Persil History Thread - Info/pictures/videos appreciated!

hotpointfan · Sep 22, 2012

Hi, as the title says, I am creating this thread about the history of Persil, the detergent brand, as I would like to know more about Persil and also about the history of the brand.

I hope this thread also educates others as well. So please can you share anything you know about Persil and I have a few questions as well.

Thanks for reading.

hotpointfan

hotpointfan · Sep 22, 2012

1st Question

From when did Persil make Persil Finesse, as I found this in my aunties cupboard, its a delicate/wool detergent.

hotpointfan · Sep 22, 2012

2nd Question

I saw this product in the bottom of a page on a 2001 Hotpoint brochure, called Persil Revive. I'll scan the section of the page when I get round to scanning it. I have looked this up and discovered it was axed in 2002, so its been gone for 10 years. I tried finding out how it works but no joy. I was wondering could anyone shine a light on it? Thanks

kenmoreguy89 · Sep 22, 2012

Hi sorry if I step up in yout thread asking something else, but wanted to know if you received the detergents and if everything was okay.

Thanks

hotpointfan · Sep 22, 2012

Kenmoreguy

Yes it did, everything fine, thanks

aquacycle · Sep 22, 2012

The chore of doing the laundry began to change with the introduction of washing powders in the 1880s. These new products originally were simply pulverized soap. New cleaning product marketing successes, such as the 1890s introduction of Gold Dust Washing Powder (created by industrial chemist James Boyce for the N. K. Fairbank Company in the United States), proved that there was a ready market for better cleaning agents. Henkel & Cie, founded in Düsseldorf in 1876, decided to pursue this market, and on June 6, 1907 launched its newly developed, first of its kind product, Persil. The manufacturer had found a method to add sodium perborate—a bleaching agent —to its base washing agents (silicate), creating (what the marketing department called) a "self-activating powder" detergent. During the washing process, oxygenated perborate forms small bubbles, doing the "work of the washboard" —saving consumers time and rendering the historic method of "sun-bleaching" (by laying clothes out in the sun) unnecessary

Invented in 1907, Persil is notable because it was the first commercially available "self-activated" laundry detergent. (A self activated detergent is one which contains bleach combined with the soap components.) The creation of Persil was a significant chemical breakthrough.


The name, "Persil", is derived from two of its original ingredients, sodium perborate and silicate

Persil - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

hotpointfan · Sep 22, 2012

Aquacycle

Thanks, I knew it was named after two chemicals, we did it in Science a while back - we made some of our own

I am about to start uploading pictures of a copy of the Persil care guide from around '92.

hotpointfan · Sep 22, 2012

Persil Care Guide

I got given this to me by my nan, I believe this dates from around 1992ish, please correct me if I am wrong. I have taken photos of each page but they may not be as clear as if I had scanned them. Hopefully someone can date this. Thanks

Front cover