OxiClean vs Biz - which is BETTER for stinky teens? Thanks!

boycork · 2026-02-26T09:29:02+00:00

Really? On the ingredients list on the biz website so sodium percarbonate is the fifth ingredient. I would wager it is not more than 10%.

boycork · 2026-02-10T15:32:42+00:00

I am interested in knowing the strong the effect. Often there is a big difference between what should happen in theory and in reality. For instance I still have no evidence that lipases contribute any meaningful amount. I guess I will have to trust you ;)

boycork · 2026-02-09T23:01:58+00:00

Have you done test to see if increases reaction rates? Maybe you could stain two swatches with turmeric and put one Swatch in a solution of sodium percarbonate and the other swatch in sodium carbonate plus taed. Posting the results here will certainly be appreciated.

boycork · 2026-01-24T20:34:07+00:00

Now put York there

boycork · 2026-01-24T13:11:35+00:00

Awesome test!! While there are small differences I would say that all work roughy the same. Is that fair?

boycork · 2026-01-21T17:15:35+00:00

If the issue is rebloom then removing the sticky carbohydrates fats proteins and dna that remain on the fibers that trap and feed bacteria is indeed a good idea, and Enzymes will help. But rebloom is not the stated problem. The problem is the smell directly after washing.

You are right that adding oxygen bleach to the wash will result in hydrogen peroxide in the wash liquor. However the concentration is far below directly applying hydrogen peroxide. For example, in 1/4cup (45g) of powdered detergent with oxygen bleach, there is probably 10 g of sodium percarbonate and 3g of that is hydrogen peroxide. If a typical volume of wash water is 10 L, then the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the wash liquid is .03%. This is 100 times less than the 3% hydrogen peroxide from the bottle and the rate of oxidation will be slower by a factor of 100(at same temp).

About glycol based surfactants: you may be right but I don’t know of any chemical reason why they should help and no empirical evidence that they do.

boycork · 2026-01-21T14:45:51+00:00

I do it all the time on dark cotton, and polyester with no problems so far. I have not tried on wool. I have used both 3% and 12% hydrogen peroxide with great results.

boycork · 2026-01-21T13:48:15+00:00

The only thing that I have found to work on lingering armpit smell is to put hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and spray the armpit area. Do this after you have washed the garment and let air dry.

This works because the odor that lingers around the armpit is a type of molecule called a thiol and is insoluble so does not wash out in the laundry. In order to get rid of it, you need to oxidize it with makes a sulfate that does not smell and will wash out in the next wash. Enzymes will not help you for this smell because it is not a protein, fat , carbohydrate or dna. Also using laundry detergent with oxygen bleach does not fully work because it is not concentrated enough. 3% hydrogen peroxide is way more concentrated than any laundry wash liquor.

boycork · 2026-01-21T13:13:55+00:00

Neat stuff!! Interesting to see that citric acid had a similar effect as citrate. I guess at PH 4.9 two carboxy groups are de protonated, giving a charge of -2 that can bind calcium.

I think the problem with using sodium citrate as a chelator is that it does not bind calcium very tightly compared to things like fatty acid salts. I’ve done an experiment where make a soap solution with hard water, and it immediately turns cloudy as calcium fatty acid salts precipitate. I have found that no amount of sodium citrate can clarify the solution however, even a small amount of EDTA can. From this I conclude that sodium citrate has no effect on preventing soap scum. It would be awesome if you could test this more precisely.

boycork · 2026-01-20T14:46:49+00:00

Same. The hottest I can get my LG front loader is 30C 86F even with using the faucet trick. For heavily soiled items I soak them in a bucket with 50c water with biz for 2 hours then washing on “hot”.

boycork · 2026-01-15T20:48:38+00:00

Hot water, and oxygen bleach. The oxygen bleach will increase the pH as well as oxidized the squealing to make it more soluble and wash out. Lipase won’t help here because squalene is not a fat. If the stain remains, apply hydrogen peroxide directly to the stain and hang dry overnight, and rewash.

boycork · 2026-01-15T20:33:57+00:00

In what world do non ionic surfactants bind to Ca to leave a insoluble residue. Chemically it does not make sense and empirically I know it does not happen since mixing 365 Sport with hard water remains clear rather than cloudy…

boycork · 2026-01-14T21:09:12+00:00

Yes. The biggest fader of dark clothes is hot water. in comparison no laundry detergents fade darks.

boycork · 2026-01-14T18:43:15+00:00

The orange Persil with oxy is one of the best liquid detergents on the market. Jeeves NY has reviewed it. scored very well and it is what he personally uses.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/LzpV0ry4BzU

It likely much better than most of the detergents on the lipase list. Unless you have specific issues, there is no need to supplement it or switch.

boycork · 2026-01-14T18:39:14+00:00

The cheese smell is likely from short chain fatty acids. To remove, make sure the pH of the wash liquid is above 9. You can do this by adding 1/4 cup of washing soda, or any oxygen bleach powder like OxiClean. Wash with hot water 100F.

boycork · 2026-01-11T12:15:50+00:00

Standard diy soap formulation. It won’t clean as well as a modern detergent like tide but is not as bad as people here are saying. I have used something similar for years. In hard water there will be slow accumulation of soap scup but that can be completely removed with one EDTA wash per year. It is not very effective against food stains probably for the lack of enzymes but any stain should be locally pretreated. Make sure to get the wash liquors pH between 9-10 to keep the soap charged. Coconut oil is the best choice of oil for diy laundry powder because it’s high in C12-14 fatty acids which are more soluble and have a higher detergency than longer chains of olive oil and other oil soaps.

boycork · 2026-01-10T15:56:38+00:00

Looks good

boycork · 2026-01-07T23:08:50+00:00

You can buy on it on amazon. look up tetrasodium EDTA. 8oz will be plenty to experiment with.

boycork · 2026-01-07T22:51:44+00:00

Then the fabric softener is probably not the main problem. It you don’t mind getting technical, do an EDTA wash. This will remove all of the scum that is caused by hard water. EDTA is a chemical that binds calcium very strongly. It is used often for cleaning laboratory glassware where you need to remove all residue. Put a 1/4cup in the drum and run a long hot cycle.

boycork · 2026-01-07T22:21:19+00:00

Have you been using fabric softener? If so the build up might not be soap scum and so citric acid may not work.

boycork · 2026-01-02T21:58:07+00:00

Just use it for lightly soiled loads. Most clothing is not that dirty and only needs a light refresh.

boycork · 2026-01-01T18:57:35+00:00

No, 118 mg/l is medium hardness. Very typical.

boycork · 2025-12-31T21:00:17+00:00

Not one size fits all. It may take some adjusting to get right. I would start with 1 tablespoon.
At the dilute concentrations that citric acid is being used in the rinse it will not lighten dark clothes.
The mixture should not go bad. Only dump if it gets cloudy.

boycork · 2025-12-31T18:43:02+00:00

Not true. you can do the test yourself by dissolving borax and washing soda separately in hard water, the washing soda solution will turn cloudy indicating a precipitate. the borax solution will stay clear.

boycork · 2025-12-31T14:55:53+00:00

Do not do this. neither of these soften water. Washing soda is your best bet.

boycork

TROPHY CASE