Kirkland brand detergent is excellent. I used it for quite a while and got good results.

I really need to up my laundry game after reading this thread. I use Tide liquid because i just do, no reason. At some point in time i claimed it as My brand. I put it in the washer first with warm water until it is dissolved, then switch to cold water and dump the clothes in.

I love Tide Pods...taste just like chicken :-)

I use Tide regular because I have a top loader. Love the top loader because I can easily regulate how much detergent to whatever water level. I just open lid and see the amount of suds.

Couldn't do that with my front loader.

I find I don't really need that much detergent. No need for it be overly frothy, our clothing doesn't get that dirty.

We're pretty easy on clothes, I can't remember the last stain anyone made. We don't have any clothes that need to be "snow white" or treated either extra-gentle or extra-harsh. I dislike perfume-y smells. My standard is 7th Generation Free & Clear.

Seems like most of us have a brand we favor. Does anyone randomly buy whatever is cheapest, or whatever comes to hand first, without regard to brand?

"Does anyone randomly buy whatever is cheapest, or whatever comes to hand first, without regard to brand?"

I do not follow that practice. Detergent selection and washing habits aren't only about whether the clothes are filthy or need only freshening. It's also about maintaining condition of the washing machine.

Nickel, I buy Tide because it was highly rated by Consumer Reports and because I ended up liking it. I’ve tried other brands at one time or another over my lifetime and come back to Tide.

It’s rare I have to pre-treat a stain, but I do it to avoid having to re-wash something later. It’s usually a bit of tomato sauce or wine, something unknown on a tablecloth or DH’s pants leg, or maybe a small blood stain. Easy.

Laundry detergent is an important factor in keeping my clothes and linens in excellent condition. I tend to avoid buying disposable things, so I take care of what I have. Cheap is expensive in the long run.

My aunt OTOH likes to buy inexpensive clothing and cycles through it often. She says she gets bored with outfits, so keeping nice things in good shape for a decade or more is not an issue, so she is not particular about detergents.

I listened to a really good podcast about laundry. It was Malcolm Gladwell on Revisionist History. He interveiwed an expert from Procter and Gamble on the best way to domlaundry and , hands down, cold water is best. ”cold water washes are less strenuous on fabrics and can help to extend the life of your garments”. Cold water washing also reduces the impact on the environment. This was really entertaining. I love Gladwell’s podcasts. Revisionist History: Malcolm Gladwell Explains How Tide Gets Laundry Done Right

Thanks, ded, that makes me feel better about using cold on delicate fabrics.

I invite Malcolm to disassemble and clean the next smutz-infested washer I run across that has the temp control stuck on cold. These are all toploaders. :-)

Ewwwww! I promise I only use cold on linen, cashmere/wool and silk. Aside from thise fabrics, I go for boiling hot.

What in the name of heaven are people putting in those washers?

dadoes, oh how I feel the need to come over and clean those tubs!

@dedtired The 1st I don't know, mold residue. The 2nd (my parents) I know for sure was Arm & Hammer liquid detergent, budget Tide "Simply" liquid in the yellow jugs, and primarily cold water. The machine (pic is exterior of the spin basket) was pristine when I first refurbed it, they used it from 2012 to 2018. I told them repeatedly to wash in at least warm. Dad: "It says on TV and newspapers and magazines that you're supposed to wash in cold." The 3rd, general (dried) residue. The last one had the agitator auger full of scent beads in an attempt to combat the swamp stink.

Cold water will not move grease or body oils out of fabric no matter what the detergent bottle tells you. Look at those machine innards from using cold water.

I use the Tide and Tide with Bleach powder because my mom did and our clothes were always really clean. She uses the pods now but I was not really happy with the pods. They did okay but not as good as the powder. Its true that colors fade faster when you use the powder AND hot water too boot but there is no point in half washing anything, let alone stuff you wear on your body.

Everything gets washed in hot water at my house. All clothes and bedding, dishes, hands, whatever. Cold water just doesn't clean like hot water. When I mop I use hot water from the tap mixed with a kettle of boiling water. Must. Get. Clean!

If cold water is so bad then why do all the "experts" tell us to wash in cold water? I can remember many years ago "learning" that cold water was the best because the "experts" told me so. I cannot remember why or when but I eventually got out of the habit of washing in cold and now I wash almost everything on the hot setting which really isn't all that hot.

I think cold water washing is recommended in the spirit of making clothes LAST longer, as hot water is harder on the clothes, and as an environmental thing. I have never really seen anyone recommend cold water washing as best for getting clothes cleaner, just that they are "clean enough."

You cold-water folks are OK washing your kitchen linens, bath towels, sheets, and intimates in a washer infested with smutz?

Cold water washing is promoted in the spirit of reducing energy demand to heat water.

Everybody has something to sell. I do not believe these laundry experts. I know boiling hot water is what is required to get my clothes properly clean, and I do not do any dirty work outside of working out and playing tennis, no gardening, for example, but still I want antiseptically clean clothes, not just good enough clean.

As for being hard on clothes, I don't think so, I have white cotton blouses from the year dot which are holding up just fine.

Zalco, could it be that your old cotton blouses were made of better fabric, with sufficient seams etc? So many of today's clothes are "fast fashion" which means cheap fabric and barely any overlap at the seams so they're not going to last nearly as many washings, no matter how gentle. That's been my experience (sadly).

Dadoes, what pictures do you have of machines that were used with warm or hot water -- was every single one pristine, while every single cold water wash machine was dirty? Does brand of machine make a difference?

anyone try Earth Breeze or another new detergent that is 'plastic free'?

These or others

i would love to try, but right now i have enough Tide for at least a year or longer.... i buy at costco/Bj's when there is a coupon.. i have both - liquid and pods

I've tried Eco-friendly & Plastic-free Laundry Detergent | Clean People (getcleanpeople.com) recently & so far I like it. I normally use powdered Tide & Cheer, but had to buy All Free & Clear a few months ago, as my son started with a rash & we didn't know what it was from. I've been using the unscented Clean People, haven't tried the fresh scent yet. The sheets are really great for storage purposes! I still use my tide for sheets, towels & DH & my white underwear.

Nickle, The only fast fasion type clothes I buy are workout outfits. Otherwise, I buy few things, but they are pretty high quality. The summer dress I bought today looks pretty much exactly like the summer dresses I wore 30 years ago and my mother wore as well. I am a very boring person, big on once and done.

Here is the dress I bought for spring.

PS I did ask the designer to change the skirt and take out the tiering for me.

We use either ? GAIN or Percil and dilute it wirth inexpensive, UNscented laundry degrgent. Alltogether, we use less than is recommended. Was med warm, rinse on cool.

I pretreat grease like stains wikth SHOUT. Pretreat pigmented stains (like coffee, wine, mustard, berry) with oxyclean-like substance.

Zalco/bbS, that was one of the good things about being ready to retire ... no more need for "good" outfits, fast, fashionable, or other!

Others - I'm interested in minimal packaging products but haven't tried these latest versions. Do you always use a a full strip per load, or can you tear them in half for light loads, etc?

I tried those strips and they did not work for me. I had many loads that the strips did not disolve completely and left residue on the clothes. I like the idea but I ll wait a little longer untill they perfect the tecnology.

I prefer Nellie's.

One that was notably clean at 10yo, other than a bit of water mineral-hardness residue. An aunt's machine. I recall mention that she favors Arm & Hammer but not so much cold water.

“You cold-water folks are OK washing your kitchen linens, bath towels, sheets, and intimates in a washer infested with smutz?”

I use Lysol laundry sanitizer. Although the kitchen linens go in with whites which is typically my one hot cycle.

I get detergent at dollar store. Works fine me but my clothes never get that dirty.

I've used all kinds of laundry detergent over the years I couldn't tell the difference in cleanliness between any of them. I do use warm water for everything but dark colored clothes, though, so not sure if that makes a difference?

I usuallly use Arm & Hammer or something else I can find that is scent free. I also prefer powdered stuff.

thanks to those who chimed in on the "plastic free -eco friendly" choices. sorry to hear the strip did not dissolve, that's a bummer.

i follow the instructions on the clothes as far as temp. goes.

I wonder if the strips would work better if you dissolved them in a cup of water (cold or hot) first. A million years ago I watched my grandma do laundry. Once the tub filled, she added detergent then used a big stick to stir it up, THEN added the clothes, THEN turned the machine back on to do its washing & rinsing. She said she never trusted the detergent to get fully mixed up unless she used that stick. History repeats itself, lol.

dadoes, how hard would it be for me to disassemble my washer to see my own tub? It's a speed queen, can't remember the model number off hand. Although I always use cold, I never use a lot of detergent, never use softeners or additives, often use the double-rinse option, always leave the lid up when not in use (so it doesn't mold or mildew), and I've never detected any smell or seen any gunk particle. But it would be interesting to see what's really underneath the nice clean inner tub!

I haven't had a problem with the strips not dissolving & you can tear the strips really easily to adjust the amount, I don't because I have hard water. I do tear the strip to throw it in the drum.

I tried to dissolve the eco strips in a jar of water but they stuck in the bottom and did not disovle well. There are many brands out there and perhaps I did not buy a good one. I ll wait a little while before I buy more of those to let the technology improve. I think it is a good idea.

I listened to that Malcolm Gladwell episode back when it first came out, and found it a little bit annoying. IIRC, it was because he didn't seem to take into account the fact that not everybody has a newer model washer - or uses the same detergents. I did learn from it, tho, and now I know that companies do create products that will work perfectly in cold water - if those are the ones you buy, which I don't.

I wash sheets and towels in hot water, and most clothing in warm, and special delicates in cold. Our tap cold water here is warmer than up north, for sure - even in winter. Our hot water isn't scalding either. Our washer is a no frills, top loading HE and has only cold rinse. We switched to liquid and/or pods long ago because powders don't dissolve easily in our hard water.

For those wondering about "strips" or sheets, I have had great success with Earth Breeze. I expected them not to work, so I initially added some liquid detergent as well, but after finding that they do dissolve, even in cold water, I decreased and have now eliminated using extra detergent. I do rip them in half for small loads. I have a top loading machine and I drop them on top of the clothes directly in the stream of water as the washer fills. I have also used it in a front load HE machine. I put the folded sheet in the detergent drawer, expecting to find it stuck there undissolved after the cycle, but was pleased to discover it had dissolved and thoroughly washed the load. I use the unscented Earth Breeze and I'm very happy and also enjoying the extra space in my laundry room!

I just started looking at those laundry sheets. I started buying the boxes, powdered stuff again a few years ago because I didn't like all the plastic waste. Good to hear some of them work.

I have soft water and powders work great even in cold. I never had a load that I found undisvolved powder. I have used Cheer, Tide, euro persil powder and perls, euro Ariel and Biokleen. I have euro Persil Colors and I have used it with black clothes in cold and did not see any residue. I do not however wash everything in cold all the time. I wash most of my cloths in warm (80’s) and bed linens and towels in hot (from 104 to 150 depends). I do cold washes for delicates and black. Lately I started using the perm press cycle in my machine (FL) becasue I read here it uses more water and cleans better. So far so good. The detergent strips I bought from whole foods and do not remember the brand.

I was tired of so much plastic so I bought a big box of tide powder at either Sam’s or BJ’s. It has little blue specks in it. My husband noticed his socks were much cleaner. I have a top loader, Speed Queen.

"I wash most of my cloths in warm (80’s) ..."

80°F is warm? Try an 80°F shower or tub bath. :-)

Adding to what dadoes said, water temps in the mid-80's are warm only when you want a glass of water to drink and according to some washer brands, but not according to fabric makers. Under fabric maker trade association agreements and government regulations on fabric care labels (including the longstanding rules of the FTC, among others), 86°F/30°C is within the spec for a "cold" wash.

I have used Tide liquid - original only - with hot water in almost every load, for years. I have a front loader. Once in a while I will add liquid bleach in loads with white sheets and towels.

Spare me the scents and other additives like Downy.

I always thought powders work great in cold water, because that box of Cheer told me they did. (ha!) And to me, "Cold" included the incoming tapwater cold in winter, which is 50-55° F (we are zone 6/7 gardening zone).

One day, all my dark clothes started coming out of the washing machine covered in white linty looking stuff. Of course we couldn't see it on the whites and lighter color garments. (ack)

I scheduled a service call, and guy took our old-fashioned top-load Whirpool washer apart. There was 1/2 to 1 inch of dried powder detergent residue caked at the bottom of the drum. (that was 20 years ago so i forget exactly amount....it was thick) That was 8-ish years of accumulated undissolved powder that reached a tipping point and finally started showing up on our clothing. He carried it outdoors and we both worked on chiseling that residue out. Service call wasn't cheap, either.

Since then, I found this forum and learned a LOT about doing laundry properly. And I thank each of you who participates here.

Yes, certain versions of Tide do wash better than most generics. Especially Ultra Stain Release. Recently I have been using Persil Oxi. It smells better than Tide and cleans very well!

There is a good reason why I rarely wash in cold. Just imagine wearing clothes washed in those machines. I have darks that have only been washed in ’cold’ amd are clean. However, that is using a TOL detergent and at least 75°F wash temp. Anything lower is a recipe for disaster.