All Free Clear liquid detergent
Snuggle Blue Sparkle Cuddle Up Fresh dryer sheets
Warm Wash/Cold Rinse

Tide original scent powder/ store brand fabric softener works well enough. Warm/Warm

Tide w/ fabric softener
Downy - use a variety of scents
Bounce w/ febreeze
Warm wash/cold rinse

Temperature depends upon load.

Detergent is usually Ariel, Persil or Bold powders. Softener is Lenor or Comfort.

Tide Free
Lemon Scent Clorox (if bleach is needed)
Downy Free
warm/warm

Any of the Sears HE Powder Detergents. ($.08/load)
50/50 mixture of Ultra Downey Plus Whitening and white vinegar.
warm/warm

Arm and Hammer Free Powder (not Fabricare) plus adding Sodium Percarbonate
Mrs Myers
Hot/Cold

Persil Megaperls Regular (for whites) or Color Powder
Vernel "Blue Sky" FS
Warm/Cold

1. Persil Megaperls Sensitive
2. Ariel
3. Tide HE

I never use softeners

Bi-O-Kleen Premium powder
no softener, generally some vinegar in the softener dispenser
Wash temp depends entirely on the load, although I do really like the results of the Extra-Sanitary with a profile wash for whites.

Detergents:

Persil Megaperls for whites and colors
Persil GEL (for oily stains)

Softeners:

Comfort(blue,lilly and riceflower, and pure)
Vernel(day at the sea, and peach lemon)

Temps:
Cottons: 105F, 120F, 140F or 190F usually 120F
Perma Press and Poly 105F or 120F
wool: 85F
silk: 65F

Rinse temp: only cold water please.

FAVORITE DETERGENT/S:
Homemade Liquid (Includes Castile Soap, salt, baking soda, vinegar and Grapefruit Seed Extract)

Homemade Powder (Includes grated Fels-Naptha or Zote, washing soda, borax, and Sun Oxygen Cleaner)

All (Free Clear/Small & Mighty)

SOFTENER: White Vinegar

WASH TEMPERATURE: Hot for whites, towels, sheets, cold for everything else.

RINSE TEMPERATURE: Cold

Just an observation/question.....what is "cold"?

In the SW deserts "cold" even in winter is, like, 70F. In the summer, it's more like 90F.

In North Dakota it can be 35F in winter and rarely over 60F in summer

Depends on the site.

With built in heaters in the newer machines we can know what "hot" is. "Cold" is extremely variable. I would neither wash nor rinse in water below about 65F.

Several people said they use white vinegar for a softener. Why? Is it better than downy?

I use white vinegar for a softener as well. It's probably not as good as Downy, but DH & I are both allergic to Downy and other fabric softeners.

At least it's a lot cheaper than Downy! I'm anxious to try the Charlie's Soap that I read about here on the forum as it's supposed to be great at softening all on its own.

chuckwagon - Lots of reasons to use vinegar in the rinse.

1. It's cheap and effective.
2. It eliminates the soap residue.
3. Vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics but strong enough to dissolve alkalis in soaps and detergents.
4. Vinegar also breaks down uric acid, so adding 1 cup vinegar to the rinse water is especially good for babies' clothes.
5. To get wool and cotton blankets soft and fluffy as new, add 2 cups white vinegar to a full tub of rinse water.
6. Vinegar softens clothes without a bunch of harmful chemicals.

Fabric softener is toxic. Softeners make clothes more flamable. For sensitive folks, the perfumes and chemicals can cause a plethora of problems (skin, breathing, etc.). Softeners make towels less absorbant.

Here is a list of just some of the chemicals found in popular fabric softeners and dryer sheets:

Benzyl Acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer

Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant

Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders

A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage

Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list

Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders

Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic

Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders

Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

And don't think you are avoiding the toxins by choosing unscented brands of softeners/sheets. You're not.

-Grainlady

But how much vinegar should one use? We have a FL so the fabric softener dispenser is relatively small. I filled it up to the top but the cloths didn't feel particularly soft. On the next load I added vinegar during the softening cycle - clothes smelled of vinegar even after the dryer. :(

So for me it's fabric softener - I like how it actually softens my clothes and makes them smell so good. As far as detergent residue is concerned: I guess I don't have to worry about that as our European washer does a good job rinsing. This is the first of three rinses.

Oh, since this is about detergents and temps:

Detergent: Procter & Gamble's Ariel - powder and liquid
Softener: Procter & Gamble's Lenor
Temperatures: 104° for colors, 140° for whites

Happy washing, Alex

I used to use primarily Arm & Hammer liquid but it doesn't have enzymes. I itched so badly from Tide that I couldn't use it. I used a variety of detergents but my favorite came out to be A&H until recently. I tried the "Great Value" line at WalMart. It has enzymes, is cheap and does a great job. I used to add diswasher detergent to get enzymes in there but don't need to anymore. Occasionally I still add some Borax.

For softener, I threw out all of chemicals and when I want a softener (seldom) I use a Downey Ball of vinegar.

I use either hot or warm for virtually all washes now. Have no choice but cold for a rinse. Used to use cold wash occasionally until someone here pointed out a long time ago and I had a "DUH" moment that the temp of "cold" water in MN isn't what cleaning folks consider a "cold wash"

always rinse twice: warm then cold

I own a Danby (I love it, three years old and on its second leak - yes I have an extended warranty whew).

Regular clothes 100 degrees, Cheer HE liquid (no optical brightners), STPP, a smidge of Downey topped off with with DWV (distilled white vinegar).

Whites 140 degrees, Powder Tide HE, STPP, Oxyclean, Downey and DWV.

I can't do anything other than tap cold rinses in the Danby. I add the extra rinse.

Alex
I have had very good results with Ariel...better than with Tide because it seems to rinse so much better than Tide does. I can't get Ariel in the U.S.A so sometimes I will order it from the UK. My first rinse looks a bit clearer than yours :) but I guess your second rinse would be almost clear.

I wash nearly all my clothes in warm w/ cold rinse excet towels, whites, bedding and very delicate items which I have few of. all my towels are white so they get washed with my other whites in hot. I use Mexican Ariel and a little bleach in those loads. Bedding goes in hot/cold with Sears Ultra HE detergent. I also use sears detergent in my clotes too. I like downey clean breaze sent fabric softener but don't like to use much of it.