My sakes.....personal questions!
I use All free because of allergies. As for temperature and spot removers....that depends on what I'm washing and what's on it.
Linda C

I, too, usually use All Free. I usually use cold on colors and hot for most whites. I use Spray N Wash for stains. I've never been one to be "picky" about my laundry. I see all these products, but I keep it simple. I do a vinegar rinse for my towels every so often, and I use bleach with my whites, putting them on the soak cycle first.

We've discussed laundry detergents and additives (Persil, STPP, Oxi Clean, etc..), at length, in the Appliance Forum.

The *Best Laundry Detergent* and *Technical Suds* threads are a good place to start. Also look at some test results in the FAQ section there also...

TJ

Here is a link that might be useful: THS / Gardenweb / Appliances Forum

Anything that is dye free and scent free. Warm/cold
Kathy G in MI

I use Tide with bleach alternitive for towels, sheets, underwear etc... I use Woolite for darks for our dark clothing.Sometimes I use vinegar with the final rinse.
For dd's (13) clothes, and sheets I use dreft because I love the smell, lol. and I do not use fabric softner.
alice

Whatever you use, the key to its effectiveness is to use EXACTLY how much is required for a load, per the instructions on the box. This amount is usually NOT a capful or scoopful. But I would always fill it up thinking that they wouldnt give you a scoop unless it was the right size! Wrong!

1) Save on money by only using the amount required.
2) More is NOT more effective. I.E. just because you have an extra soiled load, don't put more soap in there thinking it will get cleaner. The opposite is actually true. It can't rinse out so your clothes may be left with residue or odors, instead of feeling clean.
3) Using only the correct amount ensures a full rinse, and for me results in shorter dryer times. Especially on towels and sheets.

I use white vinegar instead of fabric softener. It also ensures a better rinse, saves money, and is a very effective deoderizer.

A heavy duty liquid laundry detergent is my favorite. It can be used as a pre-spotting solution on stains. Organic stains are best pretreated with an enzyme digester cleaner. An excellent powdered enzyme laundry detergent is BIZ. White vinegar is best for the rinse cycle. Whites are best washed in all fabric bleach or other oxygenating bleach product, rather than chlorine bleach which can cause yellowing.

Laundry Detergent -- Cheer (recommened by an Amish lady from whom I purchased a quilt). Delicates -- Forever New found at Nordstroms & other department stores. Stain Remover -- Zout for the tough stuff, Shout for normal stuff. Let both sit overnight.

Tide Ive tried others but keep going back to tide.

Used Tide or Cheer for years, both work well, but the liquid versions can be hard to rinse.

Lately I've been using Wisk Tablets, and I also like the Purex products, tablets and liquid. $2.99 for a good size bottle of liquid and oh does it clean.

I keep Clorox bleach and Oxygen action on hand to use as necessary. Shout for stains, and Woolite for sweaters and such.

For the rinse I use Calming Mist Downy Enhancer.

TrekKaren you are not entirely correct. The optimum amount of detergent depends on a lot of variables.....the hardness of your water, the soil on your clothes, and how full your washer is....can the clothes circulate well.
The molecules in detergent that clean are also bound....used up....by minerals in your water and my greasy soil on your clothes.....and if your washer is over loaded.....the detergent can't reach where it needs to go, nor rinse out well.
But...I agree....most people use way more detergent than is needed.
Linda C...in the land of Maytag!

1. Whatever's on sale.

2. Whatever temp the last person left it at

3. Spit and a crumpled tissue

:o)

Pam

I agree the Appliances Forum is great, but it may be a bit overwhelming to some here.

I switched a while back to Bi-O-Kleen liquid and I love it.

I find that the clothes and sheets need a lot more detergent than the towels, which don't get very dirty by comparison. I get better results by adding detergent just till I see a few suds. This never takes much.

Jenn

Pam, you made my day! I love the spit & tissue comment. I couldn't buy what was on sale when the boys were at home because of allergies. Now I can buy what I want, but I normally end up buying Gain or Wisk. For stains, just throw it away and buy something else. I haven't had much luck in removing the stains I get on clothes. Shout must be nothing but water as it never has worked for me. I have never heard of Zout.

I like All Free too. And Downy Free softener. (I dilute it with water so it doesn't gunk the dispenser).

I use warm w/cold rinse mostly. Hot for whites, towels & sheets. And Spring Fresh Bleach with whites.

I almost never use cold water wash. Maybe I should for colors?

Mrs. C

Era. Pre-treat stains with Era too, seems to work quite well.
Dump colors & whites together, usually hot water, double rinse.
Whatever dryer sheets are on sale. I like the vinegar idea, (I use white vinegar & water for cleaning glass & shiny surfaces; I think it works better than any commercial glass cleaner.) How much do you use for a laundry rinse?

I use liquid Tide, orginal scent. Embarrassed to say that the scent is the only reason I use it :)

For spots, Biz or Zout, depending on what I'm cleaning.

Q: What's your favorite laundry detergent?
A: Tide w/Bleach

Q: What temp do you use?
A: Cold, mostly

Q: What's your favorite spot remover?
A: Tide made into a paste with water, Zout, Shout and/or brown soap. Whatever works.

I use white vinegar as a softener sometimes. I guess at the amount. I put in about a cup per large load.

Wendy

Jiggreen,
I am totally with you. I LOVE the smell of Pine Sol. As for laundry detergent, I currently like FAB (rainforest or fresh rain?) of course because of the smell. I have never noticed a difference in cleaning power with any of the detergents - though the Arm & Hammer one left a really gross feeling on the clothes.

I also always use Bounce in the dryer. Too much static cling otherwise. The imitation bounce sheets (storebrand, snuggles) don't work well enough for me either.

And since I wear so much black and wash things too often, I am now using the special Woolite for dark clothes.

Found some good info here and thought it needed to go around again.
vickie

fwiw
My neighborhood 'true value' hardware store sells a couple of the name brand washing machine liquids - way cheaper than grocery's for the same stuff.

About age 65 the detergents began to get too heavy for the tiny laundry room with the shelf above for detergent.

I just found one that is quite light (Or is it lite? Not heavy.) Whatever it is it's now my favorite.

I use whatever the cheap liquid is. At Target I buy Purex. If I have spots or difficult soil (barn mud at my house) to deal with I pretreat with some sort of spot treatment like Zout, Spray and Wash, or Oxyclean. Don't mess with my Downy, though. Only Downy will do.

This is going to sound crazy, but I LOVE doing Laundry!
It is my favorite house task!!!
1. Gain Detergent-clean linen scent
2. Gain Softener- orginal scent
3. Downy sheets- vanilla and lavender
4. Spray n Wash Dual Action spot remover

I think my 18mo DD is catching the love of laundry too. Since she was about a year old when she hears the dryer buzzer go off she hollers out "Wandree" until you get the clothes out of the dryer.

All free and Downy free. Oxy clean works great for stains - obviously, don't use on black or red. Oxy clean removed red wine stains from my wedding gown. Looks brand new, fabric is perfect.

Like others usually what's on sale. I too have been using white vinegar as a rinse/water softener for years now. Buy it by the gallon. I found that the Dollar Store brand of oxy-clean & Woolite, ($1.ea), works just as well as the real stuff. Bad stains I soak overnight. Luckily, I do not have hard water. I used to love hanging delicates & linens on a clothesline but I can't do that anymore in my new condo. Esp linens when it's cold outside. The scent is something that cannot be duplicated in any fabric softener. What a treat to get into bed & smell the fresh air on sheets & pillow cases. I would hang my down pillows on the line for the day as well. Same with sweaters, winter coats, etc. Try it if you can.

I used to think it didn't make any difference but it does. I'm back to Tide either regular HE or Vivid. What I learned on the laundry forum is that powder is better to keep from gunking up the machine. I love my Tide, wish it wasn't such an "investment". 'spensive...

I use Nellies laundry soda. It’s a powder and only takes 1 Tablespoon per load. My husband and I both have skin allergies . This is the only thing I found that works for both of us. It only has 4 ingredients. In reading reviews the only complaint by some was that the powder left spots on clothes. I run a little water in the washer and mix it in before adding clothes.
I use Tide stain release for most stains.

20 years ago I answered this with "any that is dye free and scent free."

Now I use Earth Breeze unscented and don't miss the large plastic jugs at all!

Persil liquid & Cheer powder (until my supply runs out, I have a couple boxes and a local grocery has some remaining stock if it’s not all gone since I last checked). Persil Power Pearls over the liquid until it was discontinued, I have one jug remaining. I’ll never use sheets or anything premeasured unless there’s no other format available. I have no scent allergies.

I overlooked temperature details. 105° to 140° depending on the load.