Detergent drawer compartment help

[Justamumof2x]

Hey guys. Need some clarification on how to use the detergent drawer and where everything goes.

so I use liquid detergent, fabric softener, calgon, vanish and occasionally dettol sanitiser.

calgon, detergent and vanish apparently all go in the detergent compartment marked II which is intense considering how small my detergent drawer is. Calgon and detergent are both gels and then vanish is a powder, I’m hesitant to use all 3 in the same compartment because of product build up and won’t it make a paste?

can anyone shed some light maybe I’ve got it wrong 😂

I just chuck everything straight into the drum. The liquid detergent goes in a little measuring cup that I place on top of the load of washing.

Is this for whites?

id put powder (not liquid) in the leftmost compartment, fabric softener in the middle and vanish in the right

I had to look up Calgon and I’m not sure exactly you’re using it for, it seems to be a brand that covers many items

I’ve never put Dettol in a wash

@JackJarvisEsq, dettol make a specific laundry disinfectant designed for stinky/germy stuff, e.g. sportswear, uniforms (care workers etc).

I use water softeners in my laundry too as I live in a hard water area. I use the generic tablets (1/3 the price of calgon and the exact same chemical & strength), I put them directly in the drum. I would do the same with the scoop of powder vanish/stain remover.

I use powder laundry detergent anyway, so in theory all could go in the drawer, but it would overcrowd it and the wash comes out perfectly clean with my method.

FWIW, I pull the drawer out and give it a wash/blast under the tap once a week and it is allowed to air dry properly between washing machine cycles (I leave the drawer open a crack). This really helps to reduce gunky build up and mould.

Thanks, being a desk worker in a soft water area these are items that have passed me by!

Yeah so calgon is for hard water. We have extremely hard water here so calgon is essential. And dettol sanitiser I use occasionally with work clothes etc if you want them sanitised at a colder wash.

Yes I believe I saw one of the fairy gels which you can put a cupful into the drum but mine says to add to the drawer? Hmm but vanish, do you add this straight to the drum?

we don't use softener, so can't comment on that but we just put everything into the drum.
afaik the drawer is for staggering detergent. if you use pre-wash for example.

Left hand section of the drawer is only for programmes with prewash. Vanish can go straight on top of the clothes but is really for stains that otherwise won’t wash out. It is not kind to fabrics or your skin) in regular use.

For hard water you could switch to a propriety washing machine cleaner every 6 weeks or so.

The top cap of eg Fairy liquid is the dosing cap, you place liquid into that and put into washing machine. Keep the cap to reuse.

Also apparently powder is better as liquid ruins the machine (?!)), I still use liquid though.

I also live in a hard water area but have never used anything for it, nor Calgon. Machine gets Dr Beckmann washing machine cleaner every 1-2 months on empty cycle.

Apparently Biotex doesn’t use bleach, it’s a stain remover but now not available in UK. I’ve got friends going to Holland soon and they’re bringing some back, plus those chocolate sprinkles you put on bread called Hagelslag.

Just in case… Please excuse me stating the obvious to most of us. The PP means Fairy (clothes) washing liquid. Just saying in case someone has an unexpected foam party 😀 using washing up liquid.

We have one of these fancy ones that detects how much detergent you need based on the weight of the load, except I found it’s never enough so our clothes never got that clean.

So now I just add extra powder plus vanish straight into the drum with the washing and it does the trick.

Vanish powder goes straight in the drum

Ha! Yes.

I do vanish (only on a whites wash) powder in the right hand section and select the pre wash option on the machine - that soaks them in the vanish for 15 mins before the wash.

then normal Persil powder in the left section and a tiny amount of softener in the middle one