Table of Contents
HE Detergent
You must use a true HE safe, low-sudsing detergent in your high-efficiency washer. These detergents are formulated to create fewer suds while maintaining cleaning power. Because HE washers use less water, they need a lower-sudsing detergent that can rinse away with less water and to keep excess suds from overwhelming and possibly breaking the pump on the machine HE washers are cleaning the same amount of dirty laundry, so they need the same amount of detergent (or in the case of high-capacity HE machines, maybe even more!)
Many detergent companies are moving toward labeling that says “safe for all machines, including HE.” As long as the detergent does not direct you to use less in a HE machine, it is probably fine for your HE machine. The exception is the “safe for all machines” Gain powder, which is very sudsy and has broken HE machines. As of this writing (July 2016), the problem with Gain’s powder formula has not been corrected and we do not recommend that it be used at all in HE washers. Please take a look at our detergent index to see our recommended amounts for many detergents, and make sure to double (and triple!) check that your detergent bottle or box is labeled as HE safe, as some brands do have separate formulas for HE and non-HE.