No scientific proof at all but it feels like washing powder does a much better job at removing stains than washing liquid.
It also seems more and more difficult to find washing powder in store as manufacturers are moving to liquid and even more a rip off - pods. Don’t get me started on these money spinners.
What is your experience and what works best?
The problem with the question is us, the consumers. When is the last time you sat down to read the instructions in great detail? A cursory look at the recommended temperature maybe and off we go. Meanwhile a labcoat has produced the greatest formula to clean everything at room temperature. If only we used this much water and these many spin cycles. But no one read the back of the container.
Where I am at, people tend to not do a hot cycle or if they need it they go to a launderette. The liquid works okay on clothes in a cold cycle. But bed sheets and towels start smelling if they don’t get at least a 40C/100F cycle every once in a while. And I do that one on powder because it was the only one that wasn’t designed to be for cold wash only. So to summarize this extremely boring anecdote: it depends where you are, what your machine is like, and probably on local water quality as well. Or: we’ll never find a good answer here that satisfies the demands of the scientific method.
I never wash anything in hot, it’s really bad for your clothes / fabrics. My stuff doesn’t smell when it comes out, and my clothing lasts ages.
The smell is from your washing machine, not the cold wash of your laundry. Doing a hot cycle occasionally will help clean the mold & mildew from inside the machine, even without it having items in it. Even better if you put some bleach or a cleaning tablet in it
It’s not from the machine because I clean that as well. And then all clothes should get the smell and they don’t. It’s a riddle inside an enigma wrapped in confused consumers.
People have different body chemistries, hard vs soft water, etc.