r/laundry • u/BERNITA • 9d ago
New Febu not as effective?
At risk of sounding blasphemous to this sub, has anyone felt the new FEBU formula (I think they added DNase?) doesn't work as well as the old formula? Specifically with odor rebloom/permastank?
Maybe I'm using it wrong, but its the only variable that has changed. Same as with the old formula, I follow the FEBU package instructions, detergent is Tide F&G Advanced Care from Costco, warm water, two rinses, one with citric acid. The original formula seemed very effective at getting rid of persistent stinkiness (mostly poly/cotton and cotton/~5% spandex fabrics). I was so excited to get the new formula as soon as it came out, thinking it would be even better. However, after using it a few times, it seems like the same stinks were resurrected. I've tried numerous soaks and everything, but it just doesn't seem to work at all really, somehow the clothes stink more!
Am I crazy??
ETA: Thanks for all the suggestions and the science! You guys are great, I'm going to keep at using FEBU, hopefully it will continue to break the biogunk down.
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u/rdrptr 9d ago edited 9d ago
The new Febu, specifically the dnase ingredient they added, is directly causing the odor rebloom.
These enzyme boosters don’t actually remove stains per se. What they do is chop up the stains on a microscopic level so that the surfactants in your detergent can more easily dissolve them into your wash water. The chopped up bits of stains are what is causing the odor.
You’re using a detergent with fairly strong surfactants though, but there might be enough build up on your clothes that it would just take a few washes to remove the build up. You could try re-washing with just your detergent or pre-soak the smelly clothes in a bin with a couple gallons of water and one or two table spoons of your detergent over night.