The Biggest Laundry Mistake Everyone Makes (And How to Fix It)

Do you pour detergent straight from the bottle like it’s happy hour or scoop powder like you’re feeding a horse? Turns out, winging it with detergent is a surefire way to destroy your clothes and your washing machine.

So in this video, I’m going to show you the warning signs you’re using too much, why it’s harmful, and the simple fix that’ll save your clothes, your skin, and your wallet.

Why Using More Detergent Makes Clothes Dirtier

Detergent works by binding to dirt and oils so water can rinse them away. But once the water is saturated, extra detergent has nowhere to go.

Instead of cleaning, it sticks.

Excess detergent coats fabric fibres, traps body oils, attracts dirt, and slowly builds a waxy residue that no rinse cycle can fully remove. That’s why clothes can come out of the wash looking clean but feeling heavy, stiff, or greasy.

This is the core reason towels stop absorbing, whites turn grey, and “clean laundry” still smells off.

The DEATH Effects of Too Much Detergent

• Dull colours and greying whites from residue buildup
• Elastic breakdown in underwear, activewear, and socks
• Absorbency loss in towels and sheets
• Toxic residue left on clothes and skin
• Hard machine buildup that causes smells and breakdowns

If your washing machine smells bad, your towels repel water, or your clothes feel rough no matter what you do, detergent overdose is almost always the culprit.

How Much Laundry Detergent You Actually Need

You do not need a full cap. You don’t need half a cap. You don’t even need a quarter of a cap.

The cap in most modern detergents are not a dosing tool. They're a marketing tool. Those fill lines are designed to make you run out faster, not wash better. When you pour a full cap into a machine that uses minimal water, the detergent has nowhere to go. It can’t rinse out properly, so it stays behind, coating your clothes and your machine instead of cleaning them.

In most households, the correct amount of detergent is closer to one or two tablespoons, not a capful. If you ever see suds after the rinse cycle, or your laundry feels slippery, stiff, or smells “clean” but not actually fresh, that’s your sign you’ve used too much.

Cleaner laundry doesn’t come from more detergent.
It comes from the right amount rinsing out completely.

How Much Laundry Detergent to Use

• High-efficiency machines: 1–2 tablespoons
• Standard machines: 2–3 tablespoons max

If you can see suds after the rinse cycle, you’ve used too much.

Does HE-Safe Laundry Detergent Mean Harmless?

High-Efficiency (HE) washing machines use far less water than older models, which means they’re much worse at rinsing away excess detergent. “HE-safe” on a bottle only means low-suds, not low-residue, and definitely not harmless.

In fact, low-suds detergent is designed to cling longer and rinse slower, so when you overpour in an HE machine, that residue has nowhere to go. It sticks to your clothes, your skin, and the inside of your machine.

That’s why HE machines smell faster, towels stop absorbing sooner, and laundry feels weirdly damp after the spin. Less water means less margin for error, not permission to use more detergent.

Why Laundry Sheets Solve the Overdosing Problem

The biggest advantage of laundry sheets is that they remove guesswork entirely.

Filthy Clean Laundry Sheets are pre-measured, ultra-concentrated, and dissolve completely in hot or cold water. No caps. No spills. No accidental foam parties your washing machine didn’t consent to.

Because they rinse clean, they don’t leave residue behind, which keeps fabrics softer, colours brighter, and machines cleaner long-term.

What to Do If You’ve Been Overusing Detergent for Years

Good news: this is fixable.

Step 1: Reset Your Clothes

Run a hot wash with no detergent at all. This helps flush excess residue out of the fabric fibres.

If clothes still feel waxy or stiff, repeat once more or do a full laundry strip using washing soda and borax.

Step 2: Clean Your Washing Machine

Run an empty hot cycle with vinegar or a proper machine cleaner. Detergent residue builds up inside the drum, hoses, and seals, not just on your clothes.

This step alone often fixes lingering machine smells.

Step 3: Fix Your Dosage Going Forward

Switch to the correct amount immediately. Using less detergent allows it to rinse out properly, reduces buildup, and keeps clothes genuinely clean over time.

Common Laundry Problems (And the Real Cause)

• Towels don’t absorb: detergent residue coating fibres
• Whites look yellow or grey: trapped oils + detergent film
• Clothes feel stiff: detergent overdosing, not “hard water”
• Machine smells: buildup feeding bacteria and mould

In almost every case, using less detergent fixes the issue faster than buying another product.

Hard Water Makes Overdosing Worse

If you live in a hard-water area, excess detergent binds with minerals and sticks even harder to fabric.

This doesn’t mean you need more detergent. It means you need better rinsing and proper dosing.

Laundry sheets perform especially well here because they dissolve fully and don’t rely on heavy fillers.

Stop Paying for Dirty Laundry

Overusing detergent wastes money, ruins clothes, and shortens the life of your washing machine.

Clean laundry should feel light, soft, and actually clean. Not sticky. Not stiff. Not “fresh” only because it smells like perfume.

The fix is simple:

• Use less detergent
• Rinse properly
• Choose products that don’t leave residue

Make Laundry Easier With Filthy Clean

If you want genuinely clean clothes without overthinking it, Filthy Clean Laundry Sheets remove the biggest cause of laundry problems entirely: overdosing.

They’re pre-measured, enzyme-powered, and plastic-free, so there’s no guessing, no mess, and nothing left behind to ruin your clothes or your machine.

If you want to kit out the whole house in one hit, check out the Filthy Clean Starter Pack.

Once you stop overdosing detergent, laundry stops being complicated and everything starts working the way it should.