I have a hard time with some of their ratings.

I've discovered what I like about Tide Total Care is the smell and downy like softness I get with delicates.
I don't use it for my clothing but my daughters. Notice the difference for sure.
Someone had posted awhile back the benefits of using it, but I've forgotten..

Anyone know if the SA8 has OB's? I like powder detergents best.

Thanks!

While not all of CR tests may be "perfect", how hard can it be to stain fabric and see how each detergent fares removing them? Seems fairly straight forward to me.

I know, what's the water hardness, what machine did they use, what cycle, etc ... I think if all the swatches were washed with the same parameters it doesn't really matter.

What I don't think they account for is different washing needs. While Tide with Bleach might be the best at removing a myriad of different stains, not everything I wash needs that kind of power. The gentler detergents which come in down the list (like Vaska) treat fabric more gently.

I have several detergents in my "arsenal" and I use them according to what I'm washing.

I would like to see CR include information like how well a detergent rinses and how it fades/doesn't fade colors. I sure wish we had detergents like in Europe (one for whites and one for colors).

As for SA8 - yes contains OBAs.

Sodium Carbonate, Pareth-25-7, Citric Acid, Fumaric Acid, Hydrated Silica, Cellulose Gum, Water, Amylase, Protease, Fluorescent Brightener (Distyryl Biphenyl Derivative), Fragrance

I concur!

Thank you for providing the ingredient info on the SA8, where did you find the info if I might ask?
I smelled some of the powder detergent at a clients and I really liked the scent! Mild and pleasant IMO.

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This should be the right one :)

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And therein lies the rub. A problem with just about every Consumer Reports test is that typically there are hundreds of brands, and often several variants within brands, and each variant and brand has its own strengths and weaknesses and directions to follow for most effective use.

Consumers Union cannot possibly test them all, and therefore must test only a select portion. CU's filter criteria most commonly are the rather arbitrary duet of sales figures (where available) -- to test the most prevalent brands -- and whether the products are readily available in southern Connecticut where CU is located. Occasionally, CU will wander off the reservation to test a regionally distributed product that is not found on Greenwich or Cos Cob supermarket shelves, but such instances are rare.

Moreover, if the purpose is to run standardized tests, then, a priori, any special use instructions for individual products must be ignored.

Over many years, we have used just about every variant of Tide, and had no complaints. But for the past decade or so, we have used Biokleen All-Temperature Liquid (which is the version free of enzymes), with a scoop (about 1/3 cup) of Borax added to each load. Our clothes never have been washed cleaner, and we never have had any odor problem whatsoever with our front-loading washers.

But the November 2011 issue of Consumer Reports, where the results of tests of laundry detergents were published, did not include tests of Biokleen, and did not test the effect of adding borax to a wash load.

1. Tide HE Plus Bleach Alternative
2. Tide Ultra HE
3. Wisk New Stain Spectrum Techonology Deep Clean HE
4. Tide Plus Febreze HE
5. All with Oxi Active HE
6. Tide HE
7. Up & Up HE Fresh Breeze (Target) * BEST BUY *
8. Kirkland Signature Ultra HE
9. Seventh Generation Natural Superconcentrated
10. Era 2X Ultra HE
11. Legacy of Clean SA8 plus Bioquest HE
12. Seventh Generation 2X Concentrated Natural liquid Free & Clear HE
13. Gain Ultra Original HE Concentrated
14. Method SmartClean Technology Fresh Air 8X Concentrated HE
15. Ecover Laundry Wash HE
16. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day HE
17. Legacy of Clean SA8 Triple Liquid HE
18. Clorox Green Works Natural Laundry Detergent
19. Purex Complete with Zout
20. Cheer BrightClean HE
21. Purex 2X Ultra Coldwater
22. All 2X Ultra with Stainlifter HE
23. All 3X Ultra Small & Mighty HE
24. Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets
25. Whole Foods Market 2x Concentrated
26. Purex Ultra
27. Oxydol 2X Concentrated Fresh 'N Clean HE
28. Vaska 2x Concentrated Herbatergent HE
29. dropps 6x Concentrated
30. Woolite Complete
31. Ecos 2X Ultra Magnolia & Lily HE
32. Biokleen Cold-Water 3X Concentrated HE
33. Martha Stewart Clean Laundry Detergent HE

Kirkland is Costco.

My daughter is bringing me some UK Persil and Ariel to try when she comes home for Christmas so I'm looking forward to that.