Recommendations for washing powder please!

smithyjules

I have been in denial for quite a long time now, using Delta Bio powder from Netto as an attempt at money saving. It really isn't working!I have a 4 year old who loves mud, paint, glitter and glue and a husband who likes mostly the same (maybe not the glitter!) and also a young baby who is finger feeding now and I am throwing away so many clothes as the stains are just not shifting with my current powder even after soaking sometimes.

Any tips on still keeping costs down but actually getting the washing clean?!Or recommendations for washing powders and dosage needed?

As a side note, Delta Bio is great for boiling up in pans to get rid of scorch marks/burnt bits from when the husband has been making popcorn or just generally making a pest of himself!

Thanks for reading!

Essex-girl_2

To be truthful I just buy whatever is on special offer and try to stock up if I can. I use half the recommended dosage with no problems at all & sometimes top up small amount of washing powder with soda crystals.

JulieGeorgiana

I personally use Ariel Excel Gel. I buy the big pots when they are on offer at £4 (28 washes) and I use half the recommended amount... and when it's finished I open the bottle and get 1 more wash from it!

We wash 4 times a week which is 12 weeks a bottle!!! (33p a week!)

Plus it works well at getting those stains out... and I use it at 30oC (Can't go as low as 15oC on mine)

Linda32

I use Sainsburys Basic Liquid. We have some "dirty clothes" - allotment clothes and OH's "work clothes", the liquid seems fine for these, but as they are "dirty clothes" anyway, I've never really noticed as to whether the stains are still there IYSWIM - it dosn't matter.

If I was in your situation, I'd try soda crystals with a wash and see how that went.

Previously to MSE and when OH worked as a mechanic (Oily overalls) I used to use Aerial Powder, this worked but I'd never ever want to spend that much on wash powder again.

quintwins

i alos have a toddler who likes to feed himself (he;s at that age where your not allowed to help at all) and 2 little ones just in nursery, and my hubbys and printer so always really sweaty and stinking from crawling in presses all day, i buy my washing liquid in makro when it's on offer but i always buy brand names when there on bogof it works out alot cheaper that way but it also means i buy my whole years supply at once

also if you use powder buy the better on offer brands and do half and half with cheaper ones, also buy vainish from the poundshop, poundland also do a diferent brand of vanish liek stuff it's in a blue tub and alot bigger than there vanish and it's just as good

seraphina

Also try soaking your washing beforehand using something cheaper like Napisan, rather than just adding more washing powder.

Sparklyfairy

I also have 2 little ones & I think the key thing to remember when washing really dirty clothing is to use bio (even the Netto stuff) on a very hot wash (60 degrees +). I also sometimes use a bit of bleach (if the clothes are light) or oxi clean type stuff (from poundland).. xx

dom300186

i have used baking soda mixed with white vinegar and i paste it on the stain and leave for 5-0 mins then wash normally normally comes ou, used this when my son was two and had spag bol everywhere.
i wash my clothes in asda own brand and use a tbsp of powder and half a cap of fabric softner in everywash lasts abit longer.

GreyQueen

If you have access to a Lidl, their Formil brand powder is recond second only to the likes of Ariel but a fraction of the price, in tests by the Consumer Associatio (check out the Which? reports in the reference section of the libary). Usually £6.49 for a 60 wash box but afficionados say you can halve the amount and still get a good wash.

lostinrates

Sparklyfairy wrote: »

I think the key thing to remember when washing really dirty clothing is to use bio (even the Netto stuff) on a very hot wash (60 degrees +).

No children, but we have filthy clothes from gardening/animals and we can't use bio....septic tank. I tend to keep really bad stuff aside a oak in bio and washing in buckets before rinsing with water for the garden before then washing proper in the machine. Its hard work and I wish I had a better solution

but...isn't bio better at cooler temperatures anyway? I would have thought the enzymes were ''cooked'' at 60 degrees?

I find supermarket own washing powder no less good than brand stuff....though have thought recently of buying some branded stuff for dirty whites...to see if it saves some of my hand washing!

moggylover

I have tried loads and loads of different ones (including the Ariel with "stain grabbers":rotfl:) and I have not found any of them appreciably better than others: and certainly not worth the extreme difference in price between lowest and highest. The Ariel was distinctly unimpressive and left a fresh olive oil spill almost completely untouched on a favourite table cloth! I still had to use Vanish to get this!

I will either buy something that smells nice (:o) when on special offer, or the cheapest. I seriously don't see any difference in their ability to remove stains: they ALL lie!

Stains are treated with a squirt of Vanish (or similar own brand) and left for a few minutes before washing. Very rarely have a stain that this doesn't work on unless I missed it with the first wash and cooked it in.

Reading the "ingredients" shows that there is very little difference between one and another aside from perfume.

I did, however, use Fairy non-bio when the kids were very small because bios and perfumes can be very harsh on tender skin.