I use both but prefer liquids. Much easier diluted although the powders of late seem to dissolve much better than 20 years ago. A liquid spill is far easier to clean up than a powder spill and powders are just messier. But it's not a real big deal either way. I've learned to be more careful. I used mostly powder then switched to liquid until about 2 years ago and went to Great Value enzyme powder, and tried Sun, a non-enzyme powder then tried Tide dye & perfume free and Gain liquid, oh and also Tide Regular 2x and have some Arm & Hammer left too. So I'm using a variety of products. Let's see, offhand I know of 6 different ones down there! I gave away the Spring liquid because I itched from it. And it looks like I might get to try out another different one. I never thought I'd enjoy doing laundry! LOL

I have hard water and used many detergents, dry and liquid. Did not experinced deposits left anywhere in the washer but I always use hot or sanitary and extra rinses. Did not notice difference in between powder or liquid other then I have tendency to spill over the liquid. I always put all detergent right in the drum so I never clean the dispenser. I had white film/ residue once in the corner of my gasket after using roma and zote. It did go away after couple of washes. I love Persil but the cost for now forced me to look for cheap stuff so I bought roma and loved it, tried focca, ariel, well I mixed all of it together plus other leftover powders and now using this mix. Cascade works as a boost too. CS did not work for me and I would never use STPP. It seems too harsh for the machines. I don't use bleach either. I hate Tide w/ passion. It suds up like crazy and leaks from the bottom of one washer.Vinegar in the rinse and prewash helps too.

@ larsi There actually may be optical brighteners in Tide HE Total Care. If you look at the ingredients list on the US site, there are no OBAs in Total Care. However, if you pull the same ingredients list from the Canadian Tide web site, you will see a more complete ingredients list including OBAs. Regardless, if Total Care contains OBAs, I don't find that they fade darker clothing. I've been washing most of my clothes in Total Care. If anything, my colors appear to be getting richer and black garments are having no trouble retaining their blackness. I know you're probably not supposed to use Total Care on silks or other protein-based fibers since Total Care contains protease, but I used it on a load of silk dress shirts. Previously these shirts had been washed many times with Vaska, which has not removed certain light stains. While the shirts felt soft after washing in Vaska and ironing, they have become stiff after hanging in the closet for a week or two. Washing once in Total Care (w/ fabric softener) removed the stain and left my silk shirts feeling like new. I dried them in the dryer on delicate, pulled them out while still slightly damp, and hung them in the closet to dry. No ironing needed and the shirts all look and feel much better than they did before.

I used to live in a hard water area up till 6-7 years ago, I used powders than also without a problem. Sure there was much less suds but suds arnt an indicator of the detergent working. I did however add a tiny bit more detergent at that time. Its true though hard water makes it harder for detergent to work...STPP will solve peoples hard water issues. I don't know aa, I live in a soft water area, powders are almost obsolete here. Really irritates me. I've heard a lot of people across the country complaining powders are hard to find.I have a feeling the day will come when powders will be a thing of the past, maybe every 10 years P&G will produce a Anniversary Edition of one of the Tide offerings in a small box with a ridiculously high price tag. I can't understand why jugs of liquid detergent that are a large amount of water is preferable to ship. Thats another thing some day the liquids will probable come in a tiny 4 ounce bottle with directions to add 32 ounces if water to it. Lol. Ya powders are hard to find.