Feel somewhat shamed and embarassed to be asking this question...but...

[flatmouse]

Having managed reasonably successfully to wash clothes for the last 20+ years, my burning question is this:

What is "Prewash" for?
What does it achieve?
What detergent or other do you put in where when doing said prewash?
When would you use it?
and.... Is it worth it?

tia

Not a joke honestly themoon!! I think the Nut House bit is deliberate, but Nutley is just funny!!

For scent you really do need some essential oils TBH, but I have heard they can eventually mark the drawer... Worth the risk I feel.

Glad to have helped HM

dont tell spidermamma about soap nuts she will make milk out of them

i use it for owt i cant get clean which is an awful lot. actually.

i resolve never to buy white

In that case... am going to send for a sample of nuts myself. I would love to stop spending money on aerial, fairy etc. Bet the washing machine would last longer too, not getting all clogged up with lumps of powder.

Can you still put Calgon in with them? I live in a very hard water area.

I've just bought soapnuts too. Nutley is only about 5 miles from me!

Brill!
I've bought some too.Have been using ecoballs but these sound great.

just come across this thread.i keep a bucket of cold water beside washing machine, all food/poo/etc stained items go in there to wait for next load of washing. keeping them wet stops stains drying in. on dh white polo shirts i soak overnight in vanish oxi, then wash at 40. seems to work most of the time, even using non-bio powder. god, just realised i sound like anthea bloody turner! sorry

I've used several of these so-called 'stain removers' and they don't remove stains from my laundry [harrumph emoticon].

Hanging the washing out when the sun is really hot is much more effective. And more EF too. But it does mean we're all grubby from about now until next July

Biotex is good for removing stains.

hanging clothes out in the sun to dry usually rids them of stains as well. the sun bleaches them white again.

Doesn't washing at 90 degrees destroy the elastic (thinking of white pants and stretchy socks here). Does washing at 90 or even just 60 really get things that much whiter?

I haven't had much luck with soapnuts. Very hit and miss. I like the fact that a "big" bag takes up almost no space in the cupboard (compared to boxes of detergent), and that you can compost them when finished. But otherwise am very unimpressed by cleansing abilities.

I use prewash for dirty nappies.

I think the reason the pe-wash cycle is often attached to the 90 cycle is that some stains will be 'fixed' into the clothes if washed in high temps so the lower temp of the pre-wash cycle will wash them out. This works for blood and some other protein stains. If you don't use the 90 cycle you don't rally need to use the pre-wash one either. (That's what I always thought anyway, I could be wrong!!)

I use a spray on stain remover (don't know if you can get this one in the UK but I find it very effective) called SIL.

I never use the prewash function but if you do, you just put ordinary washing powder in the unit for it as well as in the unit for your ordinary wash, otherwise you're just getting things wet.

I wash everything at 40 including whites but put a small packet of bicarbonate of soda in with the washing powder to stop things going grey.

Think as someone else said you really need to spray and soak those shirts every night.

Yes - I was a pre-wash virgin until a few weeks ago. Nappies started getting a bit wee-stinky and was advised to do a cold pre-wash as a hot wash 'sets' in the stains and smells. This (plus a bit of bicarb) has resulted in gorgeous odourless nappies Yay!