Washing powder or liquid ?

[Easilyanxious]

I’ve been told different things about what’s better for your washing machine , powder or liquid
I normally just buy whatever is on offer but does anyone know if it actually makes any difference to the machine what you use

I find powder works best for me, liquids seem to cause more gunge and mould in my experience.

I buy powder as it's packaged in card instead of plastic.

I also prefer powder. I got marks on clothes when using liquid. Powder keeps the drum cleaner as it contains bleaches

Never thought if the cardboard issue versus plastic , that’s a good point .

I think it depends on how hard your water is. I have soft water. I use both; powder for everything except dark clothing , woollens and sports clothes, where I use liquids, just to avoid any white marks. Always non bio in my case.
Machine engineer told me liquids are more likely to leave slimy deposits , but whatever you use, ensure you run the machine on a hot wash 60 or above, at least once a week; and don’t overdose .

There was once a poster on here who worked in developing laundry detergents and she said that bio powders were the best, both at stain removal and keeping the machine clean. They are a lot more economical too and no plastic bottles.

Thanks normally always run a 60 degree towel wash every week and new machine has a drum clean cycle which I think is 95 , so I run that every few weeks with nothing in just to give it a clean .

One of the best "ask me anything" threads I read on here was from someone who works in laundry product development. They said that it's best to use powders for whites and liquid for colours. It's because powder contains bleaching agents so not suitable for colours, but liquid doesn't (by default, because the chemical make-up of liquids makes it unsuitable for supporting bleaching agents in a stable way) so therefore it makes sense to only use it on colours because if you use it on whites it won't help to keep them white.

I really know how to have a good time.

Less plastic packaging is def a plus point which I hadn’t thought about

Powder. It doesn’t leave marks, is packaged in cardboard and doesn’t gunge up the machine so badly.

The powder I got this time says for colours so not sure if maybe not got anything in , ordered the wrong thing on my tesco shop . Along with 6 loads of bread I didn’t need

Powder or Ecoegg.

I use powder. I wonder why liquid was ever invented?

I use the liquid capsules that get thrown in with the wash. I found if I poured the liquid into the little drawer, it would go mouldy! My mums machine leaves streaks if she uses powder, so she also uses the measured capsules.

If I use liquid I tend to use the one you put straight in machine in little ball thing ,as don’t have to clean drawer out . Had to use that for quite a while as well as dh fitted machine so close to architrave I couldn’t actually open the drawer , since having new machine he’s moved it so I can actually use drawer , so now have a choice

you can put powder directly into drawer.
we use mainly powder, except for black jeans for which we use liquid or wool for which we use shampoo

I use ecover powder to help reduce my plastic footprint and it does a good job

I alternate between liquid and powder but only because I can't actually buy what I would ideally use - a powder without optical brighteners (bleach) and fragrance because no-one seems to make one. Non smelly powder contains bleach. Liquids sometimes don't but seem to contain some kind of cement that makes everything stand on end when dry.

I remember the poster who worked in developing detergents too
In short - powders have bleaching agents in, liquids don't so powders have a fungicide. Powders dissolve better than liquids so less residue on clothes and better in tumble dryer. Powder is most costly to produce but cheapest to buy.
My washer got stinky and I could feel slime on outside of drum. Did bicarb/vinegar/90degree wash and made no difference.
Thank spent literally hours trawling internet then found that poster, swapped to powder and smelly washing never returned.

I alternate each wash.

Figure then the machine gets a break. Also like to put the liquid in the drum or use a liquitab as then it flushes the drawer and pipes through a bit.

I never use the drawer btw

DH is in charge of laundry, I stay out of it... 😁

I usually use powder, but sometimes get Method or Ecover liquid if they're on offer.

Definitely powder. I used to use liquid but washing machine repair man said liquid was his best friend as it leads to problems. Liquid leaves behind residue which often smells,

I use about one third of the power recommended with a little bit of washing soda.