Haha!! Love that picture. I hope nobody takes it personally…I sure don’t.
I figured the guys would get a kick out of it if anything ;)
So today is Tuesday. And yesterday was S-L-O-W with a capital “S”. I am grumpy when deals are not there.
Today, curiousity peaks. I love to know how everyone else operates.
The discussion? LAUNDRY DETERGENT.
I need to know if YOU are a laundry detergent snob. You betcha.
I know the last few weeks we’ve had all kinds of deals on detergent, from Wisk to Xtra to ….now Purex it seems like – Purex Sheets and liquid. I plan on getting at least a few of the sheets, only for hubby because I think it’s easier for him to toss in his wash over there in Iraq. Those of you reading today – tell me…..
Are detergents all the same? Or do some of you swear on Tide?
I’ll go first (hee hee) — anyone reading this site for a long period of time knows I make my own and would never ever (and have never) paid for Tide, I’m a little too cheap I guess. I used to buy Purex, and I thought it all worked the same. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, well, she’s a Tide-addict…although she will use whatever is available, she really prefers Tide. My home made kind works well in my HE, I make it because we have very itchy skin if we use fragrance, and well, it’s cheaper to make!
But how about you? Do you think Tide keeps your color better? It fights the stains more?
I have to say tide really does work better my hubby works construction and cement and stains dont come out with other laundry soaps so i love tide . Also i love my whites to be white not tan and tide gets them white
I am so not a laundry detergent snob. If it gets our clothes clean, I am satisfied. I have made my own in the past but had a lot of trouble with it. Could have been the recipe, could have been me. I did try making several times just to see if there was something obvious I was doing wrong.
Currently (and now that I am working outside the home :o( ), I am using Purex. I do make my own all purpose spray cleaner.
I was a Purex user for a long time, until I bought a white knitted shrug to put over a used white shirt…. and saw the difference in whiteness. Then, hubby started to complain of smells (which honestly, only HE smelled on HIS clothes). So I tried Tide, and it seems to be working well for me. The white shirts I bought after can still compare to the shrug.
With my husbands job and my kids clothes I find that if I use Tide I get to save a lot on replacing the clothing. I have had to use other things when times were tough and I definitely notice the difference. I feel like using Tide is like investing a little in my clothing in order to protect the bigger investment of the clothes themselves. (he still has work shirts that he has been wearing for years and his business he comes home covered in grease, dirt, asphalt, metal shavings, you name it!)
I like Tide, but I will use whatever I can get on sale. If I use Tide it can only be the regular one. I tried “Tide Febreeze Sport” and I broke out in Hives and swelled like a ballon, my throat started swelling, it was horrible. Then I had to switch to all free and clear. Right now Im using the Wisk that I got at Target for about a buck. I do think Tide gets clothes cleaner, my mom only uses Tide and her whites stay white-white as me, I use whatever is available, they dont last white like my moms.
All the detergents I’ve tried work the same. I use whatever is on sale. Right now I have an abundance of Purex, Wisk, Tide, and Surf. It does make a difference how you use your machine though. I make sure not to overload my machine or use too much detergent. After a few agaitations, if the clothes are very dirty, I stop the machine and let them soak in the sudsy water. Using vinegar in the rinse cycle will prolong the life of your machine, and no, your clothes will not smell like vinegar. Vinegar is a natural water softener and will get your clothes softer than any fabric softener, without all the heavy chemicals found in fabric softener. It’s a lot cheaper too.
I am allergic to tide- no joke, so purex it is and i only use half of what they recomend. I also add vinager to every load, keeps colors brighter and machine clean. As for whites being whiter or the same,, were lucky if they dont get a stain on them first! :0
So im a purex snob.
Btw- my best friend when she got her new he w/d set and i had to do laundry there for a week- i peeled an he sticker off a bottle at the store and stuck it on my purex bottle, she was so happy to see another company have an he product, a month latter purex he came out. lmao!
I’ve never tried Tide. We’ve always used Wisk or All (when I couldn’t find Wisk). And now that I’m a couponer we have like 10 bottles of Wisk so I guess we’re sticking with that :) It does the job and doesn’t give us problems so it’s good enough.
I use ALL free and clear. (I think that is what it is called, the white bottle). I stocked up a few weeks ago. I am definitely a detergent snob. I have tried other kinds and I get a rash from head to toe, especially with Tide.
I’m so allergic to Tide that I have been to the Er! I have made my own soap for years now! It’s funny though… When my son went off to ASU this year he wanted Tide. I popped for it cause he’s cute and I love him… He came home for break and went back with whatever soap I had scored for free. Now that he is such a poor college kid, he didn’t care. He probably would have taken my homemade but I hadnt a container to send it in at the time.
When I see soap for pennies I buy it, cause I can donate it to someone in need. I’m getting ready to make a trip to see my kid and I’m taking all 4 roommates deodorant, shampoo and body wash along with cleaning supplies. It’s kind of nice to be able to help out the other kids too. None of them have jobs, so that $4 that would have bought their deo can be spent on food! Maybe they’ll make me room mother?! Haha
Wendy oh my! They’re going to LOVE you lady!!! What boy wouldn’t love his mom to bring them stuff?! I hope he appreciates that! :)
I love my homemade type too :) Wouldn’t trade it for the world, and it works great on hubby’s uniforms, gets stains out just great, and doesn’t make me itchy! :)
Used to use tide……however after doing cloth diapers with our girls I am very picky with detergent. My hubby has very sensitive skin and can tell everytime I switch anything with the laundry. Also I don’t like the gunk that ends up going in our sewers. I used to use mountain green- online laundry club from tempe…..ended up getting only 4months in the club and it lasted me 18+ months. Now I got seventh generation. Much cheaper too online. Now I won’t go back to the big store brands.
I actually got hooked on the Method laundry detergent that comes in the pump bottle. It costs a bit more but sometimes goes on sale and you can combine with coupons (yesterday I bought 4 bottles of 25 washes each, on sale at Target for $7.19 and used a $2 coupon on each). It’s the only way I can control how much detergent my husband uses because he will limit the number of pumps he squirts into the machine, but if he has to pour from a bottle will put 2 capfuls. This is really wasteful and problematic for our machine (it’s one of the HE machines that you aren’t supposed to use a lot of detergent in). So all in all it costs a bit more but buys me some peace of mind!
We can only use ALL free and clear since hubby breaks out with anything else. I even tried a different “free & clear” and he broke out in hives. So I’ve never even tried Tide. I once heard that most people put way too much detergent in their washers. Apparently more doesn’t do a better job, just makes it so soap stays in your clothes after they’ve finished washing. I use very little ALL and it does a fine job and lasts a fairly long time (although long for us is relative since we have 4 kids).
I make my own soap, but I have always loved the smell of Gain. I have no allergy issues to any of the name brands and really don’t see a difference in any of them…I’m just cheap and hate to spend the extra money. Now if I could only find the Gain smell and put it in my homemade stuff…I’d be in heaven!
I have always used Purex, cheap and I love the smell. I tried Tide once because everybody said it worked so great, all my clothes ended up with blue stains that never came out, I was pretty upset. I also have made my own, but find that its time consuming and just doesn’t have the nice smell I like. It would be good to see what everyone’s elses recipe is for making their own though, maybe I just didn’t have a very good recipe.
I use Wisk (just stocked up on 18 bottles). It was the only thing I found that didnt cause hives and/or itching for me and my 2 sons. I did find that Tide did the best cleaning and odor removal job though. I have never tried addding vinager to the wash- I think I will try it in my next load of towels.
I LOVE Tide (I miss the lavender/vanilla scent…boohoo). It is kinda spendy tho…so I got me some All this past week when it was on sale – have to say it works pretty well. Kind of skeptical about the Wisk – guess I prefer the free and clear varieties.
I like tide because it works well and it isnt *watered down* like the ones you’re mentioning. There are other brands that are good too, but I cant think of them :P, again a big part of this is that they are not watered down and are also not discounty. I try to use the cheaper ones on less important laundry or intermittently. Hey, they used Tide to scrub radioactive material off people’s haz-mat suits back in the day…seriously.
Really…that is something I did not know! Radioactive Haz-Mat suits? WOW……… yeah, then in that case Tide is pretty strong!!
When I first got married I only used Tide, that’s what my hubby used. Once I started couponing, I began to try other brands depending on what was on sale. I use different detergents for different jobs. I’ll use the Tide I have left for color clothes, I use Dreft for the baby clothes (and once in a while I throw something of mine in there, I LOVE THE SMELL!!!). I use Purex with Lilies smell for sheets and towels…I love the smell!!!! And then anything else such as small rugs or whatever I use the Arm&Hammer with no scent that I got for real cheap during Black Friday.
I have to say, I really enjoy trying different products. It makes laundry more fun :)
Two weeks ago I stocked up on ALL and it smells pretty good too!
What do you guys use for stain removal and also, for those of you who use vinegar in the wash, how much and where do you put it (and I guess what kind do you use). THX!
I buy the bog ol jug at walmart and poor in on top of the clothes, I dont mesure. Mine is used more for a color boost than a softner.
Since couponing, we take what we can get. I want to make my own, but need the essence oil. Other than that, I’ve got all the other supplies. I don’t want to order the oil online cuz i want to smell it first. I like the lavendar smells. Does anyone know a store that you can walk into and buy it, without breaking the bank? :)
I won a bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s laundry last year and I am STILL using it! It’s ultra concentrated so we only use a very tiny amount with each load. We both volunteered at an animal sanctuary on the weekends so our clothes would get really dirty (caked with mud, manure and who knows what) and that works wonders. Our clothes always came out clean, smelled great, etc.
For my husband’s socks I usually wash them in a separate load with some rage and use Smelly Towel Cleaner (also won with the laundry prize pack from last year). It helps get out the super awful smells. I do this maybe once a month, it seems to do the trick.
Diana
I use the plain white vinegar. I usually buy a big Fry’s gallon bottle when it’s on sale. What I do is fill the liquid fabric softener cup in my machine. My machine is a basic, no frills, no bells or whistles Maytag and has the cup at the top of the agitator. I use about the same amount of vinegar as I would use fabric softener. The only time I use store bought fabric softener is when it’s free.
I also don’t use a dryer which seems to help our clothes last longer.
I use All Free and Clean. I can’t wear anything with perfume (gives me a headache) and my mom use to use All or Wisk. So, I guess I am nostalgic snob. But I am stocked up with all the All deals we had. Can you believe I use to think $3 for the 3x was a good price?
I use to be a Tide snob! The combination of tide and downey smelt sooooo good!! But, times have changed and its just so expensive. I switched over to Purex about a year ago and its worked great and its very affordable.