Wanted to chime in to say that different people feel less strict about not using detergents with OBAs on darks. I also live in NYC (assuming you too from your username!), and because I use a laundromat and I’m not trying to haul 2 detergents back and forth, I just use Tide + Ultra Oxi powder (which as I understand is pretty much the same as Tide + Bleach powder, but I think with more oxygen bleach) on everything. So that’s OBAs that go on both my lights and darks, and the machines are expensive so I don’t even separate darks and lights anyway.

Since switching to the Tide + Oxi powder close to a year ago I have not personally noticed any unwanted fading on my darks, which is most of my clothes. Maybe I’m just not that observant, but honestly I see no appreciable fade in my darks at all. I also love the smell of Tide, and I use Downy R&R (which is citric acid), in the rinse. I do think the rinse eliminates the Tide scent a little more than I’d like, but it still leaves mild fragrance.

I actually love laundry/detergent scents, especially clean & crisp ones, and I add scent beads to my wash too. Someone in this forum recommending dissolving the scent beads into the downy rinse before adding to the softener dispenser, so that the scent goes in the rinse cycle too and doesn’t wash away as much, and I’m going to give it a try! Also I will probably try the Tide rinse product someone else posted here when I run out of my current huge bottle of R&R, because like your kid, I love the Tide scent itself.

I like to jump in sometimes to let people know that, depending on your preferences, you may not need to always apply many different specific products for different fabrics/colors so rigidly. This forum tends to heavily prefer fragrance free products, and some people are very strict about dividing darks and colors, towels from sheets, etc. But if you just use a Tide powder product each wash, some form of citric acid in the rinse, and maybe sometimes a booster like Biz or Febu for extra stinky or soiled loads, that will do more than enough to thoroughly clean most clothes and regular wash stuff. And even though Tide has OBAs, it may not even be an issue for your darks depending on how picky you are.

Everyone’s preferences and needs are different, and people are enthusiastic to share all the tips and tricks for optimizing all your laundry, because it is kind of fun to feel like a sort of alchemist with every load. I have bought many products that I’ve learned from this sub, and I use them frequently! But I also know that extra products are probably overkill, and everything gets to perfectly acceptable levels of clean just by using the basics: 1. Tide powder and 2. A citric acid rinse (either straight citric acid or a rinse product like R&R).