Fresh as a Daisy?

[lavamat_jon]

Thanks for the confirmations on Lidl powder - definitely something to try next time I'm up in Lincoln - unfortunately got no time this weekend to pop into Lidl. Nick, I do remember the wonderful Perform & Protect range Sainsbury's did, they only stopped the last of that stuff late last year (the liquid and liquitabs changed to McBride just before Christmas), although their dishwasher range is still going strong.

Talking of dishwasher tablets, mum has used cheap dishwasher tabs for years before I "intefered" lets say lol. And she would always use W5 from Lidl's. At the moment we're using the cheapest Sainsbury's ones - the standard McBride 3in1 tablets, which are about £3 for 30 washes or so- not the PErform & Protect ones. I've been using Finish and Fairy on and off for the past 2 or 3 years - we mainly switched to them when we had the Zanussi dishwasher which refused to wash anything, in hope of that they would clean better. And I have to say to this day the cheap Sainsbury's ones have been the best ones I have used for years. I did wonder whether or not it was because we have switched from a CBC rated dishwasher to an AAA rated one, but then Fairy and Finish tablets have both left bits of food (Worst is the baked on Sunday roast tins), whereas Sainsbury's tabs have actually washed everything perfectly.

Seems like in today's troubled times these budget brands will probably experience a higher market share than ever.

Jon

 

[mrboilwash]

Formil Tabs
I`ll call the LIDL hotline tomorrow as there seems to be no way to contact them over e-mail. I have very little hope to find out something, because even our national testing magazine did not get the desired information.
In the past Persil claimed not to sell their quality products in store brand packaging. Well, at least not in Germany and Formil is also availabe here. So I think Henkel is pretty much ruled out.
Most of the cheap stuff produced here for supermarket brands is either Dalli, Thurn-Produkte or Propack, a subsidary of Reckitt Benckiser.
There is a nice graphic about detergent market shares in Germany from our testing magazine, but unfortunately in pdf, so I can only offer the link.

http://www.test.de/filestore/t200503058.pdf?path=/protected/23/19/1a4537b0-bebf-46da-b108-85bb9755efe3-protectedfile.pdf&key=3F7C1E7A5C1D09A7E908B4A5D68F5A5CFD3BDBE3

 

[2drumsallergy]

Hi Stefan,
Thanks for doing that for the group, I hope they are forthcoming with some information.
I look forward to Lidl's response.

David

 

[mrboilwash]

I just called the hotline and got a friendly answer "sorry we have no information regarding your inquiry"
Surprise surprise

 

[2drumsallergy]

Lidl

Hi Stefan,
Not surprising really but worth trying.
Thank you for your effort.

David

 

[washdayisfun]

Guys was having a think about budget brands and remembered one which I used a few months back and which was great at cleaning and smelled lovely. Don't know why I have not purchased anymore recently.

Its been around for years! Excellent on Price!

You will all know know it!

They now do "Micro Tabs" (Pictured) which are smaller than normal tabs and you only need one. Haven't seen the tabs but they have the boxes of 2 in 1 bio at Makro's. Think they are 6 boxes for about £7.50. And I think most supermarkets do the normal boxes.

Why not try something that has been around for so many years it must be half decent!

Mark

 

[washdayisfun]

Forgot to add the link to Acdo!

Mark

http://www.acdomart.co.uk/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=92&strPageHistory=cat

 

[aquarius1984]

Been using the Formil Liquid in the big 3 litre bottles,

I love the big cap and retro pouring spout not too dissimilar to Persil liquid of the 80s and early 90's.

Its not a bad detergent either so il continue to buy it when I pass Lidl - nearest store is in Middlewich, approx 13 miles from me.

It does have a few problems in that its even worse than Proctor and Gambles detergents to rinse out. After a decidedly cunning wash with no suds its froths up something rotten.

The wash in the Hotpoint was with Persil - just added the pic as its handy enough for me not to take a pic of the bottle.

 

[aquarius1984]

Ok, a wash with Formil in the Servis, notice no suds and its even on a good Hot Wash.

Used about 100ml in the retro Persil flexiball so none wasted in the sump.

60degs Cottons.

 

[aquarius1984]

2st rinse

 

[aquarius1984]

Gave up on the 2nd rinse and poured in a ton of cheap softener, killed the suds and allowed at least one clear rinse after.

It leaves everything with a pleasant enough scent so when I use it I use it sparingly.
Not bad for the price although its performance on Whites leaves alot to be desired but then no liquid can do as well as a bleach containing powder IMHO -

R

 

[paulc]

Asda

Have just tried Asda bio powder, am well impressed, washed teatowels and white towels on 30deg short cotton prog on my Miele, every stain came out, including tumeric cooking stains and everything appeared whiter and brighter than washed with Ariel Exel.

 

[zanussi_lover]

Asda bio

I liked asda bio too, i loved the scent and cleaning of the powder, it flushed down the dispenser really well when i used it as well

 

[2drumsallergy]

Fresh as a Daisy

Hi Folks,
H got a box of Daisy Bio yesterday and a bottle of Daisy Bamboo Fabric Softener.
So far I have done a load of throw rugs in the Dyson and a load of my white bath towels in the Miele, everything came out clean and fresh but I will need a soiled load to give it a true test. It seems to rinse out well no doubt helped by the Phosphates.

I will report back when I have done some kitchen cloths and tea towels.

David

 

[2drumsallergy]

Fresh as a Daisy

Hi Folks,
Well I have done a load of kitchen cloths and tea towels with Daisy Bio at 85°C Cottons cycle in the Dyson with normal (Dirt & Stains) setting, the result was a load of spotless clean laundry. I had my two nephews staying here this past few days, boy can they make a mess! Anyway we have a large stuffed shaggy Dog in the living room and the younger of the two decided it would be fun to pour Milk all over the Dog. I washed it in the Dyson on the Duvet cycle at 30°C again with Daisy Bio, the Dog cam out spotlessly clean but I noticed a lot of its fur had came out and was sticking to the drum, more fur came off in the dryer. The Dog is not bald and looks fine but I have previously washed it in Ariel Bio powder and no fur came out. I'm am concerned that Daisy detergent might be harsh on Synthetic fibres although one wash is not enough of a test to confirm this.

On a positive note its cleaning cannot be faulted especially at the price but I do prefer Lidl's Formil, it's a top notch performer and does not cause fibre damage.

David

 

[washdayisfun]

Hi David

Pleased to hear that Daisy is doing a good job for you. Im still to buy some. I went out on a bit of a detergent shopping spree the other day. Have no idea why but I felt I needed to buy some detergent!..lol

Ended up buying a box of 36 ASDA 2in1 Tablets - £2.78 (Just because the box was pink and pretty..lol). They have changed there detergent line up again and have new fragrances and designs on the packaging. Also I got 2 lots of Asda fabric conditioner - 98p each (Pink and Blue). They are very very simular to Pink and Blue Comfort.
There were old design Asda 2in1 liquitabs on the reduced bit. Unfortunately there was no price but I picked up two packs of 10 anyway. Well when I got to the self service checkout it didn't recognise the liquitabs as they must have wiped the barcode off the system being old stock. An assistant came over and said "just put them in your bag mate". So I got 20 liquitabs FREE!...Bargain!
When I got home and opened the box of Asda tablets they pack them completely different to every other brand. They are packed in 2s yes but they are on top of each other rather than next to each other. I really liked them that way for some reason, probably because its a complete change to what we are used to.

Then went onto Aldis and noticed they have now reduced their box of 36 tablets to £1.87 which is 2p cheaper than Lidls. The tablets according to the box now have a "New Formulation". Well I purchased 3 boxes - Bio / Colour and 2in1.

I then went onto Lidls and got a bix box of 54 wash Formil Colour powder - £5.89. Didn't get bio as thought id got enough bio stuff
for now!

I then went onto Tesco as I wanted to smell the new Lenor as I forgot in Asdas. They didn't have any! Not got any of the new range in yet! Anyway was having a look at the other stuff as you do and noticed..TESCO HAVE PUT UP THE PRICE OF THEIR OWN BRAND TABLETS!...I WAS SO ANGRY!
They used to be £2.75 then they reduced them down to £2.49 which was a great price. They have now PUT THEM UP TO £3.49!
Discount store...NOT! It appears they yes have reduced priced discount brands but they appear to be putting up their other prices..Bloody cheek.

Picture to come of my shopping spree!

Mark

 

[washdayisfun]

Picture

The picture is in the garage because Andrew does not know I bought them all so im hiding them out there. Oh and excuse the mess. Andrew has started Santas grotto so im having to squeeze so much into one corner of the garage! There is only the 1 machine I can use as the other machines are buried in the grotto.

 

[2drumsallergy]

I felt I needed to buy some detergent

Hi Mark,
LOL yes I'm very familiar with the "I felt I needed to buy some detergent" scenario, the white van will be arriving soon to take me away LOL. I have to try and hide detergents from my Mother as she thinks I'm mad LOL, so I know where you are coming from with Andrew.

You will be very impressed with the Formil I'm sure of that.

Almat is that Aldi's detergent line? We don't have any Aldi stores here as far as I am aware the company have not opened any stores in Northern Ireland yet, I'm sure they will be top notch tablets as they compete directly with Lidl's Formil.

Very interesting about the Asda tablets being stacked, it looks like they would be easier to use that way, they look quite large too. The Asda softeners seem to be in the exact same bottles as the Daisy softener, I wonder does PLP make them for Asda? And free gratis for the Liquitabs you can't go wrong with that price.

Don't get me started on Tescos I hate shopping in Tescos; that's typical of Tescos pricing tactics and "Britain's Biggest Discounter" what a joke that one is.

Have fun with your new detergents and please report back on your experiences. I honestly think the discount products have really improved over the years and that's good news as it keeps P&G and Unilever on their toes.

David

 

[nickuk]

Congrats on the detergent haul Mark!

Am very interested to know how Aldi tabs compare to FORMIL. I'm so impressed with Formil.

I had also noticed the Tesco price rise - what an outrage, especially since the phosphates are now OUT!

I'm a big `one tab' user - is it possible with the ASDA stuff to use one tab and then wrap / preserve the other tab with the rest of the wrapper or do you kind of have to use both up? I've never ever seen THAT before and I too wonder who makes them.

David - am eagerly awaiting your Daisy results with a grotty load! Don't know why, but I lost interest in Daisy after about two loads. I just wasn't interested in using it. I think I'm addicted to tablets! (Sounds good, doesn't it!)

 

[washdayisfun]

Hi David / Nick

Im glad someone else does the same as me!..lol

Yes Almat is Aldis detergent line. They have Powder/Tabs/Liquid and Liquitabs. They have just changed their tablets to a new formula and changed the packaging and the important factor..Price. Can't remember how much they have reduced them but they have brought them down under Lidls price now.

The Asda tabs are quite large. You can tell by looking at the box of Asda ones then the Aldi ones. Same number of tabs but quite a bit difference in size. I haven't taken any out and used them yet so not sure how well they dissolve and if you can get one out and save the other one in the packet.

Mark