Persil History Thread - Info/pictures/videos appreciated!

[hoover8pulse]

That's very interesting to hear Ariel Stain Remover has been pulled, I guess since Ariel always boasts 'Outstanding Stain Removal in 1 wash' & the liquid 'removes up to 95% of the stain first time' then it seems odd that you'd have to add a stain remover to that. Plus Vanish will always sell, despite how unnecessary it is. I remember seeing the advert for the Gold White powder & said if my whites turned out that grey I'd be ashamed!

I still like Ariel powder & will happily use it. But I don't mind Persil either. I do however feel more 'proud' of how my laundry turns out with Persil, I think it's because of the history associated with the brand whereas with Ariel I feel a bit more 'modern' & 'sophisticated' because Ariel is the youngest of the two & has a more complex structure.

I was quite glad though when Persil redesigned the packaging a few months ago. I much prefer it now!!

 

[zanussi_lover]

Ariel Stain Remover

I'm not surprised Ariel Stain Remover has been pulled, why say your powder is the best, if you require additional stain removers to get your washing clean. I can't stand the smell of Ariel Powder, Haven't used it in ages, Since 2006 it has had a heavy overpowering chemical smell, that i'd rather do without.

The last time I used Ariel Powder was in 2005, 10 years ago which was Ariel Essential with Quickwash Action, I picked up another box of the new formula and it stank and washed clothes terribly, I threw it away and swapped to Daz and Surf. Surf at the time brought had Surf Breeze and Surf Tropical, which were my favourites for a while.

Persil seems to get it right with Branding, Marketing and Cleaning in one wash, although I wish Persil Biological/Colour Liquid would go back to being a white liquid like in the old days. Persil Performance Liquid smelt amazing, combine that with Comfort Silk or Original Comfort Blue (the proper stuff in the dilute bottle)....mmmm!

There seems to be an element of nostalgia of the 90s with the liquid eco refill packs, and the rubber detergent dispenser balls

 

[aquacycle]

Ariel hit the UK and Ireland market in 1967

Sorry to dig up an old thread, I was looking for some info and came across it again. Spotted the comment above.

Ariel did indeed hit shops in 1967, but it remained a high-suds, twin tub detergent until 1982. New System Persil Automatic followed in 83, originally intended to replace the old Persil Automatic. But due to the public outcry in the UK as Rob mentioned above, from 1984 onwards it was sold alongside original Persil Automatic - just as it is today in Bio and Non-Bio formulas.

 

[aquacycle]

Further to the above...

P&G opted to make a different product for front loaderss, rather than rebrand an existing product. P&G's low-sudsing, automatic detergent was actually Bold, which came out in 1973. Also biological like Ariel, but designed for front loaders. It failed to sell in the numbers that Ariel continued to, hence Ariel Automatic was launched in 82 and Bold was relegated to an entry level, cheaper product.

 

[vacerator]

So what if it's an old thread

Good information is always good.
I tried liquid Persil for the first time about 6 months ago. We love it.
The fresh scent is not too strong, and it reminds me of the Oxydol powder my grandma used. No skin irritation either. It's nice to have an alternative to only using Arm&Hammer free.

 

[foraloysius]

Mike

The Persil you bought is made by Henkel and is a German product. This thread however is about the history of Persil mady by Unilever. Different company and different product.

 

[aquacycle]

I haven't used Henkel Persil for years. I don't even remember what it smells like. Poundstretcher used to stock it occasionally but they've not had it for a long time.

It always suprised me that Henkel never marketed their Persil under a different brand in the UK, like Unilever Persil is sold as Omo in Henkel-Persil markets.

 

[vacerator]

Louis,

oh, Unilever is British, and Henkel is German. Which was the original maker of Persil? Did one license the name to the other, or were there no trademark infringement laws in Europe then?

 

[foraloysius]

Here's about the whole story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persil

 

[aquacycle]

Which was the original maker of Persil?

Long story short, when the German company Henkel first started producing Persil, they licenced the product name and it's formula out to other companies so that other companies could produce the product and sell it in other marekts - this was before the days of the mass import/export that we have now.

In the UK and Ireland, Persil was licenced to a company who's name has escaped me. Originally, both the Henkel version and UK version was the same formula just made by 2 different companies, but over time, both formulas have changed. The original company was acquired by Lever Brothers which then merged to form Unilever, further adding to the gap between Henkel Persil and UK Persil.

So in summary, Henkel Persil is the original, but both products started out the same and have grown further apart over the years.

 

[aquacycle]

For info, Unilever Persil is sold outside of the UK, Ireland, France, Latin America and New Zeland as Omo.

 

[launderess]

Am going to embroider this on a pillow..

Posted previously by, Moi.

"But "Since those early days, the brand name Persil has caused some confusion. In 1909, the English firm of Joseph Crosfield acquired the patent rights and trademarks of Persil for the United Kingdom and various British, Dutch, and Danish colonies. Crosfield was later absorbed by Lever Brothers, which in turn became part of Unilever. Today both Henkel and Unilever continue to market a product named Persil. In Western Europe, for example, Unilever owns the trademark Persil in Britain and France, while Henkel has Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, and Denmark."

Persil was such a success at its introduction that Henkel felt it was a wiser decision to license off the formula, patents, and so forth for the UK market than incur the expenses of building new plants and distribution.

Post WWII Lever Bros/Unilvever and Henkel largely have gone two separate ways when it comes to Persil. The UK is the only place you find "non-bio" Persil detergents marketed as a top shelf offering. Elsewhere the German/Henkel versions tout their enzymes as part of what makes Persil (or whatever name it is called in a particular market), a great detergent.

 

[aquacycle]

The UK is the only place you find "non-bio"

The UK and Ireland is one of few places in the world where you can still find non-bio, mainly because of the British press causing hysteria by bending the facts (something they're still doing). During the development of biological detergents at the Lever Bros plant in Port Sunlight, many of the staff came down with rashes and coughs/colds due to the dust coming off of test batches. These batches never made it to the market. When the press got hold of this, it was everywhere and even to this day has instilled a notion that non-bio is somehow better for sensetive skin. In reality, the enzymes have little to no links to skin irritation whereas various synthetic perfumes and scent boosters (such as benzyl salicylate) used in laundry detergents are known skin irritants. Many European countries sell sensitive, biological detergent which have little to no scent, for example Neutral sold in The Netherlands.

Persil Non-Bio, especially the powder, is still a good detergent. Afer all, it was all we had before the introduction of New System Persil in 1983. However it's not as effective at lower temperatures and tends to work better for hot and boil washes.

 

[launderess]

Enzymes perform many of the same functions as bleaches

That is they break up and remove stains. Take them away and you are left with pretty much the Persil and other detergents of old; requiring strong dosages of bleaches to shift stains.

 

[aquacycle]

The difference being that enzymes can work more effectively that bleaching agents in lower temperatures. Plus, depending on the enzymes used, some stains would be difficult to shift with bleaching agents - especially food stains like ketchup or curry.

 

[spoodles]

A lot of Unilever's Omo/Skip/etc... "Sensitive" detergents around the World are pretty much identical to Persil Non-Bio, they just don't call it non-bio outside the UK. It's not just in Europe, Australian Omo Sensitive is enzyme free.

 

[mrboilwash]

My box of dishwasher tabs reads something like: Caution product contains Protease - may cause allergic reactions.

I also remember an older issue of Ökotest, the green version of a consumers magazine in Germany. Many of the most potent washing powders have been criticized for their potential to trigger allergies due to very high contents of protease or subtilisin.
We`ve got detergents for sensitive skin that either contain no enzymes at all, with enzymes but non of the protein attacking type but most of them contain the whole range of enzymes. I suppose the amount of protease used in mainland EU sensitive detergents is less compared to regular ones. So I guess non bio in the UK isn`t just about hysteria.

 

[hoover8pulse]

spoodles

When I was in Poundworld the other week, they had 'Skip Active Clean' from France which was in a blue box, identical to Non Bio Persil and it smelt the same, but it listed enzymes in the ingredients.

 

[spoodles]

Skip Active Clean is like Persil Bio, but in blue packaging instead of green. They also have a green one called Fresh Clean which just has a different scent. Their sensitive (non-bio) version is like the old Persil Aloe Vera we used to have here, in pale green packaging.