. The damn dryer drum is so small.

Sorry to pull you boys off topic, here.

 

[frigilux]

Mistake!! I used a TOP-LOADING GE washer this weekend, not a FL'er. As Miss Nicholson used to say "Proofread, proofread, proofread!"