New LIDL `Doussy' FS

[nickuk]

LIDL have relaunched their own brand conditioner. It now comes in 2 litre concentrates for £1.95. All scents have changed. Irritatingly, the bottle has lost the handle in the revamp - despite the size increasing.

There are three variants; blue (`Morning Dew'), yellow (`Summer Sun'), and white(`Sensitive').

I have bought all three and been using them in rotation for a couple of days along with my favourite detergent, Formil biological powder.

The white is as one would expect, a light generic baby type smell. Very inoffensive, and lighter smelling than Comfort Pure or the Lenor equivalent. Less pleasant (to me) than the previous version, but still fine. I'm unhappy, however, that the sensitive one now lists two synthetic fragrances on the ingredeients as I feel a true `senstive' product should be free of these.

The blue one `may suit a more mature clientele'...ie something about it reminds me of cosmetics aimed at the more mature end of the market. Nothing wrong with that, just not to my taste in a FS.

The yellow one interests me the most. Whoever makes this product for LIDL has done an amazing, uncanny job of replicating yellow Lenor. I have always been a fan of this, but over the years it has become just a little too strong in my opnion. Not so the DOUSSY, leaves a very light scent after tumble drying and smells pleasant around the house. It is a good price, softens and freshens well, and dispenses very easily. So far I can't say much against it.

I thought that passing this info on may be of interest to users of Formil and fans (current and previous) of yellow Lenor.

Nick.

 

[zanussi_lover]

Formil and Doussy

Im currently using Formil Biological powder, which is excellent for the price and size of box.

Its a shame that Doussy has updated its fabric conditioner range as I would have liked to have tried the Asian spirit (green bottle) as a friend who uses it says it smells like apples.

I used to like the Blue (Active fresh) Doussy, it was a very light fragrance, I used the white one (SoftCare) once also and that was very pleasant.

I haven't tried the yellow one but Im sure its nice, now that they have updated it, I'm not keen on Yellow Lenor as i find its too strong compared to the sweet sherbety version in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

I'm currently using Anco So Soft Naturals Macadamia and Almond Oil conditioner which smells like Comfort conditioning Creme that they used to sell a few years ago.

 

[paulc]

nickuk

I know this is a thread about F/S but can I ask how the Formil big box bio powder performs? How is it for "whiteness" compared to main brands? Also, I have found when using cheaper powders it has left clothes a bit "bobbly", is this the case with Formil?

Do you use it for all your laundry, or use a separate product for darks? Sorry for all the questions.

PaulC

 

[nickuk]

Formil

Hi Zanussilover - I have an almost full `Asian Spirit' Doussy, shame you're not nearer as I'd happily donate it....apples?? Hmm, not to my nose. I would just reassure you that you're not really missing anything special.

Hello Paul. We are a family of 5 with three young lads, and do tons of washing. My usual powder is Formil because it's great value, smells `old school' pleasant ,rinses very well and cleans as well as the others in my opinion.

On a busy week or if we're not going to LIDL, we will do an online shop and get either a large Persil, Ariel or Daz (whichever on offer). I find all of those do a reasonable job but for me I like them less than Formil. I have ruled out Surf and Bold as I do not think they clean as well. I also reject Tesco / Sainsbury own brands.

I am currently working through a big box of Ariel which was one offer in Sainsburys a few weeks back, and I can state that for me it is not removing stains any better (though no worse) than Formil. In some ways it is less helpful than Formil.... if I have a grotty load, I might use a prewash or a larger dose (130-150ml) of Formil, which will generally do the job but still rinse out fine. I don't use wash boosters. Using a large dose of Ariel just causes oversudsing issues but no better cleaning, sometimes the machine will even abort the spin after the main wash and trigger a sudslock sequence (adding another 30 minutes of faff to the cycle grr). Daz, to me, seems to be identical to Ariel in terms of performance but with a different scent and even more oversudsing / difficult rinsing issues with certain loads (when I last compared)

The last time I used Persil bio was late summer, and I seem to remember thinking it was not much better than Formil on stains, as I was grateful to be hanging outside in the sun for any remaining stains to get bleached out. Persil also rinses `better' (less foam) than Ariel and Daz. However, there is something about the scent of Persil bio I which doesn't work for me.

Formil would be my `desert island' powder. I use it on everything except wool and silk. I don't really like `colour' products, but have pontificated about why on here many times before so won't go on about it again!! (Unless anyone is bothered enough to ask)

I guess this is just my experience based on the types of stains we have, which I think is just about everything apart from white socks as I don't think anybody in the house has a pair!!

What do others think?

Cheers

Nick

 

[zanussi_lover]

Formil

I love Formil Bio Powder, its excellent, Ive used it on everything, dark washes, white washes, towels, sheets...apart from woolens and delicate stuff which i used a special liquid for that.

It doesn't Fade Items, and it gets stuff pretty White, i wear alot of dark and light colours so its perfect.

Colour detergents ive found seem to make my clothes smell mouldy when they have dried, where as the bleach in the detergent seems to stop mouldy smells and keep the clothes smelling fresh.

 

[rolls_rapide]

I use Daz and find it is quite bad trying to get the machine to rinse it back out of towels. After watching foam remaining in the final rinse, even with a fourth rinse, I took to adding a small amount of fabric conditioner to the final rinse.

I can't stand the smell of Ariel. Persil to me, seems a chalky powder, not too fond of the smell either.

I haven't tried Formil powder for some time. The last time was when it was boxed in stout cardboard boxes. It is now packaged more like Daz or Ariel, in thinner cardboard.

Formil tablets are still the same: they don't dissolve properly on 40°C washes, leaving a chalky scum around my door seal.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Nick, nice to see you around, hope life is treating you well.

 

I remember teh old blue Lidl softener, was pretty potent stuff if you smelt it in the bottle but was nice and fresh on the laundry.  However I haven't stepped into Lidl in about 2 or 3 years now since I lived in London and had one locally, so haven't used Lidl-based stuff for years.  Always liked their toilet blocks, 99p for 6 and coloured the water for just as long as the Bloo cistern blocks I always use nowadays.

 

I'm a bit of a brand whore nowadays; although I never pay full price for anything.  I'm on blue Lenor which I got 85 washes for £3 from Asda (and if not it is almost ALWAYS £2 for a 1.5l bottle somewhere), a £5 50wash box of Surf (never thought I'd see the day I'd buy such a product LOL) - currently on offer at Sainsburys and Tesco (it was rude not to get all 3 colours so naturally I got all three variants!), Surf liquid which was on offer for £3 for 28 washes at Sains' (only bought it because it was the blue bottle, and was momentarily excited in only a way us laundry geeks could be that Surf had a blue variant again) and for darks a 54 load bottle of Persil colour which I got for a fiver from Sainsburys; all working out cheaper per dose than own brands.

 

I have to say I'm quite impressed with Surf, but then nowadays doing washing for only myself where the only real laundry challenges I have are cleaning clothes and teatowels - and I no longer have to deal with washing football kits, baby/toddler clothes, dog walking jeans etc etc as I did when living with the parents.  But for my standard loads of whites/colours/gym stuff, it does fine although nowadays my average washing temperature is 50-60 degrees.  Not sure if it would be my first choice but definitely a steal for 10p a wash!

 

Will consider trying Formil if/when I next visit Lidl - and have space on top of my kitchen cupboards for another spare box of powder!

 

One problem I always had with the Formil powder (bearing in mind I havent used it since 2009 or perhaps even before) was that it left clothes feeling somewhat rough, and would leave sandy-type deposits on the door, seal and in the dispenser itself - have these issues been rectified?

 

Jon

 

[zanussi_lover]

Formil Powder has changed Jon, its easier to dissolve in Lower Temperatures, and there are no residues from what ive seen. Nice to know that Surf has improved its cleaning performance. I miss the blue Surf, Surf Soda Bright/Cotton Fresh/Surf Breeze. I used to use Surf Breeze Back in 2005, with original "real" Blue Comfort, I say real blue comfort as it was before all the fresh release malarky came out, and it had that original Comfort conditioner scent.

@RollsRapide, Formil Tablets are rubbish, i used them and they didn't dissolve at all, they left a sugar strand mush in the drawer which i had to sluice down the residue with boiling water. I can say Almat tablets are great when it comes to dissolving. I currently have Almat Bio tablets and they dissolve in seconds, and clean pretty well too.

Ariel Bio as you know in my opinion smells putrid, Its nothing like the Ariel Essential Scent I grew up with, It was my favourite washing powder until they changed the boxes and formula in 2006. Ever since then, I couldn't bare anything washed in Ariel, as it would give me a headache, because of the smell.

 

[westtexman]

Howdy Nick!

Long time no see!

I am curious as to why you don't like "colour" products. As I am sure you are aware, we generally don't use a separate "colour" product for most of our washing here in the States, but I have really enjoyed the "colour" products I've purchased from the UK and Germany.

Things seem to turn out okay over here using just one product, and I really cannot think of a significant difference between our conditions and yours other than the boosted temps on your machines and the longer wash cycles.

It sounds like a separate product may not really be necessary?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[electradeluxe]

i miss the old blue surf too,i used to love the smell,i used to like the old persil non bio too for the fragrance,i also used to love Sainsbury's blue mist FS til then they changed it to blue linen and i didn't like the smell! i wish they would bring back some of the old style detergents,like a limited edition pack with the old style packaging and fragrances,
i'd definitley buy them,it would be like a trip down memory lane on wash day lol

 

[nickuk]

Hi Jon - hope you are well and enjoying life! Blue Lenor is a good laundry room staple and leaves a fab scent on dry laundry. It's good to hear Surf has improved lately too. As zanussilover commented, I think Formil must have improved - the problems you mentioned didn't ring at all familiar with me. I would be very interested to know your opinion on Formil powder should you get some, as I said it's been my favourite for quite a while now.

Brian - good to hear from you! I had a chuckle the other day as I was reading your `stash' thread! The reasons I don't use colour products any more are firstly because I outside line dry most things, and sunlight bleaches colour far more than oxygen bleach ever will. Secondly, I tend to wash dark blues / blacks at 30 degrees on a quick cycle. For this reason I just like knowing there is a bit of sanitising going on (the load will contain underwear and other such items). I did also used to notice (sorry to be frank) that perspiration odours were not removed adequately with colour detergents. I haven't used colour products for ages, I just tend to manage by adjusting, usually downwards, other variables like appropriate load size, cycle, temperature and quantity of detergent. Colour fading hasn't been a problem for me - if it had, I guess I would buy the `colour' stuff. But others have different experiences for sure - this is just what works for me.

Take care all

Nick

 

[electradeluxe]

i purchased a 60 wash pack of Formil Colour today,i'm looking forward to trying it out as i keep reading it's as good as the leading brands.

i had a whiff of the doussy FS,i'm not that keen on the fragrance so i'm gonna stick to lenor with febreze for now