Search ths forum for posts by contributor sshrivastava. Her/* boundless enthusiam for Vaska, specifically, Lavender scent Vaska, is quite infectious. You really need to read the posts to get the fever, er, fervor. I know: I caught the disease from her, and Vaska is our current favorite dose.

/* I have assumed that sshrivastava is female; if I am wrong, please read "His" (as in "His boundless enthusiasm") or "him" (as in "from him") above.

This post was edited by herring_maven on Mon, Dec 16, 13 at 21:59

It's a guy. :-)

We've tried a lot - I like to switch it up as I think that's best for the clothes and the machine.

Loved Vaska - the scent was great - made the laundry room smell like a spa. Not too much on the clothes but it was great. They need to get back into Target ASAP!

Used Sears powder on and off - it is good stuff.

Tried Gain liquid - good if you like the scent - it can be "sweet".

Have a box of Kirkland Signature powder that works well.

Also trying Method Fresh Air - seems to clean well and has a nice smell.

Don't get me started on softeners either. I'm one who will go in the softener aisle and smell them. I think people think I'm weird but with all the scents I have to like it! And yes we switch that up too!

LOL, Whirlpool Trainee, are you sure? I really thought that S'stava was female, or had that impression from something s/he wrote (not that it matters, really, it's just that you get a mental image of some of the regulars :-)).

Itguy, thanks. I am not big on smells, so I'll probably pass on the Gain, but Vaska is intriguing and perhaps I'll have to track that down and give it a whirl. I wonder how my guys will feel about the spa smell, though. :-) Method is a brand I've heard bantered around a bit, too, and I might need to find some and give it a try.

It's funny, my mom and my grandmother both used the same detergent forever, and never felt the need to make a change. I thought Tide TC was working OK at the beginning, but as I've worked through the most recent bottle, I've noticed that some of the clothing just doesn't smell fresh, so it's time to look around a bit.
Thanks for any and all input,
Cj

@ Cj: I emailed with him some time. He works in real estate, from what I remember. Since you're not into scents, you might try unscented Vaska. No brighteners so it's good for colored clothes (unless you're on chlorinated water). I also tried Method free and clear, which worked fine on light soils.

LOL, itguy. I sniff everything as well. When I was in NYC in September, I even smelled the dish soaps and cleansers to decide which to take back home. ;-D

Oh boy am I glad to see I'm not the only one who goes down the laundry aisle and gets a nose-full to see if I'd like it on my clothes/sheets/towels, etc... :-)

LOL, WPTrainee, I stand corrected. He was so knowledgeable about the chemistry behind it all, I miss reading his opinions.

I think I'll send off for some Vaska. It doesn't look more expensive than the Tide I've been using, so I'll give it a spin, so to speak. :-) I might even try the lavender--it doesn't sound like it's too strong, and don't mind a fresh, light scent.

Thanks to all.

Cj

Glad I'm not the only one that smells this stuff! :)

Vaska, even the regular really didn't have much of a scent after the dryer. It was mainly in the washing machine you smelled it.

I've tried many of the liquids including Vaska. We have a whole house water softener so laundry soap gets tricky here. Vaska reminded me of The Laundress product -- both made a scary amount of suds in my machine. Wasn't for me.

After Persil liquid which I found excellent, overall, I settled on Caldrea or Mrs. Meyers (same USA company) do a good job. Good fragrance choice, rinse out well and they don't oversuds. They go on sale at drugstore.com and amazon, too.

rococogurl, thanks for the heads up. I also have a whole house water softener, and like you, many of the detergents I've tried have been eliminated due to excess suds. Oh well....

Again, thanks.

Cjj

cj, FWIW I'm down to 2 rounded teaspoons of Persil megaperls for most loads and that makes plenty of suds. If I have a white load I'm doing with oxiclean then I go to 1 tsp oxi and 1 tsp megaperls or I get ghostbusters.

For Caldrea, I use about 1 tb but scant unless it's a huge load. I use Perwoll for my blacks and silks -- that also 1 tb or else.

Having the softener requires so little soap it's made the Persil (which I like best overall) affordable as 1 box will last a year. After I use up the Caldrea I may try Persil's liquid for color clothes, which is basically what I'm using the liquid for.

Some days I cannot figure out either why there are just enough suds vs too little when I've done the same thing.

rococogurl: "I've tried many of the liquids including Vaska. We have a whole house water softener so laundry soap gets tricky here. Vaska reminded me of The Laundress product -- both made a scary amount of suds in my machine."

Another data point, FWIW. Here in Portland (Oregon), we have very soft water -- probably softer than the output of whole-house water-softeners in hard-water areas. Even with our soft water, we have not experienced any high sudsing (in a Samsung '419 washing machine) since our sshrivastava conversion to Vaska.

As always, YMMV.

Here is a link that might be useful: Unavailable locally, we purchase Vaska on-line

This post was edited by herring_maven on Wed, Dec 18, 13 at 20:50

I find that interesting, I wonder if there's a difference between water that's been chemically softened and water that's natually soft? It seems that the comments would indicate that the detergents behave differently in each.

Rococogurl, I used only about 2 tbs of detergent in mine, and do an extra rinse. I find that if I use less, the clothes don't smell fresh, more and I have to work harder to get it rinsed out. :-) It's a delicate balance.

Thanks,
Cj

herring maven -- glad it's working for you. Here's 2 tb Vaska in my machine. Clearly, it doesn't work for me. But even soft water varies I suppose. The Laundress did the same thing. It's also 3-4x concentrated. Other liquids are not as concentrated and don't do this.

Cj47: "I wonder if there's a difference between water that's been chemically softened and water that's natually soft? It seems that the comments would indicate that the detergents behave differently in each."

Another possibility relating to our experience: we always add a scoop (about 1/4-1/3 cup, never more) of borax to our wash. I do not think of borax as a suds inhibitor (though I do think of it as a rinse aid), but without further investigation, the possibility cannot be ruled out. Borax does allow a reduction of detergent quantity, however; we use the "a little bit less" quantity described on the back label of the Vaska jug.

Well, now I've gotta try it. ;-) I do have some borax around, i used to use it with every batch of towels to keep them smelling fresh during hot and humid summers, back when I had the old top loader. I don't need it with the front loader, my towels never get funky in the summer anymore. But, I may give it a try to see how it works with detergents that suds too much.

Rococogurl, that's some scary suds you've got going there. I'm not even going to ask how long it took you to get rid of that mess. I get suds like that when the dishcloths aren't sufficiently rinsed out before laundering. It's not pretty.

Cj

rococogurl: "Here's 2 tb Vaska in my machine. Clearly, it doesn't work for me. But even soft water varies I suppose." [image redacted]

We were doing laundry today, and your shot inspired me to take a picture of our washing machine in mid-wash cycle, with Vaska Lavender + a scoop of borax + a tablespoon of Ecover oxygen bleach. I apologize for the funky lighting; our washing machine is in the basement, and the light is a combination of what little sunlight filters in from the (few) small above-ground windows (at two hours past the winter solstice at latitude 45.5) and a single bare overhead incandescent bulb.

As you can see, we are hardly overwhelmed with suds.

Thanks herring maven, the contrast is very interesting.

Due to my water, I've been working on the optimum soap dose. Seeing your photo, I'd ask if you have enough detergent in there. Almost no suds at all!

I'm wondering what most front-loaderites find "just right" in terms of suds level and how much variation there might be? Sounds like a topic for a new thread.

Rococogurl, I agree. I've always wondered just how much suds indicates too much/too little soap. And it's so interesting to note the difference between your experience and Herring Maven's.

I'm going to experiment with adding some borax and see what happens.

Thanks, everyone.

Cj

rococogurl: "Seeing your photo, I'd ask if you have enough detergent in there. Almost no suds at all! "

We tend to run three washes through the machine, with different settings, in a cycle: (1) underwear plus kitchen clean-up cloths and towels, (2) colored laundry, and (3) sheets, pillow cases, and bathroom towels. The wash that I photographed was the underwear/kitchen cycle, the only one of the three that washes in hot water; the other two (warm water) washes get the same borax, but do not get the oxygen bleach, and they produce no more suds than that one does.

The Vaska dose was up to the bottom of, but not fully covering, the fill line in the cap of the Vaska jug. It has got our clothes fully clean in every wash cycle that we have put it through so far.

I'm going to start a "dosing" thread. Hope you'll post your normal load look on that one herring maven -- I'm going to post what I've worked out to be normal/optimal sudsing level. Perhaps others will contribute.

Do you know why sshrivastava has not been participating in this post or the Laundry Room Forum at all lately? I really miss his comments and judgment and opinions and knowledge.

" Here's 2 tb Vaska in my machine. Clearly, it doesn't work for me."

Vaska made way too many suds in our FL, even at 1/4 dose, and did not want to rinse out. I gave it away.

I used to use Tide HE w/Fabreze and Vivid. I switched to Charlie's Soap powder and Seventh Generation Oxy, plain liquid bleach for whites. There's no scent to speak of and the laundry is very clean. It's true...you don't need fabric softener.

If you want detergent that rinses easily you may want to avoid Wisk Deep Clean HE. Even in my top loader it needs way more rinses and/or added vinegar to bring the suds to negligible levels. I thought I would never find something that was harder to rinse than basic Tide, but this Wisk variant takes the cake.

Tide Cold Water rinses better than regular Tide. Not as good as Woolite Darks, but still an improvement.

I agree about that Wisk liquid. I tried the new "free/clear" version and it made horrible suds.

Woolite for Darks makes the least amount of suds, along with Charlies Soap, of all the other detergents in my stash. Neither has any OBAs, either. :-)

I love using Wisk Deep Clean HE; I especially like it for my hub's work and workout clothes. No problem here with suds, and I really like the scent - light and clean. My washer is a Maytag Bravos HE.

I love Tide w/Febreze for other colored clothes. It cleans very well, the scent is very light when clothes are done, and again, no problem with suds.

I have used Tide TC, but I don't like it as much as these.