Liquid laundry detergent: which is better to choose?

Liquid detergents in our country today are not very popular. First of all, this is due to their high cost and insufficient amount of objective information about them. After all, most of it is of an advertising nature. Therefore, most housewives are wary of this achievement of the modern chemical industry. Those who decide to try this new product are wondering: which liquid detergent is best for washing and why?

Before answering, it’s important to understand the “theory”: what these products are made of, how they work, what they are intended for, why they are better or worse than conventional bulk powders.

What does a detergent start with?

The quality of washing directly depends on those substances that are part of the detergent. The absence of some or the presence of other substances, as well as their quantity, decide for us what will be washed and how, even before things are put into the machine and a certain washing mode is started.

The composition of liquid detergents includes the following components.

• Surfactants. Provide uniform wetting of contaminated items with a washing solution, do not allow dirt to re-settle on the item in the washing process.
• Phosphates They soften water, enhancing the action of surfactants, providing protection of the machine spiral from scale. Gives washed items softness. However, they are considered environmentally friendly. It is better if zeolites are used instead.
• Enzymes Biologically active substances that perform various functions to combat dirt (removal of protein, starch, grease contaminants), as well as preserving color and preventing the formation of spools.
• Optical brighteners. In fact, they do not affect the quality of washing and bleaching of fabrics, but only create the illusion of whiteness due to the fact that bleach particles adhere to the fabric without rinsing, and then reflect the color in blue and blue, creating the appearance of bleaching.
• Fragrances. Only affect the aroma that products receive after washing. They can both attract and repel consumers, depending on their preferences.
• Polymers Do not allow fabrics to fade, retain color.
• Defoamers. Prevent excessive foaming during machine wash.
• Stabilizers (ballasts). Supports the work of enzymes.

This information may help you choose a specific detergent. About this - a little later.

Why is liquid powder better or worse than usual?

The answer to this question also largely explains the low popularity of liquid “powders,” because liquid detergents have a number of significant drawbacks.

• First of all, they cope much worse with severe contaminants, especially fatty and oily ones, including with traces of human ingestion.
• Relative to conventional powders are much more expensive (it is difficult to introduce cheap components into the composition of a liquid product).
• They have a fairly short shelf life.
• Do not contain components that protect the machine from scale.
• In terms of price and quality, they lose significantly to bulk powders.

It is clear that the first factor is decisive: no one wants to buy a product that can not cope with pollution. Then why come up with liquid "powders"? Just for the sake of another publicity stunt? Of course not. There are situations when it is more appropriate to use a liquid. And here it is time to say a few words about the undoubted merits.

• Such funds gently affect the fabric, which is especially important for delicate and delicate materials.
• They have a convenient way of dosing.
• Economic expense.
• It dissolves well in water and rinses out, which saves from ugly whitish stains.
• Do not get into the respiratory tract (or on food and the surface of the table if the washing machine is in the kitchen), which reduces the risk of allergic reactions.
• Do not require the use of fabric softeners.
• It is convenient to store the plastic twisting container.

What is a liquid remedy for?

Before deciding which liquid product to purchase, it is important to determine exactly what it should be used for and whether this purchase would be appropriate.

So, in what cases is liquid preferable?

• Washing lightly soiled linen (bedding sets can also be included here, since they are often changed often and, apart from the fumes of our body, they do not get dirty). For such cases, modern washing machines have special modes (“quick wash”, “daily wash”, “new things”, “refresh”, etc.);
• Washing colored items, since liquid powders and gels contain substances that prevent color loss and “molting”.
• Mixed washing of things from different types of fabrics, different colors - usually this is a mode of 30-40 degrees.
• Wash delicate and delicate linen (transparent, lace fabrics, with a delicate texture).
• Wash silk and wool. In addition to the gentle fiber action, detergents prevent the formation of spools.

These detergents can be washed both in the machine and manually. At the same time, it is recommended that the inviscid agent be poured into the dry powder compartment, and thick, concentrated - directly into the drum, onto the laundry (from the powder compartment, the viscous agent will not be washed off).

Tip

If you pour washing gels into the dry powder compartment, there is a risk that the product will be washed out from there gradually, during the entire washing process, including at the rinse stage - and this will affect its quality. Therefore, it is better to pour any liquid directly into the drum.

What is the best remedy?

It is clear that if you decide on such a specific purchase, then it should be the best - every housewife thinks so. However, it is very difficult to say exactly which liquid detergent is the “most-most” for everyone. Because every housewife:

• your preferences in aromas;
• own budget;
• your family wardrobe, characterized by fiber composition and colors;
• its composition of the family, which determines the quantity and quality of pollution (small children, a husband working in dirty production, etc.).

Therefore, each housewife must select a washing liquid based on their specific needs. However, it is worth remembering that there are times when you really need to choose a tool that is better in a particular case. Here we need to recall the composition of such "powders" given at the beginning of the article.

• For white things, gels containing active oxygen are preferred rather than optical brighteners.
• For washing colored laundry, products containing polymers (responsible for preserving color and color depth) are ideal.
• For children's clothing you need the most delicate composition. In such a liquid there should be no bleaches, enzymes, zeolites, synthetic fragrances: all this for delicate baby skin is strong irritants. A composition based on baby soap is preferred.
• Wool and silk are fibers of animal origin (specifically protein compounds), therefore, the composition of their products should not contain substances that destroy protein. And these are many types of enzymes.

Therefore, deciding to buy a detergent in liquid form, it is important for housewives to remember that the best one will be suitable for each particular case. Ideally, there should be several such tools. Unless, of course, this allows the family budget.