Best smelling washing powder

[hoovermatic]

Forgotten gems

I had totally forgotten about Wisk - that smelled fabulous but you're right, it was AWFUL at cleaning. I was a waiter in a big hotel in the 1980's and my white shirts used to come out of the wash the same as they went in.

Aussie Cold Power from the 80's/90's was my favorite detergent when I lived there although I also loved Radiant and Omomatic - not sure if the later is still made.

The other UK detergent that was really great was Persil Colour liquid when it came in those cardboard cartons, like juice cartons. I remember a friend of mine asking what detergent I used because of the smell and he was instantly converted.

Another long since gone guilty pleasure was Co-op Blue Powder. As sudsy as hell but smelled amazing in a hot wash using a twin tub.

 

[thelaundrylab]

80s Kid...

Well I'm with Paul, Persil & Wisk liquid, smelt lush and it lasted forever on your cleaned laundry. Loved the retro smells whilst growing up during the 80s & 90s when detergents were the pinical of its time with there scents... Ariel, Ariel Ultra, Persil, Persil Micro, even Bold 'All In One' Ultra was great. When Ariel liquid first came out it had a strong scent which again smelt lush and lasted forever. Fabric softeners, like Comfort Silk, Lenor Spring Fresh & Summer fresh, where a favourite too.

Forward to today, Ariel powders for both for whites and colours are pleasant. Persil liquid bio & colour are a favourite and some Surf products have impressed me too. Own brands like, Waitrose, Sainburys and M&S powders have been in my top three regarding pleasant smells and clean just as well.

Fabric softeners... aren't as good as they use to be and I have become extremely fussy. Comfort Pure, Fairy Liquid are a keeper, which I buy regularly. I have recently found out 'own brands' softners work really well for me, nothing to overpowering, which leaves a long lasting smell... my top three softeners are M&S, Co-Op and Sainburys.

 

[zanussi_lover]

I was an 80s kid too

I also experienced the retro 80s and 90s era of lovely smelling detergents, they even smelt lovely in the early 2000's

My favourite retro scents were

Ariel Automatic/Ariel Ultra/Ariel Futur/Essential/Quickwash Action Powder (1988-2006) - Lovely smell, I could easily use these without conditioner and you would get a lovely fresh scent on laundry, Ariel Alpine Powder was gorgeous, my friends mum used to use it (Circa 1998/1999) and gave me a white t-shirt to put on and I couldn't stop smelling it, it smelt gorgeous.

Daz Automatic - My Aunty used to use this, and like Ariel had a lovely scent, the scent changed in 2005, when they changed the packaging, but I miss the old scent, and regularly bought this as a teenager, as it was cheap and had a nice smell.

Bold All in One Automatic (Spring and Summer Meadow Fresh) - My mum regularly bought this, she used the blue box more than the yellow, and it smelt lovely.

Persil Automatic - My nan used this, she swapped to Surf in 1999, had a retro soapy scent, I always remember pouring a cup of Persil Automatic into the drawer of her Bendix, and turning the dial to 95 and pulling it out when washing her cafe tea towels.

Surf - I liked the smell of the the Lemon/Sunfresh and Cotton Fresh Scents (1999-2002) My gran regularly had one of the boxes in a different scent by her Bosch after the Bendix broke down. I also liked the scent of Surf Breeze, when they had Surf Sunshine/Tropical/Breeze/Spring (2004-2007) Also loved the Lavender and Oriental Blossom one too, which the scent changed in early 2015, as it was replaced with a new surf lavender scent that I don't like.

Comfort - Original Comfort Blue, Comfort Vitality, Comfort Sunfresh, Comfort Silk, Comfort Lily and Riceflower, Comfort Wild Pear and Ginko - All of these smelt gorgeous (and in dilute bottles)

Lenor - 1990s, Lenor Spring Awakening, Summer Breeze, Alpine Spirit, Oriental Blossom, Clear Dawn, Delicate Fresh - Dilute bottles in 1 and 2 litres with different coloured caps on - I also loved Lenor Stayfresh which came in a dilute bottle with a greeny blue cap as well as the Mango and Orange in the Pink one which was discontinued about 7 years ago.

Modern Scents -

Ariel Bio Powder - Has a pleasant scent now but not like 80's/90s and early 00's Ariel, used to be overpowering and gross from 2006-2014 but they changed the scent and made it more mild and clean smelling rather than a piney citrus pungent odour.

Fairy Non Bio Powder/Liquid - Lovely smells, and love the softness and gentle scent (one of my favourites on whites, especially sheets and towels as I don't use conditioner anymore so it softens nicely.

Surf - I love the Surf Tropical/Surf White Classic Fresh Scent - Tropical is Fruity and Floral like the old version when it was first released in 2005, and the Surf Classic Fresh is like a mix between old Surf Breeze and Surf Cool Fresh from about 10 years ago.

Daz - Classic soapy detergent line dried cotton fresh scent.

Bold - I love the new Water Lily detergent in the blue box, that has classic retro scents which remind me of early 2000's Bold Aqua and Ocean Clear, and I like the lavender one, both are mild, refreshing and gentle to my nose which is good as I don't like strong smelling over perfumed detergents. I used to love the Bold Lavender Powder when it was first launched, but they changed it and added scent boosters and it smelt very chemical smelling, as did the blue one, but now they smell mild.

 

[michael]

Fairy snow

How I remember the AMAZING smell of Fairy snow in mums Hotpoint twin tub...was great on a boil wash! Also persil in the twin tub smelt great...I bought a new Ariston single tub off ebay a couple of years ago and have done a boil wash with persil, but its not the same as I remember!.
Comfort blue was always our prefered conditioner or softlan was another

 

[grwasher_expert]

Ariel bio powder retro scent

I also loved the scent of Ariel powder,both regular and alpine,in the late '90s-early '00s.It was a bit overpowering,but it was wonderful.Now there is a much more toned down scent.

Skip also used to have a different scent in those times.It was a bit soapier and not too strong.Nowadays it has a stronger scent that stays on the clothing for a long time and often covers fabric conditioner scent,but I like it.I miss very much the late '90s Skip tablets scent.They smelled soooo great!

On the other side, Dixan powder has the same scent it had 15 years ago,it didn't change at all.

 

[anthony]

i always liked the smell of fairy Snow but these days i dont like my laundry to smell of anything.What i really like is that smell of fresh air when laundry has been out on the line .Cant beat getting into a bed with fresh line dried sheets on it

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Whenever I don't forget to add it:

Here is a WORST SMELLING, Fragrance, (to ME!) SUAVITEL Fabric Softener:

Reminds me of what they use to clean with in Israel, particularly at the Senior Complex that my in-laws stay at, and when we go down the long series of hallways (the tunnel) from my mother-in-iaw's assisted living facility, to the more severe even-MORE-assisted living facility, that my father-in-law is being cared for at, among the smell of dirty laundry and garbage, what I hope to them is a nice smell, that to me reeks enough to make me retch, and has me wondering if what we have here would turn anyone there on or off...

(I don't know if we have a thread for best/worst smelling cleaning/detergent product/fragrances; only found this one, here...)

-- Dave

 

[whirlyfanatic]

Ima say Ariel in trinidad

 

[agiflow2]

I loved when detergents had a chemical smell to them. Many now are too flowery and sweet smelling. Some of the best smelling detergents were AJAX, Cheer and Ivory snow when it was soap flakes.I can remember Tide of the seventies as that was what my mom used to clean a lot of work denims. The smell I remember being good but not as good as Cheer or Ajax.

Current Tide is OK in the original formula now. Still causes loads of suds though.[this post was last edited: 10/6/2017-19:54]

 

[thomasortega]

Tide original scent powder (USA) (before they created a not original original)
Skip (argentina) prom the 90's until 2003 or 2004.
Omo Maquina (Brazil)

Softener: Comfort classic blue (Brazil) Downy pink or downy blue or Final Touch (USA)

Foam bath: Algemarin (Germany) (best scent ever and I love the dark blue water in the bathtub). 2nd place is Badedas Vital Bad Classic (Germany, bought a huge bottle today, somewhat close to Algemarin but Algemarin is still far better)

 

[agiflow2]

Having just tried out Persil for the first time, i find the smell very nice. Leaves a light scent on the clothes.

 

[maytag85]

Gain Powder/Liquid is my favorite laundry detergent/fabric softener. I don't mind Tide Liquid, but my mom swears that Tide Powder fads clothes, and my grandma swears Tide Powder fads clothes as well.

 

[askolover]

Tide pods with Febreze, Mexican Ariel powder, and Persil

 

[liamy1]

but my mom swears that Tide Powder fads clothes, and my gran

Well it will - your Mom and Grandmom are right.

Almost any top line powder will eventually fade clothing as they contain oxygen based bleaching agents; something liquids don’t contain. Of course oxygen bleaches won’t fade colour anywhere near as quick as chlorine based bleach will. But all the same, they will eventually fade them.

 

[dixan]

I find Henkel's Persil (a.k.a. Dixan) best smelling: clean, subtle and it doesn't leave any scent on clothes. Ariel's smell is too strong and sharp; my eyes are watering from Ariel. OMO (a.k.a. Persil in UK and Skip in some other countries) is somehow better, but still too strong.
I also like Henkel's Persil/Dixan, because it contains two types of cellulase enzyme and makes fabrics nice and smooth. Unilever and P&G detergents don't contain cellulase at all.

 

[launderess]

Tide Detergents With Cellulase Enzyme

Probably not an exhaustive list but:
https://www.komfycouture.com/blogs/news/89004033-cellulase-in-laundry-detergent

Previously one could tell which Tide (or P&G top shelf detergent elsewhere such as Ace) had cellulose by the *Cotton* logo on packet.

My vintage box of Tide Ultra powder has such a marking. Early Tide With Bleach powder did as well.

 

[liamy1]

Cellulase..

Don’t know if this holds for the rest of Europe, but Ariel 3in1 pods and Excel Gel both contain Cellulase (powder and liquids do not). Until recently, Bold pods contained it too.

Given away by the fact that the Bold powder, liquid and gel were called “Bold with a touch of Lenor FRESHNESS” whereas the pods were “Bold with a touch of Lenor FIBRE CARE”

That has changed now though, they’re all “touch of Lenor freshness”.

UK (Lever) Persil doesn’t contain Cellulase in any format (Surf doesn’t either).

Would imagine this is because Cellulase is the most expensive enzyme (or so I have read).

 

[dixan]

Sorry, you are right.
I don't use liquid detergents and capsules and I don't care about them even if they contain cellulase that's why my post was kind of misleading.

 

[liamy1]

Ah,, I see

Although I will always prefer a powder, I do occasionally use a liquid (just not exclusively), the ones I really don’t like are the Gels, they make your washer stink after a while, I don’t know why they have proven so popular.

I am meticulous about keeping my washer clean, easily do at least one drum clean cycle a week and lots of washes at 95 or 60 degrees, but no stopping those gels stinking it up. It doesn’t help that as much as I like Ariel, their liquids and gels just don’t have all that nice of a fragrance anyway (Persil UK liquids however are spot on).

The powder Ariel smells ok and I actually like the smell of the pods.

 

[agiflow2]

The US version of Persil 2in1 I am trying for the first time smells very nice I think. Leaves a light scent on the clothes.