Recommend The Best All Purpose (All Colors) Detergent

[evesadam]

I have a front load washer now, which is actually great for the longevity of my clothes. However, I am finding the standard soaps (hard white rocks, actually??) to be too harsh, leading to quick color fading.

The liquid soap I used for darks is great but of course not appropriate for lighter colored clothing

What would you recommend as a single purpose soap which will not lead to color fading, or stain light colored clothes?

 

[Froosh]

Woolite works well, they have specific products for dark and for colors. Post in the quick questions thread next time.

 

[*#..]

Originally Posted by Froosh

Woolite works well, they have specific products for dark and for colors. Post in the quick questions thread next time.

I think this is a lot more valid than the other special flower threaks about what to wear. I'm curious myself for other people's responses to this question.

 

[brad-t]

I use Woolite dark for everything, but like 90% clothes are dark. It doesn't hurt lighter clothes though.

 

[S-Town]

Originally Posted by Uncontrol

I use Woolite dark for everything, but like 90% clothes are dark. It doesn't hurt lighter clothes though.
I use the same stuff. It's good. You'll see a lot less fading. It won't smell like clothes freshly washed with Tide, but it will help keep them intact longer.

 

[evesadam]

What about dr. bonner's castille soap? Is this suitable for whites? I'd like to use something like this for all colors--I'm assuming if it's suitable for whites it should work well with darks.

 

[jimmyfingers]

I went on a serious experiment trying out all detergents I could. I have a front loader as well and think this may have some workings into what works best.

A Kabbaz finds that Tide Unscented Original Powder works best http://www.customshirt1.com/ShirtLaundering.html

I have been using Woolite. I haven't settled on this, but it meets my needs for now.

Some of the Organic soaps are great, but I find they don't work well with heavily soiled clothes. This isn't a problem as most of my nicer stuff doesn't get very dirty.

www.nancyboy.com makes a good detergent, but is costly. They also have a good explanation about detergents and damage to clothes.

It might just be mental, but I think a liquid works better with my front loader.

 

[macuser3of5]

I use Arm & Hammer Free and Clear for most everything, and Woolite Dark & Original for 'handwash' stuff. With Woolite I just leave the lid open and let sweaters soak in a soapy bath and pull them out to block dry. You could also try using a nylon lingerie bag for delicate stuff too.

The main thing is to avoid using a machine dryer for nicer stuff, that's where a lot of fading, pilling, and fabric deterioration seems to occur, IME.