saving money on washing powder

millionaire_in_training

I cannot use Lidl's washing powder. I bought the large box and had to give it away as my DS came out in an horrific rash. Took me a couple of days to realise what was causing it. He is quite an allergic wee lad but this was awful. Have to stick to the brands I know I'm afraid. Not worth the saving for the discomfort he has tbh.

angelatgraceland

Lentilsforteaagain wrote: »

Has anyone else tried using soap nuts? I tried them from a green point of view but actually they work out very cheap too, especially if you buy them in bulk.

I would say that you need to think a bit about how grubby your load of washing is though - you can re-use the soap nuts about 4 times or so but they get slightly less effective each time so I wash the grubbier loads first and do the "worn once" loads for last. If anything's REALLY grubby though, I use Tesco's own washing powder.

They reckon that £9 worth does around 300 washes but I don't think I can get quite that many out of them (though maybe I'm just using too many?)!

Yes I use them on the clothes that are not filthy! That is-most of them. I am happy with the results. I found mine on ebay and that was the cheapest anywhere I believe. About 7.99 inc postage for 500g. I used a pop sock to put them in and to get the max usage from them I tend to add the new ones to the old ones antil there are 3 lots of soapnuts in the sock. Im sure that it mainly depends on a good wash programme as I think my soapnuts had "worn out" but the washing was still clean.This has just proven to me that most of what we put in the machine in the way of detergents is completely unecessary.

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

I hunted out my last water bill then rang the water company (United Utilities) to see just how soft/hard our water was. On the water scale of 0-9, here in Cumbria we are 0.02 i.e. super soft. I dug out the manual which came with the machine and decided to only use 1 tablet instead of 2 of Fairy and I have to say, clothes are just as fresh and clean as before. Also, me, my kids (5 and 3 yrs) have all lost our "pimply" allergic bellies which we used to scratch constantly, especially in the evening for some strange reason!

Also, when I was reading the manual I discovered a "quick" button. My £1.50 daily spend on my electric meter has been reduced to £1 per day too, simply by reducing my studiply extortionate 60 degree wash at 2hr 20 min to 1hr 10 mins. Well chuffed!

angelatgraceland

Mine has a quickwash also which takes 30 mins at 30 deg. This is the one I use on blowy days as it has a slower spin. On calmer days I use the 40 deg 60 min wash with a fast spin.

DonnaP

Hi

Does anyone use Aldi's own brand? If so, is it any good?

Donna

iceicebaby

I use lidls maxitrat tablets, but nly use 1 instead of the recomended 2 and they are excellent

WifeofDJFLP

I use a desertspoon of shops own bio powder and these-

http://www.inasoapnutshell.com/

My washing (2 adults one teen one inbetween and one toddler) always comes out clean, for whites I add some soda crystals or a squirt of stardrops.

The soapnuts save me a fortune and they go on the compost heap when they're finished. :T

WifeofDJFLP

Midas

Call me a cynic, but I am sure that washing powder manufacturers recommend that you use much more of their product than is really necessary. Now why would they do that I wonder :rolleyes:

I think you can easily half the recommended dosage with no discernible effect.

lemontart

I use bold tablets but find one does the job fine so that 1/2s the cost of the wash for me straight away.

Liz
x

dianadors

Since frequenting this site, I use 1 tablet, quick wash(30 mins), 30 degrees and fast spin. And I have not noticed any difference in my washing.