Laundry Additives?

[skip029]

As I'm doing the laundry (wife made me), and I'm adding Tide pods to the washer and then I reach over for the fabric softener, I chuckle and think to myself "maybe I shouldn't be adding this additive? How am I to know that Tide hasn't engineered their detergent to be as soft as possible or maybe perhaps adding in fabric softener will disrupt the PH balance of the additive packs in Tide?? Maybe I should be saving my money on these 'fabric softeners'?" hmmmm, then the wife yells at me to snap out of it and stop reading the label on the fabric softener....

 

[Onetor]

PH the water with detergent....lol

 

[JayhawkRoy]

I don't believe in oil additives, and my wife doesn't believe in fabric softeners. Matched pair for 48 yrs so far.

 

[Snagglefoot]

The pods are tasty.

 

[LotI]

Beef tallow and artificial scents...is that what the label said?

Probably not but that's what you get!

 

[talest]

The Tide pods need to flow at start-up, but still provide boundary lubrication or your washing machine will sieze. Is there a Tide One?

 

[dbias]

Originally Posted by talest
The Tide pods need to flow at start-up, but still provide boundary lubrication or your washing machine will sieze. Is there a Tide One?


Tide 1 makes my washer noisier so I use Gain Edge...

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

It would seem this calls for UDA!

 

[Leo99]

Some funny comments above.

We've gone away from the pods. They don't always dissolve for us.

As far as additive, I like Oxi-clean. Pretreat with Simple Green.

Wife and I fight over fabric softener. I don't want it but the wife does.

 

[skip029]

Originally Posted by dbias
Originally Posted by talest
The Tide pods need to flow at start-up, but still provide boundary lubrication or your washing machine will sieze. Is there a Tide One?


Tide 1 makes my washer noisier so I use Gain Edge...

 

[Fawteen]

Sister-in-law uses (I think) Downy. The stuff stinks to high heaven, and I can smell it from outside her house. For us, just plain old HE liquid and some Shout for when something gets stained.

 

[SirTanon]

My question is.. With so many detergents already in the Tide Pods, why would you want to add anything?

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
The pods are tasty.

Have something to drink....

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted by Fawteen
Sister-in-law uses (I think) Downy. The stuff stinks to high heaven, and I can smell it from outside her house. For us, just plain old HE liquid and some Shout for when something gets stained.

I shout at the stains when they happen but they won't come out unless I pre-treat them...

I add Clorox2 or bleach as needed, but just regular detergent and unscented fabric softener for me.

 

[UncleDave]

a little bit of sodium percarbonate (oxy clean) can boost whites a bit.



UD

 

[kwijibo]

A few years ago my wife while driving home from work heard on the radio that if you use fabric softener you will have to wash the lint screen on the dryer. A build up of fabric softener on the lint screen will make it water resistant. Went to the laundry room pulled out the lint screen and tried to run water through it and it would not go. Cleaned it and then the water would flow. Before cleaning the screen it looked clean.

 

[Revving2Redline]

We add the Tide pod and a little Oxyclean to a hot water bucket and throw in first. Add clothes, few scent pellets, fresh cold water and 2 hours later Presto. Goes to bottom stack and air dry with tennis balls for 90 minutes.

 

[MParr]

Oxy Clean or 20 Mule Borax as a booster. I use white vinegar as a fabric softener. Regular liquid fabric softeners contain wax and they will gum up your machine.

 

[gathermewool]

If my wife ever changes the oil on any of our vehicles, she'll do it how I tell her to.

If I'm ever put in charge of the laundry change intervals on any of our clothes, I'll do it how she tells me to.

This ain't rocket surgery.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by skip029
As I'm doing the laundry (wife made me), and I'm adding Tide pods to the washer and then I reach over for the fabric softener, I chuckle and think to myself "maybe I shouldn't be adding this additive? How am I to know that Tide hasn't engineered their detergent to be as soft as possible or maybe perhaps adding in fabric softener will disrupt the PH balance of the additive packs in Tide?? Maybe I should be saving my money on these 'fabric softeners'?" hmmmm, then the wife yells at me to snap out of it and stop reading the label on the fabric softener....


Fabric softener is added during the rinse cycle.

 

[Donald]

Pretreat the stains, wait 15 minutes and start the wash. Use the proper pretreat. The oxiclean stuff is good on organic stains like food or blood. Other pretreat are better on grease.

The one hard and fast rule is if you dry the item without getting the stain 100% out, you never will.