What type of detergent for laundry is more effective - liquid or the powder...?

Question

and then which brand works the best and smells good.

Answer 1

My experience has been that powders work better. And Tide seems to be the best - yes, I've tried less expensive brands, but have been disappointed.

Liquids
All-purpose laundry detergents in liquid form are especially effective on food, greasy and oily soils. Since they are liquids, they are good for pre-treating spots and stains.

Powders
All-purpose laundry detergents in powdered form are ideal for general washday loads. Especially effective on lifting out clay and ground-in dirt, thus ideal for children's play clothes.

Answer 2

I mostly do cold water wash. The liquid detergents are better for cold water. There is no heavily soiled laundry , we change clothes daily, and they only need minimal 2-4 min agitation however I will sometimes rinse twice, since there are allergies to some detergents.

Answer 3

There are 2 places to get this answered. Check the manufacturers recommendation then talk to a repairman. A repairman will usually tell you liquid because powder has a tendency to get gummy within the machine and builds up after some time. They will also tell you that you can cut back a bit on the amount of soap the directions tell you to use. After all, they want you to keep buying their product don't they??

Answer 4

Liquid, it dissolves quicker and is not as messy. (Have you ever accidentally spilled powdered detergent? OMG, it goes everywhere!!)
I usually go with fairly cheap detergent and get the better fabric softeners; ultimately that's what your laundry is going to smell like.

Answer 5

Powder - when using cold water add the powder to the water first. Tide is the best brand. Don't buy based on how good it smells. I bought Gain because it smells good and ended up with a rash.

Answer 6

I used cloth diapers for both my kids and loved them. I bought Kushies all-in-ones and they are very good. They are the easiest, most convenient. They work like a disposable diaper only made of clothe and plastic with Velcro. you don't have to throw them out - I've used mine for 3 years and they're still going strong! Cleaning process: You will want to invest in a diaper pail and a washable bag (made of plastic) that fits inside. You can onyl wash 15 - 20 diapers at a time or they will not get clean. You can put them in your washing machine and dryer no problem. They might take a longer time to dry. You wan wash them in hot or cold water. Use Natural LIQUID soap. do NOT use powdered soap. do NOT bleach OR use ANY fabric softener of any kind (washer or dryer). Those things will ruin the diaper. The best method of drying is to hang them up to dry in the sun - this will also naturally bleach them. You can also hire a diaper cleaning service - don't know how much that would be. You must "scoop the poop". You can either buy flushable diaper liners or shake out what you can in the toilet and wipe out the rest as you can. This is a stinky process - but necessary. You can pre-soak or not. I found it too much work to pre-soak them. Don't wash anything else with the diapers - or your clothes will small like washed diapers. Now in terms of money. Kushies (in Canada anyways) costs about $50 for 5 diapers ($10/diaper). They come in 2 sizes, Infant (up to 22lbs) and Tobbler (up to 37lbs) I bought 30 of each size and that was a good amount. I tried the "one size fits all" but I found they poorly fit my children. It's a lot of money to fork out upfront, BUT the savings is about $4000 a child over the life time of diapers. I also found that once my children started sleeping through the night that I HAD to put them in disposables for over night as the cloth diapers just couldn't hold that much pee over the course fo the 10 - 12 hours they sleep. ALSO - it's much easier to potty train them. They actually feel the wet - it's uncomfortable. My daughter was fully potty trained by 3 and my 20 month old son is starting to potty train. HTH!!

Answer 7

I typically just use cold water anymore....to reduce my utility bills so I only use liquid detergent.

I have been using Purex for a few years. Usually I can find it for $4/100oz. That's a very good deal.

If I have a load of clothes that is particular odiferous (workout gear, etc.) I add 1/2 C. baking soda to the wash water.

Answer 8

I like liquid so that there's no clumps of detergent on the laundry when it's done washing. My favorites are Cheer for Darks and Woolite for Darks, both liquids.

Answer 9

I like the liquid much better than powder reason being is the powder leaves white residue on dark and black clothing that shows up in the lights like at walmart and such. i use gain and all liquid either one is great but my favorite smell is gain joyous expressions in mango and it is so clean and smells good for days...

Answer 10

Powered

Cheer for colors or Gain it usually on sale for 9.99 all brands 80 load box.

It great removing dirt & grease

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Liquid - Is the same as almost all cleaning products like mr clean. If pour directly on into clothes by mistake you get blue spot on your clothes that wont come off. As compare power you put to much get white residue that comes off my fill a buck with cold water rinse out in bucket it comes off easily no extra money to spend.

You can also turn power base detergerents into liquid cleaner

Take - Clorox Magic - You got 2 litter pitcher scoop one full small into water and shake it up you get you a cleaning product that you can use on the stove to clean it up, kitchen counter tops and sink plus many other uses.