I am using a liquid detergent and I use exactly the half of the detergent they say I should use. If a the washing machine requires 1 cup, I do half. Mostly because I don’t trust the company to put me over their interests.
Now, what will happen? Will my clothes end up staying dirty? Will it not remove stains which a full cup would have removed? Will surfexcel kidnap me and torture me for not obeying their commands? Help meeee!!
How much you need depends entirely on the hardness of your water.
If half a serving is enough to get your clothes smelling clean, then you’re using enough.
The detergent goblin takes them, as you haven’t provided the right payment.
Too little and your clothes will be exposed to more friction, causing things to get pulled and rubbed more.
My newer LG with a mobile app once scolded me for using too much.
I always use less detergent and add some vinegar.
If you use too little, it won’t get your clothes as clean. If you use too much, your clothes will come out of the washer still with detergent in them or perhaps you’ll have issues with too much suds leaking out of your washer (or at least out of the tank portion potentially into some of the electronic components.) There’s probably a pretty wide margin of error, though, and you’d have to use a lot too little or a lot too much to see any noticeable difference, though. If you’re happy with the results you’re getting, keep doing what you’re doing. If you feel like doing some experimentation with the amount of detergent you use, hell, everybody needs a hobby.
The first technolgy connections video with the words washing machine in it.
This is a dishwashing machine video, not a clothes washing machine video.
What’s the difference?
You almost can’t use too little detergent, recommended amounts are actually too much and tend to leave residue. You only need 1-2TBSP to properly clean your clothes.
The only harm is using too much. My mother-in-law has ruined multiple washing machines over the years. She doesn’t understand that modern high efficiency machines require very little detergent and proceeds to clog them up with too much.
I literally had to teach my wife how to do laundry correctly when we got married so she wouldn’t ruin the washing machine.
Doesn’t help that people don’t realize that HE detergent doesn’t produce as much suds as conventional detergent.
Another thing is good quality washing machine cleaner/descaler/degreaser
Use it every year, or every six months in hard water areas. Drastically increases the life of your machine, and it’ll keep washing like it did when it was new
That and don’t forget to clean the filter! I do that every month, doesn’t take long and it keeps everything running smoothly.
What brand do you recommend, or style?
The own brand stuff in Lidl is excellent
Any effect should be immediately obvious, shouldn’t it? If your clothes are still dirty after washing, that’s something you can see/smell/feel. Anything else that your average detergent claims to do is luxury.
Persistent smell of sweat doesn’t reappear immediately after washing, it takes a few days. Then you’ll know if you used too little detergent. Could use a vinegar soak or wash (or bleach for whites), because detergents can’t dissolve everything.
Ah, good point. Still something OP can find out by experimenting a bit and adjusting the amount where needed.
Typically one trusts the instructions, but it does depend on the kind and quality of detergent, the quality of the machine, and the amount and types of clothes. I myself just entered an era of having no working machines for two days (on my third and am surviving on a pink hoodie over purple plaid shirt, jeans, and temple garment bra/panties which is my “last life”) because the slots are broken on both home and public machines and do a half-effective job.
Keep in mind that the instructions are written by those who wish to extract money from you.
It’s not like they’re stealing it. They’re just guiding you on how to use detergent.
It’s like saying the people who make microwavable popcorn are extracting money from me because they struggle to take into consideration how the microwave works.
If (hypothetically) they specifically guide you to use more than necessary, thus wasting detergent, theyre making you spend more money on their product, thus extracting money from you.
Microwave popcorn isn’t a reasonable analogue because you don’t “use more product” following their instructions. Maybe hot chocolate is a good example? Every package I’ve bought has suggested using basically 2x as much as I find I need to make a mug of it.
But they’re incentivised to tell you to use more detergent even if you don’t need to, leading you to needlessly spend more money.
