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HE Front Load washers and detergent

16 years ago

Just bought a new HE Front Load washer and have question about the new HE laundry detergents. Seems these are to be used because they are low-sudsing. I make my own laundry detergent from Fels-Naptha soap, Borax, and Arm & Hammer Washing Powder and have used this for many years. There is NO suds with this homemade detergent. Has anyone else used this homemade detergent in their HE front load washer? Do you think it would be ok to use because the HE detergents seem to be very expensive. thanks

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Comments (5)

tinatark
16 years ago
You need to check your manufacturer warranty to see if it will be voided if you don't use the correct detergent.
looser
16 years ago
HE detergents are not more expensive than regular detergents. There are just not many cheap brands of it available yet. The sales of FL washers realy picks up and I am convinced that there will be store brand HE detergnts out there soon.

Have you ever looked at the Sears HE detergent that comes in a big box or bucket? I bought the bucket for the reglar price of $25 and it is labeled 275 loads. I am just using half a scoop for a full load of laundry and just slightly more for seriously dirty loads. The bucket will last well over 500 loads that way which takes the cost down to 5 cents per load. I don't think that this detergnt is too expensive and it cleans and rinses well.
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Your best bet is to pick the models that interest you an look up the specs on them. You'll need to do some math. Find out how many gallons it takes, factor in whether you do extra rinses (some FL users use up to 5 rinses or more) and that will certainly impact the water use and not be included in the energy site estimates. Once you've figured out the number of gallons you'll use per load multiply that by your cost per gallon of water. Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos are all the same basic design. There's people with Oasis and Cabrio who have not had any problems and there's people with Bravos who have had trouble. Every machine has it's problems. Even the "mighty" Miele has a number of people who have reported problems here. Keep in mind many times pilot error is a big factor in troubles. HE toploads are more sensitive to loading it seems than other types. Once you get used to it you shouldn't have the troubles. However if you go from a conventional washer to a HE machine, FL or TL there's a learning curve. Some people don't want to learn the "new" system. There's also other HE toploaders besides the Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos models. GE Harmony gets good reviews from most users. Of course, there's again, always going to be someone unhappy.
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sandyc2008
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Loser. I just bought the washer/dryer yesterday and am thinking about what detergent to use. I will check out the Sears HE. Seems like a very good price. I see some people are mentioning something called Charlie's Soap - I might check that out also. Thanks again
regus_patoff
16 years ago
I bought the Sears HE Powder Detergent w/OxiClean.
I haven't used it yet, still waiting to use up all the Tide HE liquid.
I've read that powder detergent is less sudsy that liquid.
housekeeping
16 years ago
I have used for FLs for many years w/o using HE detergents. I got my first FL a decade before HE stuff was being marketed. In those ancient days many mainstream detergents were labeled low suds. When I couldn't find a proper dosing regiment with the detergent I had been using I just tried a few other low sudsing products until I settled on one that works superbly in my water and my machines with stuff.

Since you already know what works with your water and your stuff, try using a much smaller dosage (start at 1/4 of what you were using in a TL) and see if it cleans satisfactorily. If not, increase dosage until it does or until you get too many suds for good cleaning in your machine. Chances are you'll find the sweet spot.

You can always experiment with other detergents to see if you like them if you're of an enquiring mind. I've tried almost all of them, and many brought or sent to me from overseas. Charlie's doesn't work well for me, but others seem to prefer it. I still like my plain Jane mainstream powder for cleaning, availablity and cost. It's just soap, not an Elixer of Life.

From time to time I have used all three of the components of your mix in my Fl, though only as adjuncts for special circumstances.

Have fun with your new machine. Anybody who cares enough about washing to make their own detergent will probably have a ball with a FL.

Molly~

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