Households are being told to ditch or at least significantly reduce their reliance on washing powder detergent when they’re washing clothes.
It’s tempting when setting off the washing machine to just pile heaps of washing powder into the drawer and hope for the best, but according to laundry experts, this is the wrong approach and in some cases, you don’t actually need any washing powder detergent at all.
Chris Kennedy from Taunton Leisure has advised households going into the cold winter months that if you’re washing waterproof jackets, you must do this without detergent.
This is because washing powder strips the water repelling properties from waterproof clothes and can cause issues with other garments too.
He said: “All waterproof clothing is treated with a water-repellent coating, but this will wear off over time.
“If your jacket starts to wet out (where water no longer rolls off the surface), it’s time to apply a re-proofing treatment to keep the jacket performing like new.”
Chris also shares the following advice for re-waterproofing a jacket effectively: “Wash the jacket first: Waterproofing treatments won’t work on dirty fabrics. For wash-in treatments, avoid turning the jacket inside out: This will affect how the waterproofing works. Wash items separately. Avoid using detergent and fabric softener: These can interfere with the water repellent coating.”
But others have gone one step further and started cutting down on washing powder for all types of clothing, not just jackets.
Homes and Gardens.com explains: “I had always heard that clothes and linens should be super soft after every wash so I was a little confused as to why my clothes were always stiff or scratchy when they came out of the wash.
“I had been adding more and more detergent and softener each time to try and soften my clothes – little did I know this was only making the problem worse and it made my laundry room smell damp.
“While detergent does get dirt and grime out of your clothes and shifts odors, using too much was creating a horrible build-up of soap suds that I could not shift – probably because I was trying to fix the problem with the very thing that was causing it.
“How much detergent you need to use will depend on your washing machine and the type and size of your laundry load. As a general rule of thumb, however, use approximately one to two tablespoons of detergent per load, reducing this if you was only washing a few things or something that is not heavily soiled and simply needs a freshen-up.”
