Looking for Laundry Detergent Recommendations from Real Moms

In my experience, oxy clean makes the fiber of cotton clothes and towels weaker. The fibers seem weakened after just a few uses and we had towels and clothes tear too easily if we repetitively used oxyclean. I use tide and pretreat with shout gel and it works, even if the stain has been set with washing and drying.

I just throw a scoop of OXICLEAN and detergent in each load of wash. It does a great job of finding stains that we are just to busy to look for.

You could try making your own. This recipe works pretty well for me (I don't have time to pretreat most things either, though I do try to get baby poop out of the clothes before I wash!). It takes about 10 minutes to make this soap, and will last quite a while. And the ingredients for it cost me $7 (and considering that you can make umpteen batches with the powder and 3 with the bar, that's about as cheap as it gets!)

1/2 cup Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer, NOT Baking Soda)
1/2 cup Borax (20 Mule Team)
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap (Zote is good, too.) (grated)
[Note: I just made this with a 1/2 bar of Ivory soap. It seems to work just fine, and I figure it since Ivory soap has been my secret weapon against pretreating stains, it should work great for everything. The diapers I washed this morning came out looking as clean as can be!)

• In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted.
Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.
• In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture.
Top pail with cold water and stir well.
• Let it sit, covered, for 24 hours before use.
• Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (will gel, somewhat).
• The 2-gallons will do appx. 64 loads of wash. Here are some hints:

Soap will be lumpy, goopy and gel-like. This is normal. Just give it a good stir before each and every use. Make sure soap is covered with a lid when not in use. You could also pour the homemade soap in old (and cleaned) laundry detergent bottles and shake well before each use.

For scented detergent, you can add between 10 to 15 drops of essential oil (per 2 gallons) to your homemade laundry detergent. Add once the soap has cooled to room temperature. Stir well and cover.

When I was a teen my mom used to wash my dads dirty coveralls (he worked in a mill and was an electrian) with Shaklee Fresh Laundry concentrate. We also now have Fresh Laundry Liquid. I have never seen his coveralls come as clean. I have used the product for over 30 years and haven't found anything better. People who use Shaklee products LOVE them. Shaklee has been green for over 50 years. The cleaners are all biodegradable within 2 to 10 days. They are so economical you hardly buy at all because they are so concentrated therefore saving LOTS of $. They are kid and pet safe according to the Poison Control Center and, of course, Shaklee. If you are interested go to www.shaklee.net/a_leading_edge/getclean

N.
wife, mom, grandma, wellness coach

I use Tide and Oxi Clean together in almost every load I wash. However, when I see a grease stain, no matter how old- Dawn works the best. Just enough to cover the spot, let it sit while the washer fills then throw it in to the wash, and presto! No stain. Good luck.

MY favourite, because it gets out most problematic stains (except grease) is Amway's SA8. It gets out blood and other stains without prewashing.

My sister swears by Tide. My family is allergic to it, so we use ALL, and it gets NOTHING out.

oxy clean works great. Even letting it soak for a bit if you can. the best stain remover and is very cheap, believe it or not is dawn dish soap. It works on just about every stain and is safe for the environment.

country save powdered detergent is my favorite. it comes premixed with laundry boosters like borax and baking soda. it is the only all-natural detergent that i feel gets our clothes (and cloth diapers) really clean and best of all it is good for sensitive skin and the environment. the only issue with it is that if you are doing a cold wash you want to dissolve the detergent in some hot water first or else it clumps.

I too love Tide and as a mother of two boys and a husband in the car detail/repair business, I know how hard it is to keep things clean.
I buy at Costco and spend about $30 on a big container of Tide, but it lasts me about 4-5 months, so not bad at all!
L.

There are two things I love. One is Zout, this is a spray on. The other is Oxy Clean, this you ad to the laundry.
I have 5 kids, and no you are not the only one.
B.

Hello C.!

Although clorox is great for whitening...BORAX is great for oil in clothing. It is a multi-purpose household cleaner. Clean your laundry, kitchen and bathroom. For my clothing, I use my regular washing detergent along with the borax. It seems to help get the clothes feeling soft, I've noticed.

If I were you, purchase the box of BORAX at Walmart. The price is reasonable. I'm not sure about the pricing at the regular stores, like Albertson's or Safeway.

Just to let you know, on the box it will say "20 MULE TEAM BORAX" in bright red, but the box itself is green and yellow.

The Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar Family
Make your own.

C.-

I use the laundry detergent by Melaleuca. It is eco-friendly and comes either scented or unscented. At times I do need to pre-treat if the stain has been set in, but typically no need to do that. When I do pre-treat I use the Sol-U-Mel (also by Melaleuca) which removes all sorts of things permanent marker, ink, blood, and the typical food spills, etc.

Biz.... add Biz to your laundry soap when you wash. Until my kids were 5, I washed their clothes separately from mine and my husband's. Yes it was an extra load, but the kids had all sorts of issues with stains and ours didn't. I would actually do a pre-soak/pre-wash with their clothes where I used just Biz in the washer, started it, and then let them soak for 20-30 minutes, let it empty out and then added more Biz and the laundry detergent to wash regularly. The detergent I used was Dreft. I have hand me downs through 3 kids that have withstood the test of time and siblings.

Biz and Dreft. Great combo, then I double rinsed their clothes with a quarter cup of white vinegar in the first rinse. Removes all the residue. Bright, clean clothes.

My son and daughter wipe everything they can think of on their shirts. Don't worry you are not the only one. The only thing that I have found that works is oxyclean. When I am washing the kids clothes I always put in a little bit of oxyclean with their clothes.

I hope this helps.

My son wipes peanut butter all over himself several times a day, we use Tide Total Care and I've never had a problem with getting any of the grease out.

I use Oxy Clean in every load. Works wonders on everyday stains.

Tide with Bleach works well for me. I've tried less expensive brands -- even Tide without bleach -- and they don't work as well. The included bleach seems to get the stains out well without dulling the colors.