New Pod On The Block: Wisk Deep Clean Power Blasts

[frigilux]

Pods take another step toward shelf-space domination: I was at WalMart this morning and sitting right next to the jugs of highly-rated liquid Wisk Deep Clean were bags of Wisk Deep Clean Power Blasts (pods).  Naturally, I had to try a bag...along with a 5-pac trial bag of Gain (Original Scent).

If Wisk pods perform as well as the liquid version, they are definitely keepers. I washed a huge load of bath linens with one of them and the suds were very controlled, even in softened water. The pod is filled with blue liquid. Residual scent was minimal. Can't wait to try them on a load of ridiculously-stained kitchen whites.

The Gain pods, already discussed in norgechef's thread, resemble those of Tide, albeit with different colors in the chambers. Tried one on a load of sheets. Predictably, the residual scent is stronger. If you like the smell of Gain Original, you'll like the pods. Suds were well-controlled.

Jugs of Gain had trial-sized bags of Flings (pods) attached to them. You know what that means.  It's only a matter of time, kids; only a matter of time.

[this post was last edited: 2/1/2014-16:19]

 

[frigilux]

Photo of the mega-load of bath linens washed with a Wisk pod (near the end of the 20-minute wash tumble).  Note to Launderess:  In answer to your question from back in the Pod vs. Pod thread, every brand of pod I've used has dissolved completely, even in huge loads.  Just washed the queen-sized comforter from my bed with a Gain pod and there wasn't a trace of undissolved pod casing.

 

[nmassman44]

Those Wisk pods have been out for some time now...I began seeing them last summer at my local Stop and Shop. I tried using the pods and they clean well but the wrapper somehow doesnt disolve well in the front loader, in my experience. The gummy wrapper seems to get caught in a fold of a shirt or towel. And whats worse is that I didnt see it and I threw it in the dryer, it didnt ruin the fabric, but it was annoying to see it stuck...its hard to describe. So now what I do is when the washer is filling I park the pod in the dispenser drawer and it dissolves fine. The Tide Boost pods are the same way, OxiClean as well. As far as Gain goes, I think the scent is a tad much now. Used to be Gain scent was nice to the nose and didnt reek, now is a big PU-fest.
I must add that I dont have issues with dissolving pods in the SQ washer, I toss it into the waterfall as it fills.

 

[paulc]

Frigilux

Who makes Wisk in the US? We had Wisk here in the 80's made by Unilever ( or Lever Bros as was ). Was a very thick white liquid, smelled gorgeous but cleaning ability wasn't brilliant. There was also a Wisk cold wash liquid that my mum tried ( she was a tester for Lever Bros ) but it was so awful it never made the shelves.

 

[launderess]

*Everyone* Has Them Now

Pods, that is; Ecover now offers laundry detergent in that format as well.

 

[frigilux]

Launderess--  You're right; an increasing number of brands have pods on offer.  The wizards in marketing don't want to miss the Pod Express to corporate profit and personal bonuses, LOL. Amway doesn't offer a pod, yet.  By the way, should you come across a Detergaholics Anonymous group, let me know. We can carpool.



 

Mike-- Wisk pods weren't on the shelf last time I was at WalMart---about five weeks ago. Perhaps it was rolled out on the coasts before making its way to the lone prairie.  Undissolved pod casings is a common complaint on user forums, but after using them on at least 40 loads, I have yet to experience the problem. I tried pods (Tide, maybe?) when they first appeared and had problems with them migrating to the boot before they'd dissolve.  That hasn't happened with these newer ones.  

 

Paul-- Wisk was made by Unilever until 2008, when the company divested its USA detergent division, selling off the brands shown below to Huish Detergents, Inc. Huish subsequently changed its name to Sun Products.  In brief, Wisk is made by Sun Products.  Wisk Deep Clean (liquid) currently sits very near the top Consumer Reports's detergent ratings, taking a back seat only to Tide With Bleach HE (powder).  Wisk outscores all other variations of Tide (powders, liquids, and pods). 

 

 

 

[jerrod6]

Deep clean Power Blast. Just think of it. With a name like this all I need to do is find a Whirlpool machine with Direct Inject and everything is bound to be OK.

Oh the marketing folks have been busy.

 

[washman]

Frig,

what did I warn you about pods?

YOU'RE NEXT!

THEY'RE HERE!

YOU'RE NEXT!

 

[frigilux]

I have no idea what you're talking about, Ben. Everything...is...fine.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thanks for the report

So these Wisk pods are controlled sudsing in the wash with towels. Fine. Do they cause sudsing in the spin after the wash like so many other liquids do with towels or have they found a way to avoid that also?

Does anyone else think that towels washed in liquid detergent without the use of fabric softener emerge softer than towels washed in powder detergent without using fabric softener?

 

[logixx]

That's because many powders contain insoluble ingredients - mostly water softeners, I think. Have read numerous reports on THS about how "heavenly soft" Vaska liquid leaves towels.

 

[paulc]

Frigilux

Thanks for the info

 

[launderess]

Softer Laundry With Liquid Detergents

Yes, it has been long noted both here in the group and elsewhere that using liquid detergents leaves things softer. Indeed in the Miele UltraPhase detergent thread their advertising of that product touts leaving laundry soft without risks of encrustation.

Once you ditch washing soda, borax, sodium sulfate, Zeolites, and the rest of the gunk that goes into powder detergent what you are left with is the surfactants that do the cleaning, and in theory should rinse away. However because good detergents require builders, water softeners and so forth powder detergents are what they are. Now if we could get phosphates back then the need for all the rest including washing soda would be less to nil.

Liquid detergents of course do not require alkaline builders or water softeners so washing is left softer.

 

[washman]

Ok Frig, I did my part

I tried to warn you.

You could have stayed with Fuller 86 powder, but no.

You could have stayed with your daily driver liquid, but no.

You went for pods.

My the wash goddess have mercy on your soul. And don't use those in your SQ ok?

 

[cleanteamofny]

Warning

I like how these pods clean, but there is one draw back.
Using LCB makes the laundry stink, chemical reaction I guess so avoid using this pod with whites if LCB is being used!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Liquid detergents use citrates as water softeners. Those have been blamed for the sudsing in the final rinse. I put a small amount of STPP in with the liquid detergent and don't have the sudsing problems in the rinse.

 

[frigilux]

Just returned from a post-gig party, and having slammed several cups of coffee to aid alertness for the 90-minute trip home, I'm not quite ready for bed.  So......I decided to throw in a small load (two 100% cotton tablecloths) using a Wisk pod coupled with the Max Fill option to see what would happen.  Yikes!  Here is the billowy result.  The suds broke down quickly during the wash drain/balancing period.  

 

Pod Inevitability: The trifecta of softened water + small, lightly-soiled load + enough water to cause splashing will most likely always lead to oversudsing. I want to run the same load without the Max Fill option to see if having almost no standing water in the tub reduces the problem.  

 

Haven't had the small load/sudsing problem with Arm & Hammer or Purex pods, probably because they aren't as powerful as the Tide and Wisk versions.

 

A thought on the problem of undissolved pods:  Mike mentioned this in his post upthread. It's also the most prevalent complaint at user forums.  Fortunately, I haven't experienced this, even with huge loads---but why not?  It dawns on me that the Frigidaire's recirculation jet is on during the fill and for the first minute or two of the wash tumble.  Perhaps that helps the pod dissolve more quickly than if there was no recirculation.  

 

Paul: The US version of Wisk was reformulated in 2012.  That's when it rocketed to the top of the ratings in Consumer Reports.  It scored much lower prior to that.

 

[frigilux]

Take Two: OK, here's the same load using a Wisk pod without the Max Fill option.  As you can see, less water was not the solution to the problem in this case! I'm willing to bet the farm this wouldn't happen in moderately soft/moderately hard water. The Frigidaire's oversudsing protocol was triggered by this one.

 

Mechanically-softened water is both a blessing and a curse. However, the benefits of it far outweigh The Trouble With Pods issue.  Will  simply have to use Arm & Hammer pods for tiny loads. 

 

Ben-- I'm afraid the Speed Queen lost her pod virginity weeks ago, LOL. Pods work well in the SQ, with no oversudsing.

 

And I'm still not ready for bed! Think I'll shower, make a nice big Sunday breakfast, then turn in.  That ought to really mess up my day.



[this post was last edited: 2/2/2014-04:42]

 

[tomturbomatic]

Whatever happens to Sunday,I am glad you were wide awake for the long drive home.

 

[frigilux]

Thanks, Tom.  I'm used to middle-of-the-night drives, but they seem to get longer as I get older, LOL.  And I agree:  The suds from liquid detergents (especially Tide) are very tenacious.

 

[washman]

Hmm Frigilix pulling an all nighter eh?

Methinks the classic from 1956 or the 1978 has you worried.

 

[frigilux]

OK, the Wisk pods have redeemed themselves.  A small load of around-the-house clothes was washed with no sudsing problems.  Ditto this smallish load of stained kitchen whites.  Here's a photo taken about 50 minutes into the Sanitize cycle's 70-minute wash tumble.  I didn't add liquid chlorine bleach to the load and a wide variety of stains were completely removed.  Way to go, Wisk!

 

Larry-- Did you add bleach to the wash cycle when using the Wisk pods? I've heard that some detergents can have a "stinky" reaction. I haven't tried using LCB with Wisk, although the front-loader doesn't dispense bleach until the first rinse--after the load has been spun out--so it may not be a problem for me.  I'll have to try using LCB in the next load of whites.  Didn't use it on the load in the photo, as I wanted to test the stain-removing power of the detergent on its own. Thanks for the heads-up, though!

 

Ben-- I'm all about the 1956 version, of course!  I'm still emotionally connected to my surroundings, so I think I'm in the clear.

 

[cleanteamofny]

Eugene,
LCB is dispense in the first rinse in my Lux but I can say it reeks throughout the room before the final rinse.

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for the info, Larry!  I'd forgotten you were using a front-loading Electrolux these days. I'm impressed with the cleaning power of the Wisk pods, but will put them to the ultimate test this weekend with a large load of ridiculously-stained kitchen whites.  If it can clean that load without the aid of liquid chlorine bleach, it's definitely going to become my daily driver detergent.

 

In retrospect, the load that experienced oversudsing with Wisk was made up of cotton tablecloths, both of which were barely soiled to begin with.  The detergent had nothing to "work on" in the load.  The Wisk pods have behaved themselves in every other load, small or large.  Will be interesting to see where they fall in CR's tests compared to respectably-rated pods by Tide and Kirkland Signature (Costco).

 

I'm glad I purchased only a small 5-pac trial-sized bag of Gain Flings.  Washed all my bedding in it on Saturday and the scent remains annoyingly strong four days later. The scent has also morphed into something I don't like. I'll wash it all again tonight with a Wisk or Arm & Hammer pod. As has been mentioned by others, Gain is really all about the scent. I use a Swiffer system to clean floors, and they even have a bottle of cleaning liquid that says "With Gain" on it.  They're marketing it more as a scent, like Febreze.

 

[washman]

Oh boy Frig, oh boy

I think you are turning, slowly little by little, it's happening as I feared. You're becoming a pod, a replica of your former self. See how it all unfolds

Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman: Love, desire, ambition, faith - without them, life's so simple, believe me.

Dr. Miles J. Bennell: I don't want any part of it.

Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman: You're forgetting something, Miles.

Dr. Miles J. Bennell: What's that?

Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman: You have no choice.

 

[zipdang]

Score!

Was in Target today and nabbed a 48 count bag of Wisk pacs (just like Eugene's photo at the top of the thread, but a larger quantity) on clearance for $4.98. At that price I figured why not. Wisk liquid is very good stuff so I'm hoping the pacs perform just as well.