LOL. I LOVE, LOVE the scent. It makes my whole laundry room smell. I think it smells so clean, almost herbal.

Yes, it smells great.. way better than P&G's On shelf detergent offerings LOL.

Hi MamaPinky, and thanks for asking!

Although I was a bit intimidated at first, I've come to really like my new washer and dryer. Bit of a learning curve, though….

I bought the Tide HE w/ bleach (powder), which I used only for whites. I also bought a box of Tide "something something" which is also an HE powder, no bleach but some stain lifters?? I Can't remember what it's called, and I've tossed the box! I use that on mixed/darks.

The BEST find of the year (decade?) was STPP--love that stuff! My whites are white again! I realize now my home made laundry soap probably was penny wise and pound foolish ;{

I do have a question, though. I have a BIG box of Oxyclean. I used to use it with my whites, but now i've been using a small amount of STPP instead. Do you use Oxiclean? When should I use it, how much, and with what detergent? I guess I haven't felt the need for it now that I'm using Tide and STPP as needed.

I also have a box of Borax and a box of washing soda left over from making my own laundry soap--any use for those?

Thanks for all your help and advice--I've sure learned a lot from you all!

Tvq, you've chosen TOL US detergents, that's great. As for the Oxi booster you don't need it with Tide with Bleach as its already in there, you could use it with the non Bleach Tide if you wanted to use that on whites or lights. and its perfectly fine to use STPP with all of these products. Personally IMO Tide with Bleach and STPP is the absolute best you can do in the US for whites /lights...it is an amazing mix of perfection. If any of your whites are dingy from the past detergent you will notice using Tide/bleach and STPP those dingies will get whiter and whiter as their washed.

As for the box of Borax, save it, you can throw some in if you have an expecially stinky load of clothes to help deodorize. I don't use Washing Soda but someone will come along to tell you about its uses, I wouldn't use it as a booster..its already in powder detergent and too much makes for scratchy stiff clothes. You will find STPP will be your best booster.

Are you using hot water (not dubbed down hot) on your whites with the Tide with Bleach?

I echo what Mama said above. I use washing soda on occasion, and it can make your laundry stiffer if it is not rinsed completely. Borax has a higher pH than washing soda, if I recall correctly. Borax will make your detergent more affective than washing soda, under normal circumstances. I use the washing soda for kitchen towels, or bucket soaking.

Thanks MamaPinky--I sure appreciate your knowledge and advice!

Yes, I'm using very hot water when I wash whites--always the sanitize or allergy cycle, as it's the hottest wash available. My washer does have an internal heater. I'm not sure if my hottest wash is "dumbed down", but I've been amazed at how white my whites/lights are now!

Good to know the Borax will help with a stinky load; my husband is an avid cyclist and has complained about his bike jerseys holding on to body odor. I'll try some Borax next time I wash a load with his jerseys.

Thanks again--you're the BEST!

PS: I just can't believe you and larsi actually like the stink of that Tide Machine Cleaner--LOL! One man's sweet rose is another's STINK, I guess! ;}}

TVQ

Tvq, you are very welcome..I'm glad you are enjoying your new machine and having good results with your new detergent choices. It can only get better now lol.

Washer cleaners are basically either glorified oxygen bleach, chlorine bleach or citric acid. When I want to clean a (dish-) washer, I use citric acid. It strips lime scale and detergent residue in hot water, without the harshness and stink of vinegar.

Same here. I just buy citric acid in bulk for "clean outs". You can use Tang, too, cause it smells nice. lol.

And unsweetened Kool-Aid Lemonaid...

Lemi-Shine, if you live in North America, is easy to find and basically is citric acid.

If you are doing a true HOT wash once a week and using oxygen bleach, you probably don't need anything else, unless you have hard water and need that citric acid to remove limescale.

I finally got out this horrid smell by running 4 gallons of white vinegar through a gallon at a time on Tub clean cycle. I just dumped a whole gallon at a time into the tub and then ran the cycle. My wife had called proctor and gamble 800 number and they told her use vinegar but she tried 2 cups and that seemed to do nothing.

After 3 gallons we were getting close, but still about 25% of full original stink remained. My wife called LG and they said remove drain hose from drain pipe (the one in the wall). (TIP, have a bucket ready to catch the residual water in your drain hose. They also said leave washer door wide open for 24 hours. We have a small ceiling fan in the laundry room and we left that on as well. Probably down to about 10% stink at that point, so I ran one more gallon of white vinegar on regular cycle and we are back to normal.

We will only use Afresh tablets now in the tube clean cycle.

I agree - that Tide Cleaner is waaay too strong. I've had the fan on and doors in my house wide open and cannot get rid of the stink. Terrible product. My daughter gave it to me for the same reason. I'm chucking it out.

I love it. Reminds me off the old Tide Boost Sport pacs.

I got rid of a perfectly good top load washer because of the smell. Turns out it was because I was using liquid detergent exclusively. Companies are now making more money selling washing machine cleaners to cover up the stank.

Popular belief is that toploaders don't catch stink ... that's absolutely wrong. Poor laundry habits will cause any to washer catch smutz and a foul odor.