Laundry Detergent & Fabric Softener

LAUNDRY DETERGENT

I am prompted to talk about laundry detergent because there is some confusing information out there. My own mother is very clue-less and misinformed about the stuff. First off there is a vast difference in brands out there. Powders do clean better than liquid detergents. And some of you are saying the powder doesn't dissolve sometimes and that is because a) you are using too much, b) you are using a cheap brand powder or c) you have funky water (which can be remedied by first running hot water and allowing detergent to dissolve, then switching to cold and adding clothing). Believe me when I say that if you care about the life, and quality of your clothing, please use a quality detergent. There ARE some wonderful ones out there that are inexpensive, but IMO they still do not compare to the pricier ones. Let's just go ahead and put it out there and say it. I am a laundry snob! I am, it's true. I don't have the money to spend re buying my families' clothes so I want them to last! I love the orange/blue brand the best. Soooo many people have told me that I am only paying for the name and there is no difference, but I also clearly notice the difference in their clothing. The thing that is so great about costly brands, for example, is that they have this miracle ingredient. And what this ingredient does is it locks onto the dirt, and buildup from the clothes and washes it down the drain. Versus the cheaper brands which can and do actually re-deposit the ick back onto your clothing. Hence dullness, dinginess and "off looking" of colorings. And if you are skeptical, take a few items that are dull looking of yours and wash them the next few times in better detergent. It is amazing! For the love all that is laundry do not use the real cheapies on your clothing. No bright yellow, purple or teal bottles! You know which ones I mean! With the "good" brands, they have more quality make-up in general and a lot of them have wonderful enzymes which allows you to wash in lower temperature, less time and that also turns into less wear and tear on your clothing. Obviously if you have really sensitive skin, some brands are not going to work for those individuals. But most good brands do offer a "free" version that is almost as great a detergent but wont irritate skin. The two acceptable generic brands I like are the one with baking soda (A&H), the bright red bottle (where they write the name in grass stain). They are pretty good price and still good brands. The baking soda brand I like because the baking soda also clings to the dirt and washes it down the drain, and the red bottled one I like because it has extra enzymes that eat at stains but they don't wear out your clothing.

I have a method to my various loads and I'm going to share some of them with you guys.



White clothing

Chlorine Bleach is way hard on your clothing. I try to only use bleach every 4 or 5 washes. The way I keep my whites bright and stain free is with color safe bleach. The one in the navy/orange box is my all time fave. I put my whites in with only the color safe bleach, hot water, run half the cycle, then stop the machine and let it set for a couple hours to over-night. Then I do a quick wash in cold all the way through with a tiny amount of detergent. You won't believe how white everything will come.



Dark clothing

I separate everything down by color. I separate into Blacks/navy, all shades of gray, then blues/greens. I wash in cold water, use a little less than recommended amount of detergent and do a short wash. If something is really dirty I will soak it mid-cycle rather than a longer wash cycle. All darks have some fading and this is the best way I have found to drastically reduce this issue.



Bright clothing

I wash almost all my brights together. I treat them the same as darks.



Pastel/light clothing

I wash in warm water with full recommended amount of detergent and if anything is stained or kids clothes, I add a half load measure of color safe bleach. If they are really stained I will do a cold pre-wash and this really helps with my kid's dirty stuff.



FABRIC SOFTENER

Some people don't even like the effect of softener on some of their clothing but it is essential in my laundry routine. Fabric softener is actually pretty good across the board. I wouldn't recommend using the clear gallon of pink crap of my clothing, but other than that they are pretty good across the board. The only real difference I have found is smell and the amount the product is watered down. I use the higher end brands only because they are more concentrated and seem to last me longer anyway. I use the recommended amount of liquid softener in all my loads, with the exception of blankets. I use extra on those.

I actually do not like or recommend dryer sheets. They cause build up on the parts of your dryer and will actually make it wear out twice as fast. That, and I don't like the way it coats just the outside of the fabric. I prefer the softness and smell-good factor through the entire fabric. But if you do have sensitive skin, sheets are less irritating for the exact same reason.

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