Are your fresh clothes feeling sticky? It could be a detergent overdose!
Doing the laundry doesn’t always yield the results we want. When we expect clean, fresh, vibrant clothes from the wash, we might end up with dull, coarse, and stinky fabrics instead. Different laundry day habits can make a significant difference in the outcome of our efforts, and one of these is how much detergent we use per load. Are you using too much laundry detergent? Read on below!
Signs You Are Using Too Much Laundry Detergent
There are several things to look for in your freshly washed clothes to tell if you are using too much laundry detergent or not. First, is there a detergent residue on your clothes? Do they feel soapy or sticky? Alternately, do they feel coarse or scratchy? Thirdly, do your colored clothes look dull and your whites gray? Fourth, does your washing machine smell bad? Simply changing how much detergent you use could solve these problems.
How Much Laundry Detergent to Use
High Efficiency Washers
High Efficiency (HE) washers use much less water than standard washers, and therefore require much less detergent. Even if you use HE detergent, you must take caution to not put in too much of it. The amount you put in will also vary depending on the detergent’s concentration. For a 12-pound load of laundry, one should use:
- 2X detergent: 2 teaspoons
- 4X detergent: 1 teaspoon
- 10X detergent: 0.25 teaspoon
Use less than this amount if your area supplies soft water; if your area has untreated hard water, use about a quarter more per load.
Standard Washers
Meanwhile, standard washers will require more detergent than HE models, since they use almost twice as much water. Even so, standard machines could require less detergent than is directed by the bottle. In fact, you could try using half of the recommended amount. For a 12-pound laundry load, you could use:
- 2X detergent: 2 tablespoons
- 4X detergent: 1 tablespoon
- 10X detergent: 0.25 tablespoon
If you are washing heavily soiled clothes in either an HE or standard washer, it is best to soak them separately before throwing them in the wash.
Contact Landers Appliance Today!
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We service the entire Greater Baltimore Area, including Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard Counties as well as Baltimore City. Call our office before 12:00 pm weekdays at 410-682-3232, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. “We’ll go out of our way to provide you with the best service you’ve ever received.”