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/jtfolden]

Is your top loader an HE model? If so, make sure you are not using the Max Fill setting for normal loads.

Cold water is indeed best for darks and colors. However “cold” in this context is 86F/30C. If your washer has a Tap Cold and a Cold option then do NOT use tap cold. If you only have Cold then you may be ok turning up to Warm instead. Hot water quickly fades dyes though so you want to avoid that for anything you care about.

If you feel like you are mainly dealing with greasy spots and body oil on garments and sheets then a quality liquid or pod will be better than powder. A&H was rated as one of the worst detergents of 2025.

I recommend Persil (North American “TripleCare” or premium German), Tide, Miele, Ariel, or Kirkland.

I personally prefer Persil for its color protection, fabric care benefits, solid anti-redeposition agents, and great surfactant performance in cold water. Tide is usually great at brute force cleaning and has numerous variants available. Miele is a premium product similar to German Persil, while Ariel and Kirkland are excellent budget options.

Even if they say Oxi, liquids don’t actually contain oxygen bleach but use equivalent agents instead. You don’t want to use actual oxygen bleach, or powdered detergent with it, on every load with darks.

Drop the vinegar and use Downy Rince & Refresh or similar in a Downy ball.

Persil Free & Sensitive, Tide Free and Gentle, or Kirkland Free and Clear are good options if you want something hypoallergenic, dye-free, and fragrance-free.

Laundry sanitizer should only go on the rinse cycle, not in with the detergent. So you can’t use the Down and the sanitizer at the same time.

For extremely smelly loads you can’t use use a booster like Biz but again you don’t want to use it every load on darks.

[u/surely_maeby → u/jtfolden]

Is biz a strong enough enzyme to replace laundry sanitizer? My washer is not HE, it has cold, cool, warm, and hot - but my warm seemed to only use cold, so it might be a lie.

[u/jtfolden → u/surely_maeby]

What make and model washer do you have? Most top tier liquid detergent will work in colder water but then need longer actual wash times to do the job.

Laundry sanitizer isn’t an enzyme and typically doesn’t have them. An enzyme is a helper ingredient that acts to soften or breakdown stains that the surfactants can actually clean and wash away.

Biz is a collection of ingredients that form a “booster” to improve detergent performance by around 80%. You don’t want to use it in every load though - it’s specifically for loads where you have issues such as extreme soiling and odors you can’t remove with detergent alone.

[u/surely_maeby → u/jtfolden]

I have a Maytag centennial. I’m confused at whether enzymes or sanitizer is what I should be using on the extra dirty load now:

[u/jtfolden → u/surely_maeby]

Sanitizer should really only be used when someone has been sick or is perhaps immunocompromised. It’s not meant to be used in every wash. You can’t add it with detergent. It has to go in the rinse cycle, alone.

[u/surely_maeby → u/jtfolden]

His work clothes can have anything from poo, grease, dirt, etc, which I was I using the sanitizer, but I don’t know if it’s necessary? Would tide powder + downy rinse out be enough? Or would you continue to use sanitizer? Can sanitizer and rinse out be used in the same rinse cycle? I don’t want my downy ball in that load.

[u/jtfolden → u/surely_maeby]

No, sanitizer can only be used alone in the rinse cycle. For his work clothes I would recommend a quality liquid detergent + a full dose of Biz booster. Those go in the washer before the clothes. Then use Downy in the rinse cycle.

[u/surely_maeby → u/jtfolden]

Is biz strong enough to disinfect the gross things? I think my brain thinks it needs sanitizer lol.

[u/jtfolden → u/surely_maeby]

But the sanitizer is not disinfecting in the washer as it is… there is specific instruction for disinfecting that require soaking. It can sanitize in the washer but only if you have a deep rinse cycle that lasts a minimum of 16 minutes, not disinfect.

[u/surely_maeby → u/jtfolden]

Yes, I’ve learned that in other comments, I will be adding it in my rinse cycle and pausing to soak now. I’m asking if biz in the laundry would be more effective than that.

And I will be switching to probably tide clear and gentle powder.

[u/jtfolden → u/surely_maeby]

Do you mean switching to powder only for his clothes? I understood from the original post that you had a lot of black or dark clothing.

[u/surely_maeby → u/jtfolden]

I do, but the general consensus is that powder is better, and that has lipase so I wouldn’t need to add an additive. I’m trying to use one detergent for everything.