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HE in regular washer?

11 years ago

Hi Kids,

While in BJs last week I picked up the wrong container of ERA lundry detergent; I got HE instead of regular. Mine is a standard top load washer, not a front load...can I still use High Efficiency detergent or should I take it back?

Thanks, Kids.

sooey

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Comments (9)

maire_cate
11 years ago
I use HE in my 15 year old GE top loader at our vacation place. Our water is on the soft side and regular Tide seems to create a lot of suds.

And at home we use if because we have a front loader washer.
cynic
11 years ago
No problem. It'll work fine.
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azzalea
11 years ago
I honestly don't know the answer but I wonder if you'd need to extrapolate the amount of water and use a LOT more detergent in a regular washer? There's so little water used in the front-loading HE ones, that I doubt the same amount of detergent would be adequate to do a load in a standard top loader. Does that make sense?

Does the box give any clue--instructions, amounts for use in regular washers? Or maybe you could e-mail the company?
sooey
Original Author
11 years ago
Hi Kids,

Thanks for your help.

I have read the bottle and it gives no information on how to adjust for a larger volume of water used. I guess I'll have to try it out and see how it goes. Our water is on the soft side so I have never been able to use the full amount of any detergent. I will experiment and see how it goes.

Thanks, Kids.

sooey
maire_cate
11 years ago
I googled ERA's FAQ thinking they might answer it there. No luck. But ERA is a P&G product - why not call them and ask.

Got questions?
Our people are standing by to take your call.

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sooey
Original Author
11 years ago
Excellent idea, Maire_cate! I will do that right now! Thanks!

sooey
sooey
Original Author
11 years ago
BINGO!

I just talked with Biran at the P&G ERA hot line. Yes, it is fine to use the HE in a regular top machine and I should use the same amount that I would use of regular ERA. You are all so smart (I'm looking at you cynic)!

Thank you all for your help, and thank you to Marie_cate for the wonderful suggestion to call and even gave me the phone number. You ar all THE BEST!

sooey
maire_cate
11 years ago
Glad to help and glad that Biran could answer your question.

Happy laundry!
cynic
11 years ago
Glad it worked out for you. I didn't notice you had posted with more questions or I would have responded. But you got it taken care of so that's great.

I recently bought some Era again. Haven't used it in years. Used to like it a lot but then the price jumped like crazy. Now it's back down very cheap. AFAIK, all of P&G's detergents use enzymes and they do help clean better. I bought a 150 oz jug for something like $6 so I decided to try it again. The few times I've used it so far, it's been fine. I also like that it has a stench-free version now. I despise the perfume the put in cleaners. I choke walking down the detergent aisles these days. The only worse one is the candles!

BTW, most people use too much detergent in their laundry. If you notice in the measuring cup, the full line is down a ways in the cup and the natural tendency is to fill it to the top or overflow it and dump it in. Too much detergent in the clothes makes it more difficult to rinse out so clothes will be stiffer, so people add a bunch of fabric softener to offset that and P&G, Unilever and the rest smile away. Many times you can cut the detergent in half and get excellent results. Judge your detergent amounts by the volume of clothes, how soiled, the detergent itself, hardness of the water, washing temp and other variables. I generally get twice the loads out of a bottle than they say it has and get good performance and don't need/use fabric softener.

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