Waste water reuse.

[Mary Fisher]

I tried snake oil.

It doesn't work.

:-)

Mary

[Tim S]

I had an eye opener. New Miele washing machine has a little "excess detergent" LED on the front. I've had that light more often than not using half the amount of detergent I used to put in the old machine.

I'm down to using 1/3 recommended amounts now on full loads and stuff seems to be clean.

Tim

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

Tim S typed

My Mum uses those tablets in her Miele dishwasher :-(

[Owain]

Diluted as a soup, or concentrated as a cooking ingredient?

Blame the recipe, not the cook.

Owain

[Dave Fawthrop]

|I had an eye opener. New Miele washing machine has a little "excess |detergent" LED on the front. I've had that light more often than not |using half the amount of detergent I used to put in the old machine. | |I'm down to using 1/3 recommended amounts now on full loads and stuff seems |to be clean.

The general rule for front loaders is that you should have a thin line of bubbles on the surface of the water when working. Any more and you are throwing money at the detergent makers, who recommend **far** more than is required.

[mogga]

But it stops the snakes squeaking a treat.

Low temperature washes allow grease and dirt to build up inside a washer as the cleaning agents don't work until a certain temperature.

[Stephen Gower]

Hearsay isn't reliable.

[Sponix]

Southern water say:

"It is essential to have one tap supplying unsoftened water for cooking and drinking, because softeners can significantly increase the level of sodium in the water."

Anyway, water softeners waste an appreciable amount of water during regeneration.

It's silly to save water to irrigate plants if you have a wasteful softener installed. They do nothing for the environment and contrary to what the salesman would have you believe don't save on detergents either.

sponix

[Sponix]

Very true. Think back to 'O' level chemistry. It's not the bubbles that do the cleaning. The bubbles are there purely to make the consumer *think* the detergent is doing a good job.

All this stuff about "bubbles full of oxygen" making clothes cleaner is a load of nonsense, from a chemistry pov.

To the consumer "more bubbles"="better cleaner"!

That's why people think that softer water allows them to use less detergent. It doesn't. All it does is produce more bubbles, hence the consumer is *happier* using less detergent.

As you have pointed out you can use 1/3 normal amount of detergent and it has the same cleaning effect. The only thing missing are the pretty bubbles.

I'd encourage everyone to try doing a wash with 50% of their normal powder and see if it makes any difference to their washing.

sponix

[The Natural Philosopher]

From zero to 0.00001%.

Oh but they do save a LOT of detergent if you adjust your levels down to match what is needed, not the 'this is more than enough for the hardest water' spoonful or tablet the blasted manufactures WANT you to use.. ..and all our waste water goes to a septic tank and the outflow hits the local water table nicely thank you.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Indeed. Buy Teepol or an industrial detergent and its essentially bubble free.

Must get the other half to try that.

[Weatherlawyer]

And I'd recommend a more expert point of view.

[meow2222]

they can save a lot of work on cleaning though. Hard water + assortment of materials in shower area = nowt but hassle.

NT

[Mary Fisher]

What an excellent idea!

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Who watches washing in a machine?

Mary

[EricP]

It is far more interesting than most of the TV drivel, and no commercials!

[Guy King]

The message from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

I remember mum and I watching in the late 60s when we got our first front loading automatic machine. It was a novelty, but like telly it wore off quite soon.

[Mary Fisher]

Oh yes, the first time you have one you watch it, well, I did (in the late

60s). But as you say, like telly the novelty wears off and you find something more exciting to watch.

Like grout setting.

Mary

[manatbandq]

So give us the benefit of yours...

MBQ

[Andy Hall]

One of my cats does for hours. He's generally fascinated by water and sits dabbing it in ponds, rolling in it and generally getting wet if he can. I imagine that the washing machine is a kind of television for him.