How Much Detergent Should I Use in a Commercial Washing Machine?

I recently got asked a very difficult question by a customer of Worldwide Janitor. It didn’t sound difficult at first, but as I sat down to compute the results he wanted based on our product instruction labels, I realized that I was going to have some work to do!
All he wanted to know, was “how many pounds of laundry the following products would clean in the sizes he was ordering.”
Sounds simple right? Well it’s not 🙁

Unfortunately there are a lot of factors to consider here. Here was my response:

I will do my best to answer this question, including some formulas and instructions from each product’s label. It is pretty complicated though as you can see, because it depends on the washer size, as well as how soiled the linens are.

Load capacity for washers tends to vary from 10 (normal) – 20 (large capacity) lbs of laundry per load on average, so let’s assume this when using the following instructions.

Also, how soiled the laundry is will make a difference as well. Today’s commercial washers also scale up very large in size (some wash 100 lbs of laundry at a time), and some are even high efficiency (requiring significantly less water and detergent).

Let’s also use the conversion that 1 lbs = 3.75 cups of detergent. Let’s also assume that, as you stated, these are older, non-HE washers.

**Very Important: Most of our commercial detergent instructions are for older, non-HE machines. For HE (high efficiency) machines, use about 1/2 of the amount called for on the label.**

1. HTD Heavy Duty Detergent (powder) (08 HTD)
   50 lbs pail = 187.5 cups of detergent = 375 normal capacity loads of laundry = 3,750 lbs of laundry

Instructions:

For top loading machines:

Normal capacity: Use 1/2 cup per load.

Large capacity: Use 3/4 to 1 cup per load.

For front-loading machines: Use 1/3 cup per load. Add detergent before adding clothes.

2. Superior Laundry Detergent (powder) (15 SLD)
   50 lbs box = 187.5 cups of detergent = 375 normal capacity loads of laundry = 3,750 lbs of laundry

Similar instructions to HTD

3. Lemon Scent Detergent (powder) (08 LSD)
   50 lbs pail = 187.5 cups of detergent = 375 normal capacity loads of laundry = 3,750 lbs of laundry

Similar instructions to HTD

4. Chlorine Dry Bleach (powder) (08 CDB)
   50 lbs pail =  800 oz. of Chlorine Dry Bleach = 4,344 lbs of laundry (medium duty)

Suggested Use:

Light duty: 2.25 oz. (100 ppm)

Medium duty: 3.5 oz. (150 ppm) (apx 1 cup)

Heavy duty: 4.5 oz. (200 ppm)

Based on 19 gallons of water in a general washing machine. (most commercial machines seem to do about 1 pound of laundry per gallon of water, so that is what I used for this measurement)

5. Oxygen Dry Bleach (powder) (08 ODB)
   50 lbs pail = 187.5 cups of detergent = 375 normal capacity loads of laundry = 3,750 lbs of laundry

Suggested Use:

Front loading washer: 1/4 cup per 8 lb. load in soft water. 1/2 cup per 8 lb. load in hard water.

Top loading washer: 1/2 cup per 8 lb. load in soft water. 3/4 cup per 8 lb. load in hard water.

These directions vary based on water type as well, so I just went with the mid-range 1/2 cup suggestion for this formula.

6. Liquid Fabric Softener  (02 LFS)
   5 gallon pail = 640 oz. = 6,400 lbs of laundry (mid-level softening and static control)

Suggested Use:

To achieve appropriate effect follow chart below:

7.Oxy Care (08 OC)
Case of 12 (qty) 2.5 lbs Jars = 30 lbs / 480 oz. = 1,440 lbs of laundry

Laundry Use:

1-8 oz. / load 1 wash cycle Determined by soil, detergent, size of washer. (For this calculation we will use 5 oz. as an average usage for 15 lbs of laundry)

Laundry Pre-Soak:

2-4 oz. / gallon 30 min. brights & darks For heavy stains or old, dingy linens.

1 + hour for others