ARIEL COLD WASH POWDER

[lederstiefel1]

There's a new Ariel cold wash powder on the market here in Germany, the first ever here as far as I know - does anyone in the rest of the world have any experience with it ?
Well, I do wash only cold with the new compact-powders of Ariel/P&G for 2 years meanwhile in my SpeedQueen TL (don't have hot water in the laundry-room in the cellar as usual in Germany) and it works great!!! But probably that Ariel works even better when performed better for cold washes?
I added the link to it, too - have a look, please!
Cheers, Ralf from Leverkusen

http://www.ariel-kalt-aktiv.de/index_flash.html

 

[lederstiefel1]

No-one any experience with that stuff yet, here?
Ralf

 

[lavamat_jon]

Ralf,

We don't have cold wash Ariel per se here in the UK, but all Ariel products are designed to give superb cleaning at temperatures as low as 20*C (for liquids and liquitabs), or 30*C for powders and tablets.

Jon

 

[retromom]

Ariel Cold Water....

We have just about every Ariel powdered product here. I have not seen the cold water version yet, but I would think it would be on the store shelves soon. I really do like Ariel, so I would certainly give it a try!!

Venus

 

[launderess]

Ariel in Germany is a Proctor and Gamble brand, same company that makes Tide Coldwater detergent sold in the United States; can you see where I'm going with this?

 

[retromom]

Yeah....

same pair of pants, different pocket. ;-)

Venus

 

[launderess]

Give The Young Lady a Kewpie Doll

Ariel is P&G's "Tide" detergent in areas where Tide is not sold: UK/Western Europe/Mexico, and so on. Therefore it is no surprise there is now an "Ariel" coldwater version floating about.

What would be interesting is to see the listing of contents from the German version, as P&G does not provide such information for it's American products.

 

[retromom]

Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks Laundress!!

On the Mexican version, a label has been strategically placed over the Spanish ingredients to hide the phosphate content.

If we eventually get the Ariel Cold Water detergent, the ingredients may actually be listed.

Venus -
waving her Kewpie Doll proudly!

 

[hairybruinuk]

Ariel cool wash

We have Ariel cool wash powder and liquid, I used to use it but found every now and again a white sludge would build up on the bottom of the tub. I would have to put the machine on a fairly hot cycle with no clothes in, to dissolve and drain it away. The results were good but only on lightly soiled clothes, If your like me my towels sheets and pillow cases HAD to be very clean and fresh, Ariel cool wash wash no good for those things on a cool wash cycle

Love to one and all hairybruinuk

 

[launderess]

Well there is cold water and there is cold water. No powdered detergent will dislove/work well in water below 80F, and depending time of year, and location one's tap water can be darn chilly.

Consumer Reports gave Tide CW high marks for cleaning, IIRC it out performed most all other versions of Tide (in cold water), and beat other detergent brands hands down. Then again versions of Tide have been the top 5 or so detergents in rankings for ages now.

L.

 

[hoovermatic]

The new Ariel 'cool water' detergent is the closest thing the UK will get to cold water washing - as a rule, our cold water is too cold. I have used the new ariel and find it extremely effective at 30 degrees across all of the laundry and highly recommend it to everyone.

 

[nickuk]

Which formats, Hoovermatic,

are your preferred ones of the Ariel range? Last time I used Ariel a couple of months ago the bio powder had a new scent which to my nose was not dissimilar to the old `apline' variety, whereas the tablets still were using the previous scent. Do you know if this is still the case?

 

[lavamat_jon]

Nick - my mum's using Ariel tabs at the mo (though I think she's on her last sachet now) and they do indeed still have the same scent as the old ones. And I last used Ariel bio powder about a month or two ago, and it does indeed have that alpiney smell. I love the smell!

Have to say though that I haven't had too great performance at lower temperatures unless I use a 2 hour wash. I found for white whites on a quick wash you still have to use 50 or 60*C, but then Ariel only says whitest whites at 30*C (i.e. in just whitening terms), doesn't necessarily say it will clean heavily soiled whites at 30*C (in terms of actual cleaning).

Jon

 

[foraloysius]

Big difference between the UK and the European continent is that the non-bio version is only available in the UK. The box of the regular Ariel has a cold water formula label on it now (haven't looked at the other Ariel products).

 

[nickuk]

Good point Jon

I guess that maybe they have activated the bleach and / or brightener at lower temps that's all.

Anyway, I can't imagine washing household laundry at really low temperatures - that just seems wrong / unhygeinic. Perhaps all my germ ridden kitchen dishcloths which I save up for a boil wash should now go on with a drop of Ariel non bio liquid on a 30 degrees delicate cycle.

What's that? You don't wanna come round for your supper anymore? ;-)

Nick

 

[frigilux]

Launderess: Are Ariel and Tide the same product? Or is Ariel different from Tide in formula? I gather it has a different scent than Tide, from other comments I've read.

I'm itching to try Ariel and Persil, so I'm thinking of ordering the German Persil ($47 for a 15-lb. box) and Mexican Ariel ($10 for a...a bag of it---21 loads, I believe). Do you think either of these work better than US powdered Tide Cold Water (which is what I'm currently using)?

Does one produce less suds than the other? I'm looking for a detergent that rinses out well. Combining a FL'er with mechanically softened water equals suds suds suds in the rinse cycles, especially heavy, absorbent loads like bath towels. This is true with both the traditional and HE US products I've tried.

Venus-- Is Ariel sold right in your grocery store or do you go to a specialty (Mexican grocery, for instance) to find it?

 

[retromom]

Looking for detergent in all the wrong places.......

Hey Eugene!

I can get Ariel (all varieties), Ace (which I believe is also more of a budget Mexican Tide), Foca, and Roma all at my local grocery store - H.E.B. (Henry E. Butt...really!). I'll be shopping on Thursday, so I will definitely be on the lookout for the cold water formula.

Austin has me hooked on Tide with Bleach (powder, of course). I love the way the clothes smell after washing. Can I assume that the American Tide Cold Water version has the same scent?

Suds to you....

Venus :-D

 

[frigilux]

And a big HEY right back at ya, Venus! It's been awhile since I used powdered Tide With Bleach, so I'm not remembering the scent. I switched over to liquid Tide HE when it became available in Minnesota a few years back. I don't think there's anything obnoxious about the scent of powdered Tide Coldwater. It's available in Glacial and Fresh scents. I've only ever used the Fresh scent version, as that's what's been available to me. Powdered Tide CW has disappeared from store shelves in my area. I think it may still be available at Target, so I'll have to check there. I have 4 more boxes, so I'm stocked.

I found Foca at a HyVee grocery store near me, but it seemed very cheap so I didn't buy it. The directions on the bag said "Dissolve Foca in warm water, add clothes, soak for at least 30 minutes, then wash as usual." Didn't like the sound of that. Plus, the bag seemed very light for its size---like Ivory Snow or something. I passed, figuring it was a grade B detergent.

I just ordered a 6.6-lb. bag of Mexican Ariel online. Yippee! I'm still debating about the uber-expensive German Persil---$47 for a 15-lb. box. I'm having company for dinner; when they leave, I'll see if I'm still feeling extravagant enough to push CHECKOUT. If I wind up liking the German version, maybe I'll spring for the UK version, which is apparantly the Persil holy grail.

I also saw FRESH START (the powder in a bottle) at a HyVee grocery store in Mankato, MN last week. I debated picking some up at the time, but decided to pass it up. When I go through there this weekend, I'm definitely going to pick up a bottle. I've heard it's very low-sudsing. I need something low sudsing for my bath towel loads. I only use towels once, so they're definitely light-soil loads; I don't need a Herculean detergent for those loads. HE detergents aren't solving the sudsing problem for me. My water is SO damn soft.

When I washed clothes at my younger nephew house in Minneapolis this past weekend (in his brand new LG Tromm), Tide HE liquid made very little suds and the rinse water was clear. They have medium-hard water. At my house, Tide HE (and every other HE I've tried) doesn't oversuds in the wash portion of the cycle, but the subsequent rinses have quite a bit of suds. I always have to use a bit of fabric softener to break 'em down in the final rinse.

My town's water is extremely hard and there's no way my dishwasher would function if I didn't have mechanically softened water.

 

[DADoES]

I have on hand, Foca, Roma, Ariel of some version, Ace, a bit of Fresh Start left (thanks Bryan!), and a bit of Tide Coldwater powder. I primarily use Foca, Ariel & Ace. Foca is not very concentrated. Ran a small quilt and sofa throw Sunday afternoon. Three (1 oz) scoops worked nicely for EcoActive, but it took four more scoops (7 oz total) to get a slippery feel to the medium-high deep wash. My well water runs about 11 grains. I usually use Ace on jeans. Last time I used Fresh Start on jeans, there seemed to be more bleeding into the wash water than usual.

 

[frigilux]

Hi Glenn-- Foca struck me as not being very concentrated, either. A rather large bag seemed to weigh almost nothing. Do you do the whole 'soak first' thing (as per instructions on the bag) with Foca or do you just wash normally? How well does it clean?

If Fresh Start lives up to its low-sudsing reputation in my FLer, I'll use it on my suds-prone bath towel loads. All my bath items are white, so bleeding isn't an issue.

 

[frigilux]

Interesting laundry smell: Tide CW Fresh Scent + the new Clorox Premium Bleach + Snuggle fabric softener= flowery incense scented wet laundry. I actually kinda like it.

I've always been a die-hard Downy man, but bought an uber-jug of Snuggle at Sam's Club. Tonight's load of kitchen whites/tablecloths was my first using the above combo of products.

 

[DADoES]

Fetched detergent (among other things) for granny this evening. *Almost* went for Tide with Bleach per the discussion above, but chose Ariel (green bag) again. The other choice would have been Ariel with Downy. Small bags of Ariel are $2.46 or $2.48 or thereabouts, large is $6.4-something. Small bag of Ace is a bargain at less than $2 -- $1.96 or $1.87 or something like that.

Also got Suavitel, blue bottle. Considered Ensuavo ($1.77 small bottle).

As for Foca, I usually use it on whites (with 140°F EcoActive) and include the 2-hr soak option, which comes *after* EcoActive and most of the (luke-warm/cold) deep-wash time. IWL12 does a few more mins of agitation after the soak period (whereas GWL08 does not). IIRC, the ingredient list indicates enzymes. Sometimes add oxy-booster, sometimes not (does oxy kill enzmyes? maybe shouldn't be doing that?). Seems to clean well-enough by me.

Slight change of procedure on a load of sheets Sunday. Used the Allergy cycle (but warm, instead of the default hot EcoActive and warm/hot deep wash). Allergy has two deep rinses with spin between (1st spin is brief, no sprays). I added 1/2 cup LCB to the 1st deep rinse, then softener/vinegar to the 2nd deep rinse.

 

[lederstiefel1]

Hi all of you!
Woooofff! That is really a storm of answers and intersting new aspects! We don't get any other powders or detergents here in Germany - only Germans... So I can't compare anything at all, except when we drive over to the UK (visiting friends) or when we are again on holidays in Spain or elsewhere. Also it is nearly impossible to get foreign brands/machines - as long as you do not take in consideration that ALL German machines are made in foreign countries except MIELE! lol
American toploaders with agitator or pulsator action are completely unknown to most Germans ("Ohh Gosh, what is that kind of machine for?? And that is said to be able to clean clothes?? Without a boil-setting?? Never seen such a monster before!!" stupid folks!)
Well concerning the ARIEL Cold Wash Action it could be that they just adopted the american formula for the TIDE cold wash and offer this as Ariel!?
I got in contact with P&G and got some information as well as as two t-shirts from them. I was told that they enhanced the protein-formula as well as the bleach. To me it can only mean that they switched to sodium-percarbonate instead of sodium-perborate plus activator (TAED = tetra-adenyl-ethylen-diamin) which acts already in cold water as it only needs the contact with water to shed oxygene.
We are washing with cold water for two years now with the ARIEL compact powder and get all our items clean!
So maybe the new one is even better?
I will tell you all as soon as I get a package of it to test!
Ralf

 

[frigilux]

It's a done deal; I ordered both the Ariel (Mexican version) and the 15-lb. box of Persil (German version). I'm excited to try them. This is my first foray into the hitherto uncharted waters of foreign detergents.

Thanks for all your input, Glenn.

 

[launderess]

Borates, Borax, Sodium Perborate

Anything along those lines are in the process of being banned in Europe, if not banned already for laundry/cleaning products, IIRC. Apparently borates are highly toxic to plant and marine life in the excessive amounts and much of both European and American wash products and dw detergent are loaded with perborate bleaches.

While percarbonate bleach activates at lower water temps than perborate, the later is more stable in product mixes and cheaper. Also since perborate requires high wash water temps to really work, it was a perfect "colour safe" bleach, as long as those colours were washed in cool or cold water. TAED ( a bleaching activator) began to be added as households began to use less boil washing and more temps in the range of 180F to 100F, well within the range of perborate bleach. TAED when combined with oxygen bleaches in water makes a powerful laundry disenfectant, which not only helps santitise laundry, but keeps mould growth/foul odours in washers in check.

IIRC Persil long has moved over to percarbonate bleaches, but still uses an activator. Tide with Bleach still uses perborate bleaches (as do most American detergents with oxygen bleach), and a bleaching activator. Snowy, Clorox II, Biz are all perborate bleaches, while the "Oxi" crowd then to be sodium percarbonate.

 

[lederstiefel1]

Yes, yes, yes, thanx Launderesse! That's also my stand of knowledge!
Here in Germany we have a popular journalist, well known from TV: Jean Pütz with his TV-serial "Hobbythek" who introduced the invironment-friendlier washing by bringing new (old) detergents onto the German market 15-20 years ago, well known under the brands "Spinnrad" (spinning-wheel) and others. These "alternativ products" forced the big companies to change the ingredients in their powders and liquids. He also re-introduced our grannies bleach-soda (sodium-percarbonate) and made it fashionable to wash at lower temperatures (max. 60°C, mostly 30°-40°C) postulating that with the use of percabonate even in COLD water all germs will be killed because of the strong disinfection-power of the oxygene although it is colour-fast in oposition to chlorine-bleach and also avoiding the toxicity of bor in perborates!
So, slowly but constantly the ingredients have changed all over Europe - especially since the European Community forces the producers to declare the ingedients in their products. Nearly everywhere most products are phosphate-free and also the tensides in them are much more efficient and environment-friendlier; I just want to mention the compact-powders with no fillings in it anymore!
Cheers Ralf

 

[hoovermatic]

Nickuk

I have only ever used the regular powder Ariel. Where I live the water is absurdly hard and I have a mains water softener installed so my water is very soft. Tablets and capsules are not suitable as even one tablet is overdosed. I avoid liquids as the sound of the dispenser ball rattling around in my machine is enough to make me throw the machine through the window and liquids don't dispense well in my machines drawer.

I have found that in my case, the only time I need a hotter wash is when I launder a load of tea towels, white linen napkins and tablecloths after a dinner party or somesuch. I have washed muddy jeans, kitchen handtowels (where the dirt is wiped on the towel rather than washed down the sink), white formal shirts with grimy collars and cuffs, even red wine and Ariel at 30 degrees gets it all out. I can't rate it highly enough. During the summer when the weather was very warm and the cold water was lukewarm, I even turned the temp dial to zero on some washes and the results were perfect. I don't think it is designed to clean a really dirty load of whites that most of us would give a hotter wash but apart from that, it does what it says on the box!!

 

[lavamat_jon]

Hoovermatic - how much Ariel do you use? I've found not even a whole scoop gets whites white at 40, have to use a scoop and a half, or one scoop in the mainwash and a half scoop in the pre-wash.

Plus, while things may get clean at 30/40*C there's still the fact that teatowels, towels, bedding etc have to be done at 60*C to kill off nasties and bedbugs otherwise it is a bit gross to wash stuff like that at low temperatures. My nana does everything on 40*C and I can't bear to put my hands on her towels, and I don't sleep round there cos even the sheets are washed at 40*C.

Jon

 

[retromom]

Wanna trade?

Hey Eugene!

If you ever want to swap some Fresh Start for a big ol' bag of Ariel (you choice of flavour, of course), drop me an e-mail!!

We can't get Fresh Start in this immediate area, although Bryan (Westtexman)can buy it in Lubbock! OY! So close, and yet so far!!

Venus

 

[seamusuk]

Jon

Id have to disagree on that soz

My towels/sheets etc are all washed @ 40 BUT they go in a dryer all year- any bugs and germs that can survive that heat(much higher than 60) must be something lol!!!

Seamus