dang--What do you do to your sheets that you need to add Dawn???? We use All free and clear and sheets come out spotless. Being a diabetic, when I test my blood in bed, sometimes I get drops of blood on the sheets because sometimes my finger will have a bit of blood on it after testing. It all comes out without doing anything special. Maybe you are using the wrong detergent. I don't use Tide. Boggles my mind that you use Dawn/Tide/oxy/baking soda to get sheets clean.

Sleep...um...naked. Yeah there's body oil stains on the pastel colored sheets and pillow cases. I tried a number of detergents but none have gotten the stains out. Dawn works as a pre-treatment but I wish I didn't have to do that. Initially I added more detergent only to get the SUDS error. So, I use 1/8 cup of liquid detergent (Tide w/Febreze), 2 tablespoons of Oxy and 2 tablespoons of baking soda in my Maytag MAH2400 2.4 compact FL for all loads. Also fill the "fabric softener" compartment with white vinegar for a final rinse. The sheets are "full" size and are done as a separate load with the pillow cases only, hot wash, normal cycle, extra rinse.

It's probably your water rather than the detergent, if you have hard water it's just really difficult for the detergent to do its job.

I don't know how the Maytags work, but my Samsung doesn't wash long enough on normal cycles. I either use both EXTRA WASH and HEAVY SOIL setting at the same time and that extends the cycle about 20 minutes. If I am really concerned I use the Sanitize cycle with the same two settings to extend the time to over 2 hours and uses wery hot water and extra fast spin. That might give your detergent enouigh time to do the job. I hope you use Tide HE. Not using it could cause the extra suds when you use enough detergent.

I sleep...um...naked and have for decades. Specifically, have done so for the seven+ years I've had my Duet FL. There is no body product of mine or my partners' infused in or deposited on my sheets that hasn't come clean in my machine......or in my mom's old Maytag TL at her place. In addition, I have no difficulty with my elderly mother's laundry...similar to sick-room laundry. It all comes clean every time with either machine.

Accordingly, I have little doubt you're missing something. What? Don't know but suspect bad water and/or improper fill-level and/or too low wash temperature and/or machine not working right....maybe truncating it's cycle. Are you loading the machine in a way that you're assured it's tumbling/sloshing around in there like it should?

Try 20 mule team Borax. Works on stinky body odors. Follow box directions.

I've tried borax and washing soda too, as well as Purex, Gain, All, Arm & Hammer HE detergents.

I'll experiment again. Maybe a bit more detergent and the Heavy Duty cycle. No heater in this Maytag unfortunately.

Still would like to see comments on Wisk Deep Cleen HE.

How hot is the hot water wash, in your FL washer? Does it have an internal (on-board) water heater? It may not be really hot enough to cut through the oils.

I sleep nude, I did have long a go a set of sheets (White) that looked soiled in the middle of them from body oils. I got it out with Tide HE with bleach, hot water. I doubled the detergent amount and then ran it through another whole cycle to get out the extra soap. Since then, I still buy white sheets, changed them once a week in the winter and twice a week in the summer. I also shower before bed too no matter what

I had a 2400 before the Bosch. I'm also a nude sleeper, always shower b4 bed. I only have white sheets and change 1x per week in the summer. I still get body oils if it's real hot (no A/C). So I would do a tablespoon of persil, heavy duty cycle, heavy soil. Seemed to work for me but I do have a whole house water softener. In Canada I think Sunlight deep clean is the same as Wisk, I've never seen the HE version here and tends to used powders.

I don't exactly have that problem, but I do have problems with removing the hair smell from pillowcases( my husband's specifically) no matter how often I change them. I've tried everything to remove the odor and so far , nothing has worked (including dawn, shampoo, ammonia, etc etc)
I wash all sheets on the extra sanitary cycle.
so I may have to try this to see if it takes care of my problem.
I kind of hate to buy yet one more detergent so I hope someone will post a review of it.
I have a stash and promised myself I wouldn't buy anymore until I've used up my stash.

Found this review on About.com

Here is a link that might be useful: review

google "wisk deep clean HE reviews" to pull up some reviews on it

chloe, what exactly makes your hubby's hair smell so much that it transfers to pillows?

Hair smell? Bromhidrosis of the scalp?

Maybe hygiene rather than laundry issue. Found this:

http://www.ehow.com/about_5467209_smelly-scalp-syndrome.html

FWIW.....I use Tide HE powder in my HE/FL. Use Tide liquid at elderly-mom's house with old-tech TL. Soft water at both locations. Use warm and/or hot cycles on both machines. For many years, have never had ANY body-product odor in laundry that didn't come out in single normal wash-cycle.

asolo, interesting link! Reminds me of the gal that worked in a supermarket I worked for in the 60's, in San Antonio. We all would just about gag if we got within 10 feet of her. The thing is, she was taken aside and counseled about her odor, and she said that she washes plenty/used deodorant. No one knew what was wrong with her, but I tend to think she was telling the truth--she had some kind of chemical imbalance or something beyond her control. Her odor wasn't like typical BO. Poor gal!!

You, me....we ALL have it. Just a matter of degrees and maintenance.

Back to the issue, though.....I don't understand why a good old regular washing doesn't get it out. In particular, in my own case taking care of mom, there is all manner of unpleasantness laundry-wise to deal with from time-to-time. Yet I've not had an issue with it with either machine using quite ordinary laundry products. For those that do, I'm suspecting some combination of water quality, and/or temperature and/or agitation characteristics and/or dwell-time and/or dosing. They all have to work together.

haven't you known people with smelly hair?
I have and I've smelled smelly hair on people in stores.

He washes his hair every day and sometimes twice a day if he has been working outside. He is the type of person that perspires easily.
I've read that e-how article and have talked him into using the sulfur shampoo a couple of times a week as they recommended. It seems to be helping.
I have a very acute sense of smell and am very easily grossed out .
Other people might not notice what I'm noticing. In fact I've had my sister smell the freshly laundered pillow cases and she smells nothing . Tells me it is my imagination.

I've certainly never lived with anyone that has smelly hair, but I don't go around sniffing other people, so perhaps if I lived with some of them, MAYBE i'd notice offensive odors on them. :) (I too have a sensitive sniffer--I'm the proverbial canary-in-the-mines. I can easily smell cigarettes from well over 50 feet away (i am NOT JOKING!) when I'm outside walking or biking.

I had great success removing odors using a prewash. The load I was washing were smelly kitchen towels. The first load was done in an older Bosch washer that uses more water than most modern machines on a boil wash cycle using powdered detergent. When the load came out of the dryer, I could still somehow smell the grease. The second load was done in a water-efficient Miele but with a prewash. The result: fresh towels.

I think the high temperature somehow burnt the smell into the fabric. Similar to how a dryer sets stains. Don't know if this is what happened but all I can say is that the prewash made all the difference.

Alex

@twebbz, I don't think it's the detergent. I suspect it's the temperature and length of your wash cycle that is causing your problem. Oxy bleach needs high temp and time to activate. And also generally, body oils are difficult to remove unless you wash at high temps. My husband has oily skin and hair so his pillowcases get stained and yellowed easily. Until I got a washer with an internal heater, I could never get them clean properly. Now I use either a HOT/Heavy Duty or Sanitary cycle to wash the bedsheets and the pillowcases come out nice and clean. So my suggestion is to use a longer cycle with higher temps and an extra rinse and your problem should be solved.

put him in a "onesy" and a shower cap for bedtime--problem solved! :)

@dave1812 - Yes, I'm sure that would solve it ;-)

Anyway, back to the original poster..... I looked up your washer and it does not have an internal heater. So you would need to get your wash as hot as possible otherwise. Do you have a sink nearby that will let you run off the cold water from the pipes? If so, do that until the water runs HOT. Then start your wash cycle. Use the Heavy Duty setting on your washer, powder Tide with bleach and an extra rinse (if your washer has that setting). Hopefully that will work for you. Good luck!

Found this...

"Oil Be Gone" laundry detergent

http://www.spabodyworkmarket.com/Oil_Be_Gone_Laundry_Detergent_p940.html

I have a conventional, top load washing machine. I love, love, love Wisk Deep Clean. Additionally, Consumer Reports just last week put it at the top of their CONVENTIONAL washer detergent list, so my results have been verified. The only thing is, twebbz, I use hot-to-warm water, run an extra washing cycle, but only do 2 rinse cycles because it rinses so much better than any detergent I have ever used. I think the hot water, as mentioned by those above, really makes the difference in cleaning any oils. I will always have a bottle of Wisk in my stash. My sheets and pillowcases are like new every time I wash them with Wisk. And with the sodium citrate, it is supposed to be good for your machine also. Use the hottest water you can and wash as long as you can.

I recently tried the HE Wisk deep clean Free and clear ( I don't like the smell of the perfumed one)
I do think it cleans very well. I tried it on towels for the first time this week and I think that they were slightly softer than with other detergents.
Perhaps it is because it rinses better. I always use 3 rinses on everything.

@chloe45 - The Free & clear must be a really new version. Thanks for the post... I'll have to look for this one in my local stores.

After 2 or 3 rinses, I can't smell anything on my clothes, which I love.