Laundry Help

The laundry machines in my building have 4 slots:
1 - Liquid Fabric Softener
2 - Liquid Detergent or Bleach for Mainwash
3 - Liquid or Powder detergent for Prewash
4 - Powder detergent for Mainwash

I usually put most of the detergent in slot 2.
A little bit of detergent in slot 3
Some baking powder in Slot 4
Sometimes I put vinegar in Slot 3 also.

Am I doing it right?

Should I change where I put the Baking Powder and Vinegar? (I heard you're not supposed to have the 2 mixed together)

Since I put some detergent in the Pre Wash slot, Am I just basically washing the clothes twice?

Should I stop with putting detergent in for pre-wash and just use vinegar there?

Thanks

Laundry Help

Why do you use baking soda and vinegar ?
I use the pre wash only if the laundry is dirty. Otherwise I find it just to be a waste of detergent. I do use a booster like Oxy Clean for my whites, that goes in with the liquid, our machines don't allow for powder usage.

Laundry Help

You should be putting the vinegar in Slot 1 - vinegar is a fabric softener. You don't need to add separate softener.
I'd also skip the pre-wash and just add your detergent in slot 2 for the main wash. If you feel the need to use baking soda too, you should put that in slot 4.

Laundry Help

SusiBee,
I use baking soda because I heard that helps to increase the cleaning power of your detergent.
I use vinegar because I heard it strips away old detergent build up and also helps kill germs.

VickiC,
When does the "fabric softener" get used? After main wash? So it will not be washed away with detergent?
Will the clothes smell like vinegar then?

Thanks!

Laundry Help

The machine dispenses the vinegar during the rinse cycle, same as when using traditional fabric softener. Clothes do not smell like vinegar. It's all I use!