Washing machines and detergent wars

Not that long ago, doing laundry was a very busy day for women. The clothes were “chewed” or rubbed with home-made soap (there were no detergents at that time) over a galvanized piece of metal board called “fish”. Situation permitting the ladies used hot water for better results. To rinse their laundry, they had to go to a nearby water-filled trough. This was a really cold task, especially in winter, when the cold got to their bones. But they wanted to save water and energy, since bringing large quantities of water into the house was a difficult task (a century ago the were no pipes in houses, the water was brought in in buckets).

Today, doing the laundry is way easier. Most of you just put dirty clothes into a washing machine, add detergent and fabric softener and choose one of many washing programmes available. After certain time the laundry is done. But are you satisfied with the results? Could they be improved? And how?

Detergent wars
Detergent is like a secret sauce when it comes to laundry. While powder detergents were the ones to substitute soaps, in recent decades liquid laundry detergents have proven more popular. But are they truly better than the others? Guess what – not always. These are the main pros and cons of each of them.

Most households use liquid detergent just because it is more convenient to use. When doing the laundry, one pours out a small amount of liquid into the washing machine, there is no need for scooping a portion of powder out of a cardboard box. Liquid detergent also mixes with the wash water better while powder detergent is finicky with water temperature (some powder detergents don’t dissolve in cold water setting). And we have to admit that the chemists have done a good job – most liquid detergents contain alcohol ethoxylates which are very effective in removing greasy and oily stains.

So it is a wise choice to go with liquid detergent? Not necessary.

There are several upsides of using powder detergent. For one – it is cheaper. And because of its composition (it is made of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate) this type of detergent works way better on outdoor stains. If you’re after effective removal of outdoor stains like mud, clay, or grass go for the powder detergent. Powder detergent has a longer shelf life too.

Don’t overdo it!
Most people want to have really clean clothes so several of them overreact when it comes to the use of detergent. They put too much detergent into the washing machine. And this is bad – for their clothes and the machine itself.

It is worth mentioning that the manufacturers of detergents already declare quite high quantities of detergent per wash as they want you to use more and buy a new one sooner. Coupled with your eagerness for super clean clothes the detergent surplus can build up in your washer’s drainage system and cause blockages.
Please remember: even when your laundry is filthy, smelly, and stained, using more detergent won’t clean it better!

Instead, try this: lower the detergent dosage with your next laundry. You might be in for a nice surprise.

Worried about unpleasant odors that build-up in the washing machine through regular use, especially when washing at lower temperatures? The Gorenje SterilTub technology eliminates any bacteria in the interior of the washing machine and ensures your laundry will always smell fresh.