Liquid / Powder / Eco / Non-bio: now I'm confused?!

I've been using cloth nappies for years and always thought I'd been doing the right thing not using fabric conditioner but it turns out there's loads of other faux pas I was committing by using liquid detergent!

So, explain this to me, if both powder and liquid mix up with water to create a diluted soap, what difference does it make if they start off as powder or liquid? Surely they both dissolve into the water? Tell me the science behind this theory.

And someone just mentioned to me that Ecover is not so good. I'd been finding it great for the clothes and nappies so far (we're one bottle in, but have used the powder in the past). I think that it was better for my daughter's skin than the Supermarket non-bio.

Over the years I've tried supermarket non-bio, Ecover powder and liquid, Simply tabs, Bold 2in1, Ecoegg....

These days we do a pre-wash and then put the detergent in the drawer for the main wash. I was finding my nappies weren't coming out clean enough otherwise, despite it being a longer wash than I would like.

Honestly I think it's personal preference. I use powder because liquids made my machine smelly and mouldy but they seemed to wash the clothes fine. I used to use bio as I found it got them cleaner but I can't use bio now so use persil non bio.
I put the nappies on a cold rinse before a normal wash cycle at 40 or 60. This tends to keep the smells at bay

As sunset says it's personal. Years ago I did a lot of research the result of which I know:
Use Ariel bio powder. Most stains are biological so using bio is most effective
I run a hot maintainence wash on my machine regularly
When I washed nappies I included an extra rinse and a pre wash into the programme, better to wash them properly first time than having to do it again!
Apparently the rinsing is often the issue when people have skin issues

I have found powders better than liquid but my mum would strongly disagree so I'm sure it's largely personal and probably depends on your machine too.
I started using ecover powder but then read that dirt can sometimes get redeposited back onto clothes / nappies which has put me off, has anyone else read or found this.
I also thought bio, even though great for cleaning any biological dirt (which of course is nappies through and through) might also slowly 'eat away' the hemp or bamboo as these are natural fabrics?? DH recently picked up bio by mistake so have been using for couple weeks and I must say nappies have been beautifully clean even before sunning but am I slowly damaging them?

[clothmama]

The UK is (I think) the only country that even has 'non-bio' and I'm pretty sure the rest of us haven't killed our nappies I have always used bio with great success, never really had staining issues at all

So, explain this to me, if both powder and liquid mix up with water to create a diluted soap, what difference does it make if they start off as powder or liquid? Surely they both dissolve into the water? Tell me the science behind this theory.

I'll try to find the link to it, we had a huge thread about this years ago. Apparently liquid forms a lot more scum which coats the internals of your machine (not good) and also causes build up much worse on nappies requiring more stripping etc. If I can find the thread it has a link to a washing machine repair man who explains why not to use liquid from someone who intimately knows what happens to the inside of your machine!!

This is a never-ending piece of research it would seem and - as most of you point out - it's also personal preference.

This Mumsnet chat talks about the non-bio / bio argument. It sounds like bio is great for manmade fabrics and getting stains out, but non-bio better for 'protein based fabrics' like wool and silk (though not sure about cotton, bamboo, hemp - think these are plant based unlike wool and silk)

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/good_housekeeping/a1485586-Bio-vs-non-bio

Am going to do a soda crystal hot wash on an empty machine anyway! Frankly, my machine is quite old and has been scummy for a while - not sure the type of detergent will make a different to that. Just need to buy a new one!

I realise this thread is a bit old, but just wanted to add that teh reason 'bio' washing powder is not necessarily the best thing for nappies is cellulase. Anything that contains cellulase has the potential to eat natural fibres, apparently bamboo is especially susceptible.
No relevant here as every bio i've ever tried makes my skin peel off, but jus' sayin'