Kyle says:

September 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Check out http://charliesoap.com, I have been using it for the last 5 years with good results.

T.C. says:

September 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm

We have been buying an HE unscented product (”KIND”) locally (pearsondistributing.com). They sell a product from a small canadian company called Winning Brands. Don’t know much else about either company, but the product works well.

Jim Johanson says:

September 2nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm

You do not need a special product to wash clothes in a front loading washer. I don’t have a front loader at home, but I do lots of laundry while traveling. I look for Wascomat front loaders set to do 2 washes & 3 rinses. For the 18 pound washers (W73, 74, 75) all it takes is 1/8 cup soap powder in each soap box on the machine. I use standard unscented Tide. For home front loaders, most are slightly smaller. You should not be using more than 1/8 cup of soap powder for a wash; if your water is softened–use even less soap. Suds DO NOT clean clothes–detergent assists the WATER in cleaning clothes.

Jason Laube says:

September 2nd, 2008 at 2:58 pm

There is a reason why there isn’t powdered unscented HE detergent, it doesn’t work well in HE washers.

Although most HE washers have instructions to run powdered HE product it is not recommended on any machine I have seen or owned.

This is due to the fact the detergent is initially isolated from the clothing…it is then slowly mixed with water and added to the wash cycle strategically to maximize effectiveness/efficiency.
Powdered detergents do not mix properly with the design of most, if not all HE machines. In fact most HE machines require you to mix in water to the detergent tray when using powder to pre-dissolve the product.

If you need an unscented HE detergent for a good deal head over to Costco where they sell a liquid ‘free and clear’ HE detergent by their generic line for much less than I’ve found it anywhere else. Don’t try to get powder to work…you’ll waste your time and money and clog the detergent dispensing mechanism of your expensive front load washing machine.

Jason Laube says:

September 2nd, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Oh and I forgot to mention…if you want to prevent mold and mildew keep the door open after your wash cycle…it is as simple as that.

Some of the newer machines are designed to air out the machine when not in use…so you may not need to do this.

Hydrogen Peroxide seems to work better than bleach for cleaning an HE machine of mold and mildew (or you can use the more expensive Oxiclean which is essentially Hydrogen Peroxide). Although I wouldn’t use Hydrogen Peroxide as a detergent as it is unpredictable.