Laundry help!

[Etherealhedgehog]

Wise Mumsnetters, help me solve my laundry problem!

I've been washing at 30/40 with a variety of supermarket own brand bio detergents for years (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi) but now that I have a 12 month old getting grimy in nursery, I'm finding it really doesn't get stuff clean. I'm not talking major stains - those I would soak with Vanish or similar. I mean just the regular dirty grimyness she comes home with doesn't seem to come off. I guess a hotter wash will shrink all her lovely cotton clothes? Is it worth splashing out on a name-brand detergent? Or do I just need to accept that all her clothes will be permanently dirty from now on!? (Oh, I've also been adding a scoop of stain remover recently and that doesn't seem to do the trick either). Any laundry gurus out there who can help?

Have you tried a scoop of soda crystals in the wash?

Cottons should be fine on a hotter wash - it's usually synthetics and wool that sulk if too hot.

Are you overloading the machine?

Put less in the machine, add soda crystals and hang out in the direct sunshine to dry. Even if you don’t have outside space to dry, put the stained items in the window with the sun hitting them.

I think you should try Ariel washing powder. Much better for stains and just general cleaning in general especially with kids clothes!

For stains, I’ve had good success with pre-soak/treating with Sainsbury’s own brand stain remover powder

I’d try another powder in your case, & possibly pre-soak clothes. Hotter temperatures are not what you need here (that’s to kill bacteria)

Also, are you using a short wash cycle - like 30 mins? You might need to use a longer cycle so that the detergents and agitation have time to get going

PS - there was an AMA with someone who develops laundry detergent that was linked recently, it was v educational

Thanks all. No outside space or dryer unfortunately, which means I definitely do overload the machine as it's impossible to keep up otherwise, but will try to stop that. We haven't been switching the heated airer on since DD became mobile but probably time to start doing that and keeping the bedroom door closed / let her figure out not to touch, and hopefully that speeds up the process a bit so I can put on smaller loads! I'm gonna try soda crystals and possibly a hotter wash and if that doesn't do the trick, probably splash out on some Ariel! (Already using Sainsbury's stain remover but I really don't have time to pre-soak everything, so I use that for the occasional really bad stains only)

No overloading the machine the clothes need to move around. I find 30 doesn’t clean well enough I always do a full length 40 wash. You could try an extra spin once it’s finished to help drying time.

I have posted this before but a few ways to reduce laundry:

• use a top sheet under duvet (ie a flat, not fitted sheet). For adults beds: saves washing the duvet cover often
• adults: wear vests/undershirts (I like Uniqlo) -which saves lots of washing as tops can have a couple of wears
• adults can rotate a couple of towels to save doing towel washes so often

I don’t have many suggestions for reducing kids laundry unfortunately!

Yesterday I set up a fan next to my airer & it was amazingly effective at getting clothes dry, 12 hours of a fan costs 10p (and I needed a lot less than that) so it’s cheaper than the tumble drier & will hell you get clothes drier quicker

@DespairingHomeowner thanks - I suspect you'd be horrified by how infrequently we change sheets and towels , so that's not much of an issue (I live for the day we can move, get a washer-dryer, and just wash and dry the sheets and towels as much as we want!). The fan is a good idea - we don't really have space to put our fans away after the summer anyway, so I might as well repurpose them to make laundry easier!

Do you frequently clean your washing machine? Once a month I put mine on the hottest and longest wash (empty) this cleans the door, drum, pipes etc. I find it also helps to keep our clothes cleaner, removes the grime etc. I use non bio as we have sensitive skin.

I swear by Fairy for best cleaning power and smell of your whole freaking life.

I buy it in XXL boxes from Amazon and when a new box arrives I'm always so excited!

I second the need to do drum cleans. And don't overload. 7kg drum isn't a "dare" set by the washing machine manufacturer.

Also, have you tried just increasing the amount of detergent you add? More is more.