I use tide with bleach powder and a little pure sodium precarbonate with hot hot water with excellent results. Another detergent I use often for whites is German persil universal powder. If they are really dingy I use one of the above detergents with tide rescue whites pods.

bleach!!!

Also white clothes when purchased are often coated in tons of optical brighteners. These are chemicals which eventually wash out and clothes can look a little dull if you are used to seeing them with the brighteners. Some detergents contain them and cause darks to look faded or dusty.

Boiling hot water and bleach work for me. Stain removal applied as soon as clothes go into laundry basket. Love Persil and Clorox. Not wedded to any stain remover, though. Oxyclean is decent.

I use a top shelf powder detergent like Larisa mentions. 140f temp, I also add some STPP to each load to help condition the water. I never use bleach. Bleach could be used for disinfectant, but I never feel the need to disinfect things. I use 190f temp if I'm concerned with germs...and I am not concerned with germs typically. My Costco hand towels that DH uses for grimy farm soiled hands are always very white after 6 years of constant use.

what my experience is, is that hot water is fine on clothes, its the dryer that shrinks the clothes. for my polyester work clothes I use warm 104f or very warm 122f water. I never have body oil build up, that I believe contributes to the funky smell that I notice on others that otherwise seem well-kempt. That smell is the result of using cold water I believe, and a less than adequate detergent.

enduring- That is very useful information. I have noticed a funky smell on certain cotton shirts lately, mainly workout clothes which I have had to throw away. I have tried soaking in vinegar and switched my detergent which helped slightly but not enough to wear. I wash almost everything in cold water...I have never really sorted clothes by color. If I start washing with warm or hot water will I have to be very particular with sorting clothes? A lot of our clothes have white in it along with a dark color.

@bsds71, There are many people here on the forum that are experts at sorting and washing clothes. Yes you will need to sort by color, material, and delicacy. I have my work clothes that are black and dark. I wash with a liquid for blacks. I use temp of 104 or 122f, depending on my mood for the day. I wash my workout clothes the same way, as they are dark. The liquid detergent has enzymes in it, but no oxygen bleach or optical brighteners.

I wash all towels in very very hot water at 190f and powdered detergent like Larisa mentions above. that might be over kill, but my white towels are very white after years.

I wash DH farm at 140f and they seem to be handling the water temp fine. I line dry his flannel shirts though, but they go through the 140f wash just fine. I don't worry about fading so I use the top of the line detergent with oxygen bleach. I stock piled the USA version of Persil powder that came out about 4 years ago. I still have several years supply left. It is comparable to Tide with bleach I believe.

My nice tops, I wash on warm 104f and with a liquid detergent without any enzymes. Silks I wash on the silk cycle with liquid detergent without enzymes or product made for silk. Same with wool, I use the wool cycle and detergent made for wool or a liquid without any enzymes.

I also have powder for colors and a liquid for colors by Persil from Europe that I like. My black detergent is by Persil too, from Europe. There are other random detergents that I have but wont go into those.

20 Mule Team Borax is good for removing odors also.

enduring- I have a Samsung front loader, it's about 8 years old. I did my first load of color sorting today...going to take some time getting used to this new process, as foolish as that sounds. I put some lighter colors in with the cold/hot cycle and used Tide Pods and 2 capfuls of 100% sodium percarbonate. I'm not sure how hot the hot gets, but the cold/hot is my only option for a hot water cycle.

Bsds, does the instruction manual tell you what the temp is? FYI, usually the “ normal” cycle doesn’t use hot enough water. It’s the most energy efficient cycle and often the least likely to heat water. Does your machine have an On board heater? If it does you should be able to have a true hot wash cycle. If you want the most out of your washer, start a new thread with the brand Of machine and the model number and someone will be able to give more info.

bsds71,

What specific model is your Samsung? I'm curious what you mean by "hot water cycle" vs. the other cycles and options on the machine. My sister has a 8yo Samsung frontloader WF330. It has a Sanitize cycle that runs the onboard water heater to reach 150°F. The Pure Cycle (which is to clean the machine, not to wash clothes) heats to 130°F. I think the heater also operates on the Heavy cycle although not to that high of a temperature. All the cycles (Bedding, Perm Press, Heavy Duty, Normal, Delicates, Wool, and Quick Wash) allow the temperature selection to be changed among several choices. Only Sanitize (and Pure Cycle) is "hard-coded" for Hot.

I like Tide With Bleach powder, however, the scent lingers in the air, to me anyway. I've found Clorox2 pods, free and clear and I love them. They contain a bleach activator. I add one or two to my loads of whites and kitchen towels along with Tide Free powder.

Dadoes- I have WF218 model. I have been using "normal" and changing the temperature to the cold/hot temperature as that I believe, is the hottest option I have? I wash our bedding with the sanitize option, I am going to start doing our towels as well. And maybe my workout clothing as well, just really nervous about my colors bleeding or dye transfer. As a lot of our clothes have a color and white on them. Will this matter?

Imwas everything except silk and wool in boiling hot water. I have never had color bleed, aside from a table cloth from Williams Sonoma 25 years ago, and red swim trunks bought at Wal Mart on a trip for $5. i do seperate by light and dark colors, whites go on their own.

bsds71 -

The cycle matrix in the user guide for WF218 indicates that Hot/Cold (which means Hot wash and Cold rinse) can be selected on Heavy Duty, Normal, Whites, Towels, and is the only choice for Sanitize.

The ATC (Automatic Temperature Control - temperature sensor) does not provide the same temperature on all the cycles for a given selection. That is to say, Hot on Normal (lower) isn't the same as Hot on Heavy Duty (higher). Higher soil levels may also provide warmer temperatures. The designated NORMAL cycle on all washers nowadays is what's tested for the energy rating and is the MOST RESTRICTED for temperature.

My sister's machine when I tested it, on Normal provides a Warm temperature of between 80°F to 82°F. Hot on Normal 89°F to 91°F (and that's with my water heater set at 140°F.) All fills start with cold water to flush the detergent dispenser, then adds some hot water later. Heavy Duty on Hot at Light soil level uses the heater and measured to 115°F. Higher soil level selections on Heavy Duty may heat higher than 115°F ... I didn't have time to check all the possible combinations of cycles and temperatures. Interestingly, Delicate provided a warmer warm than Normal, which goes back to Normal being the most restricted.

Note the figures I cited reflect how WF330 operates, and may not exactly apply to your WF218 ... but I'd assume it's similar.

Dadoes- Wow, thank you for the info! I have 5 towels I was just about to throw out, but I think I might have to try Hot at the Heavy Duty setting and see if that helps with the odor. Although, I was looking forward to going to RH Outlet this evening for their 50% off sale. Win/win. :)

The above temps provided by Dadoes (thank you), show why some of us who have/had certain front loaders, or modern top loaders can get moldy washers while even doing everything correctly, i.e., choosing Hot temp, Extra Soil, Extra Rinse, using the proper amount of detergent and even using additives such as an Oxi product, etc...

Those are not what many consider to be Hot temps. Those are in the Warm territory. The lack of real hot water breeds undesirable organisms within the washer innards and does not break down the body oils on clothing and then in time, presto, moldy washer and smelly towels. Been there. Done that. Ugh. It was so frustrating.

We wash all white cotton regular clothing on the Whites cycle with tap hot water ~140°F. We use Tide liquid, 1T STPP, and 2T of Sodium Percarbonate. I also add one cup of ammonia once the washer has stopped adding water. This removes more deodorant, sweat, and fabric softener that otherwise would be left. It also boosts the efficacy of the oxygenated bleach. I like to switch the rinse temperature to warm on the fly to remove extra residues. Extra rinsing goes a LONG way. Our whites are very white and clean. This practice is also used on towels and washcloths, except I use 2T of STPP. They are very clean as well, but do have some graying and stubborn makeup stains that would require a boil wash to remove!

Dorey do you use liquid body soaps with your baths/showers? Liquid body soaps turn washcloths gray and a boil wash was minimally effective for me.

Yes we do. Neutrogena Rainbath didn’t cause too many issues, however, our favorite Aveeno does.

Tide, BIZ and the longest tap hot cycle with an extra rinse (3 total front loader). I then do two extra manual rinses with fabric softener added directly to the drum on the last rinse.