Wash powder or gel or tablets?

[Dualipa]

Which do you use and which do you think is best?

I've always used powder but the liquid is on offer so wondering if it's worth trying.

Smol pods.

powder for most things
one for colours for, erm, coloured stuff. and a 'normal' one for lights.
shampoo for silk or wool.
a colour liquid for black jeans.

Powder. Works well. Last forever. Not an overpowering scent

'Green ' box powder for whites and v light
''purple' box powder for coloured
I too use half to one vanish scoop and everything is clean and fresh.
I usually put on 30 deg but it does vary a bit.
I also have delicates liquid for wool or silk.
No conditioner and I line or dry on airers.
I turn the spin power down too eg to 600 to stop clothes getting bashed to death.

I switched to powder as I do more short washes and found the tablets or gel left permanent grease marks on our clothes. Swapped to powder and I don’t have that problem anymore and it stops the drawer getting Gunky.

There was a really useful AMA a few years ago on detergent from a chemist in the field

Powders have bleach so better for whites. Liquids are better for colours.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3308661-I-developed-laundry-detergents-AMA

I like that I can dose powder according to load size and dirtyness.
live in a very soft water area and tabs or gel things are too much and we would end up with a foam party.
gel doesn't get stuff as clean, especially the rugby kits.

Powder just because it's cheaper and I'm not fussy about different scents/brands etc as long as my clothes are clean.

Used to use pods and then liquid but not noticed a difference between any of them.

Also recommend Smol pods. Get them delivered. No gunky bits, smell lovely, good value and less plastic used.

Powder it cheaper and it stops the washing machine smelling.

I don't like powder I find it messy so I use gel or pods

Smol. Cleans really well. No gunk. Little plastic. No mess on the floor.

Definitely gel or liquid. Told by plumber and washing machine bloke that powder clogs machine and will completely bugger it.

Told by plumber and washing machine bloke that powder clogs machine and will completely bugger it.

weird, I was told the same about liquids/gels.

Powder for whites.
Liquid for coloureds.
Human shampoo, usually Johnson’s Baby, for wool.
Fabric conditioner on only a few items in an extra rinse/spin cycle. A pet hate is conditioner on tea towels.

@amusedbush

I use liquid and it does the job. I don’t like the gel capsules because I wash clothes on a low heat and the plastic coating doesn’t melt, resulting in a snotty-looking blob sticking to the clothes 🤢

Liquid and low temperature washes often result in washing machine outlet pipes full of gunk and a smelly washing machine. Do you do regular service washes at high temperatures to prevent this?

I use powder for the same reason dementedpixie does. The bleach in the powder keeps my washer fresh smelling and mould free.

Powder - persil non bio.
Woollite for hand wash items.

Once a month I throw a bag of soda crystals in the empty machine and run it on a boil wash. We have a Samsung ecobubble and it's still going strong after 6 years.

Liquid. We have dodgy shared drains and every time they've needed attention there been a big blockage of reformed washing powder

I always use liquid as powder makes a mess of the dispenser tray. I used to use the gel capsules but I like to adjust the amount, eg if there's only one thing in there.

I never use the dispenser tray.
the powder goes into the drum chez blue.

Powder straight on to clothes. Never use the draw

We always used aldis non bio liquid but when there was a shortage DH came back with their liqui tabs. A zillion times more expensive but actually. I much prefer them.

I’ve just gone back to powder from eco liquid to avoid plastic bottles and we’re put it straight into the drum rather than the dispenser.
I worked for one of the two huge companies that make detergent for a while, just as liquids came in. I remember them being excited about being able to sell a product with fewer active ingredients (no bleach) for a premium. It’s also cheaper to make because drying the powder is expensive. They liked being able to sell the water they’d usually have to pay to get rid of. They were positively salivating at the idea of making people use too much powder by producing it in tablets so they couldn’t cut down from the overdosing recommended on the box!

I use bio powder, 90% of the time. I like being able to decide for myself how much I put in.

I've tried a few liquids and they never quite cut it. Except the one that's specifically for sportswear, that works very well.

We use Smol (non bio) without softener 75% of the time, and Fairy powder with Fairy softener 25% of the time. I feel like using the powder keeps the drawer and machine cleaner.

Washes are at 30' for clothes and 40' for a bedding and towels (unless they require hotter or colder for some reason).

We then use Dettol washing machine cleaner on a hot wash irregularly.

I'd like to use a bio washing powder occasionally (for the bleaching agent) but I'm allergic.