Which one is best?
Gain smells best, but a good friend who happens to be obsesessive/compulsive about cleanliness says Tide smells as good but cleans better.
Rocks and swiftly moving stream. Wrong forum, Robbie.
Hold on, Uncle. This might not be the matter of opinion you think it is.
Consumer Reports has ranked Tide at the top of the cleaning charts pretty consistantly for as long as I can remember.
Tide with Bleach for whites. With towels, and barely soiled items, go for the cheap-o brand.
One of the most marvelous inventions of modern man is the introduction of color safe bleach. Yes it was around but now you can get it already mixed in with your laundry detergent. After many years of washing, pinching pennies at the grocery, and two kids I’ve found that as long as your detergent contains this miracle ingredient your clothes will get clean. So it doesn’t matter if you use Tide or a bargain brand. The color safe or bleach alternative will help get your clothes cleaner than the plain old fashioned detergent. Then of course I use clorine bleach on whites. I use bargain brand detergent all the time and our clothes always come out great. Of course sorting is a must, your whites will be dingy regardless of what you use if you wash them with your jeans.
Needs2know
What happens if I wash them with my rocks?
From what I hear, Tide is so freakin strong that it can destroy your washing machine…at least, that’s what the repair man told my aunt, and now my mom refuses to use it.
I know it’s a fabric softenor, but I love the smell of Downey…I used to carry empty Downey bottles around that my aunts gave me when I was little…ahhhhhhh…
What?! LOL 
If tide was strong enough to kill your washer I’m sure the EPA wouldnt let it be made for fact of draining into the sewers etc.
I’m a Tide with Bleach boy myself. I’ve used it ever since it came out, for everything. I put extra liquid bleach in with my whites for that extra kick… it’s nice.
We’ve used Tide as far back as I can remember, never seen much of anything else around the laundry in this household. Since 1970, we’ve had a grand total of two (2) washers.
The last one was purchased in 1988 and has been serviced . . . once. A Maytag. Still going strong. I think if you purchase a good brand name you’ll usually do well with these kinds of appliances. Going cheap on large appliances is not cost effective (but that’s another topic for another thread).
What the repairman told us (and I’ve heard from other people as well) is that you don’t have to use as much Tide as they claim; you can reduce it up to half, depending on the load, and you’ll still get great results. I have found this to be mostly true.
your humble TubaDiva
It’s the washday miracle!
I love Tide, followed by a stiff shot of Downey. Along a similar vein, I only use liquid detergents, since I started finding little islands of white crusty soap on my clothes after they were washed.
I didn’t necessarily BELIEVE it…I just heard it, and my mom keeps going off how she’ll never buy tide…
Hang on…I’m going to look and see what kind we have now
(We’ve used Oxydol, Cheer, ALL, Biz, and when I was little-Dreft)
Oxydol.
The best one is the one on sale. Otherwise, there’re all just so much borax.
::Slight Hijack::
I’ve always found that using Downy tends to ruin my clothes faster than no fabric softener at all.
Especially my friggin’ jeans.
I never touch the stuff now.
Tide is good but it can be harsh on skin. It gives several people in my family rashes.
I bought this HUGE thing of All and I don’t think it cleans as well as Cheer or whatever I’ve bought before. Only 162 more loads to go, and I can switch!
Danged Sam’s Clubs sizes
Soap, baby! Ultra Fresh Breeze laundry soap–>no detergent for this green Bean.
It’s cheap, gets my clothes clean, and makes me feel like I’m doing a mitzvah every time I wash.
I feel the same way about Sun & Earth laundry soap.
Detergents pollute the water supply. I also toss
in a little washing soda and my clothes get clean.