Sort your washable clothing, separating dark colors from light colors and whites. Wash heavily soiled items separately from lightly soiled items in order to avoid soil transfer. Any large or dark stains should be pre-treated by mixing a little amount of Planet Ultra Powdered Laundry Detergent with water and rubbing this mixture directly onto the stain. Rinse the pre-treatment out after a few minutes if you do not plan to launder the item immediately, so as to avoid damaging the fabric. For stubborn stains, pre-soak the clothing in warm water with a small amount of detergent.

On your washing machine, select the appropriate color and temperature settings. In general, wash dark colors in cold or cool water, and wash light colors and whites in cool or warm water. If in doubt, refer to garment care labels for specific instructions. Heavily soiled clothing may require warm water for the best cleaning results. Use cold water for the rinse cycle.

Using the measuring scoop provided inside the Planet Ultra Powdered Laundry Detergent box, measure out an appropriate amount of detergent and add this amount to your washing machine. For regular sized loads (large setting on your washer), use one full scoop. Extra large or heavily soiled loads may require up to 1¹/₂ scoops. Small or lightly soiled loads may require as little as half a scoop. Hard water conditions or washing in cold water may require more detergent. If you are using a front-loading washing machine, use half of the amounts suggested above. Planet Ultra Powdered Laundry Detergent will perform best in warm, soft water.

Start your washing machine and allow water to mix with the detergent. Add your soiled laundry, taking care to distribute clothes evenly throughout the wash basin. For most effective washing, do not to overload the washing machine.

Because Ultra Powdered Laundry is specially formulated to be a low-sudsing detergent, it is ideal for use in high-efficiency, front-loading washers.

Do you know... ...the truth about suds? Suds in wash water are often mistakenly taken as an indicator that a detergent is working. In fact, suds are a poor indicator of cleaning effectiveness because it is not the suds, rather the surfactants in the detergent that are actually responsible for removing dirt and oil from your clothing. Surfactants clean by weakening dirt and oil particles and binding them to water molecules.

• Refer to garment care labels for laundering instructions, especially before washing an item for the first time.

• Wash and dry dark or very brightly colored new items separately until excess dye has bled out. This avoids having the dye from new clothes transfer onto other items in your wash.

• Turn your dark clothes inside-out for laundering. This will help keep the colors from fading and will reduce pilling on the outer surfaces of your clothing.

• Planet Ultra Powdered Laundry Detergent works well in warm or cold water. Using hot water will not always give you better cleaning results, and it can cause more fading and damage to your fabrics than if cooler wash temperatures had been used. Careful pre-treatment of stains will greatly improve washing performance in any temperature water.

• For day-to-day washing, launder your light colors and whites together in warm or cool water. For extra whitening, separate your whites occasionally and wash them in warm water with the addition of a laundry booster like ¹/₂ cup of baking soda. Borax will also work as a laundry booster, however borax is not recommended if you plan on using the water in a greywater system.

• If possible, wash heavily soiled clothes separately from lightly soiled clothes. Heavy soils can transfer onto other items in the wash, causing whites and light colored items to appear dingy.

• A ¹/₂ cup of white vinegar added to the rinse cycle will help soften your clothes, set colors and keep your clothes bright. It will also help remove any detergent or hard water residues and help keep your washing machine clean by removing buildup.

Do you know... ...about hard water deposits? Many residues left on your clothes in the wash are not from the detergent alone. Large ashy deposits are typically caused by calcium and magnesium present in hard water that combine with substances in the detergent. Pre-dissolving the detergent helps to reduce the formation of these residues, and adding some vinegar during the rinse cycle will help remove any residue deposits that may have formed.