BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cleaning Best detergent?

What detergent would you all recommend, that leaves clothe smelling fresh? With so many choices out there I want to know what is really effective!

I used to use 'Surf' for husband's work clothes but it got bought out by 'All' and they combined and I didn't like it as much, then I just coudn't find it anywhere.
But I now like the 'Gain' varieties--especially the one with Baking Soda added--for all my laundry. It smells so good! I love it on the towels and sheets! The ultra formulas work well and do not take much liquid for a whole load--about half a cap. It does a great job on dirt and stains too.

Ravyn

I have been a Tide fan for years.I have never had a problem with stains,etc at all.

I have no idea why the reply I posted a few hours ago is not here, but in case it never shows up...I said that I used to use 'Surf' for the stinky work clothes and it did a great job but they changed it and now I can't find it anywhere so I am using 'Gain'. I like the one with Baking Soda especially but have tried a few other formulas too--the scents are very fresh and pleasant--really nice on the towels and sheets!

Ravyn

We're at the stage in life that our laundry isn't stained, dirty, etc; it just needs to be freshened. So the 'cheap' stuff works go enough. But for the fresh scent - in the entire house on laudry day and in the closet for long term - I use one of the DOWNY scents. Can't be beat.

Actually, if you can smell your detergent it's because it's not washing out of your laundry. I find the best way to create a nice smell while actually getting the soap out of my clothes is to use a fabric softener sheet in the dryer.

Otherwise, Tide with Bleach Alternative is really great for really dirty clothes. I've never found one that good on actual STAINS without pre-treatment of some sort--but Tide w/BA comes closest.

Is your statement - the smell in your clothing comes from the detergent that was not rinsed out - also true of the fabric softener that I mentioned? I so much prefer softener in the washer instead of sheets in the dryer, I don't know if I could or would change. Does this residue damage the fabrics?

It may or may not damage or break down the fabric over time--make it pill easier or whatever. Hard to say for sure. It's most important for people with skin sensitivities.

Fabric softener (all kinds) creates a coating on your fabric--so it is, by design, meant to stay on there. For this reason, many people don't use fabric softener on things that are meant to be absorbent, like cloth diapers or towels.

I like using All Small & Mighty. I had tried an off brand, but my 16 year old son complained that it left a residue on his clothes and sheets that irritated his skin. So I got rid of the rest of that and went back to All. Some things you can get by with buying cheaper brands. Laundry is not one of them. I also use Bounce fabric softener. I tried Downy, but didn't like the feel of that either, or honestly, the scent.

Sometimes it seems like I use a detergent for awhile and then it stops working. I used Cheer, but then for some reason when the clothes were drying, I noticed a not quite clean smell, when I was drying my active childs clothes. So I switched to Tide (neither one of them are particulary cheap by the way) now I'm starting to notice that smell again. I'm trying to decide if its my washer, the dryer or the detergent...Any thoughts?