Laundry Advice Please

[whammum]

I'd be very grateful for some laundry advice please ... as i'm a bit stumped!

Basically up until a couple of months ago i managed washing the clothes of my 5 DC and myself with no problems ... using a non-bio liquid like fairy or Arial.

However ..... I was using a dyson contrarotator washing machine (brilliant machine when it wasn't broken down ... which it did alot in the 9 years i had it)

Now i have a Miele machine ... it's ok ... but the clothes don;t come out anywhere near as clean (same temperature wash - same detergents.)

In particular the white school polo shirts and socks which come home filthy ... just arent getting cleaned anywhere near well enough.

I've tried bio liquid (albeit a cheap one) and i've tried adding soda crystals (btw ... wht is with the soda crystals ... the pack is more like 1 giant soda ROCK which i had to beat on my tiled floor repeatedly before i could break it up into small enough chunks to throw into the wash.)

I think i've heard that powder can be more effective than liquid ... does anyone agree with that?

And the stained school tops and socks ... does anyone have any suggestions for the best way to deal with it. Rubbing with a stain stick is just not practical given the huge amt of laundry i get through each day.

lastly .. i've heard a few people rave about DAZ powder ... is it really better than the others for whitesand stain removal.

Any suggestions very gratefully received.

DD's 'white' tops are hanging up drying and look as if they've been dragged through the ditch - can't see how i can send her back to school in them like that!

I have a DD (8) who likes to go down coal mines every day - or you'd think so, looking at her socks.

Whites. Presoak in a very dilute bleach solution, or spray with Vanish. Also with white I use one of those powders (Oxywhite?), and I buy the biggest tub avaialble from Home Bargains or similar. It's cheaper than supermarkets if you use a lot of it, and I do.

Powder always better than liquid, I've found.

What a great advert for a Dyson washing machine - from what I understand its the level of agitation that releases dirt from clothes not the detergent.(The Indians produce fab whites with their method of slapping their clothes against stone)

But I agree with Gay40, powder is better on whites than a liquid cos it generally contains bleech. Liquid is good for coloureds as it doesn't fade the colour as much.

Hope that helps

Ah I love my dyson, my whites are great. For really dirty things i would soak first with some bio powder

I used to love my dyson but it did pack up a lot! Now have a Bosch and have the same problem with whites, just don't get the level of cleanliness I used to.

Thanks for all the great replies.

Yes, the dyson was the best! Anything i ever put in that machine always came out clean ... alas they stopped making them years ago

well, i think i'm going to switch to powder and presoak in bio overnight.

... and don't think i'll bother with the soda 'crystals' again.

on balance - i'd not change my decision to go for a miele machine. after 9 yrs of my dyson breaking down and taking a couple of weeks each time to get fixed - for me reliability trumps everything else .... I just can't have a machine that keeps breaking down with 5dc. Also, Miele were doing a promotion and the machine i bought in March came with a 10 year parts and labour guarantee! (built to last!!)

I have some bio powder lurking abt ... will get straight onto it!