Best laundry detergent?

[DumbleDork]

Which is the best to use? Powder, gel, liquid or capsules? And branded such as Ariel, persil etc or stores own brand. I've always used biological detergent and don't have any issues with this.

I live in a hard water area and have an 8kg machine.

Currently use ariel (either liquid or gel usually) and have no complaints but wondered if there were better options out there.

I usually do 4 dark loads a week, 1 light load and 1 white load. Stains haven't been an issue but I've got vanish gold available that I chuck in it a wash needs it.

Thanks

---

This thread is a little old now so some of the suggestions may be out of date, but if you’ve landed here looking for laundry detergent recommendations, we’ve recently updated our best laundry detergent page with lots of great options, as tried and tested by Mumsnet users. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

bio powder
always

I always use biological anyway.

But there are so many brands available as well as types of detergent. I've always used Ariel but its expensive and wondered if any of the alternatives were as good

Ariel Liquid for everything but whites. The liquid tablet things are also good but more expensive. Daz for whites. Never ever non bio. It's not as good.

Bio powder is supposed to be the best, in terms of cleaning your clothes and keeping the machine clean and free from gunk. It works out cheaper than capsules and there are no plastic bottles to dispose of.

Any powder in a box. No plastic container.

Bio powder. Only buy when it's on offer as I begrudge paying full price. Currently have a surf one but also use persil, ariel, daz, etc Have used own make stuff too but if branded is on offer will buy that instead

I use Lidl's and get my nappies clean and smelling fresh if that helps :)

Powder is better. Liquid and gel can make machine slimy. My sister had loads of disgusting goo oozing out at I've point and it was supposedly a build up.

Bio is better at cleaning but can irritate skin.

Bio powder, usually Daz or Ariel depending on what's on offer. Persil bio is too highly fragranced. Sometimes Method liquid which smells lovely but I'm not keen on using liquids all the time.

Also use Halo sports wash and a wool wash as appropriate.

Always used bio as it was the only thing to have a half decent crack at engine oil on overalls.
Currently enjoying Surf Tropical as I love the smell and it's often on offer. Also I can get a giant bottle of the liquid or a huge box from local pound stretcher shop at a really good price.

Daz is also good but currently not on offer.

Looks like I'll stick to my Ariel then. I'll buy the colour liquid for my darks and then buy some Ariel powder for my whites / lights

Powder is much better for your machine.

I use Daz as it's £8 for a box I can barely lift and actually gets the grease out of my boy's clothes that he's wiped his foody hands all over. I only use liquid detergent for delicates.

I use a mix of Bold ( not lavender) , Ariel and fairy non bio . At the moment I have Ariel powder , bold liquid ( was a good offer at Costco) , fairy non bio liquid and Ariel liquitab things . I also put dettol laundry cleanser and soda crystals in every wash . I have the Fairy mainly for the dog as his winter coats have to be washed in non bio .

I love the bold lavender

Ariel powder for everything here. I add dettol laundry liquid in the softener drawer with stuff that gets washed on a lower temperature.

I use Waitrose or Tesco own brand .

Boxes of Non Bio/Bio/Colour

Non Bio for light colours /light soil
Bio for whites
Colour for colour/black washing

Eco Egg for delicates

Astonish stain powder if needed

I have a couple of liquids - non bio and delicates for fragile delicates

Oasis conditioner and M&S Palm&Ginger ( I wanted something cocout scented , it is lovely )

I am far more concerned that my products are not tested on animals than the container they come in TBH

Ariel powder, but I stock up when it is on offer at £10 for a large box. Our water here in Wales is pretty soft so I can use less powder and get more washes out of the box.

BioD (eco powder), with a brilliantly, does not aggravate DH’s skin, made in UK, cardboard packaging, low impact ingredients.

This month’s edition of Which has a test of biological liquid. The Aldi (Almat) and Ariel ones come out top. The Lidl non bio powder is great too. I switched to powder and my machine is no longer whiffy.