Powder or liquid?

I use Lidls Formil liquid, large bottle lasts ages. Rarely use the full amount. Most of my washing is done quick wash at 40 degrees, occasional 60 for whites.
Have stopped using any softeners, my machine drawer doesn't get so gunged up any more.
Every now and then I add some washing soda to a load, usually towels, to help clean machine.

I've been interested in trying the washing balls Franbern. They last for years and how wonderful to use no detergent. I need to use up my liquid detergent (this will take a couple of months) and then will order some. Will have to do some Amazon research to find the best ones though.
Would love to hear from anyone who uses them.

Powder in cardboard box much cheaper and better for the environment. I’ve read conflicting advice that liquids are just an extra expense - the same chemicals as in powder but has water added. Just as likely to gunge your machine up too if residue is left. Plus all that plastic.

I use liquid pods these days but for a long time I preferred powder. I don't do a washing without a colour catcher in it either. They are brilliant!

I recently vowed to use powder in cardboard cartons only. Have been using the pods for quite a while, but find the wretched boxes so difficult to open - plus it’s all that plastic!
And apparently they gum up the machine.
From now on it’s powder and soda crystals only. Bought both today - now going to do a de-gumming-up wash with just soda crystals.

Oh thanks, girls, lots good ideas here. Perhaps I will use powder and liquid alternatively! DH just ordered from Amazon a gigantic bottle of Daz liquid! That and my two 44 wash boxes of Persil should keep me and the washing machine occupied till 2021!

So, nobody has mentioned the washing balls. Anyone use these? I have been using washing sheets for some years now, but these seem to be getting more and more difficult to get - the ones I started with no longer exist. When my present supply runs out am thinking of using these balls.
Only my own washing, nothing gets really dirty these days. Have a new Hoover machine and have worked out how to run it at 30 degrees with a 16 spin.
Hardish water area, but I also include with every wash a calgon-type tablet.
So, would like to hear any comments/recommendations regarding washing balls.

I have used the gel for years but when my washer gave up the ghost last year (15 years old) the .engeneer I called out said I shouldn't use gel all the time as it did something to machine .I now use powder for towels and bedding but gel when I am doing a dark wash.

I use no detergent for my work dresses. Try to wash them after the 2nd or 3rd washing. For dirtier clothes (underwear etc) I use powder. Sometimes, if I can be bothered, I dissolve it in warm water first.

My new machine is called" high efficiency"so uses less water, it seems to mean that it will not fully dissolve powder.

My washing machine recommended liquid as well. So thats what I use, powder was clogging things up.

I've got a brand new Hoover washer and use powder, in the drawer, as I always have.
I some times do 14 minute washes at 30degrees and have never had any problems with the powder not dissolving nor the drawer clogging up.
I think it may have something to do with the water, we have soft water.

I use powder for towels and whites, which I put straight in the drum and liquid for everything else, both Persil non bio. I only put softener in the drawer, or white vinegar with towels.
A washing machine engineer told me that using both powder and liquid helps to stop the pipework blocking up. How true that is I don't know.

I use powder because it is much cheaper per wash. I think capsules and measured amounts use far too much detergent. No clogging, no problems. Occasionally run very hot wash with cleaner.

I only use short washes and I also only use the squishy things with liquid as a standby in case I run out.

I also had problems using powder and ended up having to rewash the garment.

I have gone back to powders which come in recycleable cardboard boxes instead of plastic bottles of liquid or plastic pods. No problems even on a fast wash as I put the powder in the drum not in the dispenser.
We must cut out our uses of plastics!

I love the liquid in the bottle, wash. Haven't used powder for a long time as it used to " hide " in the creases of my trousers on a 30 degree wash. Even rinsing it was still there.

I use powder all the time. Maybe because the water is soft here or perhaps the Bosch is effective at sluicing the detergent out of the drawer, there is never any powder left in the drawer. And I always remove the drawer completely after a wash and dry inside that area to prevent black mould forming. Once that gets a grip, the holes above the dispenser soon clog up.

I stopped using powder a long time ago, as I found that it wasn't all being dissolved. I use pod things.

I only use good quality powder (I like Ariel and Persil bio) and I just put it straight in the drum on top of the washing.
I generally do most things on a 30° fast wash and towels/bedding on. 40° fast wash.
I haven't had any problems at all, the washing comes out clean and fresh smelling. I do use Comfort blue fabric softener sometimes.
I really don't like the gunk build-up you get with liquid or capsules.
My washing machine engineer said that powder is far better for machines as it prevents build up around the outside of the drum, he always knows what a customer has been using!

I stopped using powder a while back, because I do most things on a 'quick' wash, which in my machine means 30 mins for a wash at 30° or up to an hour for 40° to 60°). Powder didn't always dissolve properly on those quicker cycles, and as Harris said, clogged up the drawer.

Gel, and those squishy pouch-type things, on the other hand, gunged up the machine, so I have used nothing but liquid in my latest machine.

I am guessing that those who do a lot of longer, hotter washes are less likely to have problems with powder.

I have a fairly new washer and didn’t use anything but tablets or liquid. Anyway the powder just clogs the drawer up.

Maybe use powder and liquid alternately. And maybe put powder in one of those plastic cups designed for the purpose IN the drum for a wash.