<p>I am in love with the Tide pods. When I buy them in big quantities they really save me money, even from using cheap detergents. </p>
<p>This is why: My kids and my DH are prone to use way too much detergent in a load (overflowing the cap or using a cap and a half). The Pods are portion controlled so no more waste. And I can see exactly how many loads we have left in a container (unlike when I was using liquids and I often found out when I went to do a load and discovered the empty bottle someone else left) so I can plan ahead and find a good deal. Using the Tide Pods (when purchased on sale and with a coupon) I can generally get in at under 20 cents a load. </p>
<p>Coupons.com has a coupon to print for $2 off of Tide pods right now. This is the best coupon I have seen so if you are wanting to give them a try this would be a good time.</p>
<p>My DD’s use them at school too. Less mess and lighter.</p>
<p>I use Trader Joe’s liquid HE laundry soap. It is hypoallergenic & fragrance-free; members of my family with sensitive skin do not have problems with it. They had problems with almost every other laundry soap I tried. For whites, I add a scoop of Oxyclean, which I purchase in bulk at COSTCO. It really does boost the whitening power of the detergent.</p>
<p>I also endorse the pods. Costco has their Kirkland brand in them now as mentioned and Consumer Reports gives them excellent ratings. This prevents using too much laundry detergent, which not only is not good on your clothes, it is not good on your machine. If you use a front load machine, get HE only detergent, not the one that says it can be used for top load or front load machines. Even with HE liquid detergent, you only need to fill your dispenser about half-full to get optimum results, making sure you do NOT over-stuff your machine with clothes!</p>
<p>I use free and clear, usually tide but sometimes all.
I really like Method, but it’s expensive. You pump it, and it’s highly concentrated, so could work with the saving money by using less idea.
I always use liquid.</p>
<p>I have always used Cheer. There is a no scent version I use with delicate under things. There used to be a Cheer Dark, but cannot find it now. Tide makes me break out into welts. Cheer can be more difficult to find.</p>
<p>Like many others here, I use All free & clear - always less than recommended. We bought a new dishwasher last year and the sales person recommended that we buy powdered soap and use very little. I use about 2 tsps - very pleased with the results!</p>
<p>^Personally, I will revert to the liquid stuff out of the container since most front loaders will automatically set the water level LESS for a small load and you would not want as much detergent.</p>
<p>As the mom of two active teenage boys, Tide Sport with Febreze is my all-time favorite. I used to buy whatever detergent was on sale, but now I buy Tide Sport no matter what. The laundry comes out super clean and smells great!</p>
<p>1) I use Gain, which is made by the same company that makes Tide. In general, all technology advances that are in Tide make their way to Gain, but a couple of years later. Gain is much more reasonably priced, however, and I don’t have incredibly horrible laundry problems, so I don’t mind the compromise.</p>
<p>2) Shirt collars - pretreating definitely makes a difference, but you have to put some elbow grease into it! I keep an old toothbrush with my laundry stuff for this purpose. I spray liquid Shout on the collar, but you could just dribble a small amount of your liquid detergent (perhaps mixed with some water). Then I scrub the collar with the toothbrush, before putting into the washing machine with the rest of the load. Works great! In general, pretreating stains this way is more effective than just spraying them with detergent and dumping them in the machine.</p>
<p>I tend to use powder (seems like less packaging waste) for warm washes, liquid for cold. We like unscented - Tide, All or A&H. If I had to go to the laundrymat, I’d definitely use single-use tablets. </p>
<p>Fun story from senior year of college. My apartment was not handy to laundrymat. Somehow I learned that a prof’s nice wife had a “business” (actually more of a charity) doing laundry. I left it divided by loads in grocery bags, with $1 in each bag, on the fron porch. (That is less than it cost to use the laundrymat machines). The bags were magically returned with folded clean wash. Rumor had it that she’d fix a loose button too if she saw it.</p>