Best washing powder / fabric conditioner??

[blossombottom]

I am aware of how dull this is but I can't seem to avoid making all my children's clothes all stiff and 'crispy' when I wash them, unless I throw in huge glugs of fabric conditioner with each wash.

Am I missing something, or is conditioner the only way to keep everything soft?

How do you dry them?

You could try an extra rinse, sometimes a build up of detergent can make clothes stiff. Try putting a wash on without any detergent and see if you get lots of suds in the machine, that would indicate that the clothes are not being fully rinsed.

For softness from JUST a detergent, NOTHING beats Fairy - hands down. I prefer the powder version. I use quite a few different detergents for different washes (almost every brand ).

I find if I use Fairy detergent with Fairy softener, you can make clothes soft to the point of "limp".

Only downside is, it's a Non Bio, so there are better detergents for stain removal (but it does a good job all the same).

Check you're not using too much detergent; with the correct temperature you can reduce the amount by at least 20%.
Use Fairy as e1y1 suggests or Persil non-bio.
Don't use the 2-in-1 detergents.
If you need bio use Persil or Aerial or pre-soak in Fairy/use Astonish.

This is all very useful - thank you! I am haphazard with measurements and rarely use Fairy so shall give that a whirl. Also need to check whether the machine is rinsing properly...

Everything hangs in the utility room to dry and I wonder whether that's not helping with the crustiness. Any other tips, wise ones?

They will go crusty near direct heat on a radiator. I occasionally lob random socks on and they get very crispy.

You can use less detergent than you think. I use Ariel liquid bio. A full (as in just the bit that fits over the cap, for a full load, then much less for small loads. I do use fabric conditioner now but again much less. Maybe three quarters of a cap for full load and just a dash for small loads. I think I had a washing machine man once tell me that everyone uses far too much detergent.

Bottle of Ariel lasts for ages. Am trying Method liquid now as well.

I use a full cap off softner with every wash but i dont put it in the middlecompartment i add in same time as powder other wize its to overpowering but my washings always soft

I use white vinegar as fabric softener. Its amazing (& your clothes don't smell vinegary!)