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I know this has been discussed a lot on these boards. I tried a lot of the remedies suggested but nothing really worked to eliminate the problem for me.

Till now!

First, let me say that I do not have one of the new HE washers, When my problem began, I had an old washer. last fall I bought a new one. It is supposed to be like the old regular washers, but the salesman said it is more like a hybrid of the old ones and the HE ones.

I still had the problem with the new washer.

Remeber a month or more back when I was asking for help on cleaning stored baby clothes? I ended up using Tide w/bleach-powdered, and oxyclean and the baby clothes came out like new.

So I decided the other day since I had some leftover that I would try it on the towels and washcloths. No soaking, no hot water, I just washed them in the normal amount of soap and oxyclean- they came out smelling nice again- no more sour smell! I've been washing them that way ever since and they now smell nice and the sour odor is cmpletely gone!

Also, I had been having problems with shirts getting stains on the front- DH and my everyday things- and they weren't coming clean even when I pre treated them. - tried some Tide and oxyclean and now they are nice and clean!

When my kids were growing up I always used Tide for our clothes and never had a problem with stains. When they got grown and gone I switched to less expensive soap- Arm & hammer. And sometimes Gain. This is when the staining and odor became a problem.

I'm using up the bottle of A&H I have now and from now on, I will be using Tide and oxyclean on all my laundry!

Ever since DH retired 5 years ago, I've been thinking of saving some money on detergent since I no longer have grimy work clothes to deal with. I HATE spending so much on detergent, but have continued to pay the price for Tide. You've confirmed my resolve to keep buying it for as long as I have the funds to do so.

I'm still dealing with food stains, though, that simple laundering doesn't get out. DH has hand tremors, so he drops a lot of food on his shirts. And my clothes get food stained from cooking. I started making my own pre-treater years ago when I found that Spray and Wash and Shout just don't work that well.
I mix 1 cup of heavy duty ammonia and 1 full capful of liquid Tide into 1 gallon of water and put some in a spray bottle. It removes most food stains if sprayed on and worked into the fabric just before regular laundering. It's particularly good for color stains such as tomato, coffee, and chocolate. It's moderately good for light grease stains; but heavier grease stains are better removed with an application of Goo Gone before washing in warm-hot water.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nettiejay,

Because of the cost I have never bought Tide but have been reading articles about stores experiencing theft of Tide and shipments of Tide being hi jacked (a grime wave). Crazy stuff. Since I only have myself to do laundry for though, I am thinking of "investing" in a jug of it. ;-)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MyLifeVacation1,

I can definitely say after my experience, it is worth the extra cost. It really does clean better. Even gain is a higher priced soap and yet it does not out perform the lower priced soaps- it just smells better!

LOL... Gain's scent seems to be a love/hate kinda deal. My DD bought a jug and couldn't STAND the smell. She gave it to me, but I couldn't stand it either. Thought I'd keep it around just to wash things like throw rugs and cleaning rags. But the smell is overpoweringly strong. That bottle of Gain sat around here for literally years while I tried to think of a use for it. Finally, DD found a use for it, so I passed it back again. She's cleaning out her closets of old clothes and washing them with the Gain before she donates them.

LOL. Many people these days seem to want heavy perfumed laundry soaps and fabric softners.I prefer a light clean scent that isn't overpowering.

I do like Gain Apple mango Tango scent. But i don't care much for the regular scent.

Grandma's Spot Remover is excellent. Get it with a coupon from JoAnn's. Not sure Michael's or A. C. Moore have it.

The reason most detergents & dishwasher soaps don't clean like they used to is because they have removed the phosphate from them.

I make my own laundry detergent & just started making my own dishwasher detg. also...I add phosphate back into them. They clean just fine and there are no heavy fragrances! And both DH & I get really dirty, lots of work outside plus he does some construction type work & mechanical. My laundry detergent even gets out the smell of diesel which commercial detergents don't do.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,

You are so right about them taking the phosphate out.
DD found and bought an entire case of commercial Cascade off the internet. Commercial machines can still use the phosphate. Wonder if there is a site/source for commercial laundry detergent?

I too add a bit of TSP to the dishwasher and some laundry loads.

Karen, where and how do we find phosphate? How much do you add to how much? not familiar with it as a product. My friend has noticed the difference in her dishwasher also.No phosphate, not as clean dishes.

Check the hand towel thread- they were discussing the phosphate there.

so are you saying tsp is phosphate you would use in your washer on clothing? My memory says not to breathe in the powder fumes from it when using for washing walls etc. Now I am confused.
And if it is safe, how much to use in washer?