Mexican Detergent

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westyslantfront

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This is addressed to the Texas contingent: Venus, Austin, Bob Appnut, Glenn Dadoes.
Well, I went to supermarket here in Tucson and purchased a sampling of Mexican detergents:

Ariel, Foca, Roma, and Viva

I will try them out over the weekend. They do have nice aroma as I liked everything scented. Hard for me to ever think of using anything but Tide which I was raised on.

What brands of Mexican detergent do you like?
 
My Favorite Brands . . .

Howdy Ross!

I really like the Ariel, which is P&G Mexico's "top-of-the-line" product, just as here Tide is the TOL product. I have used each of the detergents you listed above, except for Viva. I believe that is more for delicates, which I don't have any of. I think you will really find that you get great results on your toughest stains with Ariel, but the others are great as well. Ariel, Foca, Roma and Ace (Ace is another P&G brand) have phosphates, as they have not been outlawed in Mexico.

Many people I know here tend to mix Ariel with Roma, or even Foca, in a 1:1 ratio, because Ariel is more expensive than the rest and the Roma makes a good filler. I have not tried that yet, but plan to. I also use Roma sometimees to wash dishes, if I am doing them by hand. I have a glass canister next to my sink filled with Roma, and use one scoop (1 TBSP) for a sink full of dishes. I really like the smell, and it helps cut the grease from pots and pans.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your new products!

Tex
 
The grocery here has Roma, Foca, Viva (I think), and another Mexican variation of Tide (even with the bullseye packaging). I forget the name at the moment, but I mentioned it in another thread recently. Ohh, maybe it's Ace that Tex mentions above.

I've only tried/used Ariel. Picked up a big bag of Ariel OxyAzul a few months ago, still have some left. I really like it, but I have to be careful with dosage in my F&P. Even with my fairly hard water, I have to split the dose -- no more than 1 to 2 oz. (depending on load size and soil level) for the concentrated EcoActive wash phase, then add more for the deep wash. I get an *enormous* suds cake during the EcoActive phase if I use the full dose right away. LOL, and Austin says that Ariel is the lowest sudsing choice of Ariel, Roma, and Foca! I tried a mix of Gain and Ariel once, another BIG suds cake.
 
Suds

Hi Glenn. I have to be careful with '59 Kenmore T/L. The inner and outer tubs have very little space between them and it is easy to get suds lock. Nate used Tide powder in the machine once and it took a good dose of fabric softener to get rid of suds. After wash cycle, machine spun out and when it stopped, there was a wall of suds. I will use very small doses of the Mexican detergent and even less with front loaders.
 
Ariel

Well, I opened the package of Ariel. Cleaned very nice without over sudsing my f/l westinghouse. The t/l Kenmore seemed to get oversudsed at first but when I added more clothes, suds went down. Scent ok with me as I like a nice scent on detergent and fabric softener.
 
Mexican Detergent

I use to work in a landromat in 94-96. We had a good clientel of mexicans. All I can say is that they ALL used Ariel OR Tide. I have never used Ariel, but I do remember it smelled good. I've been hearing about Ariel for sometime,and it cleans very well, but just never have tried it yet.
I've never heard of the other Mexican Detergents that were mentioned. Im a Tide man, & Im willing to try Ariel if everyone says its good. Is there anything about Ariel that isn't good?
Rich
 
Noticed today that Wal-Mart also carries Roma and Foca. A mid-size bag of Foca is just $2.97! I almost bought one, but I don't think I could deal with the suds, if it's more sudsy than Ariel.
 
Focca is very sudsy according to those over on THS whom have tried it, however that adorable baby seal on the package does have "shelf appeal". One has to understand there are still many woman doing laundry by hand in Mexico, so sudsing is not much of a problem. Focca, Roma, and even Zote laundry soap are quite high sudsing, and thus wouldn't recommed any in a front loading washing machine. Now if you are heading down to your local creek, river or outdoors wash tub....

Launderess
 
Hi Ross,

I like Foca, Roma, and Ariel, as they seem to do a good job on clothes. Ariel OxiAzul (OxyBlue), which produces moderate suds, is by far the best and I can use it in my FL with no problems.

Foca and Roma, however, are EXTREMELY high-sudsing and I would recommend them for TL machines only...I know from experience! And even then, if your machine has a tendency to kick up a lot of suds (to the point where they're running out of the machine onto the floor) or has trouble with suds-lock, I would keep the fabric softener bottle handy!

Other than that, they're very good performers and leave the washer fresh-smelling in the end.

--Austin
 
I like Viva the best. It is very strong and can be over-sudsy, but the scent is very mild. If you can still find Viva Total, grab it! Viva "con prelas activas" is just as good, but the Total version has a fantastic scent. 1-2-3 is by the same manufacturer (our good friends at Henkel), but 1-2-3 is way sudsy and doesn't quite clean the same. 1-2-3 is more of an all-purpose cleaner.

Another good one with I almost prefer over Viva is Lirio. Biological, nice fresh floral scent. Not too sudsy in the right dosage.

Ariel is very good, but I don't like the scent at all.

Foca is very good, but use in small doses in the front loader. The scent is kinda funky, but dilutes nicely in the washer.

Roma is all suds. ALL SUDS!!! I don't recommend it at all in a front loader and use it with reservation in a top.
 
I like Viva the best. It is very strong and can be over-sudsy, but the scent is very mild. If you can still find Viva Total, grab it! Viva "con prelas activas" is just as good, but the Total version has a fantastic scent. 1-2-3 is by the same manufacturer (our good friends at Henkel), but 1-2-3 is way sudsy and doesn't quite clean the same. 1-2-3 is more of an all-purpose cleaner.

Another good one with I almost prefer over Viva is Lirio. Biological, nice fresh floral scent. Not too sudsy in the right dosage.

Ariel is very good, but I don't like the scent at all.

Foca is very good, but use in small doses in the front loader. The scent is kinda funky, but dilutes nicely in the washer.

Roma is all suds. ALL SUDS!!! I don't recommend it at all in a front loader and use it with reservation in a top.
 
Sorry... Viva "con perlas activas" is the correct term for the latest version.

I only ever had trouble with sudslock when the load contains towels. Even on my Miele... Thank God for 4 rinses...

While shopping the detergent aisle at the Mexican groceries, be sure to check out all the fabric softeners. I am in awe of all the flavors that Suavitel comes in. Suavitel has a new one in a yellow-green chartreuse square bottle that is really nice -- in small doses. They are now claiming that with Suavitel in the first rinse, you don't need a second rinse because NEW AND IMPROVED SUAVITEL WILL KILL THE SUDS IN THE FIRST RINSE!!! Who'da thunk! It's Suavitel Sin (insert Spanish word for rinse, and it is not enclarado but the one that I just cannot pronounce no matter how many times my Mexican customers tell me. "Sin" means "without" in a Mexican dictionery. In an English dictionary, there is a picture of Toggle next to the entry for "sin").
 

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