washing detergent: powder or liquid?

I dont know but I use Persil non bio capsules and nothing seems to block up - used to awful problems in the days of washing powder.

I use bio tablets I buy at Morrisons. I have never had a problem and they do a fabulous job.

I use Method. In fact all my cleaning products are Method.

I use either Fairy or Ariel liquitabs in my machine. I don't know about what they do to the plumbing, but I get good results.

A washing machine engineer recently told me that powder or liquid were fine, but the one to avoid is washing gel as it gunks up the machine and the drains/sewage pipes.

A Which review found that powder is better than liquid for several reasons. Liquid detergent is just basically the same chemicals as powdered but with water added. There is some gloop added as well. When it dries out in your machine if you are washing at lower temperatures it gunks it all up.( sorry not using technical terms) So liquid more likely to make your machine smell and clogged. Powder more economical plus the liquid tends to come in plastic so another reason to use powder. The gel capsules are also bad for clogging up your machine and pipes because of the plastic used in the capsule. Sorry for being non scientific here but I'm sure you know what I mean.

I use liquids but do a 60 deg wash weekly and a 90 deg wash with no soap now and again so, hopefully my machine and pipes are all clear?

What suzied says.
In fact I have had no probs at all since changing from gel to washing powder, no smelly machine anymore and better cleaning results all round, and cheaper too.
I use Sainsbury own bio powder in a big box.

We use liquid but with a spoonful of soda crystals . The washing is clean and so is the machine.

I use either liquid Ariel or Persil small and Mighty whichever is on offer.

So, nobody actually cares about the dangers to the environment from using these chemical ?

I've seen our sewer pipes when I unblocked the drains for my next door neighbour and they're not blocked, they looked fine to me.