Washing product query

aurongrande_2

I'm basically a person that lives on his own, and so my needs are not extravagant, but I do have a saying welded into my mind when I buy products of any type. "You get what you pay for!"

Basically, cheap and tacky, expensive and good quality. After several years welding another saying next to it "More expensive is not necessarily better!" I now have a problem.

I've managed to find cheap decent products in various everyday cleaning products. For example, a bottle of Fairy washing liquid does last far longer than the equivalent quantity of from other brands, and thus is cheaper in the long run. I don't have a dishwasher.

Clothes washing products is where I'm having difficulty. That's soap and conditioner.

For my machine which is a combi washer-dryer, I found that certain products just don't work well.

To start with, there's only one conditioner which doesn't clog my machine, and that's Comfort Condensed. I have to use Calgon water softener because other brands are useless. Even the repairmen that keeps coming to repair my machine is grateful that I'm using Calgon, and also confirms that other brands are useless. (Probably paid to recommend Calgon, I don't know. However, Calgon does help with getting clothes cleaner than other brands.)

Washing products. Fairy, Bold, Tesco, Liquid, Tablets, Gel, etc. Which one?

I basically need cheep as possible, but not sacrificing quality. Tesco Tabs are useless. I have to use 2 tabs compared to Bold, and thus making Tesco Tabs more expensive than Bold. I tried using powder in the draw, but the machine barely manages to handle a single Calgon tablet in the draw, and 2-thirds of a cap-full of Comfort conditioner.

So basically, the washing product has to be one that goes straight into the drum, like the tablets or gel.

Can anyone make any suggestions?

xbrenx

Sounds to me like you've done your own research very well. I would think the first step is to find the product that works and that you like. Then instead of shopping in just one shop, look around for the deals and keep an eye out for when your fave is on offer and stock up on it.

I do think your washing machine sounds a little bit fussy, more so than my cats in fact :eek:

aurongrande_2

Yes, my machine is fussy. In matter of fact, it is an end of line product. It was discontinued, and I found it reduced on the shop floor of my local Currys store. According to the Currys computer, the next nearest one was 50miles away, and in total, Currys only had 5 left in the whole of the UK. So I got the one off the shelf, and in doing so, it had no packaging. The delivery guys simply wrapped it in a few layers of bubble wrap, and it still got broke in transport. Since then, it kept breaking down every few months. So far I've had the control dial replaced twice, the thermostats trip due to the condenser tank getting clogged, the belt wheel became buckled and ended up being replaced, plus a new belt at the same time.

Back to the washing products. Yes, I have done my research, but surely I'm missing something. If not, then I'll just stick with Bold tabs after I've finished with these few bottles of gel.

Mk14:37

I was reading Which? Magazine today, it rated Lidl's own brand powder as the Best Buy. I'll be giving it a go next time I buy powder.

I'm curious as to how necessary it is to put the powder in the drawer instead of directly in the drum - what makes tabs so special, eh?
I'm pretty sure I remember that the machines at university recommended putting the powder in the drum before loading the clothes.

maman

Having been persuaded to try it on here I'm now using vinegar instead of softener so no gooey drawer. Apparently brown works every bit as well but I'm sticking to white at the moment.

Spikefan

Personally I like Bold - not too strong in smelling (well the Lavander one isn't) and it has conditioner in it (saves buying two products); if I am washing whites then Aerial is good - best tip I found for clean clothes was not to overload the machine. It just doesn't get them clean if there is no room to move around. When my children were young I found Safeway own brand was one of the best to remove dirt from their clothes - this is now Morrison's own brand.

Enterprise_1701C

I find ordinary washing soda (you buy it in bags in the supermarkets) is good as a booster when you wash whites, find it better than a lot of the proprietary wash boosters.

sassyblue

Hi aurongrande, blimey your machine is fussy!

Couple of points..... the calgon tablet, l know your repairman says good for using them but if they are so good at descaling the machine don't you think they'd ruin your clothes in the process? And you aren't putting calgon in the conditioner wash too so what happens to the scale in the water there......? You can tell l don't believe in them and neither did my washing machine repairman.

You can buy a fitting that goes between the connection on the water mains to the machine and that softens/de-ionises? the water, l use that and believe me when we first put it on the machine packed up after a few washes when l came to clean out the fluff filter to see if that was the cause - it was full of concave scale that had come off the inside of the pipes so l know it works. I think we paid about £25 a few years ago, it's still going strong and is repaid in the cost of calgon within a few months.

I buy a packet of soda crystals from the supermarket about 91p and mix half them and half washing powder - so your washing powder goes further too (and you can fit more in now the calgon tablet isn't there?? ). I've only found Ariel works in my machine and you might need bio (biological) powder to help remove stains better.

If you have stains that are quite bad, a Vanish SOAP BAR works best, lasts for ages you just rub the soap bar on the stain (wet it first) leave it 5-10mins and then put the machine on.

I had a full sized sample of Bold Gel (from an offer on this site :beer:) and that is really good.

Will try to find a link for the softener thingy.

ETA: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Washing-Machine-Magnetic-Water-Softener--Anti-Limescale_W0QQitemZ260648031849QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=125904282953&rvr_id=125904282953&cguid=31f67e831260a0e2044575d5fe5e51da

Enterprise_1701C

Of course you could always use an electronic water conditioner that works on all the pipes in the house. I am prejudiced so cannot state which one, my husband developed one. We had it on test and we tested the water for hardness every day and watched it go down slowly but surely. Believe me, I was sceptical at first. He had to take ours off a while back as he was developing new programming but he did not tell me it was off, after a few days my head got itchy and my dandruff returned, so I know for sure it was working! We still get scale in the kettle, but nothing like what we used to get. We replaced our hot water tank a while back as we could not remove the immersion heater to replace it. After removing the tank we cut the immersion out and found it was totally clear of scale, and the bottom few inches of the tank was full of pieces of scale!!

roy_harper

My current favourite is Persil Small & Mighty. Especially as it's liquid and concentrated it is good on black clothes, reducing bobbling and fade.

pegginout

I was told that powder was best, gels & liquids are not good for your machine at low temps x