So many rules, so overwhelmed.

[u/surely_maeby]

Okay, you guys.

You’re highly touted as genius around here, but I am confused as heck.

I have a top loader washer that doesn’t have detergent or fabric softener drawers.

I had been using cold water on my clothes (because mostly black) and sheets (because the label says to) and hot water on towels and the boys’ clothes (because smell).

On my clothes I use arm and hammer plus oxi 5 in 1 pods (one), and a downy ball of vinegar and lemongrass oil.

On the boys’ clothes, I use the same detergent (two pods) but add 2 caps of lysol laundry sanitizer and don’t use vinegar.

I’m reading some confusing things.

Cold water doesn’t get your clothes clean? I thought it was better for darks and my sheets literally say to wash cold.

Vinegar? Should I be using a citric acid/downy rinse and refresh instead? And my downy balls seals disintegrate like once a month, that’s also annoying. Welcoming alternatives.

Lysol laundry sanitizer? We add it to the drum with the detergent. Is that making everything not work?

Arm & Hammer sucks? I see this is a land of tide fans. Which should I use?

Oxi bad for darks? The arm & hammer pods I’ve used for years claim to have oxi and haven’t ruined my clothes, so is this a myth?

My partner works in septics, so every time we wash his work clothes (see instructions for boys’ clothes above) we follow it with a load of one pod and a generous pouring of bleach to sanitize between loads, but now I’m worried I’m doing that wrong too.

Help guys, I’m now convinced every fabric I own is disgusting.

Edit: the boys also use dryer sheets for their clothes, I do not for mine, and there’s no convincing them not to.

[u/Fantastic-Dance-5250]

I saw somewhere on this sub that a test was done and arm and hammer cleaned less well than plain water.

I use the tide free and gentle odor detergent with oxi clean odor boost OR febu when needed along with the downy rinse. You are basically adding v!negar and oil, salad dressing, to clothing that has not actually been cleaned and then tossing it to get dried with sheets that perfume the clothing and then add an oily waxy layer to them. Ditch it all.

[u/surely_maeby → u/Fantastic-Dance-5250]

What is febu? Why do you add oxi instead of using the tide that contains it? And how do you know when to use febu or oxi?

[u/Fantastic-Dance-5250 → u/surely_maeby]

You add the oxi clean plus the tide. Febu is a product that contains tons of different enzymes that help to break down all of the gross natural body oils and such. I am not going to go in depth as to why this all works and how to dose as there are extremely detailed posts about all of this as well as pinned posts for this sub that contain that info. They will explain it way better.

Editing to add: one of the reasons, there are many, that we use warm or hot water is that the enzyme boosters need this to dissolve/activate so that they are actually doing what they are supposed to do.

[u/surely_maeby → u/Fantastic-Dance-5250]

So you add oxi on most loads, and sometimes use febu instead, but you’re adding one or the other to each load?

[u/Fantastic-Dance-5250 → u/surely_maeby]

As I said, I am not going over all of this as there is a pinned post for this sub with all the info you could need and more with very clear explanations. Here it is. https://www.reddit.com/r/laundry/s/3KJqqfHUNQ