Use powder every time as you get all the technology in it and you control the dose better than with tablets.
Washing with liquid only will cause a build up of foul smelling scum inside the machine over time which can also rot through the aluminum drum spiders, not nice and not cheap to fix, as well as other issues.
You really need two powders or one powder and one liquid which is better as you can then use the liquid to pre-treat if required. The powder IMO should be bio with bleach which you would be using for whites and light colours as you want them bleached. The liquid for colours as it contains no bleach at all, the difference between the non-colour stuff and coloured is some optical brighteners, not a lot really. But liquid is good for heavy stain removal before you wash, just rub some in, leave it for a few minutes and wash as usual.
The whole non-bio thing is just a load of huey, absolute rubbish that it affects skin etc. IMO with absolutely not a scrap of proof to support the notion that it does.
On softener, I really don't like the stuff at all.
If you must use it then personally I'd go for using Bold 2-in1 as that's clay based, so you can use it to wash towelling, it is the ONLY softener that can be used for towels. All other softener is grease based and will repel water, so your towels won't dry properly. If you choose to use other softeners then don't use it on towels or you'll wreck them faster.
If you have to use normal grease based softener then stick with Lenor or Comfort, but don't overdose it or you'll end up with a mouldy soap drawer and quite often big lumps of congealed goo.
Bold is better for any towelling due to that, including nappies. The only thing some people have an issue with on Bold is that it does have a quite heavy perfume, other than that it's actually pretty good. It doesn't have all the technology that's in Ariel, but it isn't far off it, you lose photo-bleach and a couple of other little tricks and that's about it.
If the water is really hard remember to use what the pack says otherwise a lot of the components designed to attack staining will attack the calcium in the water instead, you can't skimp on it if you're in a hard water area.
What they all do is that they have the premium brand, like Persil and Ariel, into which all the technology goes and hence the higher price and then, later, that formula becomes the next Daz, Surf or whatever with a little modification to fit the pricing. In the end, you do get what you pay for.
And a bit on sensitive skin and detergents
It's almost certainly not the detergent that's the problem.
On tests carried out by the manufacturers, several I hasten to add and not just one, they have found that detergent causes a reaction in something like 0.000003% or people. In other words, you've almost got more chance of winning the lottery two weeks on the trot than having a reaction to a detergent and certainly more chance of winning that than this.
The problem is that, due to our ultra-efficient health system, that doctors will tell you to toodle off and try this and that before actually doing what needs done, a skin test. It is only by doing a skin test for allergies that you will find out what the actual problem is. Of course, this costs money and it is therefore cheaper to tell people a load of bunkem and send them packing in full knowledge that there is most likely little or no connection to the suggestions.
However, with kids, the situation gets worse as (I'm sure you know) they go through little phases as they grow so, what affects them this week, may not the next. What I'm saying is that people can often find themselves trying to find a solution while the goalposts are shifting.
I have one employee and several relatives that suffer from severe eczema as well as my own two kids and, I do mean severe in one particular case and we tested this, the detergent made not a jot of difference to them as it's mostly all washed out. In fact, the amount of detergent left on clothing where it is used correctly is minuscule. The person with severe eczema has been using Ariel bio and colour for two years now with no ill effects whatsoever, but there are different eczemas as well remember.
What appears to have a much greater effect is soap and cosmetic products as, in that case, these are going directly onto the skin.
However, certain fabrics can also affect eczema, as can diet, weather and a host of other things. It is entirely bad advice to simply look at laundry detergent as a scapegoat for skin conditions and this is borne out by advice from various renowned medical sources as well as the detergent manufacturers.
My honest advice would be try to see a proper dermatologist and get a proper skin test done so that you know what the problem is and can then act accordingly, otherwise it's just guesswork.
As for the laundry, I know there's this whole thing about water saving etc. but it isn't really much good if people get ill because of it. That's the big change in the past decade, the reduction of water, so clothes aren't washed out as well, especially when people cut corners and use quick washes as they take longer to wash now. The reason being that, to use less water and therefore less energy to heat it, you have to agitate the laundry more to get the results. People won't wait, use a quick wash, use too much detergent for that cycle and, bingo, we have residues.
Always use the correct cycle for the soiling level. If it is clothing that is worn next to the skin it is medium soiled. If it's been used for any sort of activities like sports, it's heavy soiled, neither can use a quick cycle or you will have problems.
If you do have skin issues or you're concerned about it, use any extra rinses that you can. If it's a real concern, when you get a new machine, seek one that has good rinsing abilities.
When you do buy a machine remember that they are not all the same by a long, long way and that the cheaper ones will invariably perform worse. The poorer the performance then obviously the greater chance that the job isn't done right and again, you get problems.
However the overriding advice is, see a dermatologist and get real answers and if they give you static about laundry detergents, by all means refer then to this or the article I posted a while back on the subject as, none of the medical publications that I have found even mention laundry detergents or conditioners as being responsible for any skin irritations whatsoever.
Sorry for the long-winded explanation but it's probably worth it for other mums that may also be concerned about this.
) because it will get clothes clean at low temperatures, it eliminates the need for re-washing as most stains come out first wash, you can measure out exactly what you need and it doesn't create the gloopy build ups like liquid can.
people always seem to worry about the wrong things don't they, I've learnt that a lot since using the nappies.
