Value laundry powder. 13 January at 8:33AM in Food shopping & groceries 29 replies 5.5K views

pickledonionspaceraider

I use the cheapest value brand liquid I can get - always wash well and i do 30degree washes

Katiehound

The other tip I saw somewhere (maybe on here???) was to deal with the stains/ dirty marks  with neat wash/ spray stain remover/ neat Fairy/ stain wash bar - whatever- and then wash at 30 degrees rather than washing the whole lot at 50/60 degrees. Might want to experiment

I soak my whites/ dishcloths in a bucket of boiling water with similar to napisan. Often then wash with the rest of load at 30 degrees

nachtvlinders

I started noticing Lidl Non- Bio powder wasn't effective at 30C for cleaning towels. They smelt fusty in an unpleasant kind of way. Had to change to Lidl Bio and started washing at 40C. I originally wanted to save on heating costs by switching from 40C to 30C washes. 

Caroby

I use Tesco non-bio washing liquid and their fabric conditioner, no problems with a 30c wash but I do pour a dash of diluted Zoflora disinfectant in the first rinse before adding the conditioner in the second rinse. Also I use a Vanish bar on anything that might need help to shift, just before wash or earlier.

pumpkin89

nachtvlinders said:

I started noticing Lidl Non- Bio powder wasn't effective at 30C for cleaning towels. They smelt fusty in an unpleasant kind of way. Had to change to Lidl Bio and started washing at 40C. I originally wanted to save on heating costs by switching from 40C to 30C washes. 

With energy costs the way they are, my gut feeling is it would be cheaper overall to buy a more expensive detergent that gives you good results at 30C, rather than buying a cheaper detergent that requires you to wash at 40C.

Has anyone clever actually done the calculation?

YoungBlueEyes

I bet somebody on the Energy board will have. They’re all kinds of clever over there 🙂

givememoney

My friend has used Sains value stuff for years (and she’s picky about stuff). 

Same here for some reason it is hard to come by at the moment. It washes perfectly well IMO.

TheBanker

I've tried downshifting but found the cheaper products weren't as good at dealing with dirt.

However most of my clothes aren't really dirty - I work in an office, not in the fields! So I have two boxes on the go now, a cheapo box (no specific brand, I buy whatever's cheapest) that I use for most of my washes, and a box of Persil that I use for sweaty sports clothes and anything that's got visible marks or dirt.

Due to allergies, my mum will only ever use Ariel. Other brands brought a household member out in a rash so she doesn't want to risk this happening again and knows Ariel is safe. When I stayed at her house over Christmas and washed some of my clothes, I thought they smelled nicer than when I use my cheaper powders. 

Longwalker

For years Ive stuck with Persil bio, other powders made me itch and often sore in more intimate areas, but since the price increases its been hard to get at a decent price so I bit the bullet and gave lidl's Formil bio a try, and Im pleasantly surprised , not allergic, the smell isnt over powering and clothes come out clean

However I dont wash @ 30 and I wont wash @30

I do however fill the machine, never half loads, even if something sits in the laundry basket a month or more waiting to be washed so be it.

Novice_investor101

Caroby said:

I use Tesco non-bio washing liquid and their fabric conditioner, no problems with a 30c wash but I do pour a dash of diluted Zoflora disinfectant in the first rinse before adding the conditioner in the second rinse. Also I use a Vanish bar on anything that might need help to shift, just before wash or earlier.

I switched to this & it seems good enough, the smell isn’t too strong or ‘floral’, I hate the strong smelling scented ones. Only issue I’ve had is that i doesn’t seems to rinse out of clothes fully. My machine is a 1400 spin & I see suds coming out in the spin cycle even after an extra rinse. I’m trying reducing the dosage & using an old Ariel dosing cup in the drum to see if that solves the problem.