Monday 15 February 2010

Powder, Liquid or Gel

Regular readers will know I'm a bit laundry obsessed. Mostly as I have an evil washing machine.
I've always blamed the machine for not washing my clothes well but this weekend I was looking online at comparisons of Powder, Liquid and Gel.
Strangely there doesn't seem to be much information comparing different forms of soap but some reviews I read mentioned that liquids don't wash well.
The tot, like many these days, has eczema so we use Fairy non-bio liquid. The stuff is relatively expensive so not having a clean wash is annoying. And it doesn't wash well...so maybe the evil machine is not entirely to blame.
In the past I've used the powder which is considerably cheaper but I feel it doesn't wash out as the clothes come out of the machine smelling very strongly. I've also tried liquid tabs but we steer clear of those now as you can't choose how much you want to put in compared to liquid.
So what do you all use and what would you recommend I steer clear of?
PS. This is not an invite to have some Vanish woman clad in pink popping up in my kitchen. I fear I would have to use my long forgotten kickboxing skills on her head.

4 comments:

Emma said...

Having had a bit of a laundry 'event' recently (resulting in a new washing machine) I thought I'd share something I found out. Apparently it's worth running your machine on a hot wash with cheap nasty bio washing powder once a month (you can do it empty or put in towels), to give it a good clean out. Alternatively to bio washing powder you can used ordinary vinegar (in the softener drawer). Vinegar is a mild acid and helps remove limescale. It also gets rid of any grease build up. Apparently grease is a major problem in washing machines.

I use Ecover non-bio. I just changed to the liquid kind as it works better at low temperatures, according to my new washing machine's manual. I'm putting a capful of vinegar in with every wash as a conditioner/cleaner (it doesn't smell at all).

PlumBun said...

I use Ariel, Persil and Fairy, all non-bio and depends which is on offer.
I did recently try Daz with its whiter than white promise and found that made no difference and I also bought some of the vanish powder in a white tub that you add to a white wash, and I think that makes no difference either!
I have recently bought a Bold, the liquid one that you squeeze into the lid. It's the purple flavour (sure flavour isn't the right word but I have a memory block)! and it smells LOVELY. Not sure it cleans much better.
I have a leaky machine at the mo and tend to wash everything on a 40 degree wash but find it's not much better on a hotter one.
Also I have those calgon things that I occasionally lump in and that makes no difference either.
A spritz of vanish or glo-white stain remover on heavy stains before a wash does make some difference, but I have come to realise that some paint, grass stains and tomato based sauces are just going to be ingrained and not to by white for tots!

PlumBun said...

obviously I mean "buy" not "by"..doh...

Plummy Mummy said...

Emma - tried the vinegar and it seems to have worked on sheets.
PlumBun - basically you say nothing works. Glad it's not just me then.
Thanks for the feedback both of you.