A Very Different Ariel Found in Minneapolis

[frigilux]

I was in Minneapolis today for a seminar and stopped by Los Amigos Mexican grocery store to look for detergents. Saw this one last time I was there and didn't pick it up. Today, there was only one box left. Robert, they're definitely paring back their selection. They've moved the detergents further down the aisle and they are stocking only bagged Ariel Oxi-Azul Max, Foca and Roma.

And I picked up some more Mexican (non ultra) Downy, which I love for bedding because the scent stays for days.

 

[frigilux]

As soon as I go near the washer, Nick gets in on the action. He loves to watch the TL'er. Unfortunately, this is only a show-and-tell, Nick.

For those keeping score: Nick was supposed to be with me for 2 weeks. Yesterday marked four months. I'm starting to get attached.

 

[frigilux]

This version isn't listed on the American P&G site, nor on the Mexican site. It is obvisouly meant for the USA, as it says this on the back:

 

[frigilux]

It doesn't look or smell like Ariel Oxi-Azul. It looks like Tide with Bleach---doesn't smell like it, though, at least not Tide Original Scent. Doesn't smell like Tide CW Glacial, either. And it came with a green scoop (not pictured here).

 

[frigilux]

Here are the directions from the back of the box:

 

[frigilux]

My seminar was in St. Paul at the TIES building (Snelling & Larpenteur) and on the way there, I passed the Oriental Super Market (Snelling & Van Buren), so I stopped on the way home, hoping to find some cool Chinese detergents. No detergents in the place. Got some mock duck, dried fungi and fish sauce, though.

I wanted to stop at the Global Market (Lake & Chicago), but traffic was thick and I was itching to hit the road, so I'll explore there next time I'm in town. Also passed a nice-looking Mexican grocery on east Lake St. called City Market.

Robert, I stopped by the Cub on Lake and looked over their Mexican lineup (Ariel Oxi-Azul, Roma, Foca). You're right; those 11 lb. bags of Foca and Roma are freakin' HUGE. About the size of a bag of water softener pellets. Didn't buy anything there. Was surprised to see they still have the Oxi Detergent Ball (price greatly reduced) on the shelf.

Minneapolis contingent: If you find foreign detergents elsewhere, please let me know!

 

[DADoES]

Been a long time since I've seen it, but I think that was the box-type Ariel that was around here at first, until the bag-type took over. I do recall those dosage recommendations (and I still typically use seven 1-oz. scoops for a full load in the F&P). But I can't remember if perhaps the box-type did indicate NOT for sale in the U.S.

 

[andrewinorlando]

On Sunday, I got the shock of all shocks....I went to the WalMart Supercenter here and there wasn't a single trace of any Mexican detergents anywhere. They were all gone from the shelves. Coincidentally, I noticed that there wasn't a single Mexican person in the store, either, and there used to be a good number of them that shopped there.

 

[~sudsshane]

Mexican Downy

Can't stand the smell of that stuff..It is like Suavitel on steroids!!!

 

[sudsmaster]

I'm thinking the boxed Ariel has no phosphates, and is basically repackaged Tide. That's what I've seen with the boxed Ariel here in California. The bagged stuff, made in Mexico, still has phosphates.

Am I wrong? Does/did the boxed Ariel in Minnesota have phosphates? If so, mi falta!

 

[zipdang]

The boxed Ariel is the one and only variety I've ever seen in my area. Even saw it in a very large 120-load size box. Have never once seen any of the bagged versions, and so now I'm really curious what those smell like. All this time I never thought the boxed Ariel was so unique!

Keep the cat, Eugene. He likes to help with the laundry -- you were meant for each other!

 

[sudsmaster]

The bagged Ariel has what best can be described as a sort of bubble gum fragrance. I love bubble gum so I like the bag.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Eugene, this is the boxed version once commonly sold here.

If I am not mistaken, it is one of the Ariel formulas packaged specifically for Puerto Rico.

 

[dixieland]

No - Puerto Rican Ariel is made in San Juan and marked accordingly. I seem to recall that P&G was at one time making a U.S. Ariel to tap into the emerging Latin Demographic within the United States. This product was being distributed in the Southwest and California....

I too have seen this product locally (at K-mart) but has since disappeared.

 

[polkanut]

This is the version that I first became familiar with. Our Family Dollar store stocks this, but not our Mexican grocer.

 

[launderess]

That Ariel has nothing to do with the infamous, or famous Mexican version. It is simply was produced for sale in the United States to capture on the Ariel brand, especially with Latin consumers, and counter the illicit importation of the phosphate contaiing Mexican version.

Was sold across the United States, including here in the Northeast and am here to tell you the stuff reeked of scent. Even encased in two strong/thick bin liners the scent gave me migrianes, and finally chucked a full box into the rubbish.

All and all not a very great detergent, full of fillers and cleaned about the same as any MOL or BOL detergent. This version of Ariel is also sold as "ACE" detergent.

IIRC saw the larger boxes of that Ariel at K-Sears when I was there the other day.

L.

 

[frigilux]

Andrew--- I'm surprised the WalMart Supercenter in nearby Worthington has never carried Mexican detergents; there is a large Hispanic population there.

Shane--- I don't like the smell of Mexican Downy straight from the bottle, nor do I use it on clothing loads. It's filed under For Sheets Only in my house. It's great to go to bed every night with the sheets smelling just-laundered.

Zipdang David---you really need to get some Ariel Oxi-Azul in the blue bag. It smells and looks completely different than the above-pictured Ariel. People either love it or hate it. I love it. It smells like a bag of crushed-up Sweet-Tarts. Nothing else smells quite like it. There must be a Mexican grocery store somewhere in Portland, no?

Launderess--Ariel Oxi-Azul in the blue bag smells completely different than this faux-Tide version. Have you ever had the other version? It has a strong scent, but completely different.

Polkanut-- I stopped at a Family Dollar in Minneapolis's Hispanic district yesterday hoping to find Mexican detergents; I've heard others say they get theirs at dollar stores (mainly our southern bretheren). But none was to be had. They had lots of Fab and Sun, but nothing I was looking for.

 

[MrX]

It looks more like European versions of Ariel, which would be phosphate-free and as compliant with US-phosphate regulations as any version of Tide.

I wonder is it possible that P&G is bringing in a supply of Euro Ariel for a niche market?

If it smells rather like pine, it's quite likely to be European formula.

Check the ingredients - The euro ones are typically full of Zeolite

That pack looks rather like the UK/IRL ariel tablets boxes, normally the powder would be in a more 'traditionally' shaped box.

The old Ariel Ultra, Daz Ultra and Bold Ultra (concentrated) powders used to come in boxes that shape too. They're no longer sold.
(They competed with Persil Micro and Surf Micro - back in the era when the marketing gimmick was the dispenser ball. Both types of powder were put into a ball and into the wash, rather than using the drawer. I never really saw the point of that! - Seems everything's moving back to being dispensed by the drawer, as the machine manufacturers intended! - Including Persil Small and Mighty Liquids)

 

[frigilux]

mrx--- I don't think this is the same as the UK version. It doesn't smell like pine at all. It's also a Proctor & Gamble product, not Unilever, as it is in the UK. This really strikes me as being re-scented Tide with Bleach----which is a great detergent----just kinda boring and very easily obtained in Tide form on any store shelf in America.

Despite the outrageous shipping charge, I'm going to order a box or two of UK Ariel from the Brit Superstore just to say I've tried it. One box of Bio and one box of Colour & Style should do it.

I really like Persil, too, but the Henckel version is fine with me; I get it online from a US distributor.

 

[foraloysius]

Eugene,

Ariel in the UK (and in the Netherlands) is also a P&G product. I think you're confusing it with Persil that is made by two companies.

 

[zipdang]

Another stain test?

Hey Eugene, my UK Persil Bio powder should arrive next week. If you order the UK Ariel Bio powder, and I send you some UK Persil, would you be willing to run one of your famous stain tests with the two products?

 

[polkanut]

Eugene,

Up here in the northern US, one usually has to go to a Mexican tienda (grocery) for Mexican detergents. At least that is what I've found to be the case.

 

[frigilux]

Louis--- Thanks for the clarification about UK Ariel; For some reason I thought both were made by Unilever in Britain.

 

[frigilux]

Zipdang---Sent you an e-mail.

 

[launderess]

IIRC box clearly states that the product is made in the United States. While Ariel does contain protien enzymes, it is no where there the chemical cocktail marvel of Tide. A quick check of the MSDS will show this.

P&G went with this Ariel to not only dip into the Hispanic market (who know Ariel from south of the border), but in hopes of stopping the distribution of the various phosphate containing versions showing up on Amercian store shelves. Tree Huggers and others were getting on P&G's case that it was selling phosphate detergent in violation of various state's bans on the chemical. Most all assumed that P&G must be selling the product in the States, or else why was it showing up on store shelves.

L.

 

[MrX]

Phosphates do cause huge problems though in some areas, I really don't see any major advantage to using them given the results I get with Persil (UK/IRL), Ariel (UK/IRL) etc, none of which contain any phosphates.

If you've seen eutrophication problems in waterways, lakes, rivers etc, you'd change your mind about using phosphates!

Even with modern sewage treatment facilities, it's quite difficult to remove phosphates from waste water and most treatment plants do not remove them from the water.
In rural areas, where homes rely on septic tanks and other local treatment systems it's simply not possible to remove phosphates at all.

They leech into waterways and work as a fertiliser, causing a massive overgrowth of algae and other plants. These choke up rivers, turn them green and remove the oxygen from the water.
Then fish start dropping dead and floating to the top of the water and you end up with a whole eco system destroyed.

Laundry detergents containing phosphates only really became a huge problem in the late 50s and rapidly became really problematic through the 1960s and 70s as more and more people switched from using simple soap-based detergents to more chemically complex versions and as the automatic washing machine became basically 100% universally available to any household in North America or Western Europe at relatively little cost.

Switching over to zeolites and other non-phosphate water softeners has had a huge impact on improving the environment.

The major issue now is that dishwashers are going through the same kind of growth cycle that washing machines did 30-40 years ago. It's increasingly rare to see a household that does not own one. I reckon you're going to see MAJOR pressure put on to reformulate dishwashing detergents to remove phosphates from the formula in the next few years as dishwashers are becoming a major source of phosphate pollution, even though they use nothing like the quantities of phosphates that old laundry detergents in old washing machines used!

 

[frigilux]

mrx---Living in Minnesota, "The land of 10,000 Lakes" phosphates were a big issue before they were banned. While bags of Mexican Ariel detergent used to list phosphates as an ingredient, they no longer do; Whether this means they have no phosphates or if they merely quit listing them, I can't say.

Launderess---Thanks for the info on green-box Ariel! SA8 With Bioquest® detergent claims to be easy on the environment; What are your thoughts on that claim? (By the way, check out 'your' photo, posted in the "Oh Fab, I'm Sad" thread. You look amazingly like a young Rosalind Russell, these days.)

;-)

 

[launderess]

All water treatment plants have to deal with phosphates and not all of it comes from laundry products. Tons of phosphates are used in many foods for human an animal consumption (which in turn is consumed by humans such as pork and beef), which sooner or later works it's way to the sewage system via human waste. This is on top of the naturally occuring phosphates humans excrete.

While there has been some what of a push for automatic dishwashing detergents to contain less if not nil phosphates, it never really can be at this time. It takes a series of chemical cocktails to replace the functions phosphates do quite well on their own. Clean laundry is one thing, but health and safety become involved when one discusses dishwashing, which why and how automatic dishwasher detergent makers have been allowed a pass on various states phosphate bans.

As for phosphate replacements, Zeolites are soon being removed from European laundry and other products, along with perborate out of environmental concerns.