That's total baloney about free and clear detergents. If you look at Tide's ingredients, they are virtually the same minus perfume and dyes. Same goes for Persil, Era, Kirkland Signature, Purex, etc., etc. Actually Era Free is stronger than regular Era now as regular Era lacks enzymes whereas Era Free has protease.

Not sure where you read this. If it was from some of those laundry groups on Facebook, take what you read with a grain of salt. Most everyone in those groups loves their cold water washing in he top-loaders, so they really don't know what they are talking about when it comes to best laundry practices.

Now, I do believe this for any plant-based detergents based on my own experience.

I agree for strong free and clear detergents (tide, persil, basically ones with enzymes) they are the same as the regular versions. Now I do have to add a water softener to my routine no matter what the detergent since I have hard water.

Typically in those groups they recommend using a water softener and more in some cases detergent for cleaning heavily soiled clothing if using liquid detergents as they say powder detergents contain more water softeners. i have found it makes no difference to me if it’s liquid or powder still need water softener for any detergent with my super hard water.

I wouldn't worry about a chart like that. The surfactants, used in the detergent will have a large influence on how it is affected by water hardness. Nonionic surfactants will work independent of water hardness, while anionic surfactants can be consumed by magnesium and calcium ions in hard water. The dyes and fragrance don't have anything to do with how the surfactants work or how the builders in the detergent interact with calcium and magnesium ions in the water.

I think there may be some limits to the strength of scent free detergents, since no fragrance added comes with a expectation of a detergent being free of scent, and lack of consumer acceptance of a bad smelling detergent.

We use the Kirkland until we moved too far from Costco (but they've broken ground on one). Now I use the "All" free and clear.

When CR magazine rates detergents, I've noticed the F/C version, when one exists, usually rates lower than the regular version. The Costco Kirkland detergents are what comes to mind. I've often wondered why the difference.

Who makes the Kirkland brand for them?

I once ran across a MSDS for Kirkland detergent and it was manufactured by Sun products. I don't know if that is still the case. My googlefu is weak and I cannot locate a current or old MSDS.

Kirkland is made by SUN Corp.

Yes, same as All, Surf, and Wisk. They make a lot of the store brands.

Sun Products Corporation, now known as Henkel manufacturers Kirkland detergent.

As Greeny says....there is no more Sun Corp. Or Wisk....lol.

Been awhile since I looked but are there any enzymes in Surf? If so it might be a alt to Sears detergent.

Totally forgot about sun selling to Henkel. Who knows if and when they will change the formula or worse discontinue it.

Surf does have enzymes in their powder detergent but some have said the scent is overwhelming. I got the ocean breeze smelling one and it wasn’t bad after dried. There’s another scent that surf makes that’s more flowery (can’t remember the name off top of my head) that does leave more of a scent after dried. I would pick up a small box of either to see if it’s may work for you. I had a friend grab a big box at sam’s club for pretty good price. It’s one that’s in my regular rotation.

Down to my last jug of Wisk Free and Pure. I’ve been very happy with how it cleans. Also down to the last jug of regular Wisk. Going to miss it when it is gone.

Mrs Egg, Kirkland Ultra Clean from Costco is very comparable to Wisk. So is Tandil from Aldi.

Does the Aldi come in a free version also or just scented?

They only have scented versions. I wish it was available in a F&C version.

Just putting this out there for the Wisk-deprived souls out there...I feel your pain losing a detergent that has worked well for you for a long time.

I mentioned last year in a thread on this board about how I was using Kirkland liquid detergent (scented version) and was pretty pleased with it overall. I also mail ordered liquid Wisk in my never ending quest trying to remove DHs oils and funk build up. When I started using the liquid Wisk, it smelled, looked, washed, cleaned and suds up exactly like the Kirkland scented liquid detergent. They were (to me), the same product in different bottles with different names. I felt kind of 'taken' after discovering this because I paid a premium for the mail ordered liquid Wisk and I paid the Costco value price for the Kirkland jug of what seems to the same product.

I had to give away both of those detergents after my TL Speed Queen arrived because they BOTH behaved exactly the same in regards to suds coming out the drain pipe on final rinse. It was a suds party all over my drywall and down-dosing did not resolve the issue. Only led to under dosed detergent in wash cycle.

Anyhoo, do what you like with that info. I do wish I could use the Kirkland liquid, but it just doesn't play nice with the enthusiastic pump on my SQ and my narrow sewer lines.

Maybe give the Kirkland detergent a try and see if it meets your laundry's needs.

I used Kirkland many years ago and had sudsing issues in my Fisher Paykel Eco Smart. Perhaps the formula has changed enough that this won’t be an issue. Willing to give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

I have old Wisk and newer Wisk and a few inbetween. ..it all is heavy sudsing for me.

Wisk and Costco/Kirkland created suds-o-rama in our FL washer. Gave it all away.

littlegreeny - thank you for the ingredients comparison lists. Who knows why CR testing thinks one works better than the other? Very odd, indeed.

I use Seventh Generation free & clear. There are no optical brighteners in it -- many F&C have optical brighteners, which really do a number on colored clothes - the darker the clothes, the worse the effect.