Try Wisk HE or whatever else you could try. I've heard Sears HE powder detergent is smashingly good. And with softened water use minimal doses, less than you're already using.

For me I have found the HE liquids to be MUCH soapier than powders except for All. Try Tide powder HE but if you are having skin problems why don;t you try All Free Clear HE liquid. I use this and it works well. I also have soft water but this does fine for me.

You might try running your clothes through a vinegar rinse to get the suds out and then start with a different detergent. I too have heard that the Sears detergents in the big bucket are excellant and a great buy too. Might want to try that.

Washing clothes 8 times and not getting the soap out is incredible. You must have been really putting in to much soap. I would keep rinsing them out. Add vinegar which will help to get the soap out. Don't overload the washer. You have to use much, much less than what the detergent tells you to use. Use only one tablespoon. Weren't you getting lots of suds? You are not suppose to. That was your clue to cut back on the detergent.

Jim,

Time for you to change detergents immediately. There is something going on with your water, laundry and the Tide :)

I use the Sears detergent now and get absolutely no suds. Depending on the soil level of the load, I use 1/2 scoop or less. I use vinegar in place of fabric softener. There is no residue left on our laundry at all.

When I used Tide HE liquid, I only used no more than line 1 and I don't have what is considered soft water. The biggest problem I had with the liquid detergent was the scum build up left over on the bottom of the glass and on the boot. I have absolutely NONE of that now.

I love the Sears detergent. It does an excellent job of cleaning (at least as good, if not better than Tide) and it is so much more economical!! $20 (on sale, $25 if not on sale) for a 275 load bucket and it will last me a lot more than 275 loads since I use less than the recommended. So much better than $10 for a bottle at Walmart every couple of weeks!!

Until you change detergent, I wouldn't use detergent at all. Just use a vinegar rinse until no more suds. Don't be afraid of the vinegar-- it doesn't leave a vinegar odor on your clothing and it helps control static cling also!

Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be!

Well I had a similar front loader and hated it. Lots of problems, poor cleaning, poor rinsing, unbelievable wrinkles and ridiculous cycle times.

This machines don't use enough water to rinse. It's as simple as that and plain common sense.

The suggestion to use 1 tablespoon of detergent for a full load of clothes is silly. Might as well wash with plain water. But hey, at least your clothes won't be full of soap residue.

I went back to regular Kenmore top loader and I'm glad I did. $1500 washers should make your life easier, not harder!

A front loading washer made my life EASIER, not harder! I wouldn't ever go back to a top loader. You have to learn how to use them correctly, just like any new item. But I guess it all depends on whether a person makes the choice to learn how to use their appliances to get the most efficiency out of them.

I have no idea why you would think that using a tablespoon of detergent to clean a load is silly. The formulation of detergents in this day and age allow for decreased amounts of detergent. Top loaders use 1/4 to 1/2 the amount that was recommended even 10 years ago. A person used to have to use a LARGE scoop for a regular load-- and the economy sized box of detergent couldn't even be lifted without help! I am sure there are plenty of others on this forum that remember those days :)

Please tell me how it is common sense that not enough water is used to rinse properly? If you had researched front loaders and followed the instructions properly, you would find that the decreased amount of water actually rinses MUCH better than a whole tub load of water. That is because the water is forced through the fabic as the drum tumbles and take the soap with it as it does. Compare it to rinsing your driveway off with a hose-- if you don't use a nozzle, the water just runs over the pavement but doesn't rinse it too well but if you use a high pressure nozzle, the dirty water is pushed off of the pavement.

I love my FL and love the money I have saved all the way around by using it-- and that doesn't include my time and energy!

Is it the detergent that is not rinsed out or is it the blasted PERFUME?

I have a family member with allergies to fragrances in detergents. I use fragrance-free detergent (All Free and Clear is my favorite, but it's not the only one available.) Any fragranced laundry products make him itch. I use no fabric softeners, just distilled white vinegar added to the rinse.

Occasionally I'll get a piece of clothing in my house that has been washed with standard perfumed detergents and/or fabric softeners. Because no clothing, towels or sheets in my house are washed in fragranced detergents, I really notice when something is perfumed.

It takes many, many washings to remove the perfume from the clothing. 12 wash cycles is not uncommon, and sometimes I can still smell those dratted perfumes. Those fragrances include some kind of additive that makes them STICK to the fabric. This has consistently been my experience with clothing washed with fragranced products  it takes multiple washings to remove the perfume.

In terms of detergents that cause skin irritation, Tide is the brand I hear mentioned most often, just my observation and not based on any actual research. However, sensitivity to fragrances in laundry and personal care products is very common. Because this is a concern of mine, IÂve talked with lots of people who are sure that they are allergic to a certain type of product, but itÂs actually the perfumes that cause the problems, not the actual product itself (detergent, soap, shampoo, etc.).

CMC

Its not silly to be able to reduce the amount of detergent down to one tablespoon. HE detergent is very concentrated...2x to 3x compared to regular detergent. In a TL the 40 galloons of water dilute the detergent.

"In a TL the 40 galloons of water dilute the detergent."

Aren't the clothes you're putting in your FL as dirty as the ones you put in your toploader?

Sorry but I think it IS silly to reduce detergent down to a scant teaspoon, unless one is using the highly concentrated Persil line of detergents.

I use about 2 tablespoons of All Free and Clear. I've tried Sears HE liquid fragrance free, too. 2 tablespoons seems to be plenty. Any more than that, and it starts to suds. (NOT teaspoons, TABLEspoons).

If I used as much Sears HE liquid as recommened, I'd be using about 1/2 cup. 1/4 cup of the Sears gives me suds. The Sears HE gives me more suds than the All liquid, which is not HE.

My experience is that the detergent manufacturers recommendations are always for too much detergent, whether for a FL or TL. Even with my old TL, the recommended amounts for a TL were way too much. In general, about 1/4 of the recommended amount was sufficient. (In my water chemistry, in my water hardness, yadda, yadda, yadda.)

I do have a question for the original poster: Are we talking about just bubbles in warm and hot rinses? Or are we talking about frothy, foamy suds?

During the WASH cycle, you should not see ANY suds (foam, froth, etc.) Some bubbles, yes, but no suds. If you are seeing suds or froth during the wash cycle, then yes, you probably are using too much detergent.

I still think it's that harsh, over-perfumed Tide that is causing your skin problems. You may also be using too much of it.

CMC

Thanks for all of the responses. In response to the questions raised:
* We are not using perfumed detergent. It is "Tide HE free" unscented.
* Upon rewashing, without adding any additional detergent, the water is sudsy after several repeated wash cycles and rinses.
* We are using less than 1/3 of the amount recommended by Tide.
Jim

I don't consider the machine technically working properly if the rinse doesn't get all the suds out. I would keep complaining to Sears. It sounds like you did everything right.

If too much detergent is used for the particular water and load conditions, one can't blame the machine ... any more than it could be blamed if 10 pounds of detergent was tossed in.

I had the same problem with a new he top load washer. Black clothes coming out with white residue streaks, dirtier than when they went in! The stopgap solution was to do a second wash cycle with no detergent but a half cup of vinegar. Very frustrating. Was definitely not using too much detergent (still happened with a half dozen different brands of HE detergent) or overloading the machine and was using liquid detergents. Tried everything the manuals and company websites said, called the manufacturer, used a dozen of those affresh cleaning tablets they recommended, multiple empty loads with vinegar, multilpe empty loads with baking soda, had a maintenance technician come and they were all of no help. Even disassembled and cleaned the damn thing myself based upon a bunch of youtube videos. Months and months of frustration and unsuccessful approaches.

In the end, what eliminated the problem was using the normal wash with extra rinse option activated. Now the blacks come out clean with no residues.

It seems like these HE machines are too efficient by not supplying enough rinse water. Extra rinse made the problem go away. Definitely making me pause before buying a HE model next time.