Thank you for the comment. This is extremely helpful!

I can't stand the smell of Purex.

I'm actually an Arm & Hammer guy myself, but I thought it'll be interesting comparing these two in particular since they are both comparably spec'd and priced.

I wouldn't use either of them. My mother uses a lot of A&H liquid with primarily cold water and prit'much destroyed an old-style Kenmore toploader from smutz accumulation.

I use the Arm & Hammer with Oxi on whites with hot (and bleach) so smutz won't have a chance to accumulate.

Note: Never use cold water, except to rinse.

Thanks for the comment!

I am using powders nowadays but had been using liquids up until a year ago. I liked the cleaning power of the Purex liquid w/oxi. I also like the Arm & Hammer powder w/oxi.

Thank you for your input.

Both are mediocre, IMO, so I don't use either of them.

☹️

I went back to powders because the liquids made my Speed Queen TL stink inside.

I never knew top loaders ever had that issue... interesting 🤔

A few dirty toploaders for your inspection. :-)

HE impeller machine

1999 Kenmore agitator model

Whirlpool agitator model

2012 Whirlpool agitator

Those washers never saw regular hot washes or bleach.

My repair people would comment how clean my drum was when I had a Whirlpool direct drive that need a quick repair.

The 1999 KM was my mother's, used for 6 years with primarily cold washes and A&H liquid ... I had refurbed and cleaned it up to pristine before she got it.

The 2012 WP is at one of my neighbor's rental properties. The tenants run warm and some hot washes. The city water there is very hard in a vintage neighborhood with old pipes. They use one Tide pod per large load (3 kids, + her older son & GF and baby were in the garage apt for a while) which isn't enough for a full load in a deep-fill machine under the water conditions, thus the scum-line.

They certainly don't make them like they used too...sadly 😔

I'd LOVE to have a Whirlpool/Kenmore direct drive washer today. Wish they still made them 😤

WP/KM/Roper/Maytag direct-drives are widely available on the used market. KitchenAid less so but is a plus if one can be found. Parts are still available to do a full mechanical refurb.

dadoes, how well do those washing machine tablets/cleaners work?

Reasonably so .... but a washer several years old with a case of smutz caused by questionable usage habits and no maintenance for the duration is probably going to need more intense attention (disassembly). Washer cleaner tablets on a regular basis need to be used from the start (and good laundry habits) to keep the problem from developing.

Are those stores that do refurbished appliances very common? I'm seriously considering getting a used Whirlpool/Kenmore direct drive washer for my next set (whenever that'll be)

I'm just not getting your point here, Dadoes. Are you saying that even if HOT water was used with the Arm & Hammer liquid there would still be the smutz because Arm & Hammer liquid would be mediocre under any circumstances?

Depends on the laundry conditions involved.I haven't used A&H or Purex but being that my mother uses A&H and I've run loads there, I can say that A&H liquid is super-sudsy .... which leads the user to keep the dosage down to avoid a Brady Bunch suds incident, which in turn can result in insufficient detergent to handle the water and soil conditions.

(there's a longer clip that shows Bobby pouring an entire box of detergent into the machine but he appears in his underwear so YouTube tags that version as age-restricted)

Got it. Thank you.

Also per the CR ratings cited above, A&H and Purex are both rated low for handling hard water. And low for coffee, chocolate, grass, & blood which likely is related to lack of enzymes.

Hey I know I'm a bit late with my response, but thank you for the input.

I honestly switch from both if I'm buying the big bottles purex is more affordable by the ounce but I dont think purex gets grease and food smells out like arm and hammer I also have to use the purex naturals because of my sensitive skin or arm and hammer sensitive so for me arm and hammer free and clear does a better job at cleaning power over all then purex naturals I have noticed fading over the years with arm and hammer but they both work extremely well on a budget.. both about equal on lightly soiled items.

Era is best budget detergent if your needing something for more heavily soiled smelly stuff. 🌈

Alexis, thank you so much for your input! I'm primarily an Arm & Hammer guy but I also don't mind Purex, Gain, or All since my laundry is lightly soiled the majority of the time.

In terms of Era, I haven't seen it in my local stores in quite some time. I remember using it briefly back in 2015 but after that I haven't been able to find it anymore. I asked on another thread if P&G discontinued Era and someone confirmed that P&G planning to do so.

PS: have you tried the Arm & Hammer Clean and Simple edition? I've been using that since it came out last year. I find it does a commendable job for what it is.

I know this thread is old but maybe we can update it. I read a ranked top 10 detergents and Tide didn't make the list. Arm&Hammer was the best for a budget detergent. But here is what throws a wrench into all of this. A&H sells a version with OXY now. The recommended A&H was regular. I bought Purex and enjoyed the stronger smell on my clean items. A&H has an Odor Blaster with OXY also. I've never had an issue with A&H but the Purex worked fine too. The top 10 listed Persil the best for stains. I own a used car lot so I can get dirty and greasy and A&H with OXY always has been fine. Today I saw Purex with OXY. Still says "Clean Burst" but it doesn't have much of a smell. I only buy the huge jugs and Purex was cheaper. So, either brand with OXY, how much does the OXY help or not help? Is it a gimmick? If so, I'll get regular but regular was out of stock. Couple side notes. A user recommended Era. I used that at my car lot and it's average at best. Menards sells Era. My other side note, my car lot used to be a used appliance store and in the back I have 52 sets of washers and dryers in working condition. I'm sure a lot of this depends on the unit vs detergent. My car lot washer works totally different than my home machine. At home I have the flagship direct drive Maytag top load with no impeller. Some say it does a terrible job. Works great for me and does a better job than my previous LG front load which flooded my house. Most of my 52 sets are Samsung. My Maytag w&d are huge which was the second reason I bought them. Anyways, now factoring in these 2 detergents with OXY, which is better and how much better? It definitely affects the smell of the Purex as it's not "mountain breeze" anymore.

@Ted H Purex and A&H with Oxy are better formulas as they each contain enzymes.

Not sure where you found the top 10 list but Tide Ultra Stain Release is generally the topped-rated deteregnt and Persil Proclean Stain Fighter is #2.

Hey Ted, thank you so much for your comment. I posted this almost 2 years ago and like then I love discussing laundry detergent and getting people's take on the various options that are available today. Thank you for adding to the conversation! I do have a few questions for you regarding the machines you've mentioned at your business. But I'll ask in another post. I think it's REALLY interesting that Arm & Hammer and Purex were on that list while Tide was left on the bench. That's really interesting to me ᾑ4