With my washer I get undissolved detergent if I don't mix it with water before adding clothes. It's not a huge deal but sometimes I'm tossing it in in a hurry and my teenagers don't take the time to do it and then complain. Also teenagers can be very smelly and I have a little loyalty to a brand that seems to do a better job on the smell than others I've tried. I second your recommendation though for most people. I used to have a job doing laundry and the powdered detergent we used with the commercial washers worked great.