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beaglenc

"Scum" on washer drum.

11 years ago

When I use Tide Turbo in my Speed Queen 542, I always have this ring of scum just above the water line. I have noticed that with Wisk HE there is much less. Anybody know why this is? I never wash in cold, always hot and warm. Although the warm is more like luke warm at best. And if does this on the inner drum what would the outer drum look like?

Comments (121)

  • 11 years ago

    Era has a nice clean smell also. You can get the 50 oz bottle for $2.95 at Dollar General on sale.

  • 11 years ago

    I use to a little below line 1 of Era plus about 1/2 tbsp. of Oxi Clean. Sometimes that's a little too much according to how dirty the load is. I have to watch anything I use because my water is pretty soft.

  • 11 years ago

    Forgot to say - no scum at all with Era.

  • 11 years ago

    Ya p&g tried to tell me the msds sheet was on p&g.com so I logged into it on the laptop while I had her (amber) on the phone, I told her its not on there she said look under Tide he original. ..lol...I told her no I want the turbo tide she said its the same as the original..I responded no its two different animals and legally I have a right to the msds sheet or my doctor can call for it because by than she had me fuming. Once she calmed down and was willing to listen she understood, put me on hold and came back to tell me she will get the list to me but it will be the same as tide he original. .so I'm figuring the difference will be more soap to supress the suds. Nice that tide gave us a low suds formula finally, but we have to put up with scum now instead of suds..geesh

  • 11 years ago

    This is what I suspected. However if the turbo is the "same" as the Tide original why not just modify the sheet and add the turbo name to it along with the original regular name. Makes me wonder why this has to be so hard. They just want to put a new name on a bottle (turbo) and have people thinking that this must be some new powerful Tide.

  • 11 years ago

    I believe they have added too much suppresser and that is making the scum. I think i will email a complaint to them. I liked the tide but don't like the scum.

  • 11 years ago

    Actually P&G has been bomboarded with complaints for a lower sudsing detergent and they knew they had to come up with something and so they probably figured hey lets add a bit more soap to cut more suds and give it a new name. They didn't factor in that some people actually pay attention to what's going on inside their washers. In fairness though soap has been used in many liquids and pods even in europe to cut suds...(if this is what's going on). Problem is not everyone has the same water chemistry, and not everyone uses hot or at least very warm rinse water which is absolutely necessary to rinse soap out of the fibers of textiles. Soap is also in era, but apparently not enough to cause any issues.speaking of era has anyone used era powder? Or should I start a new thread...lol

  • 11 years ago

    This all still doesn't explain my scum, but I'm going to get Era this weekend at your recommendations. Wish I didn't pay 8 bucks for a bottle of Wisk today at Target though.

  • 11 years ago

    Pat, I know the scum must be frustrating. I guess none of us know for sure what's causing it. Can you return the wisk? It would all be so much easier if p&g would stop changing products that we like.

  • 11 years ago

    Last time I noticed Wisk was $8.96 at wal mart. Which Wisk did you get? Try mixing it with baking soda or washing soda. I know Wisk uses citric acid--not sure if Tide does or not.

    Pat have you ever tried Cheer powder? Might get the smallest box at a grocery store and see how it does. Might also try Dreft or Ivory. Maybe even adding vinegar to the rinse even if it is just 1/4 cup. Worth a try.

  • 11 years ago

    In the loads I used Turbo, I used hot water.


  • 11 years ago

    Was looking on the Sunproducts web site and pulled up the ingredient page looked up Wisk and it contains coconut fatty acids and citric acids. Maybe that has to do with little or no scum. On almost all the P&G products they list some form of sodium laural something or other. That is a high foam producer, if I am correct? So it stands to reason that it would take more soap to counteract it.


  • 11 years ago

    Beaglenc, I could be wrong but I think coconut fatty acids mean its plant based oils rather than animal fat. So it could make a difference. I've used liquid era before and its a good detergent, I also have powdered era which I like, but I've only found one small local grocer around here that sells it and all the boxes are dated 2012 so I'm wondering if its out of production. Actually when I found it a few months ago i'd never heard of it before. I thought era was always a liquid.

  • 11 years ago

    Many moons ago I used and loved Wisk. Don't know why I stopped using it. Maybe because no one else on this Forum back then liked it. I'm was easily swayed on here. I remember liking the citric acid aspect of it. So maybe I'll keep the Wisk for husband's oilyer/dirtyer laundry and try the free/clear version of Era to try for my laundry. I notice it got good reviews on Amazon at one time.

    And, yes, I like Cheer powder for husband's dark work clothes, but now and then switch to Gain liquid or Vaska. I need to learn to use less Cheer in order to reduce the suds.

    Ya know, I've been thinking. We've had some heavier than usual rain here in SE Michigan and I wonder if our water supply has been affected by that. The scum and lint-type stuff is really a new phenomenon (sp) and rather coincides with the excess rains. Hmmmm.

  • 11 years ago

    I just tried something. Did a load of husband's work clothes and they were extremely dirty - mud on one pair of jeans and greasy dirt on another. Shirts were not as dirty as the pants but were very sweaty. I added Oxi Clean and used very hot water. Made no difference at all-- the scum was there. I am not going to use the turbo anymore. I will look this weekend and see which versions of Wisk I can find. I plan to continue to use Era for the lightly soiled clothing and Wisk for whites and my husband's laundry.

  • 11 years ago

    Last night I did a load of my sons filthy garden clothes, pants were tan colored and covered in mud, grass stains, along with food drippings...I started them on prewash in tepid water with 1 scoop sears (orange box) spiked with stpp, ..they washed maybe 5-6 minutes and I pulled a pair of the pants up and all the stains were gone, but in fairness it was spiked with stpp. Next load I'll try it with just the sears. No oily residue on the top of wash water.

    Don't forget when you buy liquids persils 2 in 1 won the CR test this year. I bought wisk deep clean several weeks ago after one of you mentioned how good it is and I did like it I can't remember if it had the scum or not.

    Pat I have powdered cheer and I really like it. Its labeled ** for both, but I also had to learn to use less as it does suds up, it even gets whites nice and white if I add biz but than it increases the sudsing, but IMO the old fashioned clean scent of cheer is worth playing around to get the suds level right.

  • 11 years ago

    I LOVE Cheer powder, mamapinky0, but as sparky knows, only All Free Clear (with Borax added) doesn't give me the itchies. I use the Cheer powder on hub's darks because it doesn't have OBs.

    Can't remember how the Wisk affected me years ago so I'll put one of my underpants in hub's laundry tomorrow and see.

    May the force be with us all.

  • 11 years ago

    Hehe Pat...good luck to you but...maybe you should try a pair of socks instead of underpants...just in case you get the itchies..lol

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Received this from Tide this morning.


    Thanks for contacting Tide Linda.

    I'd like to assure you that all of the ingredients
    used to make our detergents have been thoroughly evaluated to make sure they're
    safe to use as directed.

    The 6X on
    the bottle indicates that one cup of Tide cleans as well as 6 cups of the next
    leading detergent. It will do so in half the time by reducing the number of
    rinse cycles it takes to rinse your clothes clean.

    HE Turbo is a new
    formulation of our HE detergent that is a new very low sudsing formula. Turbo-charged cleaning agents +
    Dirt capturing ingredients disperse quickly, attack stains and keep them off
    your clothes with a fraction of the amount of water used in traditional washers.
    Essentially the cleaning ingredients are the same as the original Tide that you
    are used to.

    I hope this was helpful to
    you,

    Frederick
    Tide Team

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    So turbo is a "new formulation". So if it is new then why no ingredient list?

  • 11 years ago

    No P&G its not that helpful..see that's what they told me..I thought they had to provide a msds? Probably is the same as original tide with the suds supressors being increased. I still think its the increased soap thy use to supress suds causing the scum...so we trade suds for soap scum...what next will p&g come up with

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    They say "essentially the cleaning ingredients are the same", but I believe they have increased the % of suds suppressor (soap) and that's what the problem is. I still want to see the product list to see if it is in the same order as the non-turbo ingredients are. I think the ingredients with the biggest % are at the top.

  • 11 years ago

    As I have told you before, the only time I have had scum was with certain detergent and then liquid softener in the rinse. In fact I have rerinsed because of it. I am wondering now if the ingredient in the Tide is some form of fabric softener but it is in there(water) all the time.(wash/rinse). When I had that problem was waaay before Turbo came along so maybe I am wrong. When I first got my f/l washer only HE detergent then was Wisk and Tide both liquid. The Wisk did fine but everytime I used the Tide when you opened the machine after they were finished it smelled like a rotten egg but only with Tide liquid. That was 15 years ago and now I can use it and the smell is not there but I still have the same machine and water. It was just something in the Tide that didn't mix with my water or the rubber around the door cause that is where it seemed to smell most.(area).

    Example-not sure if you read this on the appliance section of this forum when a few people were having trouble with this gunk in there dishwasher filter--mainly Bosch best I remember. They finally figured it out to be Finish detergent with the jet dry in it. Not everyone using Finish has that problem so I am guessing it is dependent on your water chemistry. Maybe the jet dry is equivalent to fabric softener and that is what causes the gunk.


  • 11 years ago

    I highly doubt p&g or anyone else is putting fabric softener in the detergent since fabric softener will cancel the cleaning chemicals in the detergent. ...Sparkys scum in the past could have been from fabric softener. ..I think some of us see scum from the soap in liquid tide, maybe our water isn't soft enough or a host of other reasons..but the new turbo is a different kettle of fish just seems like p& g increased the suds supressor and that's causing the scum.we will probably never know for sure because p&g won't give persentages ...

  • 11 years ago

    Well you know for years they(P&G) made Bold detergent and it had softener in it. Sears also has a softener version still--in the pink box. The Turbo I have is powder--haven't tried the liquid turbo.

  • 11 years ago

    Yep I know there's detergent with softener but its not the same as fabric softener. And bold is sudsy. The sears with softener is about the same as far as suds go the same as the orange and green box. Also powdered tide with downy is sudsy. Anyone know what exactly the softener part is in detergents labled with softener?

  • 11 years ago

    Nice thread, nice discussions but your beating a dead horse. P&G won't give out it's formulation and rightfully so as they invested time/money in the product. You can grouse all you want but if the detergent isn't working i.e. suds, scum on the washer, scent, softness whatever, then change the detergent your using until you find one that works for your area. The only real variable that changes with each user is the water, soil levels on the clothes and how you pretreat the clothes. Find what works in your area and use it.

  • 11 years ago

    Smith I agree..and I know p&g won't give up the percentages nor do they even list everything on the msds..I also agree everyone has to find the detergent that works for them..however I don't see anything wrong with us hashing this out, surmising so to speak about this issue, its discussions like this that we all learn new things about things that interest us. And thats what GardenWeb is all about.

  • 11 years ago

    Also I want to add sometimes texting can be misunderstood when you can't see body language or hear tones of voice..I didn't mean any rudeness towards you Smith. ☆

  • 11 years ago

    smith02_gw It sounds as though our discussion is bothering you. Please feel free to read another.

  • 11 years ago

    maylingsmom

    Maybe you can help. I'm following this thread to find out what detergent doesn't leave scum lines on a SQ 542 as Tide Turbo did to beaglenc SQ 542. I'm running out of Tide Original and the new Tide Original is the "Turbo". Can you tell me what detergents don't leave scum lines on a SQ542? Thanks in advance--Smith

  • 11 years ago

    Try persil!!!

  • 11 years ago

    Pink- I had forgotten all about Tide w/Downy. Bentonite is what "softens" and also Silicone is softening agent/suds suppressor according to Tide.

  • 11 years ago

    Persil..can't use it. I bought the original liquid the smell was sickening so I returned it. Used the Pearls on a whites load, everything was clean a very white. 2 days later got a shirt out to wear, a few minutes later my nose got really stuffy, changed the shirt to one washed in something else, all was well again. It's weird too, that it had some kind of weird odor.

    I read, I think on the Persil thread that others have had sinus problems with it and odor problems on the Persil Face Book page.


  • 11 years ago

    So far Era with a little Oxi Clean is working for me as far as no scum. But since the Oxi can suds up a little too much, I have to watch carefully how much I add. I would like to try something new but looks like I will have to stick with Era for now. But I suspect for myself if I can check ingredients and try to see how many suppressors are in there maybe I can avoid wasting money and time.

  • 11 years ago

    Beaglenc, lol when I said * use persil I was responding to Smith, my fault I should have addressed by

    name. I think I read in another post about your adventures with persil. I've read about a lot of people having sinus issues with persil. Personally I've used walmarts persil pearls, and liquids and megacolor perls from Germany and IMO clean about the same as tide with bleach so no reason to suffer if you don't have to.

    Maylingsmom, I'm assuming your using the oxyclean for the oxygen bleach, have you ever ordered pure sodium percarbonate off the net? It may have less sudsing issues. I plan to order some one of these days but I hate internet ordering, wish a store carried it. Its good the era and oxy is working for you, do you use the oxy in the colords and darks also?

    Sparky thanks for the info on what's in the tide w downy to soften, I have it but rarely use it, when I do its usually on a fleese throw.

  • 11 years ago

    mamapinky0 - I used Oxi in my husband's work clothes and with whites but not with colors. However, I have used it when I had a stain on colors and was very satisfied at how it turned out. I just bought some Wisk but sadly it's not the one with just HE on the front. It's the one that says Original and then has HE on the bottom corner. I used Wisk years ago with my old reliable Maytag and really loved it. I am going to give it a try when I have enough of my hubs clothes to make a load but I know I will have to probably under dose until it agitates well and then add more. I've never ordered STTP, but I would love to get it if I could get a tiny amount so it wouldn't be wasted if I didn't like it. What are other things you can use STTP for?

  • 11 years ago

    Maylingsmom, you can buy a 1 pound bag of stpp on Amazon for under 8 dollars. ..I mix mine 1 part stpp/2 parts laundry detergent by weight...cleanest freshest best rinsing laundry I've ever had. I also use it in the dishwasher with cascade complete powder every thing comes out clean and sparkling, I could never do without it now. I don't know what other uses it has...when you do laundry with it you will use less detergent, its also great used in the 1st rinse to strip out built up detergent and fabric softener. if you get a chance try it I doubt you'll be disappointed. I think it may be free shipping.

  • 11 years ago

    There is shipping, but the 2 pound bag for 12:75 has free shipping that's a better deal.

  • 11 years ago

    Not to beat a dead horse here, but Stan over on AW has suggested using stpp with the detergent that's causing the scum...the phosphate should bind up the soap scum, keep it from distributing on your clothes and washer. Providing you use enough for your water level. I had no idea what I was doing when I first ordererd stpp, lol, but after talking to a real expert in this field I followed his advice and used 1part stpp/2 parts detergent by weight...works everytime this way. For you that don't have stpp Amazon has a 2 pound bag for 12:75 with free shipping. I really don't think you will be disappointed in it....think back to years ago when detergent worked so much better than it does today, because it was loaded with stpp.

  • 11 years ago

    mamapinky0 - wonder how that would work with my water? It is 1.4 grains and that is pretty soft. I also think if you wash your driveway down, etc you can mix the STTP in what you use to clean.

  • 11 years ago

    Maylingsmom, my water hardness is 1/gr but remember stpp does more than soften water...I could be wrong but isn't it TSP that you use for driveways.

  • 11 years ago

    mama - you are right. it is TSP.

  • 11 years ago

    Yes that is the wrong phosphate to use in laundry. .look for sodium tripolyphosphate (stpp) on amazon its the exact same phosphate that used to be in tide and other vintage laundry detergents.

  • 11 years ago

    mama - I meant tsp is for the driveway.


  • 11 years ago

    May, I knew you ment the tsp was for the driveway...actually I know a few people that use the TSP in their dishwashers even though they should be using STPP and all their dishes come out sparkling. When I did a net search theirs a lot of people that use TSP instead of STPP in DW'ers and laundry. But there is a big chemical difference in the two.....all this TSP'ing and STPP'ing can get confusing lol.

  • 11 years ago

    TSP typically generates a precipitate in hard water (basically a cloud of dust in the water). STPP is non-precipitating. I have added a tablespoon of STPP to the bucket when washing my car, and also have used it with dishwasher powder.

  • 11 years ago

    beaglenc - I have another issue with an oily film above the water line. I am not having it with regular laundry such as whites or my colors. The issue comes up with my husband's work clothes. So I have concluded that it is the greasy dirt coming off his clothes. I have tried Wisk and it is better but still there. The reason I think this has shown up now is that during the winter and early spring he was not doing any greasy work at a drilling rig but was just working at the papermill. I bought the Speed Queen on 3/31. The GE Adora that I had before the SQ barely agitated his clothes. I really think it wasn't breaking the soil down that was actually on his clothes although they looked somewhat clean. Anyway, I certainly can't afford the water to wash his clothes twice so I think I will just stick with Wisk for now and add vinegar to the wash and rinse. (I added vinegar to the wash and rinse yesterday and there was much less of the oily film). BTW, the Tide Turbo HE was definitely creating a scum for all my laundry (whites, colors, hubby's work clothes). I think it was the type of scum you were describing. I quit using it and don't see that on my whites and colors anymore.