- This topic has 10 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I experienced a lot of suds in my Ariston washing machine and was told by their service department that I was using too much detergent. I told them I was using only 2 tablets per wash and they said, ” The detergent manufacturer quote 2 so we will use more of their product. One will be sufficient.” The tablets used were Ariel ones.
Is there any truth in this?Thank you.
Re: how many tablets?
In a word, no. Unless you live in a soft water area, in which case I’d advise using powder so that you can control the dose better.
That was probably the quickest way to get you off the phone, either that or they just don’t know.
K.
Re: how many tablets?
I use Ariel tablets, both Normal and Colour. The water is very soft in this area and one tablet is more than adequate. I even break the tablet in half for smaller loads.
Had to change a badly corroded drum support on a Hotpoint machine today. Customer uses Ariel ( 2 tablets) and 40° washes, so much for the Ariel ‘Turn to 30°’ campaign. :rolls:
I prefer tablets to powder because most of the general public is in such a rush they throw powder and fabric conditioner all over the place, tablets avoid the problems of sticking, gunged up dispenser drawers and corroded door hinges caused by powder being split eveywhere.
Jim.
Re: how many tablets?
We have very hard water here (276mg/l CaCO3) and using too much detergent is the biggest source of scum build-up…blocked pressure systems, filter housings and hoses. Lots of work for us of course, but it’s more noticeable with customers who use powder…they’re just used to tipping the stuff in without any regard for the actual dose.
We recommend tablets but only one in a wash unless it’s a heavy soiled wash with gardening clothes or football kit etc.
It seems to me that the detergent manufacturers haven’t kept pace with machine development in as much as they don’t seem to have adjusted the dose requirements they state on the packaging for years now despite the fact that machines use far less water than they used too.
Of course the cynic in me would suggest that they are unlikely to recommend people use/buy less of their product? 😉
Re: how many tablets?
Hi Clive,
It won’t be the detergent that’s the problem I shouldn’t think if the proper type is being used. The build up of “scum” is actually far more liable to be bacteria from using liquid detergents.
Using too much will cause residues on clothing, excessive foam, bleaching etc. as in the laundry guide, but it won’t cause that sort of build up.
There are three factors that determine the detergent dose, water quantity is not one of them. They are:
- Water hardness
Soiling level
Quantity of laundryAnd, trust me, all the major detergent manufacturers are fully aware of how a modern machine works in terms of performance with their products and they are extremely well tested with a range of washing machines.
The reduction in water has had an effect on wash times especially, but it does not affect the quantity of detergent required to clean.
K.
Re: how many tablets?
kwatt wrote:
The reduction in water has had an effect on wash times especially, but it does not affect the quantity of detergent required to clean.K.
Intuitively that doesn’t seem to make sense Ken? I would assume that for optimum cleaning you would require an optimum concentration of detergent in the solution and therefore less water for the same dose means a higher concentration?
The scum we find down here is grey coloured and very much like clay varying from soft and slimy to almost rock hard, even in machines where high temperature washes are done regularly (so no bacteria here) and the quantity seems to correlate directly to the amount of detergent used i.e. the correct dose and very little is found, overdosing producing copious amounts.
My own machine is a venerable Zanussi FL series which are known to block with scum but with careful dosing (currently 1 tablet) has never accumulated any amount of scum. The only problem is the filter unless cleaned regularly (at least once a year 😀 ) becomes ‘concreted’ in and almost impossible to withdraw. 😯
Re: how many tablets?
No, I’d agree that on the face of it, it isn’t obvious as the natural assumption to make is that if you lower the water level you lower the detergent dose. But, I’m afraid, it simply isn’t so and that is 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} fact.
The trouble is that the level of soiling, which the detergent is there to remove as well as possible, has not changed and it certainly hasn’t reduced by 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} so, if you reduce the dose by 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} you also reduce the ability to clean by 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}. Where you have hard water, by doing this, what happens is that instead of the builders that are intended to attack the calcification in the water doing the job, because they are reduced in number, the other components try to compensate attacking the calcification instead of the actual staining so, reduced wash performance.
I suspect very strongly that what you have there is bacteriological build up in the grey gunk (I’d almost guarantee that’s what it is) and, that is also what we get here in a very soft water area where liquids or non-bleach containing detergents are used over a period of time without a maintenance wash. However it is even more vital in a hard water area that the dose is correct as you need enough builders in there to attack the calcium in the water, it is absolutely vital if you want decent results.
The problem is, as I have said many times in many places, that to see any poor results to the naked eye the only way that you can do that is by something like a ten wash back-to-back comparison. You won’t notice the “greying” or discolourations over one or two washes so people try it once or twice and think, “oh that looks okay, we can just use…” whatever and blindly soldier on. It’s only months down the road, when the machine start to stink or some white t-shirt looks “done” prematurely that people start to then assume that something is wrong with the washer normally as it could never be the detergent or the way that they are using the machine with detergent. 😉
K.
Re: how many tablets?
I think I’ve opened a can of worms here!!! Thank you all for your comments and advice. As I live in a soft water area,I think I’ll stick to one tablet. So is the same dosage needed for a maintenance wash then?
On my previous thread I said I was getting white marks on dark items (especially on black t-shirts). Any advice on this? I usually wash at 40C unless needed otherwise.
Thanks again for your help. Carol.Re: how many tablets?
Not at all Carol, the subject comes up every so often and it’s good as the technologies do change.
Whit marks will be residues, explained here and it’s overloading in 99.99{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of cases I’m afraid. So you’re problem very likely isn’t detergent related really, but overloading that’s the problem. Loads of people do it.
There’s a quick guide on using detergent correctly here but note the instructions on loading there as well as in this article. Hopefully that will shed some light on it for you and solve the problem.
K.
Re: how many tablets?
Thank you, Kwatt.
I think I’m okay now. Just one last question. Could I use 2 tablets on a maintenance wash as the machine is empty or would I still get problems?Carol.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.