Can I use this in my HE frontloader?

[mwwr]

My son made this at school:

Laundry detergent from Ivory soap
Borax
Washing soda
Water

So, is it safe for my machine? :shrug

[expatmom]

I don't know. I want to see what others might say. I'm new to front loaders & I can't figure out if anything is okay, like Dawn or vinegar or oxyclean.

:popcorn

[Iarwain]

I don't know about the Ivory soap but I have been using homemade detergent from another recipe (Borax, washing soda, and Fels Naptha) for a couple months now in my front loader and it seems to be working just fine.

I bet you could test it. If you put a tsp. in a jar of water and shake it really hard does it suds up? How does it compare to your regular detergent? If it doesn't suds any more than what you usually use it would probably be fine.

---------- Post added at 04:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 PM ----------

I don't know. I want to see what others might say. I'm new to front loaders & I can't figure out if anything is okay, like Dawn or vinegar or oxyclean.

:popcorn

No on the Dawn, yes on the vinegar. I am not sure about the oxyclean.

[expatmom]

Ack, why no Dawn?

[Iarwain]

It sudses too much. That's the main difference between regular and HE detergents. HE detergents are low-sudsing.

I accidentally washed something with a lot of dish soap in it the other day and it took two drum cleaning cycles and a lot of simethicone (Mylicon, Gas-X) to get the bubbles out. My washer won't spin out properly if it over-sudses. Some models have even been damaged by over-sudsing.

[expatmom]

Okay, thanks. :think I use Dawn to treat stains, so I'm going to have to reconsider that process. Maybe pre-rinse.

[Iarwain]

A pre-rinse would help a lot. :yes I haven't had trouble from items that only have a little bit of dish soap in/on them but a large amount has been a problem. I usually pre-treat with whatever I'm using for detergent.

IF you run into suds problems put some simethicone gas drops in there. I usually use a couple droppers full depending on how bad it is. It breaks down the bubbles quite effectively. (Also useful when cleaning up soap spills.)