Do you prefer liquid or powder? Do you buy the brands that are on sale or do you have a certain brand that has your loyalty? Do you use any stain removal products? _________________________ After much experimenting, I have my laundry down to a science. The four products I use are Persil, Woolite Darks, Shout, and OxiClean. I used to use Tide or Dreft or whatever good brand was on sale, but I read in a Martha Stewart magazine that she used Persil and then read how Consumer Reports said Persil was better than Tide. So, now I use Persil for underclothes (t shirts and underwear) and any other "heavy-duty items," along with Oxiclean powder (I can get a 13lb box of OxiClean for about $14 on sale at Costco). On colored "nice" clothing I use Woolite Darks (Costco again has the best price and I can get a big bottle for around $14). Shout is used for all stains and on collars and underarms (I get a HUGE refill bottle at Costco for less than $10).
Liquid vs. Powder: I use both. However, a part of me likes powder more. Part of that is practical--some experts suggest it has less of a problem of building up in hidden washer parts. Then part of it is just my Olde Farte tendencies: powder was good enough for my mother's Lady Kenmore washing machine, and it so it's good enough to use in the washer in my rental. Although recently it seems like I've been buying liquids more. Mainly because the selection at my price level is much better. Brand loyalty: little or none. I like variety. Currently, I have unscented Tide, unscented All liquid AND powder, Purex "Natural Elements", and Biokleen cold water. I have a bias towards unscented/sensitive skin formulas. I have some skin issues. Plus I like unscented when I line dry outside in summer--that way I get the full "outdoor scent." I'm interested in trying Persil; however, I'm waiting for a good sale. Wal-Mart has the best prices, but I try to shop elsewhere. I don't bother with pretreatments--most of my laundry is about freshening. If there is a problem item that I care about, I just wash and air dry if I'm worried that the stain didn't fully come out (so as to not set stains in the dryer). ---------- Post added 13th Oct 2015 at 11:47 PM ---------- Past laundry detergents... One thing I still use, much to the dismay of environmentalist types, is more or less warm water for laundry.
Do you prefer liquid or powder? I like tabs for detergent and sheets for fabric softener~~ I'm no good at measuring things so I just make it as easy as possible XD;;; Do you buy the brands that are on sale or do you have a certain brand that has your loyalty? There aren't many brands here, so I stick to what I like or what is similar to it~ Right now I'm using Tide Tabs, but I couldn't find any more so I got some Persil ones... I'm glad to see other people talking about it because I had never heard of it until I came to Korea XD;;; I also use Oxiclean that you add in to the wash because I'm kind of a germaphobe and want things as clean as possible~~ I use Saffron fabric softener sheets, but I'll use TEC as well~ either one in the purple box, because the other scents are terrible~ I have a really strong sense of smell, so this is also important XD;;; If they made Downy April Fresh in sheets, I'd buy it in a flash~ My mother always used to buy it for me because my birthday is in April, so good memories~~ ^.^ Do you use any stain removal products? I guess OxiClean is that? I bought some stain remover/pre-treater, but it didn't do anything so I just take really bad things to the dry cleaners~ It's less than a dollar per item here, so it's worth it not to ruin a garment~~ wow... I sound so old T.T I also only use cold water and don't have a dryer (pretty much no one does here) so I feel like I'm fairly environmentally friendly? A little? XD;;;
I hand wash all my laundry and use a pine soap bar. That pine soap is cheap, allergy friendly and easy to get here so I just keep using it. It also seems to work fine. Washing all of the laundry this way is sometimes annoying but at least it's good workout for forearm muscles. If I had a washing machine I would use some allergy friendly powder or maybe soap nuts.
I mostly hate them, too. Particularly in this era when it seems like the scents are often past overwhelming. I remember trying a sample of Tide that was so awful that some items got rewashed, even though they were unworn, just because I couldn't stand the scent. Sometimes, I think a light, pleasant scent might be acceptable during the part of the year when I use a dryer, and could be nice on some items like sheets. I don't really like the smell of machine dried clothing sometimes. Strong scented was nice in one emergency, though. I had my dryer go out last winter, and so I had to air dry inside. I was concerned about off smells on clothes. But I used my Purex, which I figured would leave enough scent behind so that that would be the only noticeable thing.
Supermarket own brand liquid - cheaper, and works just as well. I don't know the difference between detergents and quite frankly I'm not interested, so whichever is the cheapest I'll buy.
I only use liquid detergent, mostly cause I find the powder a bit confusing to use. Typically, I get Purex, but I'll buy Xtra instead if it's on sale. I don't use any stain removing products, I just pray to the laundry gods that the machine gets rid of them. :lol:
Wisk liquid Bounce Lavender softener liquid Bounce Lavender dryer sheets Pass on all others. Well, the Wisk is bc my skin doesn't like other soaps. Weird.
