Kirkland Institutional Laundry Detergent and HE washing machines

August 10, 2015 10:55 AM

We currently use a non-HE washing machine in our household, but will be upgrading to an HE machine very soon. Has anyone tried using the Kirkland Institutional detergent (the one in a white, rectangular pail; has other uses besides laundry) in their HE washer?

I've seen some older threads on other forums saying that the Kirkland Institutional detergent might be low-sudsing, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to try it. I may have to use far less detergent and get an unclean wash but low suds, or if i try to use more, I'll get suds-galore. Should I try a load with Kirkland or is it not worth the hassle?

Also, does anyone use borax and LA's Totally Awesome Oxygen Base Cleaner in their HE machine? I tend to use those with my current loads, but I'm not sure if/how I can use the oxygen cleaner (it's like a knock-off of Oxiclean) with our new machine.

I have HE-compatible detergent on hand, so I can use those if Kirkland's will not work. Thanks!

posted by extramundane to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Best answer: Can't help with the Kirkland detergent question, but I do occasionally add 1/2 cup of borax or washing soda in with the laundry in my Samsung HE top loader with no ill effects. It honestly hadn't occurred to me that it might be a problem; the user manual doesn't say to avoid them, so I think they're OK.
posted by Jemstar at 12:12 PM on August 10, 2015

Best answer: Also, if I remember correctly, the only restriction on oxygen bleach powder is that it should not go in the liquid bleach dispenser, but rather in the main wash drum.
posted by Jemstar at 12:14 PM on August 10, 2015

Best answer: Even washing once or twice completely without detergent will probably still get your clothes clean.

I say try with a small amount of detergent and watch how sudsy it looks in there during that load. Your clothes will probably wash just fine. Then you can increase the amount of detergent if it looks like the suds won't be a problem.
posted by R a c h e l at 12:54 PM on August 10, 2015

Best answer: I throw the Borax in with the clothes and it's fine.
posted by cooker girl at 2:14 PM on August 10, 2015

Best answer: Another thought: if you bought the detergent through Costco, perhaps you'd be able to just go back and return it? I assume that avoiding wasting the money spent on it is the reason you're asking the question.
posted by Aleyn at 2:34 PM on August 10, 2015

Best answer: We use the Kirkland laundry detergent (large bucket/pail - can't remember the color since we just decant into a smaller plastic tub) with our HE washing machine and have had no problems, but we also use much less detergent than the directions call for. We also have used OxyClean in conjunction with the detergent, and no problems there, either.
posted by sazanka at 8:35 AM on August 11, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I used a tablespoon of detergent plus a small scoop of borax and oxygen cleaner in the drum, and it worked great. My clothes came out so much cleaner than with my old machine! For reference, my new washer is from LG, model WT5270CW.
posted by extramundane at 6:23 PM on August 15, 2015