Public Service You're using too much soap!

Updated 9.30.2015
Today, I spent part of my day waiting for a repair technician to figure out why my washing machine stopped in mid-cycle and would not drain. The answer fortunately was easily found, and even more fortunately easily fixed (and relatively cheaply in that all it cost was labor). The pipe outside the machine to the drain was completely blocked, whereas the internal pipes were not, but they were on the way to being blocked. After cleaning out the pipes, he lectured me about my machine and how to use it properly. I offer what I learned as a public service announcement, so that readers might avoid an unnecessary bill (only the standard arrival fee and labor, but it still takes a bite out of this week's budget and could have been avoided).

So what as the issue? The pipe in the washer were blocked by a layer of soap scum because I have one of the efficient low water usage front loading washers, and I've been using WAY too much laundry detergent for the six years that I've owned it. The washer uses so little water that the excess soap can't be pushed out of the hose, thus it deposits on the inside of the hose.

How much laundry detergent had I been using? Much, much less than I ever used in older top loading washer— but the technician helpfully told me that I'd probably been using too much in that one too.

So how much detergent should I have been using? Less than two soup spoonfuls, he said. And using less is better than overshooting that amount. The washer that I have uses 70% less water than the top loading (much older model) that I grew up with. There simply isn't enough water used during the cycle to get rid of the all the excess detergent, and thus for the past six years we've most likely been wearing soap infused clothing.

Lesson learned. But wait, there's more!

After the technician left, I went to do a load of dishes in my dishwasher (which is also of recent vintage, and thus more efficient than those of the past). And I got to thinking about the amount of dish detergent that I add to its dispenser before running. Although I've been adding less than I used to, I decided to really push the limit and add the lowest amount labeled in the dispenser cup.

The result? The dishes were definitely clean, and in fact seemed cleaner than when washed with excess soap, because there was no soap film left on the surface of the glasses or dishes. Okay, so that's a subjective measure as I don't really have a way to measure the amount of residual detergent, but even if the dishes were only just as clean, it would mean we can use a lot of less detergent.

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