I developed laundry detergents AMA

[LapinR0se]

For many years I was responsible for innovation for one of the biggest laundry brands in the UK.
Any questions you have on stains, wash cycles, laundry products etc you can ask me.

In good weather towels go on the line a little stiffer but certainly not rock hard. I am puzzled.

Just spoken to the laundry man. If you put them on the line the wind bashes them around, you can achieve this by putting them in the tumbler even on cold for a few minutes to break them down.

Thanks for this OP. This is the first AMA that I've actually found interesting and hopeful.

Do you have any thoughts on the favourite Mumsnet habit of putting zoflora in with wash cycles please?

Rock hard towels are excellent for getting rid of keratosis pilaris from the back of arms

I scrubbed my arms with towels and after a few days arms are lovely and smooth, all gone.

Thanks for answering my question re fabric softener and non bio. I've bought a small bottle of sensitive fabric conditioner and my pyjamas are sooo soft. Just waiting to see if I end up itchy overnight but so far so good! You may well have changed my life!!!

For those who don't 'get' hard, stiff, crunchy towels, perhaps you don't live in a hard water area where the water comes out of the tap opaque white and needs cutting with a knife?

OP, please could you shed some light on why my washing feels sticky when I remove it from the machine? This time it was washed in Surf liquid with no conditioner. Machine is new and has been cleaned so no build up.

Is there anything that gets greasy spots out of clothes? I've no idea why, or what is causing them but my son's clothes (particularly his jogging bottoms) are covered in greasy patches that don't wash out. I'm assuming it's something from nursery but I'm not sure what!

Hmm a quick Google seems to suggest it could be the machine causing the greasy spots. It's pretty new and I do the service wash regularly so I'll be fairly pissed off if it is the machine. We've already had to get rid of the matching £500 tumble dryer which is knackered after 2.5years and was always rubbish tbh (Samsung, I'm looking at you!!!)

Thank you for the thread! Very useful.
What washing machine do you have?

I don't live in a hard water area but have rock hard towels.

Not having enough water in your machine or a poor rinse cycle - detergent build up - hard towels, too much detergent maybe, short wash cycle which doesn't rinse as well as a long one.

Run a long hot wash cycle with no laundry or detergent, then try washing on a long cycle with no detergent and see if there is froth in the machine.

OP, this thread has been genuinely useful! DP has bad eczema and often gets blood on bed sheets. It’s been really hard to get them properly clean. Today, powder detergent, scoop of Vanish, in the machine and dried in the sun - not a speck. Thank you!!

@LapinR0se I'm late to the laundry party but have you got any advice on getting black mould out of white cotton please? Just a small amount but I need absolutely zero trace. Thank you! Amazing thread btw!

Do you know what this is?? I live overseas and got it from amazon. I'm obsessed with the scent of it, it makes clothes smell amazing and gets rid of any rank smells on cloth nappies etc. But it's extortionately expensive. Is there anything similar you can recommend that might be cheaper?

Love all the tips so far!

Is there anyway to bring things back to white after they have gone a bit grey?

I wanted to ask about colour catcher sheets too! How do they (allegedly) work? I can only assume if you don't want to comment it is because they're a rip off?

Not RTTWT but have read all of the OP's posts. I can't see it any of the OP's responses - my other question is what on earth causes those multiple little holes in the front of jersey fabric clothing? Is it friction from seatbelts? Or is it moths - in which case why would it only ever seem to affect the belly area? Please, please solve this mystery.

Zips not zipped up can catch on clothes during a washing cycle causing holes, according to a recent thread on housekeeping?

My holes are always waist high. Occur when I forget to wear an apron while cooking & cleaning. So I think (for me) it’s when my tops rub against worktops.

I don't really separate washing as I do about a load per day and I can't wait for certain colours/fabrics to build up as I need to re-wear certain items. Do people who do this have loads of clothes? It's only towels bedding underwear and cloths that I separate.

Is it true that the enzymes in bio detergents are inactivated if you wash at more than 40 degrees?

And does adding anything such as vanish inactivate them?

Do bio detergents have a shelf life?

When do the enzymes get inactivated? Or should we be concerned about them getting into the environment?

Somethinginmyloft
I too would love to know why the OP won't comment on colour catching sheets.
Can we infer from that that they are a con ?
I put one in with dark clothes recently and it did come out almost black.

I too would love to know how to keep non natural white fabric clothes from going grey or returning them from grey to white - though I think that's a lost cause
Great thread LapinROse

The holes in tops.
All I know is that DH gets them and I don’t.
I never wear a belt and DH does.

What I want to know is why washing powder doesn’t seem to work any more?
I don’t seem to be able to get anything clean.

I use this conditioner which says it’s ok for towels.