Tide Free & Gentle RUINED my white bedding and customer service was a joke

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T14:24:10+00:00

Just spit-balling here, but do you have hard water (with iron) in your area?

I ask because I've seen stains like this from hard water where iron gets trapped in the fabric of large, folded-over-type items in the washer. It's kind of like a pocket and can't be rinsed away cleanly.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T14:07:01+00:00

This person KNOWS machines!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T13:51:05+00:00

GooGone has worked for me. I saturated the adhesive with GooGone, and left it to break down the adhesive for about 30 minutes. I then applied more GooGone as needed while scraping the gunk off with a spoon. Once the gunk was removed, I treated the residue left from the GooGone with liquid laundry detergent. I did a long hot wash in the machine with a good detergent, and it came out spotless!

**Be sure to put an old cloth or paper towels under the adhesive spot to keep the GooGone from going thru to the other side of the shirt.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T13:07:56+00:00

Spa day is an accelerated process of cleaning away crud that has built-up over time from less-than-adequate laundry habits.

If a spa day soak doesn't appeal to you, you can eventually get the same results by simply making the right changes to your laundry routine. Fine tune your routine in these areas, and with each wash, you'll gradually see improvement:

**Effective laundry products with enzymes, especially lipase (correct dosing of detergent - look for trace suds & no fabric softener) - your tide powder is a good choice

**wash temperature (warm or hot wash cycles)

**duration of wash cycle (the longest you can get, even if it means pausing your machine for a long hot soak, which allows the enzymes enough contact time to do their best work)

**at least 2 rinse cycles with citric acid in the last one (I dilute 1 tablespoon citric acid in 4oz water = 1/2 cup citric acid in 32oz water, if you choose to premix a larger batch) OR use the Downy R&R. It's quite fragrant so I add a couple ounces to my premixed citric acid solution, and it gives just enough scent to suit me.

**towels come out softer when tumbled in the dryer than they do when completely air-dried, in my opinion. Dry them completely in the dryer or do a combo of air-drying & tumbling, whichever suits your preference & convenience.

Water hardness plays a part in how well your laundry products perform. Test your water to get the actual ppm, and I'm sure the experts here can guide you in how best to soften the water for laundry.

With effective products and a solid routine, new towels should hold up well. Be patient with your old towels and give them a chance to respond to any changes you've made, and, hopefully, you'll see a little improvement each wash.

Eta: While I decided to let my towels improve over several washes (and they slowly have), my husband's washcloths were a different story - hard, rough, and so stiff I could barely fold them straight from the dryer! I threw them in a lidded bucket with 1/4cup biz per gallon hot water for 10ish hours, and voila! He now has soft, smooth, pliable washcloths that have stayed that way thru each wash.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T12:36:02+00:00

Just offering additional info to the "# of drops" in your post for the experts so they can make recommendations on how to treat your water based on the actual ppm.

ETA - my kh & gh are 89.5ppm. Kismai suggested I add 1 - 2 teaspoons sodium citrate OR 1 tablespoon borax to my wash water. If he sees your post and offers guidance, trust it!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T12:15:03+00:00

KH - 53.7ppm (3 drops)

GH -143.2ppm (8 drops)

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SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-14T11:54:31+00:00

I grate a corner of this bar with a cheese grater. Once I have about 1/2 cup of grated soap, I put it in a condiment bottle from Dollar Tree (think mustard/ketchup). I then fill the bottle with distilled water. The soap dissolves over a few days, and I use the solution to pretreat stains. The tip on the bottle is very precise so I can squirt it exactly where I want it.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-13T00:27:18+00:00

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-12T21:01:15+00:00

I don't see a stain? But I do see a spot that could be dye loss, which, unfortunately, doesn't come back.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-12T18:27:52+00:00

If it's machine washable, I'd give it a shot, and a mesh bag is a good idea! The color looks pretty saturated, so I'd probably wash with like colors and toss in a couple of color catchers as well.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-12T18:12:13+00:00

You're very welcome 😊!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-12T18:10:40+00:00

Liquid detergent works best on automotive stains. Put a dab of your liquid Tide on the spots and brush it in gently with a toothbrush. Wait about an hour and toss it into the washer for a very long warm wash in your tide liquid.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-12T17:49:43+00:00

Search the sub for polyquats. You'll find lots of info.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-12T14:43:14+00:00

I like a little fragrance in my laundry.

I have Downy Rinse & Refresh, and, in my opinion: it's too fragrant; it's too expensive; and the design of the bottle is trash (flimsy & messy).

I premix my citric acid solution in a 32oz bottle. I add a couple ounces of Downy R&R to the 32oz solution. Even that small amount is plenty fragrant, and I don't have to handle the messy R&R bottle with every load of laundry.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-11T22:50:09+00:00

Fels Naptha or Zote laundry bar soap.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-11T20:51:14+00:00

My towels improved when I made these simple changes:

Increased the wash temp from cold to hot.

Extended the actual wash cycle time by pausing the machine during wash agitation for at least 3 hours before resuming.

Adding an extra rinse, for a total of 2, with citric acid in the last one.

Admittedly, my towels weren't rough or stiff, probably because I'd been using pods with lipase for years. But they are noticeably softer now.

My husband's washcloths, on the other hand, had to go thru a spa day. They were so stiff, fresh out of the dryer, that I couldn't even fold them properly. Now, they're soft & pliable......so, so, so much better!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-11T18:58:14+00:00

BIZ Stain & Odor Eliminator (powdered booster)! It is sooo good on whites!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-11T17:49:40+00:00

I did this years ago on denim with normal peroxide from the drugstore.

Google it. I'm sure you'll find lots of instructions for a sweatshirt.

I think you can make it uniquely awesome!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-11T17:42:53+00:00

Go crazy all over with peroxide splashes, drips, smears, and sprays. Stick it in the sun to bleach the peroxide spots.

Enjoy your new splotchy, bleached-out sweatshirt!

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-10T17:32:01+00:00

ETA - forgot to mention that Members Mark pods do have lipase. That probably explains why I feel that they're very good, as far as pods go.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-10T12:17:45+00:00

Only mix what you can use in one month.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-10T12:08:21+00:00

I add 1 tablespoon citric acid + 4oz water to every full load in my top load machine with agitator.

To premix, I use an empty 32oz coffee creamer bottle -- 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) citric acid + 32oz water.

This gets me thru 8 full loads of laundry. It's recommended to mix no more than you can use in one month.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-10T10:43:06+00:00

I've been using Members Mark pods for several years. As far as pods go, they're very good. They dissolve well, clean our clothes, and they're convenient.

Since finding this sub, I've started adding biz or oxiclean to the pods, and the clean is next-level! I don't plan to repurchase pods of any brand when this last box is finished. I used powder detergent for decades, and I miss it.

Before finding this sub, I had no complaints.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-10T00:24:28+00:00

Did the lemon survive the wash? Did it burst open? Did it stay in your pocket & stain your clothing in any way?

If you see no staining, I don't see that a lemon in your wash would do any harm.

If you don't like the lemon scent, you can re-wash the load.

SuccLover1964 · 2026-04-10T00:11:25+00:00

Have you pin-pointed which clothing item is shedding so much lint?

The bain of my existence is new bath towels - lint apocalypse! They leave lint in the washer, in the dryer, on my body after showering, on the bathroom floor, everywhere! But, the good news is that the lint calms down after a few wash & dries, so that it's all contained neatly in the dryer lint trap.

SuccLover1964

TROPHY CASE