BEST DETERGENT

[NAB3]

I have the muckiest children ever born and have started washing on 30 degrees. I really don't want to have to faff about checking every item of clothes and pre-treating them, so can someone recommend a detergent that cleans properly the first time? TIA.

[lljkk]

We're having fantastic success with the Bio they sell in Lidl (also washing at 30, hard water).

[NAB3]

Don't have a Lidl easy to get too but hard water is a given around here. Thanks for the advice.

[primigravida]

I love ecover's detergents. They're concentrated so you use less than with other brands (which makes up for the initial extra outlay) and they work really well at thirty degrees first time even for really mucky stuff.

[primigravida]

Oh and they work well in hard water and can be found at every supermarket I've been to (Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's) or can be bought in huge bottles (5 or 10 litres) sometimes from health food/organic shops or online. They're not paying me, honestly.

[NAB3]

I haven't bought the ecover detergent v often as i felt it would be too expensive for the amount of washing I do. May be able to give it a go if I could get a proper measuring device for using the right amount of detergent.

[traceukw1]

I changed to Ariel Bio and Ariel colour over 3 years ago and have never looked back i follow the dosage instructions on the bottom of the box and my whites come out white, my colours havent faded and no more stained clothes.

I would stay away from liquid detergents though as they can do damage to your machine.

[NAB3]

I religiously buy non biological but tbh I am not sure why!! Now the kids are a bit bigger (2,4 and 6) would bio be okay and do the job?

[NannyL]

NAB 3 ... im sure bio would be ok (so long as they are not prone to eczma etc)

the way to find out is to buy some bio and do a test. If anyone reacts be prepared to swap clothes and re wash them a couple of times in non bio, and then go back!

My 1st baby charge had his clothes washed in bio from about 5 months and he was fine, and didnt react at all

[Beenleigh]

I used ecover for years and now I don;t use it at all! In the short term it may be fine, but in the long run, well, I've had to bin loads of DD1s clothes because they're no good anymore when I was hoping to use them for DD2.
I am planning on alternating laundry detergent, using fairy non bio (which I use now and like) one week and ecover the next week.
Have to say that fairy non bio doesn't shift everything, and I wash at 40 degrees.

[adorabelle]

Have very sensitive skin myself which dd seems to also suffer from.

To get bad stains out i'll give it a good
spray with Vanish,or soak in the Oxy action stuff and then make sure I put it on a short pre-wash before I put it on a normal 30 degree wash.

A faff i know but I was also throwing out dd's best clothes due to stains I don't have to do that now

[hippipotami]

traceukw1 - how do liquid detergents damage your machine? I swapped to liquid detergents as I found white powdery streaks on all my laundry with powder detergents. Have just (well, few months ago) had to buy yet another washing machine and want this one to last.... so please spill!

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

I used liquid detergents to help keep my old washing machine alive longer - it was on it's last legs and wasn't taking the powder down properly - the liquid went down ok and the clothes came out clean.

I'm now back on Persil Non-Bio though (simply because the HUUUUUUUUUUUGE boxes you can buy worked out cheaper per wash than most of the others )

[WendyWeber]

Ariel non-bio has vanished

Which magazine did powder recently and Persil non-bio was best; but using tablets I find Ariel is better. DS1 has sensitive skin so I avoid bio, have used Surcare in the past but it doesn't get marks out.

[adorabelle]

Would only use a liquid in my washer/dryer,
had a (v.v.v) good recomendation that using
a powder detergent in your machine wouldn't do it many favours.

I always use a non-bio liquid, if the stains are bad then i'll use an oxy action to lift lit, or soak it in Daz or something
equally as tough

[traceukw1]

This is why liquids can be bad

www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=43

and you may also find this useful as well

www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=185

HTHs

[southeastastra]

i've spent hours unblocking the waste pipe from the kitchen that was clogged with powder so switched to liquid. seems both are pretty annoying.

[Madwelshwoman]

Personally I like Tesco Naturals liquid detergent, much cheaper than Ecover and works better I find. I tend to wash mostly in 30 deg. Anything with stains gets a blast of the same brand stain remover and whites get bio powder instead. Hate the smell of some washing powders, way to chemically for my liking