The only ones I’m aware of are Miele UltraColor and German Persil Color. They’re quite expensive though. i’ve used both for years and find them excellent detergents- the Miele is particularly low sudsing.

@aamassther Does German Persil Color contain Optical Brightners? does it contain any oxi to counter chlorine? just curious on how it performs vs Cheer

The Miele piqued my interest, and I found this spec sheet:

Link: 02_C7F138386FBE1EDF908322142D4755EE.pdf (miele.com)

I don't know how to know what ingredients are what other than plainly laid out like on the spec sheet, so I question whether any of its ingredients have a dual purpose as an optical brightener. Does anyone know?

@SEA SEA do you have any thoughts?

Hey John Brady. Gosh. I wish I did have thoughts on this, as I'm in the same boat as you.

I think aamassther's suggestions are probably the best at this time. It's slim selection out there in powder detergent land these days as you know.

I will say this, but not I'm the chemist like littlegreeny is....I bought the 365 powder detergent at Whole Foods recently. I like it. More than I thought I would. This was a desperation purchase as we also lost Tide Free Gentle powder last year. I haven't been brave enough to try it on dark loads though. I threw away the box so I have nothing to look at as far as ingredients. It does a good job on my light colors and whites laundry loads, so that's a clue that it could be detrimental to dark laundry loads, but like I said, I'm not the chemist around here. But if one our ingredient-wise members can examine the contents list, that would help.

So what I'm doing in the meantime is I am using Tide Free Gentle liquid on dark loads. That used to be on good on darks as it has no OBs and it was a good cleaner. But it's been reformulated in recent times and I am seeing fading now and it's not removing funk from daily use laundry either, so on the hunt yet again.

We've lost so many of our beloved detergents over the years, left with little choices regards to powders.

Good luck. Post back here on what you find.

My recommendation is for a liquid:Sport Wash

Persil doesn’t contain sodium percarbonate like Cheer did to neutralise chlorine in the water. Not sure which ingredient does, though I’ve found it does a better job than Cheer did at prevention. It also, does not contain OBA’s. I’ve found performance to be better than Cheer, i’m thinking due to the enzyme cocktail it contains.

There's Grab Green, too. I recently bought the fragrance-free powder. It seems to be okay but I haven't been using it that long to say with certainty whether I'd buy it again.

There's also Molly's Suds, but I haven't tried that one.

SEA SEA - its tough times these days! I have considered going back to liquid for darks but i may opt to try Persil first. Its expensive but probably won’t be more money than liquid in the long run.

Does Grab Green contain enzymes? I have 2 young kids so i do need something powerful enouhh to clean kids clothes. I found Molly Suds did not do a good enough on kids clothing but was effective on lightly soiled clothes for gentle cycles (adult work clothes, kids pajamas)

@littlegreeny do you know the difference between Persil Color Pulver and Megaperls? And how does it prevent fading without neutralizing chlorine?

Sorry, no I don't as I have never used Persil powders. If they are European, I would assume the color version does not contain OBs.

To speak on Grab Green detergent, I've used the pods and my daughter uses them often. We've used the lavender scent. Also comes in other scents and frangrance free. We both find them to be very good. One has to determine how many pods are needed for the wash load.

For example, in my full-fill top load washer, I need to use 3 pods for a pre-wash/soak cycle. This is the case for all pods I may use in my washer due to the dilution of a full fill top load machine. For the main wash, my washer needs only one pod because the pre-wash/soaking process broke down and removed most of the muck.

Daughter uses one pod in a front load washer for pre-wash/soak cycle and one pod for main wash due to the lower water level which gives a higher concentration of detergent to the laundry load. Very good results. Adding borax to pre-wash/soaking cycles boosts the cleaning ability.

Last I checked, Grab Green has enzymes.

In many front load washers, it's not practical to follow this process with pods as the pods must be placed inside the wash drum. However, a pod can be used for the pre-wash/soak cycle if the machine has such, by adding the pod to the drum at the start, then add powder or liquid detergent to the dispenser for the main cycle as the washer advances through cycles.

With children's clothes and stains that arrive in the laundry room, pre-treating and using an enzyme containing detergent will result in cleaner clothes.

Hope you find something that fits your needs.

I would suggest, if you have a FL washer, give the European detergents mentioned above a try. Your amount used per load will be small. Your cost average is still going to managable for ongoing use and your end results will likely please you. Plus, you can add detergent to the pre-wash slot and the main wash slot if your machine has those. Makes it easier. You load it, set it and forget while the washer does all the work. If I had a FL washer, that is what I would do.

Thanks everyone. this is great info!

im trying to find out the difference between Persil Color Pulver and Persil Color Megaperls. if anyone knows, please reply :)

Can I mix a little oxi in to combat chlorine?

You probably can John. Emphasis on sprinkle a little bit. Good luck!!

If anyone is interested. i found this thread which talks about the differences and amount of zeolites in Persil. Very interesting

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREADM.cgi?94650__0#start_94650.1213359

If you're sensitive to scents, the Persil might just about do you in -- the Persil liquids in the grocery store are scented beyond compare. IDK about the powders, but something to be aware of.

What do you constitute as a light opposed to a color? more specifically, what shades of lights/colors/white-graphic Ts do you use a powder with OB vs a powder without OB?

I've used Miele Ultra Color for several years. Works great. No fading. A box generally lasts me 5 months. I have a front loader so it doesn't take much. I used Miele Ultra Dark liquid for black/darks. I also use the Miele UltraWhite powder.

"...what shades of lights/colors/white-graphic Ts do you use a powder with OB vs a powder without OB?"

I wouldn't use an OB on any color. They can make even light colors look faded. I would only use products with OB's on actual whites, if I were to use them (which I will not).

Just an FYI, German Persil for colors (pink flecks) [powder/professional/megapearls] do not contain optical brighteners or Oxi.

The "universal" version (blue flecks) does.