Could you describe your preferences and cleaning needs?

i.e. Do you have:

hard water? a top loader? front loader? children? in diapers? a mechanic husband? dairy goats? pets? linen sheets? an antique lace doily collection?

More info will get you better info in return, I think. :)

I work in a kitchen so occasionaly have grease stains. DS golfs so his socks are usually grassy. DH gets dirty doing yard work. Otherwise typical laundry. Front load LG, water softener, 0ne cat, one non-shedding dog.

Do you have a Sears close by? They have good, cheap powdered HE detergents. They also have excellent sales during the year. It comes in several flavors - Free and Clear, Stain Fighting, etc. I have used the Free and Clear for about 2 years and like it. We have city water that is very soft and it works great.

We have a tiny appliance only sears so I am sure they would have the detergent. Thanks - I will check it out!

I love Charlie's Soap powdered detergent. For greasy or oily stains, I also love the Charlie's All Purpose cleaner. You can order off the internet if you don't have a store nearby that stocks Charlie's Soap (www.charliesoap.com)

PS - I am not in any way affiliated with Charlie's Soap - just love the product.

Ditto on the Charlie's endorsement, and they'll ship anywhere and even offer a huge 5-gallon bucket that is well north of 1000+ loads of washing that I got via free shipping a while back.

For pre-spotting I use old-fashioned Blue Dawn dish soap, the kind without bleach, antibacterial chemicals or other additives. Works great on greasy stains and is available everywhere.

Very occasionally I have to add some BioKleen Bac-Out in with the CS for loads that are soiled with something especially smelly (think nighttime potty training) to get the last bit of smell out. Not sure if you'll be able to find that locally but again, I'm sure you can get it online from somewhere.

I agree with mysteryclock. I like Charlie's Soap too.

Dawn dish detergent is truly amazing at removing oil and grease!

And I keep BioKleen Bac-Out on hand too for other food-based spots. It does a great job, and it doesn't contain any optical brighteners.

Some other stain-removing products (--maybe Shout?) have OBs that can leave impossible-to-remove lightened areas on some fabrics.

Another Charlie's Soap fan (thanks to this message board).

How about a DRY version of homemade soap.

2 bars Fels-Naptha (or 1 bar of ZOTE) - grated
2 c. washing soda
2 c. Borax
(You can find variations of this recipe on-line.)

If you need some added cleaning power, add powdered Cascade Dishwasher Detergent and/or Oxy-Clean.

-Grainlady

I, too, love Charlie's Soap . . . they're also very good at answering questions/solving problems. Last time I ordered, I got the humongous bucket and may not ever have to buy laundry detergent again! I also tried their all-purpose cleaner and am pleased with it.

I also found out about CS here on the forum . . . and have no affiliation with the company.

I really, really like the Sears Stain Fighting formula. I bought buckets of it last year at half price. They'll most likely last me at least two years, maybe three. The price per load is unbeatable, it gets clothes really clean, and there's very little scent.

Like Mara I use the Sears Stain Fighting formula. And I agree with her about cost, cleanliness and scent. I bought my first big box, on sale, in February. Still using and still impressed. No issue of lingering smells, even salmon guts on fishing clothes. I would make the trip back to Sears to buy more. I think the cost was like 9 cents a scoop. The whites are washed with this soap plus some oxiclean on the sanitize cycle. They are coming out very white, and I'm more satisfied than when I used bleach. I am debating whether to just buy the Sears Oxi formula for my whites when I run out of the actual oxiclean.

As much as I like Sears Stain Fighting formula, I was not impressed with the Sears Oxi formula -- I ended up giving it away.

If you use it, housefairy, I'd like to hear how it worked (or not) for you.

Thanks Mara for the update. Sounds like since I'm getting good results with just adding oxiclean to the detergent, I should just stick to that formula.

That is why I tried the Sears stain fighting because of the good reviews on this site.

sullivansmom, I had meant to say, I bought the Stain Fighting detergent at local Sears appliance stores. They are closer than the local Sears stores in malls, and that saved me even more money when gas was really high (even higher than it is now).

The local appliance stores here carry all the formulas, and they have the same sales as the mall stores. I think they only come in boxes now (AFAIK, the Stain Fighter detergent comes in an orange box), so I plan to save a bucket for refills.

Thanks everyone. I just looked online and our store is out - it is a really sad store :) It is currently discounted so maybe I will order some to come in. Thanks!

I tried some of the Sears Ultra Plus (orange box) and I thought it was OK -- not night-and-day different or better than Charlies, although I did like the light scent. However, I discovered later that UP contains nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) which is a not very nice compound that is difficult to break down in the environment and acts as an endocrine disruptor, which has many other negative implications.

Before anyone chimes in that this is just treehugger talk: P&G -- a company that has historically NOT been afraid of a few "interesting" laundry chemicals -- has eliminated NPE from their products and other companies are following suit.

Something to strongly consider, IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: Info on NPE

I have tried it all. I basically use this process.
I have harder water. I ALWAYS prewash everything...in
cold water, with a little liquid soap. It could be a couple
squirts of dish soap, or I also use BioClean liquid laundry
soap this way: I add some to an old dishwashing liquid soap
bottle and fill with water. Then I squirt some of this into
prewash. I use cold Prewash, to remove proteins. Once
prewash is done, I then fill ' WHITES '...with hot water.
I use then: homemade soap: ( depending on what I have at
moment I make it )...either all borax...I use 2 boxes and
put this in a container on dryer. I add one whole ounce
of lemon essential oil. ( and stir very carefully so that it
all mixes ..lemon also helps to remove oily stains )

Or, I use 1/2 washing soda and 1/2 borax. So one box to
one box. I then still add one full ounce of lemon essential
oil and stir. ( also can use lavender as this is a disinfectant ..but so is lemon )

From this, I use about 1/2 cup scoop for full load, or less
if only several things and water level is set to low.
For whites I use about 3/4 cup of Biz...and add that in too.

I let the whole thing soak for an hour or more...depending
on what I am doing. Then I set the washer to agitate.

I get great whites, and stains are basically gone.

For dirty things, like dish rags, etc...I usually buy only
white..and I do use some bleach for this. But..one can
also use hydrogen peroxide. I let the whole load of rags
soak for 30 minutes to kill germs and then I start wash
process.

For darker things, I use same process of cold prewash.
then, I either use warm or cold full wash, using only
BioClean liquid soap, or you could use some other.

For stains, I use biz. Or with in a warm wash, use the
borax/washing soda..and let soak, for several hours.
Depending on how dark the colors are, etc. I choose
either biz/ or my own mix. One can also use oxyclean..
bu I usually don't use this, so I have little experience.

Hope this adds some help to all !

Mernie

Correction: on Biz

I meant to say that I use, about 1/4 cup of Biz...
and move up from there...depending on how allergic
I might be, and depending upon how dirty things are.

If allergic, I would only use a small amount...and try
it first.

Mernie

I found out after using the Biz for awhile, that we are all allergic to it, But maybe some of you are not. And straight hydrogen peroxide from the bottle also caused most of us rashes. Perhaps a commercial company that uses a different sort of hydrogen peroxide mix, might not cause rashes for us, but that is to yet be determined.

OMG- I think I would jump off a bridge before I could do all that! You have my sympathies.