HE vs. 'regular' (standard) laundry soap

[norinew]

My washing machine died about a month ago. In the interim, the hubby and I have been searching for a new one. We got one. It's a Sears/Kenmore "HE" model; I'm happy about the energy/water efficiency. But I have a good bit of laundry soap left over from our month making weekly visits to the Laundromat.

So, can regular/standard laundry soap be used in HE machines, just in much smaller quantities? Or what?

Thanks!

[danceswithcats]

After Googling "HE Detergent" and checking the first link, I found this:

There is a good reason for using detergent that is specially formulated for these newer front-load washers. HE detergents are concentrated laundry detergents that are low-sudsing especially for use with low water high-efficiency washers.

If regular detergents were to be used in front-loading and high-efficiency washers, the presence of too many suds could 'confuse' washing cycles, cause delays and make proper rinsing of clothes difficult.

Similar to why dish detergent does not work well in a dishwasher which requires specially formulated non-sudsing dishwasher detergent, performance can be severely affected by the use of improper detergents in low water washing machines.

Based on that information, I'd say to give your extra regular detergent to a friend who would appreciate it.