Which Laundry Detergent Works Best? | Talking Point | Full Episode 

Kudos to CNA to actually investigate stuff that normal everyday people actually care.

Half the globe away but amazed at this helpful investigative journalism.

Nice piece. It's confirmed my opinion that antibacterial laundry detergent is just a gimmick. However, there are other factors people look for in clean laundry other than germs, and that's grease and stain removal. My liquid detergent is great on its own, but when there are heavy stains like tomato, coffee and kunyit, a half scoop of vanish (or any other hydrogen-based cleaner) helps so much to lift stains. Also, softener and optical brighteners are unnecessary and damage clothes in the long run, especially synthetic fibers like sportswear.

Powders, liquids and capsules? I'm a dermatologist in San Francisco and I regularly see patients with severe skin irritation, especially around their neck, caused by laundry detergents, especially powder and capsule which are not entirely dissolved in the washing cycle and remain on clothes. If you use powder and capsule, it's best to thoroughly dissolve in water first before pouring in the washing machine.

Thank you Diana n team for such good videos ❤❤❤

Extremely useful and informative video ❤ love it!

For me, it depends on how and when you want to wash your laundry. For example, if I need to soak my laundry/linen overnight, I'd use powder. If I want to wash my laundry immediately, I'd use liquid. I'm from a rural area in Malaysia, so sheet detergent and laundry pods aren't readily available. Also depends on the type of washing machine you're using I guess. Mine's semi-automatic so I can control how much water I want for my load of washing, therefore I might need to reduce or add more detergent. So far I mainly use powder because it's more economical, and I'd fill up up my washing machine with water first and add powder and let it dissolve by letting the machine do one minute cycle on low/gentle. From my experience with automatic machines, you can't really do that because the machine will only do a cycle if there's actual laundry inside. All in all I think all types of detergents has its own pros and cons. I buy my detergents in medium sized packs so I can have the variety and choose to use what I need at my leisure without straining my wallet. But I guess that works for me because I live with my mom and we're a small household so this works for us, but it might not be suitable for a big household that has a ton of washing to do daily.

He tested the shirts and wrote the labels with a pen, but also soiled the shirts with pen ink markings as well .... That's how you know none of these detergents takes ink off 🤣🤣

More of this type of content. Thanks CNA insider! ❤

So simply put, Make sure you clean your washing machine regularly and it all good. Some high tech machines has self cleaning functions so i guess people should invest on that.

My techinian told me for not using fabric softener as well. Since It's bad for health, Washing machine,and clothes.

I used liquid detergent before but after I graduated, i worked on site (outdoor). The liquid detergent cannot get rid of my body odour on my shirt especially the under arms area. So I switched to TOP powder detergent and it works wonders 👍🏻 I also skip softener because I kinda allergic to it.

I think the scope of this video should be expanded. There are a lot of great information but is not a complete picture. Regarding germ cross-contamination, it depends on how full your load is and whether you washed at a higher temperature. If your drum is fully loaded, both top & front load washers will struggle to remove the bacteria and mold fully. I suppose top-load will have worse performance due to gravity squashing the clothes to the bottom and less turbulent water in the center of the drum. In this case, a pre-wash cycle is probably needed so you don't recirculate all the dirty water during the main wash. My issue with this video is the test methodology. When you have a small sample, most detergent will performance adequately. However, when a 6kg washer is fully loaded at 6kg, the detergent and water temperature will start to matter more since the detergent will have to work much harder to extract the dirt/bacteria/mold from the clothes in a squashed environment. At some point, you'd run out of active ingredients to extract the dirt, or space for the water/surfactant to penetrate the clothes. This is where adjusting the pH and temp of the water will help kill the bacteria that can't be remove from the clothes, so even if it's not fully clean, the clothes don't stink. It's true that front-loaders tend to use powder due to low sud requirements but many liquid and capsule are low sud too. I suppose most people use liquid because top-loading washers tend to be cheaper. To save water, I always buy front-loaders and use the best affordable powder detergent. My washer has a weighing function that will recommend the amount of powder needed. Some brands even have auto-dosing. I also run an extra rinse cycle to remove residue, fragrance and leftover surfactant. If I'm washing towels, I tend to use more powder and set at 60C. I also sort my laundry based on temperature. My washer also has a pre-mix chamber for the powder so I don't have any issue with leftover powder. If you think this runs up a lot of water, my water usage for a family of 4 is the lowest in my estate, based on SP services data. I run the washer 75% loaded (8kg) 4 times a week. But I digress, this video is about detergent only and I suspect when you run a full load, those 0.000005% will have a measurable difference in bacteria/mold count. My problem with liquid detergent in the past was high sud, no enzyme & bleach mix and higher cost. However, recent liquid detergents has new formulation that is low sud, has enzyme AND bleach but is still more expensive. I recently tried capsules but found that for a load of 8-10kg in my washer, I need to use 3, which becomes very expensive! As mentioned by experts in the video, different chemicals are needed for different stains. The more types of chemicals cramped into the detergent, the cleaner your clothes will be. A single detergent liquid like those bio-enzyme detergent will be very bad at removing stain and I will never use those non-detergent type. Note that professional washers don't use the same types of detergents for household. Those are much stronger/concentrated and can wash your clothes clean at a fraction of the time needed with household equipment and they can do it with cold water! Another advantage is industry washers have much bigger drums and volume for water/detergent to work their magic. Lastly, regarding drum washing, ALWAYS follow the machine's manuals! Different machines use different pumps, sealants, gaskets, etc. and those are sensitive to certain chemicals. Only use the cleaner recommended by your washer's manufacturer! Unfortunately, most makers don't publish what they put in those cleaners so it may be hard to source for cheaper alternates. And yes, in tropical climate, the drum don't completely dry and mold will tend to form after months of usage. Cleaning the drum monthly may be overkill if you often run hot cycles, like 90C for white towels or use the washer 4 times a week but do it at least once every quarter.

We put the same amount of dirt, lipstick, curry, ink n wine for each t-shirt But for this experiment, they didn’t put the same amount of the washing product 1 small spoon of powder n liquid is like 1/4 of the washing products 1 capsules is also like 1/4 of washing products But for the sheet, they put full amount of the washing product And for the result OF COURSE the sheet washing product will be much more clean compared with powder, liquid n capsule washing products

Get a washing machine that has a "Clean washer" reminder every 30 washes. A half cup of bleach in the washer during the clean washer cycle (no clothes in the washer) will maintain the required cleanliness.

Like your programes. Always Interesting and informative 👍

Powder + Cheap - Leaves behind residue - Need to store in dry environment Liquid + Dissolves completely Capsules + Easy to use - Predetermined dosage - cannot scale up or down according to load Sheet + Easy to use

Moral of the story, just use the cheapest detergent, cause it doesn't matter anyway.

I have always been curious - why companies can market their product to be able to deliver a certain result but yet doesn't work that way. I look at my clothes - never came out as clean or white as the commercials. Same goes for all the special add-on toothpaste, household cleaning solutions, etc

such an interesting topic actually

Growing up and well into college I used powder. At a couple points i price compared and found the liquid was cheaper, so I stuck with that for a while. About 6 years ago I started hearing about sheets and would have tried it if it weren't so dang expensive, but last summer I found a sale and got a bunch. Best decision ever. I love the clean people sheets, and i never want to go back to liquids or powders

1:12: 🧺 This video explores the effectiveness of different types of laundry detergents - powder, liquid, capsule, and sheet. 4:28: 🧪 The effectiveness of a detergent in removing stains is determined by its active ingredients, not its form factor. 9:23: 🧪 The video discusses a test conducted to determine the effectiveness of antibacterial detergents in indoor drying and color brightness. 14:48: 🧼 Antibacterial washers show insignificant differences in effectiveness between liquid and powder forms, and regular detergents also contain antibacterial qualities. 18:47: 🧼 Cross-contamination of bacteria and germs can occur during laundry if different types of fabrics are washed together. Recapped using Tammy AI

I use liquid Tide and vinegar instead of fabric softener. I also use an extra rinse.

would be great to have a control group where towel that is not washed is tested, or towel wash in machine, just with tap water.

Live in canada and i use nelies pwoder cheap and very clean.

Technology Connections youtube channel already did a wonderful job covering this.

pls make a content about fabric softener as well

Every type of soap is antibacterial, be it detergent or hand soaps or dish soaps. Would've been interesting to see how many chemicals are in the different types of detergents. Pod detergent is made of plastic casing

Great Episode! can you also do for fabric softner?

good work

great job

I'm from the Philippines and I usually use liquid detergent. I used to use either Ariel or Tide liquid detergent but thanks to inflation I use a local brand. I use detergent powder + bath soap combo when I wash my bloodstains when my pad/tampon leaks during my period.

Liquid is enough if your dealing with sweaty, smelly clothes BUT if you have children or family working at the field you know exactly how dirty their clothes can get, you need heavy hitter that is powder detergent and good ol' brush.

Very interesting I'm watching from Bangladesh 🇧🇩👍

It’s how you wash at the end of the day regardless of the brand of your detergent! Do not use the same old clothes again and again! Rinse/ soak all dirty clothes first before thoroughly washing it in the machine. Do not overload your machine. Put an ample space when hanging your wet clothes. If possible, your drying area should be well ventilated!

Also remember to clean the intake tray

Got a mini washer for washing kitchen towels only, main washer for clothes, bedsheets & occasionally curtains in separate loads. Strictly no softerner as it can build up dirts internally. However, i installed a water revitalizer in the pipeline to make tap water softer so that washing is easier with lesser detergents. No maintenance needed for this device.

liquid mixes with the water faster, and many HE machines spray the laundry in the first few seconds of operation with the liquid soap water mix. The sheet, pod, and powder all need time to dissolve in the water, that is time where the liquid detergent is already working.

I'll try them all Why be picky when it comes to detergent

The responsibility of impact presentation to consumers has to be acknowledged. It is a reflection of the education level on society and mostly gullible proportion will entertain such information.

the laundry ball looks like something I use on my neck lol

Eco washers also use too little water, always set to deep water to actually get anything clean. Also the last cleaning cycle really is the dryer, heat and any degreased debris are thrown off to be actually clean.

I think the efficacy of the detergent products can be better if DS isn’t using those cheap collapsible washer sold by Taobao as baseline

Actually curious about washing of tech wear / dry fit. Been having problems getting them clean, even after washing the bacteria seem to remain on the shirt and the smell remain. Are there any detergent that works better for these clothes?

Even if we mix linens, won't the (correct amount of) detergent remove almost all the bacteria, as seen in the lab results in an earlier section?

What about the environmental claims or impact of each type of detergent?

Other than cleaning the washing machine using the washing machine cleaner, I think many people might not know that you have to remove the filter inside the tub and clean it. You will see a lot of dirt stuck in there. I'm not sure if this is worth for the content, can CNA also cover about the fabric softener? My MIL likes to use it because my husband's family likes the smell but I do not like it because it actually smells bad after few washes. In the end, I wash my own clothes with detergent only. I also done my own research that fabric softener is not necessary at all and is a waste of money. Not all fabrics are suitable to use softener.

You may provide the best choice of detergent and washing machine however at the end of the day it’s still user issue on how they use the washing machine, how much detergent and water volume they use for each load, how dirty their clothes is, how they take care of the machine. Too many factors that was missed out. Could have summaries: -any detergent based on your choice and budget. -avoid overloading of washing machine . - avoid adding additional clothes into machine once it starts washing unless ur machine has a program to add on plus adding of additional detergent. - make sure to air dry your drum after each wash.a lot of people might just close it and all the mildew plus bacteria starts to hide inside. - give drum a biweekly rinse with specialised drum washing detergent. Check your model if allows. Usually most of it does.. -avoid using softener, a dash of white artificial vinegar does the trick to soften your laundry without residue build up

Did I miss the results from the Magnesium balls? She used them in the detergent alternative testing but the results were absent from the charts.

Some items you wash should not be washed by softener as it will affect the absorption of cloth. softeners coat the fabric with some form of wax. therefore i don't use capsules.

They didn't mention soap nuts and plant/leaf from the ivory tree leaves l made my own laundry detergent with ivory leaves and tea leaves for sent.

Can CNA do an episode on CPF especially on how interest is calculated and credited?

Anyone same me, more interested in that portable washing machine, and whether it can really spin dry

0:12 Colonoscopy was my first thought

I use ntuc housebrand Anti bacteria liquid detergent! Pretty good product Soak first Hand washing

I got the right hypothesis that ALL detergents are anti bacterial in nature. All of them has surfactants and those things break down bacteria pretty well.

I am now using the nano laundry ball. It suppose to break water molecule so it can go deep into the fabric fibre to bring out dirt. So far so good and my washing machine is quite clean because no residue dirt stick to it. I just need to add a bit of softener during rinsing for fume.

The key is use it in a sufficient amount (not too much/less), soak it a while and rinse thoroughly.

Please do one on oxi wash remover vs bleach.

OK I'll continue to use sheet. It's the most convenient.

Liquid. But buy good powder detergent (cheaper, lighter, less packaging and better mileage overall) and spend some time to dissolve it properly before pouring it into the wash to avoid clumping.

There are some new products that I never use before. I stick to my old tradition anyway

The Director of Sustainability,Zhang Ting Ting, said “the bacteria from one dirty fabric could be ‘transferred’ to another fabric during the wash” and it’s not advisable dirty fabrics with l supposed less dirty fabrics (?). It doesn’t sound logical to me. If all detergent can remove bacteria from clothes during the wash, the bacteria transferred to the less dirty fabric will be removed as well during the wash. So what’s with not washing all the clothes together in the washing machine simply because one fabric could have more bacteria than other?!

Soak cloth in warm water with detergent powder or liquid for 30 min-1 hour... than rinse & wash by hand or in washing machine ..

Hey we use the same washing machine

powder is effective enough

But then the germs are also washed away, no? So, technically speaking, there would be minimal cross-contamination even if you mix your laundry during washing. On another note, one area you could have modified to show more precise information is during the survey of detergent popularity. You could have asked your respondents whether they used a front-load or top-load washing machine, because I think most front-load machine users would tend to use powdered detergent instead of liquid detergent. That might skew the results of your survey. Also, there may be machine manufacturers that do not recommend the use of machine cleaners when running their pre-programmed machine or drum cleaner cycle. Do their pre-programmed cleaning cycles effectively clean the washing machine without the use of commercial machine cleaners like the one you used at the end of the video?

Why didnt test out grease ? We sweat a lot in Singapore....

If just a normal soap bar to make dust how to do it just blend? Then mix baking soda should be done, I believe like that. It becomes cheaper or expensive?

I have stopped using liquid detergent. Over time it builds inside the washing machine and flakes off onto the clothes. And this is despite doing these washing machine clean-ups as suggested. Since switching to powder never had this problem again. Always use slightly less than recommended dose @30C. Never had any problems with undissolved product or skin allergies etc… and btw, don’t use fabric softener at all. And silly to suggest to separate kitchen linen from clothes because of contamination when it’s supposed to kill 99.99% bacteria 🤦🏻‍♀️

When the researcher was said to be researching on bacteria, immediately I gravitated to her looking like the scientist from last of us. Hahahahaha

There are tiny capsules now for lesser amount of clothes.

20:57 maybe the clothes doesn’t have any germs on?😂

I thought the Blue Light in the Mini Washing Machine is the UV Sterilization function? This would kill most bacteria.

Ever since I started using laundry capsules, there is no going back 😎

Old school powder you not paying for packaging,borax and lafrance worked for big mama clothes were pristine smelled great

i found that white vinegar is the best

Hi I want to buy dreame m13s can you ship it

The last part makes no sense because whta cross contamination is she talking about when previously it was established that even normal detergents have antibacterial properties so it makes no difference. The only logical reason maybe that different types of fabric and washing requirements. I am not an expert but that's my opinion.

Discussing which type of detergent approach is better at cleansing is basically pointless. (At least in uncontrolled settings). Every company manufactures their detergent differently, the amount of surfactant, the type of surfactant, and remember dose is the poison. But it’s good to provide information of the characteristics of each detergent approach I guess.. could have done this video within 1 minute 😂

I was surprised to hear that no matter what type of detergent you use, washing will remove about 99% of the bacteria. There is so much discussion about washing laundry with hot water, when just using these modern detergents is enough to kill bacteria. I will still use hot water for bedsheets and towels just to be sure, but I won't be neurotic when it comes to washing clothes...

@Diana, even the worst detergent, according to your test, has an efficacy of at least 99.99%. Which means if you mix wash cloth with tee shirts, it is disgusting only in our minds? What do you think?

What ever is on Sale, powder detergent dilute it first b4 adding to clothes

Whilst the test covers how well clothes gets cleaned, but more importantly is to check which laundry detergent damages or create more build up of gung in the machine. Some of these detergent to clean the machines are not so effective.

Which laundry liquid or powder is best

Sheets are more prevalent in Canada.

Can CNA Insider look into the water quality in aircraft’s water tank for consumption?

What temp was used for bacteria test? Bc with 60+ bacteria will die without detergent

How about the control towel? What's the % of bacteria?

The way the bacterial count was interpreted was not correct. 99.9 and 99.99 has a big difference. That is in fact a 10 times removal efficacy. @14:23 liquid detergent has 5 9s while powder detergent has 8 9s. This means that powder is 1000X more effective at removing bacteria.

what is the make and model of the portable clothes washing machine? in America I have never seen such a portable device

18:45 cross contamination? But the detergent would have killed the bacteria anyway no? lol

Shall we put pet's clothes or fabric into the washing machine?! Thanks!

Personally I think HSBC is quite a high performance laundry system.

Why didn't they use the same supply for the tees? 🤔

Her portable washing machines has UV light (the blue light), which is supposed to kill germs and bacteria. Not sure if that affects the accuracy of the results.

Isn't Diana Ser endorsing for TOP nanox brand?

Would be better if to leave the shirts over one night .. at least and I have been using sheets for awhile mostly because I don’t want to use a lot of plastic products

Perhaps you can do a segment on patients undergoing dialysis who are not entitled to NKF or KDF subsidies. Medisave claims remains unchanged for years at $450 a month despite escalating costs from private dialysis clinics.

Surfactant alone is already anti bacterial because it scraps a later where bacteria resides.