Monday, March 22, 2010

Are you using too much Laundry Soap??



Did you know that you could be hurting your appliances and your clothing by using too much?  Not to mention, you could, literally, be pouring money down the drain.  I certainly hadn't really given it a second thought, until my Hubs told me all about it.  He's been researching this topic and found out some great info that I thought was worth sharing.

The #1 sin, according to repair people and appliance experts, is, adding too much soap.  Most of us don't think we use too much soap, but, apparently, we are all in denial.  Washing machines are made to use far less water now, than their older counterparts, and therefore, need less soap.  At the same time, detergents have also become extremely concentrated----a little goes a long way!  Following instructions on your soap container is a good first step, but, it's been shown that you usually only need to use one-eighth to one-half of what is recommended.  That's a big difference!!

And suds.  Do you see suds?  Well, according to our research---you shouldn't.  Suds means you're using A LOT of extra detergent.  Here's a test to see if you're over-sudsing:

  1. Throw 2-3 clean bath towels in the washing machine

  2. Don't add any detergent

  3. Switch to the hot water setting and medium wash and run it for about 5 minutes

  4. Check for soap suds

  5. If you don't see any suds right away, turn off the machine and check for soap residue

  6. If you see suds or residue, it is soap coming out from the previous washes!!

  7. Run your towels as many times is needed to get all the soap out


I have to admit-----we did this, and it turns out we had the makings of a major bubble bath in there.  Suds, suds everywhere!!  It took numerous cycles with the towels to get all the soap out!  Yikes, I had no idea.  But, once you get all those pesky suds out, folks, you can breathe a sweet sigh of relief and start your laundry washing adventures anew!!

Save your machine, save your clothes and save your money!!!

2 comments:

  1. I was fascinated by this post and couldn't wait to give it a try. Then, I was apalled at the amount of sudsiness that came out of the towels. Ack! Lesson learned and maybe a few dollars saved. Thanks, may I use the info and link back to you?

    j
    p.s. I'm Lindsay's mum.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Joanne!! Thanks for visiting my blog! Of course you can use the info....go right ahead!! :-)

    ReplyDelete