Persil Pearls (US) Discontinued

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mamapinky

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The Pearls will no longer be sold in the US but the liquids and caps will. Someone on Houzz just posted a pic from the question section on Persils Facebook page. Cheryl
 
I have not

tried the pearls. They have been absent form local store shelves for some time here.
I like the liquid though. I buy the original scent, two in one. It reminds me of how Oxydol smelled. Not perfumy, just fresh.
 
We had a discussion not long ago re: Persil. 

I, like others, thought that there was a re-set in the product line coming when our local stores was clearanceing some of the items.

 

I have tried the Pearls twice now with less than great results.  I experienced the white towels, only the towels graying.  Wash them in Tide and they are white again.  It may be an interaction with our local water, or the type of cotton in the towels, but this was my experience.  Maybe others were having a bad experience as well, or maybe they just weren't selling as well.

 

I have had good results with the other variants of their liquids and the pods.  
 
They're still for sale here in Ontario. I bought a bottle of them a week or so back to try .  Hard to say how good they are since we don't have much "whites" or anything that gets really dirty or stained.  It was more a fun factor purchase .  tbh I usually get buy with a bottle of Xtra or Arm&Hammer for $2. from a discount store. 
 
I called today to question this and was told the Pearls were discontinued in North America..they said it was a marketing decision. Lol. I had great results with these Pearls in my wonderful Duet. No suds issues. No rinsing problems. Suppose I'll use Tide with Bleach powder as I've always liked it for my whites. Like Tide with Oxi Pro better, but impossible to find.
 
Bummer

I found their claim of dazzling whites was accurate and not puffing or exaggeration at all. Whitest whites I've ever experienced. In the SQ FL with softened water, 1 tsp of Pearls is all you need. Rinses out easier than Tide.

Whites did come out dingy at first with Pearls when I overdosed.

I no longer have any oversudsing problems with the Persil liquids either. With the Original formula, which is more concentrated, I pour until it's the size of a quarter in the drawer, and with 2-in-1, I pour until the bottom of the compartment is coated. That's all you need! Not sure what proper dose would be with non-softened water.

The German Color Gel needs a larger dose.

Of course all of this is just my opinion FWIW.
 
 
Having a friend fetch some Power-Pearls from a Target, assuming it's in-stock there.  It disappeared from the local WM months ago, although they have liquids and packs or pods or whatever.
 
Are these the same as or similar to the Megaperls? The Miele dealer gave me a box back in 2004 when I bought the W1918. The detergent is the formula for colors. I have not used much of it. It needs hot water to dissolve, like Nick wrote, so it has to be pre-dissolved before adding it to the washer for warm water washing making it not worth the trouble.

 

I like the Universal Powder better for low sudsing, clean rinsing and good cleaning.
 
Tom:

There are at least two kinds of Persil Megaperls from Henkel, Germany: there is one for colors and one for whites (or Universal). There may be more, I have not kept current.

The one offered in US was a slightly different formula -- the Universal formula from Germany (whether in megaperls or powder) has enzymes that are more sensitive to very hot water, because most washers in Europe will start with either cold or at most warm water, then heat up to temp, and hot-wash enzymes are more expensive. The American version had enzymes that seem to work just fine in toploaders and washers that fill with 140F water. Also, I've never had trouble with the european version bleaching spots on colored clothing, but the American version seems to have some more aggressive bleaching activator, so when I tried using it on colored clothing it bleached spots wherever the perls touched wet clothing before the washer had finished filling. I don't know if that was fixed in later formulas, that was my experience with my first (and only) bottle of Persil PowerPearls w/ Pro-White Technology here.

That having been said, it was a good detergent, I'd buy more if they improve the formula.

Despite all this talk of it being discontinued, I'm waiting to see what they'll do: all the other American Persil formulas got a "Pro 10 Dimensions of Clean" label with items one can take with varying degrees of seriousness. Either way, it makes sense they'll clean the pipelines and introduce a new formula with similar characteristics for the PowerPearls -- the liquids and pods clean well, but some people need the "powdered"/pearls, why give that market to P&G?

On the other hand, even P&G is trying to get rid of powdered anything, so who knows?
 
"There are at least two kinds of Persil Megaperls from Henkel, Germany: there is one for colors and one for whites (or Universal). There may be more, I have not kept current. "

Was nosing around German consumer testing website reading their comparison between "color" detergents and those with bleaching agents. It was their opinion that the bleaching systems in Persil "Universal" and one assumes other similar products would bleach colors with repeated use.

https://www.test.de/Colorwaschmittel-Aldi-und-Co-so-gut-wie-Persil-1160456-2160456/

Of interest Ariel and Tandil detergent concentrated/ultra/perls sold in Germany beat Persil megaperls in test rankings.

However when it came to just powders, Persil "Universal" beat Ariel.

http://www.testberichte.de/a/waschmittel/magazin/test-stiftung-warentest-11-2014/409636.html
 
Launderess:

Yup, you are right, the Universal *can* over time fade colors, but it's usually gradual, like you said, and an overall effect.

What I got was splotches, very visible, first time use. Bummer.

It wasn't a disaster because it was basically socks, underwear and t-shirts.

But I will not be testing that with dress clothing. If I ever "try to see what happens" with their new formula, if it comes out, it will be on similar cheap clothing.

In fact, my hope is that they'll come out with *two* ProPearls: one for colors, one for white.

But no one knows, they might just drop the Pearls.
 
Concentrated vs. just powder

When purchasing laundry detergent in Germany, one must differentiate between "compact" and regular powders. Concentrated or compact powders are usually sold in plastic bags, while regular powders are sold in cardboard boxes (sometimes touting 100+ loads). The unfortunate thing is that manufacturers add a lot of fillers to the regular detergents and frequently less active ingredients. That is why all "large box detergents" received worse tests scores than their concentrated counterparts. P&G's Ariel was the most noticeable case: Ariel Compact did excellently, while the formula in the large box failed completely.

Personally, I never cared for the Megaperls because some always get stuck in the dispenser, while powder dispenses without problems.

OT: over here, Henkel has released three new Vernel flavors called Vernel Suprême that are "inspired by fine French perfume", as well as a liquid "sauber und glatt" that's supposed to make ypur laundry "clean and smooth" by making ironing easier.
 
"clean and smooth" by making ironing easier"

Fabric softeners or conditioners have been making that claim for years now. To an extent it is true, but one supposes modern formulations have added something extra.

Laundries use fabric softener/conditioner if things aren't going to be starched to help things feed easily through ironers/mangles.

P&G offered Downy "Advanced" which was great for smoothness/wrinkle free laundry. Thing one remembers is that when laundry was spun after final rinse with the stuff, water had a sort of foamy look which was interesting.

Anyway it didn't last. By the time finished one bottle and went to look for more, Downy Advanced was discontinued.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2446393/anyone-remember-downy-advance
 
Wouldn`t surprise me at all if Persil Megaperls were gone for good in the US.
Henkel`s Persil is not the well known market leader for over a century in the US as it has been here. As a newcomer it might be a wise move to focus on products that actually sell and as a matter of fact powders are not that popular anymore in the US as they used to be.
Then if you don`t follow the "start filling washer, add detergent, add clothes" routine for TLs you might end up with spot bleaching which means the clothes are ruined. New TLs might have lid locks which don`t allow for a tried and true routine so I guess they decided to go the "follow washing machine instructions for adding detergent" path.
Anyway, spot bleaching doesn`t shine a good light on a new product and as a newcomer they probably can`t afford a single unhappy customer.

Launderess while your`re absolutely right that FS has always been beneficial for ironing, I think Alexander was referring to a new Persil liquid detergent that claims to lessen the need for ironing. No idea how that is accomplished haven`t had a look at the ingredients so far, might be polymers, I don`t know. Besides of that there are a few new upscale Vernel versions out now.[this post was last edited: 5/13/2017-03:27]
 
Have noticed the shelf space given Persil products has shrunk dramatically at the HyVee grocery store I frequent. The pacs and pearls are gone. ProClean and ProClean 2-in-1 liquids are still on offer, but have been downsized to one row each on the bottom shelf. Quite a demotion for what is considered a premium detergent. There used to be several rows of each variation on the prime real estate arm-level shelf.

I use only the ProClean 2-in-1 version, as CR scores it substantially higher for stain removal that regular Pro-Clean and other Persil variations.

Always thought the pearls might migrate to the boot of my front-loader. Anyone found that to be true?
 
I don't think Henkel would have really considered top loaders with agitators when they were designing MegaPearls.

They were a convenience format aimed entirely at front loaders with dispenser drawers in Europe. The idea is they eliminated messy, dusty fine powders while making the machine's dispenser drawer's job a little easier as they tend to flush into the drum more effectively than some powders.

Henkel doesn't sell detergents here in any format. We only have Unilever, P&G and store brands in the mainstream detergent space with R&B in the dishwashing and niche laundry space along with various eco brands like Ecover and Merhod etc, so I've only ever used them while living on the continent.

I can't speak for all of Europe as different countries have different marketing approaches to these products but here in Ireland powders have gone from dominant to still mainstream but definitely in fairly rapid decline.

The arrival of very concentrated liquids seems to have been the death knell for powders here both because they're well marketed and seem to be generally very effective.

From what I gather, liquid detergents are easier to produce but, one would wonder about all extra plastic that is now replacing what were pretty simple, cardboard boxes that held powders throughout all those decades.

We're now using a lot more plastic jugs and even if 95% of them end up being recycled, it's still a lot of plastic waste we probably didn't need to deal with.
 
Gone from Walmart

So that's it then, isn't it? If where it all began no longer stocks the power pearls, then it's official.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Persil-P...Scent-Powder-Laundry-Detergent-89-oz/42417854

Still you never know; Persil is known for stain removal and outstanding whiteness; something you cannot get in certain instances from a liquid alone. Nearly every European consumer testing group is unanimous; liquids/gels are not good for badly marked laundry. As such cannot imagine Henkel is going to allow Tide to remain #1 as it were when it comes to that area. I mean how can a laundry detergent brand claim to go against P&G when it cannot beat TWB?

Thus mayhaps Henkel has called a "time out" while looking to solve some of the issues with Power-Perls.

Simple solution would simply make the stuff a compact powder as Persil is sold also in Germany.

Pulver ist besser!

https://www.test.de/Waschmittel-Pulver-ist-besser-4324833-4324838/
 
The only liquid system I've found worked is Miele TwinDos but that's effectively doing exactly what a powder does by adding a squirt of peroxide type oxygen bleach at the appropriate time in the cycle.

My whites are coming out absolutely flawlessly with that approach.

It basically comes down to needing to add oxygen bleach to your whites whether that's integrated into a powder or added as a booster with a liquid.

Without bleach : dingy whites.
 
Our consumer magazine tested the TwinDos system by Miele and rated it worse than powders for cleaning and whitening, unfortunately. Maybe Unilever will bring out a bleaching liquid, as they already have a dishwasher gel with oxy bleach "pearls" in it.
 
I wouldn't rate it as any better than powders, but I have found TwinDos works pretty well and I like the relatively neutral scent it leaves behind. It leaves an extremely mild non-floral scent that's a little like Unilever Persil liquid but much less clingy.

The main thing I'm finding is that in a household that has multiple users of the machine who are very heavy handed with dosing detergent, and in an area that has exceptionally soft water, I have been able to cut our detergent use quite dramatically while getting very good results. Also there's absolutely no mess in the laundry room.

So, overall I'm quite happy with TwinDos and it's working out pretty economical given the price of main-stream TOL detergents here (probably much more expensive than Germany) and its tight control of dosage.

Just looking at https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/household-cleaning-liquid/c-150302170 to compare with German or US prices.

1.4l of Persil Small and Mighty Bio liquid (40 wash) - €14.40 (US$15.74/ £12.22)
2l of Ariel at full price €12.60 (US$ 13.78 / £10.69)
Store brand (actually pretty good) 28 wash . €2.45 ($2.68/ £2.08)

Powders : https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/household-cleaning-powder/c-150302165
40 wash Ariel bio €9.00 ($9.84 / £7.63)
45 wash Persil bio €9.30 ($10.17 / £7.89)

I may just switch back to using either Ariel or Persil and a wash booster when I run out of my huge supply of free TwinDos cartridges though as they are quite pricy if not on special offer.

Although, they're still not that much more expensive than a full price pack of Persil here and the bleach cartridge lasts ages as it doesn't use all that much.
 
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