Okay, so when I was a kid, my mother always did laundry by putting in the clothes, then the detergent, then starting the washing machine. And so that’s how I’ve always loaded my laundry, out of sheer inertia.
Until now. Because my building has recently put in new washing machines and dryers, and the inside-the-lid instructions on the new washing machines include, in bold lettering: “DO NOT PUT DETERGENT IN FIRST.”
Exactly what difference does it make whether you put in the detergent first or the clothes first?
Not uncommon to have the soap end up in a fold of clothing and fail to dissolve when you put clothes in first. Putting soap in first, on the other hand might cause a soapy-mud to form in the pump. In a home machine, the pump is usually belt driven, and the belt will slip if the pump rotor is bound. In a commercial washer, the pump might be directly driven and burn up the motor.
Best solution is a dedicated detergent cup that keeps the soap off the clothes until it is well diluted with water.
WAG, the machines might vary, by estimating the weight of the clothes, how much water to put in. That feature is common on machines here, but I have no idea how widespread it is in the US. It’s been a while since I was there and all the machines I had were at least 15 years old. If you don’t put the clothes in first, the machine can’t use that feature and depending on the design you’d be wasting water or potentially causing damage to some mechanism that depends on having something other than air in the tub when the cycle starts.
It is possible that they are worried about damage to the machine from the full strength detergent. My understanding is that strong bleach solutions can damage metal, though damned if I can find a trustworthy internet cite right now.
Well, true or rumor, might be what the machine manufacturer is thinking of.
The way I always do it (which seems to be unique,) is to add the detergent, then let the water run for a little while to mix it up and dilute it, then I add my clothes. From my college days, several rooms with lots of blacklights showed me that whatever clothes first hit the detergent (or whatever clothes were on top when I poured in the detergent if I did it after adding the clothes,) got most of it. (large streaks of detergent glowed very brightly in the blacklights.) So I started doing this method to try and eliminate the first few artciles of clothing getting all the detergent.
There is a way to accomodate both of these instructions, and it’s the way I do it. Start the machine and let a few inches of water accumulate in it. Then stop the machine. Add the detergent and mix it with the water by spinning the agitator by hand. Add the clothes. Close the lid and restart the machine. Works great.
You, apparently, are made of time. Or your favorite place to hang out is my building’s cold and musty basement. Unless you want to stop over a couple times a week and “spin” my “agitator” (wink wink), I’ma hafta keep putting the detergent in first, then the clothes, then closing the lid and bein halfway up the stairs before the water even hits.
So I’ll admit, I only skimmed that article. I’m sorry, I don’t use laundry balls, and that whole bit about OH ions bored me to death and I couldn’t finish it.
I did see this part:
So - detergent makes no difference, is what you’re implying?
(I beg to differ though. It gives my clothes a very nice spring sort of smell which I really love. If that is the only reason to continue using it, it’s good enough for me.)
My GE Commercial Washer says put in the detergent first, then wait for some water to fill the bottom before adding clothes.
I think this is to prevent clothes from getting too much undiluted detergent in one spot and fade unevenly. Especially prone now that bleach may be in the powder, rather than an added liquid.
Its good to put the detergent in first on the off chance you overstuff the machine and the top items do not get submerged, then you would have the detergent sitting on clothes that are unsubmerged and therefore not doing any good.
The machines are Speed Queen Commercial Washers. The instructions are pre-printed on the inside of the lid (with illustrations and everything!) and the exact wording is “Measure detergent into washtub. THIS MUST BE DONE FIRST. Do not pour over laundry.”
Hey, me too! Same reconnaissance, same intelligence. They’re awfully insistent, aren’t they? The “STEP 1.” is even highlighted, where the other steps aren’t.
You know what else? I just realized that I typed it incorrectly in the OP.
“DO NOT PUT DETERGENT IN FIRST.”
should have been
“DO NOT PUT LAUNDRY IN FIRST.”
(As can be determined by reading the more precise wording from Post 15.)
Well I don’t know about you, but the washing machines in my complex have draining holes all in the tub, including the bottom. If you put the detergent in first, you’re going to lose most of it through said holes.
It is a weird way to phrase it, but maybe they are trying to stop those people who pour in the bleach on top of all their clothes, and then blame the machine for the mysterious white spots and holes. People like my mother in law. She’s sweet, but sometimes I think her cheese has slipped off it’s cracker.