Thanks Mich..I do want to say though...even TOL detergent can struggle to remove odors from work out clothes, which I wouldn't consider to be in the mild to moderate soil range lol. I've done a lot of filthy stinky sweaty *I've worked in the garden all day in Pennsylvanias 90degree and 100% humidy* and I always prewash these sort of clothes with Sears detergent first, I've noticed dirt and grime is gone but the clothes still have a trace of body sweat..if I prewash with the same sears with STPP they are clean and fresh smelling. My water 1gpa. That's why I said above it does great on mild to moderate soils but needs help with heavy soils..like body odors. Lol. However I've noticed many people using a TOL detergent need help with odors in work out clothes.

Been more than a couple years since I tried it, I don't recall what was the selected "flavor" but I believe it was the orange box. I transferred the detergent to a storage container and tossed the box. Anyway, the version I tried had no perfumed-type scent at all, just a neutral-chemical scent. It also took a while to dissolve per the numerous times I used it for hand-soaking in a sink.

I always have a box. It's decent. No scent at all and dirt cheap. They run 50% off sales a few times a year. In college this is all that we used for financial reasons :). I use it now for dog bedding, rugs, rags in hot water. It isn't great for color retention or caring for fabrics but for the price is an excellent deal.

@Mama, can you offer a recommendation for getting odor out of clothing/work out clothing? I believe you are recommending a pre-wash, but if you could share your entire method, I would appreciate it! TIA

100% agree with laundry Mitch. Growing up I loved it when my Mom would use Tide powder with April Fresh Downy, but when Sears had a sale...My Grandma, Mom, and 2 aunts would all buy like these OMG, 5 gallon buckets of Sears detergent. I hated it then, and hate it now.

Besides always feeling the clothes are not deodorized& fully clean, laundry always looks "dehydrated" and feels rough using Sears powders.

So while, they can be one helluva bargain...I give Sears detergent 2 thumbs down!!!

This is my "go to" detergent.

Hubby and I have to use "free" and "clear" type detergents, so this limits what we can use. Finding a good 'he' powder is even more difficult. We use the Sears Ultra Plus free/clear "blue box" powder and have good results with it. CR mag gives the regular a "very good" rating for getting rid of "sebum" (ring around the collar!). The free/clear version does just that, when I pretreat properly.

I add Oxy bleach when needed for lights/whites.

Our Sears Ultra Plus f/c powder does a much better job than the Wisk Deep Clean "free" he liquid that made crazy suds in my Miele FL washer and still left the ring around the collars & cuffs of dress shirts. I gave that stuff away.

I just now looked, and this detergent does not appear on the Sears web site. Eeek!!! Oh noes!!! Good thing I stocked up before our local Sears store closed!!! I might need to put a homeowners insurance rider on my stash! Or store it off site! LOL

Our water is "moderately hard", so I use a half-dose in winter and a regular dose in summer. Rinses out quite well, and even better with STPP

Absolutely love the product. It's my "go to" detergent for white durable goods. It's NOT heavy on enzymes, virtually no scent, and high alkalinity. I like it because it's a good base for creating commercial cleaning out of a store bought detergent. With a little washroom chemistry voodoo and some addition of borax, STPP, and a shot of a good liquid emulsion type detergent, you end up with a great home use break/suds formula for heavy soil greasy stained goods. Add in a bleach, oxi or chlorine, high temperature, multiple rinses and a softener and your good to go!

Problem with those all in one enzyme products, they not only require lower temps, but longer wash cycles. Enzymes take time. A traditional Alkali formula will not only clean and attack stains better, but can do it with much less wash time, and your free to raise that temp as high as you like.

rpsin, I am going to call you a tease, because you hint of a magical laundry potion and yet leave out the particulars. Would any liquid detergent quality as emulsion-type? Stained, smelly, dirty clothes are our family's specialty. I can usually clean our clothes, but often this includes multiple washes over several days with a slew of additives. Frequent guests include: sweat, ink, mud, dirt, grass, nondescript clear oils and the ever-present generic orange stain (could be tomato sauce, could be Fanta. It's anyone's guess). I forgot to add black dirt from Jeep tires (it has some grease in it). That's the worst. Very difficult to remove. I would love to have a more predictable laundry procedure. I am always making it up as I go along.

Sorry. By shot of liquid I personally use WISK, ALL, MEMBERS MARK,ERAI would not use TIDE, PERSIL or any liquid product that is a wrap up one product does all enzyme based detergent. That circumvents the super cleaning effects of my previous comment on Sears Ultra, plus your wasting money on an enzyme product that won't work. The base is Ultra plus, Borax, STPP, (carefully chosen liquid detergent), additional Sodium Carbonate depends..., a bleach of your choice, rinses, and finish. And HOT wash temps 140-150-160F. Keep in mind White Durable Goods, not colors or dress casual.

For some of the soils you describe, this is the formula for you. Ink although will need pre treatment with some sort of solvent. (Lighter Fluid, mineral spirits, acetone) Tomato sauce stains scream for bleach, chlorine will work better than oxi on tomato based stains.

Thank you for the clarification. I have just downloaded the article you posted.

You have to be very, very careful with Alkaline based cleaning detergents. They are extremely rough on Textiles. And I mean.. very rough. We're talking about stuff... with such high PH's... they become corrosive. Not only that... but there horrible for the rubber seals, and mechanical parts of a washing machine not designed for them.

I really think.. everyone should try to stick with near-PH laundry products, as much as possible. You really don't want to use stuff, with a High PH.. unless you absolutely have to. And generally you don't need to.

Almost all of our favorite laundry products. Like STPP, Persil, Tide, Cheer, etc... are all near-neutral PH. This is what helps keep fabrics soft. This is what prevents all that nasty cotton pilling, and rough feeling on textiles.

Once again... RPSinfoman, I'm not trying to attack you. There's nothing wrong with high alkalinity detergents. I just want to exercise caution in utilizing them.

Most.. American & European front loaders, designed for the home use market... aren't exactly able to handle or take these high-ph formulas well. These detergents can eat or destroy the rubber seal in machines, as well as rust the drum.

@mitch - I won't disagree with that, but we abused the hell out of a Whirlpool Duet with industrial chemicals and it went 12 years. But yes the seals and spider, especially aluminum will weaken. In that short 10 year lifespan, might as well get your use out of it, LOL. Now Miele, for what it costs it should be able to handle anything. That's my opinion.

Alkali hard on textiles.. Yes and no. Durable goods have a limited lifecycle regardless, and can be processed x amount of times. Alkali formulas clean quick, efficient, and fast, BUT if those levels are not returned to proper Ph by multiple rinsing or addition of sour as a finish, they will wear very quickly. Before trying to mimick commercial formulas, one needs a pretty good understanding of the chemistry process.

The Sears Ultra example won't produce anywhere near the 14-15 total alkalinity of true industrial Alkal products, but it does run around 13. The only caveat is if your using chlorine bleach, the Ph must be lowered before the bleach. So it can be the reciepe for success, or disaster.

BTW STPP is a moderately alkaline additive.

@Mitch, have you ever tried Miele Care laundry powders (UltraColor and/or UtraWhite)? I have found these two detergents leave my clothing feeling king of rough, and I am fairly certain it is not related to dose or rinsing. Your comments made me wonder if the Ph of these powders are higher than Tide and Persil, etc.? I can't find the MSDS for MieleCare but I would love to know.

@pink - Thanks but I am far from genius. Just had good chemical people when I was in the business. Even if you don't tweak Sears, it's a great detergent right out of the box.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2767045/physical-and-chemical-properties-of-selected-laundry-detergents

@mamapinky0, check out that thread.

@mitch - that was very informative. Someone did a lot of research to put that list together. Keep in mind though when titrating a formula, one is concerned not so much with the Ph of the product, but the Total Alkalinity of the Break/Suds. In packaged store bought products the strength is pre determined. In the industrial "washroom" these values are measured and adjusted with products to produce an effective formula and a strength necessary for the soil classification and type of textile. Thus the big difference between commercial and consumer laundry. There isn't ,t too many scenarios where a commercial formula would be needed in a residential environment. There are plenty of packaged products that do an outstanding job out of the box, some better than others.

@clean_and_bright, I haven't tried any of the recently made Miele Care detergents. I *did* however, try them years ago before they we're reformulated and wasn't impressed.

I really do *need* to order them, and give them another try. But... I really don't need any more detergent at the moment. I've really got too much, as it is, lmao.

I think the PH of them, may be a tad bit higher than Ultra Tide Powder you're used to. Don't quote me on that... I just think it's a general observation.

And the water is a factor as well. In Indiana our water is alkaline, our house in NC has slightly acidic water. Some water sources contain natural bicarbs.

@Mitch, thanks for the info! Yes, I think you *need* to order them to give them another try. Or if you want I would be happy to send you some so you can test them out! Do you still like the German or UK persil powders? I tried the German liquid/gel and the scent was too strong for me (I like very mild scents), so wondering about persil powder, but I think I recall Larsi saying that the german persil has changed in recent years and is no longer so great?

@Mama, I recall the Ph of Tide liquid being lower than powder detergents....for a while I used Tide liquid F&C and was pretty happy with how it cleaned. Hmm, laundry has become quite complicated--ph, water temp, water hardness, presence of enzymes, rinses, cycle time, soak, brighter, bleaches, liquid vs. powder... OH MY!

@Mitch, scratch that question about Persil--just saw this being addressed in another thread. I won't bother trying the German version based on that thread.

@clean_and_bright... Amazon, has a 5 load box for $9. If you haven't.. it might be worth paying for, just for curiosity alone ;)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DUZN5C?keywords=Persil%20Universal%20Trial&qid=1444617712&ref_=sr_1_fkmr0_3&sr=8-3-fkmr0

Thanks, Mitch! I added it to my cart. You are right, it will be fun to test out!

@pink - see mama now you have your very own formula for stinky sheets. I probably would eliminate the second pre-wash or add half the amount of the Sears or borax to the second pre-wash if the soil level is high. If your going to soak, this would be step I would do it. The rest of it looks good!

I would try it if I didn't have to go to Sears for it. My quest for laundry detergent doesn't go past my grocery store or the Mexican grocery for Ariel. (as of yet).

pawprint, I made the trek to Sears. $9 a box on sale. I'll give it a whirl, and let you know how it goes. I can always send you some if you are interested.

I think the Sears detergent cleans very well and I like the smell (orange box) but I stopped using it because it noticeably fades dark clothes. Would work well for whites and light colors.

Yes, does fade colors.

YES! Really fades colors, much quicker than anything I've ever used. Honestly I used to use Tide with Bleach powder or even liquids on colours and darks, and never really noticed any fading or dullness. Even after a few washes with Sears powder...clothes were dull, dry, faded and felt rough!!