[ShannonMVT]

My old washing machine (which we inherited with the house and was over 10 years old) stopped working well so we just got a new LG front loader!

With my old one I always used Planet powdered detergent (for cloth and regular clothes) which is not HE. It seemed to work and I don't think that's why the washer got messed up (we think it was electrical, it would spin but wouldn't spin fast enough to spin the water out). Anyway, is it a bad idea to use this washer with non-HE detergent or does it really matter (I use about half the amount of regular detergent)? If you think it matters what detergent would you recommend (both cloth and regular clothes)? I am willing to try a new wash routine for my cloth.

I need to figure out if I need to dash to the store b/c I have like 80 bajillion load of laundry to do!

[*krista*]

I have never tried to use regular detergent, but I don't think it is a good idea. With the HE kind you should really only use about half of what it calls for (especially if you get a name brand like Tide). It is easy to use way too much detergent.

Obviously I don't know much about washing CDs in it, but I got the Tide Free HE for my CDs (in the white bottle). Haven't used it yet though.

[Urchin]

I think the issue with regular soaps is that they can gunk up the machine. (I also have a LG front load)

I have used tide, but I am sensitive to scents so I really like the scent-free Purex HE and I use borax.

I do find that some of the grocery stores are really limited with what they offer for HE soaps. It's a pain!

[MissusF]

Popping in from WTTC

I used up my bottle of non-HE detergent when we got our front loader a few months ago. The only issue I ever had was when I washed a giant dog bed which was probably too large to fit in the machine anyway. The machine cut off and gave me a "suds" warning on the screen. I could see through the glass that there was a ton of suds inside so I turned it to a rinse cycle to wash out the exess soap and then washed it again with no problems. When the bottle was gone I started buying HE Tide.

According to my manual you aren't supposed to use regular detergent because it creates too much suds and and since the HE washers don't use much water it can clog them up and inhibit thorough rinsing. I would say as long as you're really limiting the ammount of soap you use it would probably be ok to use up the detergent you have remaining and then switch to HE.

[Chelnae6]

I wouldnt use non-HE detergent for a HE washer. I've only used HE detergent (Tide and All F&C)

[ShannonMVT]

Thanks, I went and bought some Tide HE yesterday. The scent is kinda irritating me though so I may go get some Tide HE Free. Just not sure how it's going to work on the cloth. I'd love to use a more natural detergent but most of them say they are for both conventional and HE machines (you just use less of it for the HE) and from what I've been reading you can't just use less, so I'm concerned those detergents are not really formulated for HE.

[*krista*]

I found with the Tide HE you really have to use less. It is way easy to use too much with Tide. When I first got it I used it as indicated on the bottle and you could tell it didn't all rinse out because my clothes had a seriously overpowering soapy smell. I go with at the most half of what the HE bottle says to use, and usually do an extra rinse just to make sure.

It is hard to get used to when you are coming from using non-HE detergent... I was always wondering if that little amount was really going to get my clothes clean, but it did!

[ShannonMVT]

Thanks Krista! I will try cutting back the amount. I thought I was using very little but maybe it's still too much. I'm going to try the HE free as well.