Washing products

JEN22

Whats best for your washing machine. Powder, tablets or liquid

NineDeuce

Someone is bored......

Ectophile

In my machine, powder and liquid both work fine. I always use less than the recommended amount - about 2/3 of what the packet says.

I avoid the gel capsule things, as they don't always dissolve properly, leaving blue snot all over the clothes.

Callie22

I was told by a washing machine repair man that powder is best for machines, and that you should put the powder on top of the clothes in the drum rather than in the drawer. He also said that most 'problems' (such as poor rinsing, clothes not feeling clean or specks of powder left on the clothes after the wash) are usually caused by either overloading the machine, or using too much powder, or both of those. He said that you should use less powder than the suggested dose and make sure that you can comfortably do a 'thumbs up' on top of the washing in the drum. That's what I do and I have no problems at all

JEN22

Thanks I thought Power was always the best for the machine

DaftyDuck

JEN22 wrote: »

Thanks I thought Power was always the best for the machine

I find power useful too.... Stains don't move without it. In fact, nothing does!

GwylimT

Powder here, not much though, we use around a shot glass of powder in a 9kg capacity machine that we tend to pretty much fill.

kinger101

I use gas.

Antispam

We use powder. Dont forget to make sure you clean your washing machine out some like mine have a clean cycle or use on hotest wash. I knew this before but a washing machine repairman also told me as low temp in washing machine can and do clog the pipes

Ebe_Scrooge

JEN22 wrote: »

Thanks I thought Power was always the best for the machine

Well, I find power is good for getting the clothes clean. Nuclear power, preferably, in the form of an H-bomb - there are certainly no stains left. Not many clothes, admittedly, not much of a washing machine either - but hey, you can't win everything.

OK, back to the real question - in my opinion, no difference at all. What causes problems is the trend for very low temperature washing. Modern detergents have come a long way, and clean very well at low temperatures. The downside is a build-up of gunk in various parts of the washing machine. Simple solution - every couple of weeks, remove the "powder drawer" ( sorry, no idea what the technical term is ), give it a good scrub in the sink with hot water and an old toothbrush. Whilst it's out, give the "hole it fits in" a clean with your trusty old toothbrush, including the water jets and the water channels as far as you can. Once every few months, give the machine a run on the hottest cycle it's got, empty. I put a little bit of bleach in the soap drawer, other people favour good old-fashioned soda crystals - I think either is fine. Remove and clean the filter once or twice a year, job's a good-un. Our machine is now something like 15 years old, it's used a lot ( probably something like 6-8 loads a week on average ) and it's still going strong.

thescouselander

Powder every time. The Mrs had taken to using liquid in our machine and it gunged the machine up badly causing a horrible smell. It took ages to sort out but now we're using powder the problem has gone away.