Tide Washing Machine Cleaner for the LG Washer

After having overnight guests we needed to do extra wash along with our weekly bedsheets and towels. I won’t say it’s a pleasure, but doing wash in our new condo is a treat compared to our Capitol Hill tiny combinatio washer/dryer and community laundry room. So after three loads of washing and drying, I thought it would be a good time to do the recommended “tub clean” to ensure the washing machine stays fresh and in good working order. I just hope everyone else in the building reads through all their appliance care instructions. There are routine things that need to be done after every wash - like emptying the water filter tubes and wiping down the washer door seal and leaving the door ajar to avoid moldy smells. But the most important item is to use high efficiency detergent or it will ruin the washer. So I got some Tide wash tub “cleaner” packets. There is a setting on the LG washer specific for “tub clean.” Rather than follow the instructions on the Tide package I read the instruction book. The cleaner was put in the detergent drawer rather than the wash tub. Then you just push the tub clean button and wait 90 minutes. When the cycle was done I emptied the water hose, wiped down the tub and the door seal, cleaned the detergent drawer, and left the door ajar. The next time I’ll wait for the light to come on telling us it’s time to do another cycle. Who ever guessed appliances required so much attention? But at least now they usually tell you when they need it. 

Harris Teeter Twist and Store Container vs Container Store

Having two LG tiny washer/dryer combo units in each apartment, we have to use a high efficiency laundry detergent. Otherwise the “regular” kind will ruin the machine. Last year we got a really nice hard plastic kitchen container that has a clasp at the Container Store to keep the washing powder in along with the scoop. It was just neater and easier to handle because the tops on the Tide box don’t work very well once they are open. That plastic container was put on the kitchen shelf in the unit where the washer/dryer is in the kitchen. The washer/dryer in the other unit sits in a tiny closet under the archaic HVAC system. Any time there is a water leak, all the items sitting on the shelves above it get wet. That leaves a soggy mess for anything cardboard. So while grocery shopping today we looked for a plastic container and we found a similar style for $20! Rather than get that, we decided the $2.99 two container twist and store Harris Teeter brand would do the job. So we poured the remaining Tide in the two containers and they fit nicely on the shelf, won’t spill, and will stay dry. I’m not sure why it took us so long to finally do this minor improvement. But we feel like we accomplished a major feat. How we miss our combination mud room, huge laundry room with its own sink on the main living level of our old home in the Midwest. That’s what urban living in an 1890’s condo unit does for you. 

Tide High Efficiency Detergent

We are back to the daily grind. We just returned from our visit to Florida to see my elderly parents - not quite the vacation, but time away from the nation's Capitol. My husband now is on the look out for high efficiency washing detergent. The LG washer/dryer machine we have cannot tolerate regular washing detergents. The repairman once told us that high efficiency detergent was essential for this type and brand of clothes washer when he came to fix it quite a while ago. Since my husband said he could not find it at the local Harris Teeter he usually goes to, we had to spend precious Saturday time searching for it at another grocery store. I know they don't have it at Safeway, because we checked there around Thanksgiving. So we went to the Giant where he got his flu shot in McLean. And there it was clear as day - to me. The blue HE symbol wasn't really that noticeable, but the bright orange rectangular box it comes in was the same. There were two sizes...the small box is almost ten dollars and the larger one is $15.00. Now I know why some of the residents in the condo building were complaining when their laundry detergent was stolen from the laundry room last week. Nothing is cheap any more. Let's hope this stuff lasts awhile. When I told him I only use a small amount for each wash, he was surprised. We never had to worry about any of this in our large laundry room in our home in Milwaukee. I suppose there are worse things to think about. But this just all seems to be a waste of time.