What is Laundry Detergent? All You Need to Know | Bosch UK (2024)

Tips & tricks how much laundry detergent to use.

Until now you might have guessed how much laundry detergent to use for perfectly clean laundry. Don’t worry, this is not surprising! There are quite a few things that need to be taken into account to achieve good washing results. You find the washing instructions on how much detergent to use for perfectly clean laundry at the back of the detergent bottle. To give you some advice, we have prepared a few tips.

The correct detergent amount is based on these three criteria:

1. The washing load.

The washing load is measured in weight. For a larger load of laundry, you usually require more laundry detergent than for smaller laundry loads. Please follow the instructions at the back of your detergent bottle. You can use your washing detergent cap as a dosing device. Make sure you get the dose right for your washing load. Generally a front load washing machine needs 35 ml of liquid for a normal soiling degree for soft-medium water.

2. The degree of soiling.

Clothes with many stains or hard-to-remove stains require more laundry detergent to become perfectly clean, than clothes which were worn but are not dirty. With some stains, you might even need to pre-treat them before washing. For example soak them in soapy water or add some stain removal liquid.

3. The water hardness in your area.

Water hardness differs depending on its source. Some areas have typically “hard water” with larger lime levels and others have rather “soft water” with low lime levels. For washing this means you need more detergent for hard water and less detergent for soft water. Please also check the recommendation on your detergent bottle or packaging. To know what is the water hardness level within your area, please contact your local water supplier or simply buy test strips for water hardness to find out how much detergent you need to use.

The three standard dosing chambers in your washing machine.

Have you ever wondered why your washing machine has different dosing chambers in your detergent drawer? Do you know how to fill these compartments correctly? Most manual dosing washing machines have three different dosing chambers. One large one and two smaller ones.

In our Bosch washing machine detergent drawers compartment, one is for the prewash detergent (Symbol I). The second dosing chamber is for the detergent for the main wash and also descaler, bleach and stain removal products. (Symbol II). The third dosing chamber with the little flower icon is for fabric softeners. Please make sure you do not exceed the marked maximum capacity in any of the chambers.

How to fill the detergent drawer in your washing machine i-DOS automatic dosing system washing machines.

Take a load off with i-DOS. We developed i-DOS, our Intelligent Dosing System, so that you can fill the drawer resevoir with up to a whole bottle of liquid detergent, select the Automatic programme and relax. And then i-DOS sensors automatically measure the precise amount of detergent and water needed for each load, without the need to refill the detergent every wash. As a result you can save up to 38% of detergent** thanks to the automatic precise dosing, based on consumers’ laundry practices study from Bonn University.

International Journal of Consumer Studies ISSN 1470-6423.

Sustainability is a guiding principle for a responsible, future-oriented 21st century lifestyle and this already begins in private households with daily household tasks.

Consumer behaviour plays an essential role in practising sustainability on a daily basis.

Bonn University provides the rationale for the scientific study of current practices of using washing machines and for a resulting estimate of the latent energy-saving potential in households. The results of this study show that washing machines tend to be under-loaded, and therefore maximum loading of the machines could lead to a reduction of wash cycles per household.

With respect to detergent dosage, it was determined that the consumer does not adjust the dosage to the textile type, load size, soil level and/or water hardness, and this can lead to under- or overdosing depending on prevailing conditions.

The results from the scientific consumers’ laundry practices study from Bonn University show that consumers are not using the correct amount of detergent for their laundry in comparison to the recommended amount shown on the packaging. By using the correct amount of detergent, this could save the consumer 38% of detergent per year.

We can help guide you to your perfect washing machine and/or tumble dryer.

Our simple and interactive Product Selector will ask you a number of personal requirements to narrow down your perfect appliance.