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Laundry Room
clean_and_bright

Powdered laundry detergents...

11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago

Hi LR Experts! I had a great laundry system worked out in the past. I had been happily using Tide powder for most laundry, and a special detergent for delicates/work clothes, until P&G changed the formula for Tide. So, over the past few months I have been testing out different powdered detergents and now I have a few observations/thoughts and some questions I have been wondering about. Would love to hear your experiences and ideas!

DRY/STIFFNESS: Larsi mentioned in a recent post about Target Up and Up powdered detergent leaving his laundry feeling dry. I have not tried this detergent (and won't based on that review), but I have noticed the same thing with Miele detergents and I am very disappointed about it! I am wondering why some powdered detergents leave clothes feeling "dry"? Is it something in the detergent formula itself or could I be dosing incorrectly? I am washing the same amount of clothing with the same soil level, same time/cycle setting, hot water, same additives (just STPP due to hard water).

For example, today, I washed 3 loads of white bath/hand towels using each: Tide PRO, Miele UltraWhite, and Tide with a touch of Downy April Fresh. I did not use FS with any washes. All towels looked white and fluffy and smelled clean. BUT, definitely the Miele towels were rougher/dryer feeling. I can understand the Tide w/Downy has FS that may make them softer but no difference compared to Tide PRO.

Also, last week I washed my sheets with plain Tide powder and they were definitely softer than with the Miele powder. I am pretty disappointed with the Miele powders for this reason. I just don't understand it...

DARKS/COLORS/WHITES: I am not terribly keen on the cleaning power or scent of the Miele UltraColor. But, I actually quite like the scent and cleaning power of the UltraWhite (minus the "dry" feeling). In the past, I used Tide powder on dark/colored clothes with no issues. Would there be any reason not to use Miele UltraWhite detergent on my regular colored clothes? I understand about optical brighteners and oxygen bleach, but Tide has both and it was never a problem...

BULK STORAGE OF POWDERS/SHELF-LIFE: I found ORIGINAL TIDE POWDER and stocked up!!! YAY YAY YAY! Some of the boxes had some clumps in the detergent. Would this impact the effectiveness of the detergent? It smelled the same--lovely! Should it be okay to use? Does powdered detergent go bad? I plan to stock up if it does not go bad. Thinking about transferring it all to a large air-tight waterproof plastic container for bulk storage...thoughts on that?

Oh, and Larsi I am very pleased with the scent of the Tide with Downy AF powder--thank you!! I haven't tried it on clothing yet, but it has done great on several loads of towels. This may be my back-up to regular Tide powder. It smells not quite as good as the ORIGINAL powder, but way better than the rest!

Would appreciate any experiences/advice! TIA and happy washing!

Featured Answer
  • 11 years ago


    First I will adress the stiffness: Powdered detergent contains a lot of sodium carbonate, powders really should only be used in hot or very warm do to carbonates being troubelsome in rinsing out, even in hot water carbonates can be the real dickins to completely rinse out, be sure the rinse water looks and feels clean...Tide uses zeolites and carbonates both will make fabrics stiff if not properly rinsed, Miele I'm not sure if it has zeolites but one thinks it does. However IMO powders still give the best cleaning with clay soils as liquid is better for grease/ oils...maybe your overdosing without realizing it? I sure do OFTEN. Stpp should be very helpful with the carbonates issue.

    Storage: I use those space saving bags that you use a vac to suck the air out, and store my stash in a closet away from kitchen and bathrooms, I usually leave enough of each out for a month or so in containers, remember after opening a box use mailing tape to tape the box closed before doing a space bag lol or you will extract more than air haha.

    Believe it or not lol..I love the scent of Miele whites and colors even more than original tide.

    As far as using a whites detergent on darks or colors, it will cause fading maybe not right away, but it will. Oxygen Bleach was designed for whites, some people use it on colors and darks with good luck but eventually it will fade, if you choose to try I advise warm water and not hot.

    I will touch more on this later..lol

    Comments (9)

    • 11 years ago
      last modified: 11 years ago

      Hi Clean (Lisa)!

      I really love the performance and scent of Miele UltraWhite!

      I think the Miele UltraColor is very good at keeping the colour in fabrics, but the past few weeks.....EVERY time I use the Miele UltraColor powder, I too find my clothes not feeling soft. They are much rougher than when using Original (old fashioned) Tide HE powder or Tide with a Touch of Downy HE powder.

      I did several loads with the ALL with Stainlifters liquid pods LaundryMitch mailed me...and everything was so soft, almost silky and cared for. Acceptable suds levels and seemed to rinse quite well.

      I went from loving Miele UltraColor, to finding myself not wanting to use it as much!!

      I too really like the scent of the Tide with Downy powder HE. Of course it is not as amazing as Tide Original, but it is great. A few clumps in powder is normal, and will not affect performance. Try and keep the powders in a dry, moisture and temp controlled environment, and it will be fine!!

      clean_and_bright thanked larsi_gw

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    • 11 years ago

      I have used almost all my Miele white with no problems and I've used the Miele color Larsi sent with no problems, I think next to my beloved Forever New which I will only use on my bedding occasionally the Mieles are my favorite. Just shows you its all about water chem.

      clean_and_bright thanked mamapinky0
    • 11 years ago

      Thanks Mama and Larsi!

      Larsi, I appreciate that you are having a similar experience, even though it is disappointing about Miele powders! BTW, re: the Tide with a touch of Downy AF--just wanted to confirm that it is the NEW version? Meaning I can purchase in stores or online? I really really like it!! The scent seems almost like an older P&G product, which is why I am checking ;)

      Larsi, what do you think of the scent of the pods Mitch scent you? Do you think they cleaned well? Would you wash work-out clothes with this detergent?

      At least the Miele UltraWhite smells great and really whitens! Mama, I will watch my detergent dosage and see how this product rinses, but I thought it was rinsing clean. If I need to I will add a touch of Downy F&C to soften my sheets a bit. Maybe Tide adds something to soften their powders??

      Mama, thanks for the advice--I will NOT use the Miele UltraWhite on my darks/colors. I will use Tide powder, Tide with Downy AF, or Forever New. And, maybe try the All pods ;)

      Thanks both for the reassurance re: stability, effectiveness and storage of powders. I now have 4 boxes of Tide ORIGINAL OLD FASHIONED powder, and happy it will keep in the right conditions! Hoping by the time I run out, P&G will go back to real Tide.... and for you, Larsi, old April Fresh softener!

    • 11 years ago

      Hey isn't the Tide with April Fresh Downy white with blue and pink specks the first one to come out and the Tide with april fresh white with blue specks the newer one?

    • 11 years ago

      LOok what I found tonight,I've had a terrible time finding this, the date is 2011..I love this for warm prewash.

    • 11 years ago

      Mama, the Tide with Downy AF I have is white with blue specks. I have never tried this product before larsi sent it to me, but from your description it does sound like this is the current product! It smells good, I wonder what the 2010 version smells like!

      I have never tried that Tide cold water Fresh Scent, but that's a good price!!

    • 11 years ago

      clean & Bright.....YES, the Tide with a touch of Downy HE powder I sent you, is the CURRENT version. Amazing, huh? For P&G, it actually smells good. MamaP is right! The first Tide with Downy powder had blue & pink specks, whereas the current one is white and blue!

      I bought a box of Original Tide with Downy powder last week (or the week before)...Old, new stock (pink & blue specks). It was SO rancid. Horrible!

      I think Miele UltraWhite whitens and cleans as well as MamaP's Tide Professional, and as good as Tide with Bleach powder. I still have quite a bit of the Original Tide with Bleach powder (before P&G ruined the scent). It cleans and whitens all by itself!

      I am, as of now, not happy with Miele UltraColor powder :( Luckily I have a pretty good stash of ORIGINAL Tide powder and some pods that I do like. Yes, the All with stainlifters pods Mitch sent me smell and clean great!!!

      clean_and_bright thanked larsi_gw
    • 11 years ago

      Larsi, thanks for clarifying re: the current Tide product. Yep, it is amazing! And, yes to everything you said! I prefer the scent of Miele UltraWhite compared to the Tide Pro and Tide with bleach, so I will continue using it for whites. And agreed--not happy with UltraColor, so will use ORIGINAL tide powder or Tide with Downy AF for my clothing! I just need to stock up on those products before they are gone!

      How awful they tide with Downy from 2010 went rancid! Yikes! I hope my original tide powder doesn't go rancid--I will have to store my bulk supplies in the temp controlled wine cellar (just kidding I wish ;)

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