I have one 2 year old, and three stepsons ages; 7, 9, 11. They are definitely BOYS! They come home every day and their clothes are filthy from top to bottom especially their socks, you would think they run around in just socks and no shoes all day by how filthy they are. My mom always used Tide but I have always used gain since I started doing my own laundry and I got a Gain sample in the mail. About 6 months ago I tried ariel because I noticed the refreshing scent when I was walking down the laundry isle. They were advertising it as a new laundry detergent (Walmart in California, USA) It was slightly more than Gain but thought I would try it anyway. It worked better than I could have expected. The laundry smells great and my whites are whiter and my colors are still bright, and best of all, no stains, even my boys socks come out like new. I use cold water for everything except whites (I used hot water for whites) to save on my electric bill.