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illinigirl_gw

is there a powdered free and clear HE detergent?

illinigirl
17 years ago

Or a powdered HE baby detergent? Thanks!

Comments (20)

  • steve_o
    17 years ago

    Don't know about a baby detergent, but Sears sells an unscented HE powder. Look in the Hardware department.

  • oneplustwins
    17 years ago

    Are you sure that Sears sells powdered HE free and clear? I know that they sell it in liquid form but I've never seen a powdered HE free and clear. At least my Sears doesn't sell one and I don't see one offered on their website.

  • drjinx
    17 years ago

    > Are you sure that Sears sells powdered HE free and clear?

    Yes, definitely! I own some. Be careful: there are two containers which looked very similar in the store. One was the free and clear, one was something else. I'd checked out with the wrong one, but caught it before I lugged the heavy thing out to my car.

    Jean Marie

  • oneplustwins
    17 years ago

    Jean Marie are you sure what you bought was powdered AND Free and Clear? I checked their website again and then called Sears to inquire. The customer service rep told me that they only offer FREE AND CLEAR HE detergent in the liquid form.

  • oneplustwins
    17 years ago

    If there is indeed a Sears Powdered Free and Clear detergent, could you post a link to it? My oldest son has developed eczema on his behind and upper thighs and I've been looking for a cost effective powdered Free and Clear detergent. I've used the liquid All Free and Clear but I'm not sold on it. It doesn't seem to clean as well as what I'd been using before he got eczema (regular Tide HE powder) and he gets his clothes REALLY dirty. I guess I can try the liquid Sears Free and Clear but I'm thinking that powdered detergent cleans his stuff better.

  • sparky823
    17 years ago

    Try the SA8 Sensitive formula from quixtar.I use the SA8 scented and it cleans great! It is a little pricey but you use very little-it is H E formula.Go to their website,they have a cloth that show how much more rinses out of this than other detergent.

    Ecover and Seventh Generation both have powdered free products that are HE rated. I have never used either one so I can't say how they work.Might try Bi-O-Kleen to see if they have a free formula. I hear the premium cleans like crazy!

  • dross
    17 years ago

    We use the Sears powdered perfume-free detergent as well. Unlike the other detergents in the Ultra Plus line, it is not on the website. If you ask for it at the appliance section they will pretend it does not exist, you have to go to the paint section of the store. - DR

  • drjinx
    17 years ago

    I definitely have a Sears Powdered HE Free and Clear detergent, it was on the shelf at the College Station, TX Sears store.

    I found this by doing a Google Search:
    Sears HE Perfume and Dye Free GONE!

    Not sure what to make of that. I didn't find a supplier on-line, but I also only spent a minute searching.

    Jean Marie

  • oneplustwins
    17 years ago

    I've just hung up with three local Sears stores in the area and inquired about the POWDERED Free and Clear or unscented formula detergent. The first gentleman assured me that they carried it but when I asked him to look up the price, he came back to the phone and said it wasn't listed in the computer and there was none on the shelves. Only the liquid form. I asked if it had been discontinued and he didn't know.

    The second store said that they (the store) had stopped stocking it but he wasn't sure if the whole line had been discontinued or not.

    The third store had no information other than they didn't have any powdered unscented laundry detergents.

    Perhaps they have recently discontinued the powdered form?

    As far as using the Quixtar brands-- definately out. My hubby has a real beef with anything Amway. Long story. I've seen the Seventh Generation and Bio Clean, but I was looking for cost effective and they're both pretty pricey.

    Has anyone tried the liquid Sears Ultra Plus Free and Clear? Doesn't Tide make a free and clear HE liquid? Perhaps I'll try that one even though I'd rather go powdered. I guess the other alternative if I have to pay for the more expensive stuff is to wash my son's clothes and towels separately and use regular Tide HE for the rest of us. However, I'm honestly not psyched about segregating and washing about adding 2-3 extra loads of laundry a week to keep his stuff unscented.

  • justjustin
    17 years ago

    The liquid Tide HE Free is REALLY good. I have a friend who uses it and has three boys that love dirt. They always have bright clean clothes (till they find their way outside, that is).

    Justin

  • dmlove
    17 years ago

    I thought the liquid Tide HE free was fine, but after having tried it, I actually think the Tide powdered HE does an even better job of cleaning.

  • sshrivastava
    17 years ago

    HIGHLY RECOMMEND Bi-O-Kleen Premium Laundry Powder. Check out the product on drugstore.com -- lots of wonderful reviews. I'm using the product right now, and it removes stains that Tide, Persil, or any other detergent wouldn't touch.

    It has no added scents or dyes, and the only scent is from the grapefruit seed extract which is natural and completely disappears by the time your wash cycle is done. This is the best laundry powder I've ever used.

  • sharon_s
    17 years ago

    My son can't handle Tide Free because it has enzymes. For his laundry, I use liquid All Free and Clear HE and the Charlie's Soap pretreater to treat the stains. Works fine for me, and he's a mess maker!

    I haven't found the All F&C HE in powder yet, but I'm just thrilled to finally have it at all. For years I had to use small amounts of regular All F&C, which didn't work well because it created too many suds. My laundry-life has been much easier since they came out with the HE version. ;-)

    Sharon

  • liz_h
    17 years ago

    Just a note - there's a big difference between fragrance-free and unscented. The unscented stuff often has added fragrances to mask the scent of the other ingredients. It may not smell, but can still bother someone who's allergic to fragrances.

    I used to use Cheer Free & Clear powder, but bought a few boxes that had quite a bit of fragrance to them. Someone told me that with the powdered detergents, the fragrance remains in the packaging equipment for a short while when they change over to packaging the free & clear. I don't know if that's the problem, but I gave up on powdered free & clear detergents at that point.

  • liz_h
    17 years ago

    - that I haven't tried any non supermarket brand of powdered detergent. I might try some of those mentioned above.

  • dross
    17 years ago

    The Sears detergent (which is absolutely positively available, at least in some stores) does have enzymes, as does the Bio-Kleen Premium. - DR

  • sshrivastava
    17 years ago

    Sharon wrote:
    My son can't handle Tide Free because it has enzymes. For his laundry, I use liquid All Free and Clear HE and the Charlie's Soap pretreater to treat the stains. Works fine for me, and he's a mess maker!

    I haven't found the All F&C HE in powder yet, but I'm just thrilled to finally have it at all. For years I had to use small amounts of regular All F&C, which didn't work well because it created too many suds. My laundry-life has been much easier since they came out with the HE version. ;-)

    Sensitivity issues are often due to poor rinsing. Your skin reacts to the detergent residue in the clothes. If there were no residue, there would be no reaction. The solution isn't necessarily to stay away from enzymes, which do a heck of a job cleaning, but to stay away from poorly rinsing detergents, and to reduce the quantity of detergent used to the proper level that cleans sufficiently and rinses well.

    Tide is notoriously poor at rinsing, so it's not surprising that enzyme residues are a cause for problems. I think you may be alright with Bi-O-Kleen, Ecover, or even Sears if you dose it properly -- 1 to 2 TBS, no more -- and use a machine with at least 3 rinses.

  • itgeek
    17 years ago

    You might also want to try using vinegar in your rinse. (I.e. put it in the fabric softener spot) I'm one of those people who are sensitive to residue. Vinegar plus an extra rinse (using my "extra rinse" button) seem to do the trick for most any detergent - except Tide and Ivory Snow.

    My father is even more sensitive than I. For Christmas I gave he and mom a new bed (upgraded them from a full size to a king size!), mattress set and all new linens. I pre-washed all the linens in Kirkland's powdered HE-ish detergent, vinegar rinse and Method liquid fabric softener. He had absolutely no problems sleeping on the sheets. This for a guy who has been using Arm & Hammer Free and Clear for nearly a decade.

    - IT Geek

  • consolecowboy
    13 years ago

    I know this thread is very old, but it's the first result in Google when I search on "unscented HE powder detergent" so I hope it's still relevant. I checked my local Sears last night and they had the Ultra Whatever in-stock, right on the shelf in the washer/dryer section, in this formulation.

    The Sears item # is 9880, which should help anyone looking for it. 125 loads, was on sale for $12.99 which I believe was $3 off normal shelf price.

    Consumer Reports recently rated the scented version as basically decent -- not at the top of the HE powder class but nowhere near the bottom, either.

  • vmcook
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I use tide free and clear powder detergent. It’s HE. I’m super allergic to fabric softeners and fragrances. I’ve never had a reaction to this detergent. We love it for all our clothes and cloth diapers. I hope this helps!