What kind of fabric wash do you use?

Hi,

I'm going on an extended trip to India and will be backpacking so need a fabric wash. I saw Lifeventure's Fabric Wash but this contained a warning such as: "Avoid contact with eyes can cause blindness" - which doesn't sound like something I want.

Has anyone used Lifeventure's all purpose soap? Does it have a similar warning?

Thanks

just buy a bar of Rin when you get there-does the job or get a dhobi wallah to wash your clothes for you.
no need for fabric softener.

I found a laundry bar of soap the easiest.I tried the little powder sachets you can buy everywhere as well...but in the end my tide laundry bar for rs 10 was my favorite.

Laundry bar works the best in my experience, use it lightly on cotton based clothes as it tends to discolor them If used generously. I use synthetic travel clothes when I travel to India so a quick rub of laundry bar and a couple of rinses will do the job. Alternatively, you can use the hotel laundry service - just tell them not to starch your (cotton based) clothes too much!

It must be a statutory warning and you should not be alarmed by reading it. Any washing-medium may cause blindness, if contacted to eyes and left for longer period without splashing water in the eyes. You should be careful while using it and may very well ignore it.
IMHO, carrying a detergent bar could be a problem in itself. Generally we do use sachet of Surf (any detergent powder as per its availability in local market) during travel. It won't require rubbing a bar on the cloth.

A detergent powder sachet is good when you have a bucketfull of clothes to wash. If you are going to was just a few small pieces(underwear etc) then a detergent bar(like Rin)is the best. Carry it in a plastic soapcase wrapped in a small plastic packet.

I'd suggest using a laundromat, if you find some. Else, the hotels offer laundry service for free. The detergent I use for my front-load washer in India is Surf Excel Matic. For some reason, I can never find liquid detergents but only these powder detergents for washers here. Ariel's Front-O-Mat is also good. If it's legal to bring some, I suggest you bring some Tide Gentle from the US, and definitely bring some dryer sheets...you won't find any here in India! Regarding hand-washing soaps, Rin is usually the most common one available in stores. Else, you can buy washing powders (non-machine) and use them. Do use washing gloves though to avoid wrinkly hands!

Laundromat? I've never seen a laundromat in 20 years in India! Well, not in Ladakh, Delhi, and other places in the north.

I have!

In T Nagar, Chennai. It was a few years ago, no idea if it still survives

Now that I have not seen. Maybe the very expensive ones?

Me too. Vastly inferior to the powders available in UK.
Gentle soaps are available for silks and wool, and can be used in the machine, as well.

My wife seems to see the machine as the maid's assistant. It could get a lot more use, but most of the washing gets done by hand.

In our experience the more upmarket the hotel the higher the laundry charges.
We take a small bottle of travel wash (about 300ml) which in the UK can be bought at places like Semi-Chem for less than a pound.

I had a fight with the room boys in a guest house about how much they were charging for washing one small pair of ankle-length socks! In fact, the entire tariff got, err, renegotiated. I was there for a month: it was worth getting some of the ground rules sorted out.

And anyway, I wasn't so mean: I let them fleece me in lots of other small ways