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Original poster

Can't believe I'm asking this - such a boring question! But do you think expensive washing powder is worth it?

80 replies

WideWebWitch · 13/02/2004 15:31

sorry, I know it's boring but I'm very tight about certain things and am interesting in your views. I don't mind buying organic meat and decent brand names sometimes if I think they're worth it but I usually buy own brand cheapie washing powder as I resent the cost of the others. However, I'm not convinced it always gets things as clean as a brand name would. So, is expensive washing powder/tablets/liquid worth it? Does it really make a difference? And have you proved it? I won't be surprised or offended if no-one answers this!

OP posts:
zebra · 14/02/2004 21:57

I found Ecover as good as any of the others, too.

hercules · 14/02/2004 22:07

slightly off thread but how do you get soft towels without using a drier??? Mine are always stiff (if only).

zebra · 14/02/2004 22:13

Vinegar instead of fabric conditioner in the wash is supposed to work. Worth a try? I found pre-wash soaking in (get this) Coca-Cola was even more effective. Coca-Cola also gets rid of the hard-water deposits.

hercules · 14/02/2004 22:20

Really Zebra? DH will think me so strange puting my diet coke in the washing machine
:0

zebra · 14/02/2004 22:30

Coke is good for getting the toilet "clean" (meaning, clearing those calcium deposits), too.

Lisa78 · 14/02/2004 22:32

www, I hung back from reading this thread as long as I could but have given in - its fab, I too need to get out more

Hercules, I'm ashamed to admit this but for soft towels, iron them when they are ever so slightly damp - and if you EVER tell anyone I have ironed my towels, I shall, I shall, I shall, well, I shall do something nasty

hercules · 14/02/2004 22:34

A good idea I'm sure but that would require more effort than pouring a can of coke into my machine :0
BTW very brave of you to admit this

SHIREENSMOM · 15/02/2004 13:19

ive tried the cheap ones but the expewnsive ones are better but your right about the cheap ones bein the same as expensive ones they just smell better

JennH · 15/02/2004 15:38

We use ASDAs own brand, and it works ok.
I am allergic to Persil and Ariel has made me itchy in the past, but ASDA stuff is fine.
I use non-bio for my whites and the baby stuff, and bio for colours.

carla · 15/02/2004 16:08

Reading this thread has left me biting my nails and wondering if DH's complaints about our BC bill has some substance. I've never even tried shops' own brand stuff, and always put a super whitener (for whites only, of course) and stain remover sachet in every wash. Then three bounces' in the tumble dryer, tumble dry again in the morning to remove the creases (can't be ar**ed to put away in evening), then another 6 bounce sheets in between their folded up uniform in the morning, to make them smell nice (although I do recycle those ones). Am seriously thinking now that he may have a point

zebra · 15/02/2004 16:45

If we put the wet towels straight on the radiators they get dry immediately, don't go smelly (mildewy), and hardly ever need washing. Result: we have very soft towels that take years & years to wear out.

Am I going to get derided for never washing my towels, now!?

carla · 15/02/2004 17:14

We do that too, zebra, and they take years and years before they need a wash!

Original poster
WideWebWitch · 15/02/2004 19:24

Well, I could easily do a test on this actually since I currently have on my windowsill Asda own bio, Asda own non bio and Persil Colour tablets. So if I got 3 white baby grows and washed each one in a different powder I really would be able to tell if there was any difference wouldn't I? But I'm not sure if I'm sad enough I have wondered about how to keep our towels soft too, but only for a second! Zebra, do you really not wash them? Isn't that horrible? Don't they smell?

OP posts:
Finbar · 15/02/2004 20:00

Yes my best mate was something big at Unilver and HER advice was - use liquid detergent for coloured washes and powder for whites - she did give me a full explananiton of why , but I can't recall the details.
HTH

polly28 · 16/02/2004 01:12

I find the smell of all these fabric conditioners etc. really overpowering.I think if you use them regularly you must become immune to the strong smell which makes you perfume your wash even more .

my sil/bil neice and nephew seriously smell like a big bottle of comfort,it's quite overpowering!

GeorginaA · 16/02/2004 08:13

I've found that half the problem with fabric conditioner strong smelling clothes is if you forget to take the wash out promptly after the load is finished. So easy to do (especially if you do timed loads at night and then go out early in the morning!) - I try and get in the habit of washing the clothes again now if I've left it in too long (horribly unecologically friendly - but the smell makes me feel sick - I am doing my best to train myself to remove the clothes as soon as the buzzer goes).

fio2 · 16/02/2004 08:28

we use asda non-bio or other shop home brand non-bio(we all have bad skin) and the sensitive fabric conditioner occassionally. I find it the same as persil non-bio and i cant stand ariel it makes me itch itch itch

Blu · 16/02/2004 09:29

I use Sainsbury's claer stuff in a bottle, can't remember what it's called ('Protect and Perform'? No, that sounds like a condom advert...) it is more expensive per wash BUT it is the only stuff on the market which has neither enzymes nor optical brighteners.

zebra · 16/02/2004 09:39

Yes WWW, we really hardly ever do wash the towels. How is a towel supposed to get dirty if you only use it to dry yourself off after you have a bath (which supposedly should have left you clean, too?). The only thing that makes it smell is leaving it hanging wet when germs then start to breed in it (mildew?). As long as you get the towel dry quickly, then it doesn't go smelly.

hmb · 16/02/2004 09:55

The smell tends to be caused by bacteria, mould is a fungus. Mouldy stuff smells as well.

I'm not anal about washing stuff, but you also have to remember that every time you dry yourself off you are removing lots of skin! You shed skin all day....most of house dust is skin.

Are your towels nice and soft because you have nice soft skin?

zebra · 16/02/2004 10:01

That would be it, HMB!
All I know is we wash things when they smell, and they don't smell for ages as long as we dry them quickly as a matter of routine. I have an over-sensitive sense of smell, & I can smell a smelly towel a mile off!
I find most people's bathrooms horribly rank smelling, btw, unless it's aired out thoroughly daily.

hmb · 16/02/2004 10:06

I'm a fresh ait fiend as well. And I love the smell of bleach! So Prehaps I am anal after all!

marialuisa · 16/02/2004 11:55

Zebra, DH swera by your towel theory too, but I wash them all because I find they go all hard and crispy otherwise, but maybe that is because they are left on the radiator for 12 hours at a time.

I use Sainsbury's "perform and protect" for coloured clothes. Works pretty well despite never washing above 40 and usually washing at 30.
Can't tell the difference between that and ariel.

fio2 · 16/02/2004 12:03

perform and protect is really good, I wash at low temp too

suedonim · 16/02/2004 12:32

Has anyone used that fabric conditoner that supposedly gets the washing dried faster? What's all that about??

My mum sometimes used to hang towels out to dry without washing them but it isn't something I do. Although our towels all dry out straight away (we have the heating on 24/7) they still go fousty after three or four days. I love clean towels, that fresh smell.