Off-Topic Laundry question

[wendug]

Originally Posted by Kathleen Ann

I found an Oxi White Revive but it's by Clorex. Is that the one you use?

The one I use is Oxiclean, but the Clorox one is probably similar. I see you're in the Chicago area, I believe I picked some up at Jewel. Target used to carry it, but I haven't bought it there in a while.

[marki64]

Originally Posted by SandyT

I also have a "new" energy efficient washer. It is so much worse than my old regular washer. Here is a couple of tricks I use.
1) To get around the problem of not enough water: Mine has a setting (bulky, I think) where it doesn't weight the load to estimate how much water to use. It just fills the machine up. I use that setting for all loads.
2) To get around the problem that "hot" water is barely tepid: After I choose the bulky setting, I just switch the water temperature selection to "extra hot". This makes it pleasantly warm.
3) My clothes came out with white streaks quite a few times (possibly left over detergent), so...I always add an extra rinse cycle.
4) In order to trick my machine into letting me soak a load for an extended period of time I let it fill up with water and then un-plug it. Now I can soak as long as I desire
It still isn't perfect. I would give my eye teeth to have an old fashioned machine but it just isn't in the budget right now.

I could complain endlessly about my HE machine. My main complaint is that in order to do a decent wash load, I have to use my Towel setting to get hot water and enough water. It takes an hour and a half to do a load. How the heck is that saving energy? Enough said.

[Usia]

Originally Posted by wendug

The one I use is Oxiclean, but the Clorox one is probably similar. I see you're in the Chicago area, I believe I picked some up at Jewel. Target used to carry it, but I haven't bought it there in a while.

Walmart in my area carries Oxiclean.

[Usia]

Originally Posted by SandyT

I also have a "new" energy efficient washer. It is so much worse than my old regular washer. Here is a couple of tricks I use.
1) To get around the problem of not enough water: Mine has a setting (bulky, I think) where it doesn't weight the load to estimate how much water to use. It just fills the machine up. I use that setting for all loads.
2) To get around the problem that "hot" water is barely tepid: After I choose the bulky setting, I just switch the water temperature selection to "extra hot". This makes it pleasantly warm.
3) My clothes came out with white streaks quite a few times (possibly left over detergent), so...I always add an extra rinse cycle.
4) In order to trick my machine into letting me soak a load for an extended period of time I let it fill up with water and then un-plug it. Now I can soak as long as I desire
It still isn't perfect. I would give my eye teeth to have an old fashioned machine but it just isn't in the budget right now.

Geeze! This sounds like a whole lot of extra work that I don't want to do. I want to put my clothes into the washer and I expect them to come out clean and reasonably white. I think I expect too much because it's not happening. I guess, I'll just put up with not-so-white whites, and will replace them as I have to. I am convinced that it's to do with HE washers and detergents that are specifically manufactured for low-soap and low-water wash. How can we expect to get clean clothes with low-suds soap and very little water?

[Kathleen Ann]

Originally Posted by wendug

The one I use is Oxiclean, but the Clorox one is probably similar. I see you're in the Chicago area, I believe I picked some up at Jewel. Target used to carry it, but I haven't bought it there in a while.

I found the Oxi at a Tony's. I also got the Persil. I don't wash a lot of white clothing but I'm anxious to see how it works.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by Kathleen Ann

I also got the Persil.

i had never heard of Persil until this thread. and lo and behold, there was a coupon in last Sunday's newspaper coupon inserts.

[Demeris]

When I was wee--late 50s/early 60s--my mother used bluing. She got it in tablets. In the early 90s, I was in an Amish store in Iowa and saw large blueing balls for sale. But I don't know where you'd get bluing, now.

I suspect it works beautifully. I use a bluing shampoo a couple of times a month to keep the silver in my hair shiny, and it really makes that silver pop.

[mtnmom]

Originally Posted by Demeris

But I don't know where you'd get bluing, now.

Amazon to the rescue! https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Stewarts-...009M7ESPA?th=1

When I do a hot water wash in my front-loader machine, I run hot water to the shower which is real close to the laundry room. With so little water used in the machine, your water getting there will be cold if you don't run it somewhere close by first.

I hate the mold that forms on the gasket of my front-loader. I'm not good about remembering to keep the door open when not in use.

[Exercise Diva]

Originally Posted by upperwside

I got rid of my high efficacy washer and will never get another.. and I had so called top of the line ones. My laundry was never clean.. I had a repair guy tell me to buy an old school one as it cleans better.. easy to repair if needed and more durable. He is right!!

This has been my experience too. Never had one before we bought this house and I really miss my old fashioned top loader. It also takes forever for the laundry to run through its cycle.