Persil Powder gets a rave review

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

Softened water either via substances such as phosphates or mechanically will get you but so far in terms of reduction of detergent used. At some point however using less "soap" will hinder cleaning resulting in a poor wash.

In best of all possible worlds laundry detergent would be formulated with phosphates as builders eliminating issues from zeolites. That is not possible largely any longer so there you are.

Long as you're adding zeolites to wash in any amount there will be risks of residue and streaking.
 
I think you are right, Laundress, and I appreciate the info on the zeolites.

Today I have quite a bit of laundry to do, and I can already tell the reduced amount of detergent won’t be enough. I also tried an extra “rinse & spin” cycle with the “normal” setting to see if that would do anything (mixing the detergent with hot water first & using a hot wash and all of that), since the 2 rinses don’t help, and that load was still full of detergent streaks. It’s maddening.

I think I’m either going to have to use the “whites” cycle, which uses more agitation and rinsing than the “normal”, and can use the “deep water” water level (kind of a pain because it takes so much longer, and these HE machines takes forever as it is), to finish this Persil powder. Either that, or I’m going to have to give it to a family member who has an older style, non HE washing machine, and she doesn’t have these problems (haha). Which is a shame, because this Henkel Persil smells so nostalgic and good.
 
Don't know what languages ingredients listed in post #19, think it's Polish.

Anyway can make out "zeoliti" which is zeolites.

We've had this conversation previously in group IIRC. There are a few versions of Persil powder and other detergents about. What is on offer seems to vary by where things are sold and what particular Henkel plant does production.
 
It looks like the one I have is from Henkel, made in Poland. I don’t see German on there, but there’s Polish, Estonian, Croatian, Russian, Hungarian, Slovak, Latvian and a few other languages, all side by side so a little confusing and harder to make out than the ones all in just English.

But it looks like anionic surfactants, enzymes, phosphates, zeolites, and fragrance are among the ingredients listed.
 
Which is interesting because from what I’m reading, companies usually use zeolites in place of phosphates, right? I didn’t notice the phosphates before, but translating sections of that ingredient list, it does have both..
 
Henkel like P&G, Unilever and other laundry detergent makers tend to formulate their products with local market (water) conditions in mind.

P&G tests Tide across several different areas of USA from Main to California. Well at least they used to, not sure if that's true today. Point is they want to have formulas that will work with local water conditions.

Am assuming Henkel does same with numerous variants of Persil. Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America, Middle East... All likely have different water in terms of mineral content (hardness) and other attributes.

A member and myself did a swap of Persil detergents. Lot received came from Saudi Arabia IIRC also with "German Technology". Packed a powerful punch scent wise but didn't notice much difference than Persil from Germany.
 
Ahhhh..I see. The one I have contains polycarboxylate polymers and bisphosphonates.

And that makes sense about them making the different detergents for various water conditions.
 
UK (Unilever) Persil Bio powder is my favorite for cool washes; the non-bio version for hot 140 degree F washes. My water heater, which produces 140-145 degree hot tap is only a few inches from the washer. I’ve switched to using the cool temp setting on my 2023 Speed Queen 7009 for most advanced enzyme detergents. Removes stains better than the warm setting, which seems so counterintuitive to me, but I can’t argue with the results.

Generally wash sheets and bath linens in hot.

Also using the Normal cycle for all loads except blacks (Delicate) and bath linens (Sanitize With Oxi or Whites cycles). The super concentrated detergent solution in the very low water level of the Normal cycle tackles stains like a champ. On the downside, large loads of bath linens soak up all the water in the tub and they’re barely saturated during the wash. Rinses aren’t a problem. On other cycles, the machine adds more water to the wash if towels soak it all up. Normal cycle will not add more water no matter what.
 
Frigilux- I’m jealous! :D

GELaundry4ever- my washer does have a “Power Wash” cycle which I have never used, but I bet that would work.

So far I’ve been using the Whites cycle with hot water and the “deep rinse”, and the powder seems to be dissolving. I just finished a load in this cycle with my husband’s dressier work shirts and pants, and I only saw a couple of specks on some of the darker pants. I might try that Power Wash cycle with some yard work clothes and see what happens. Thank you!
 
If there is a chalky residue of zeolites to cause white streaks on darks then they should be removed by the dryer.
As others already suggested good rinsing and not overdosing the detergent will limit the residue in the first place, the dryer or brushing with a clothes brush after line drying takes care of whatever remains.

Streaking can also occur from using too little detergent and or too much fabric softener but it would look different and you couldn`t remove it easily from dried clothes.

So if it`s a white and chalky powder and gone after tumble drying it`s most likely the zeolites to blame, in any other case I`d give it a try to use way more detergent and maybe even add a water softener like STPP.
 
Well I just tried a Power Wash cycle with a black comforter to see what would happen. I used hot water (which I’ve only been using with this powder), added a 1/4 cup of detergent, let the machine start filling with water, then added the comforter. I chose “regular” soil level and 2 rinses, deep water level. The comforter came out mostly free of residue, with the exception of a couple of minor specks. I do think they will come out in the dryer since they did in the dark pants in the previous load, on the “whites” cycle.

mrboilwash- it seems that using these different (power wash or whites) cycles, which have more agitation and I can choose the “deep” water wash, seems to be making the difference. When I was using the “normal” cycle (which automatically detects the water level for you and you can’t override it to “deep”), even with mixing it with hot water in a jug first, using hot water, adding the detergent first, reduced amount of detergent, 2 rinses, plus sometimes a rinse & spin afterwards, the amount of detergent left on the clothes was unacceptable. As in, large streaks and globs.

I do like the “normal” cycle because I don’t think it’s as hard on the clothes, but I’ll just have use that one with liquid detergent from now on.
 
Yuccadew- So it`s definitely the zeolites to blame.
Had it been a too little detergent problem then you might have had dark streaks on dark clothes which would be most pronounced when clothes are still wet.
I was just a little bit skeptical because the zeolite content of Persil Color Powder is rather small, less than 5%.
For comparison the Color Megaperls have >30% of the stuff.

You say on the normal cycle the streaks are worst, so it just confirms my opinion that spray rinsing alone does not work.
IIRC even decades ago when a higher cold water use wasn`t such a big deal like it is today a British consumer magazine rated rinsing for all twin tubs where rinsing was done in the spin tub even lower than the worst rinsing front loader.
No surprise to me, just think of how tie dying works. All that tangled and twisted clothes stuck to the wash tub can never give rinsing results as evenly as agitated rinses where the fibers are bent and flexed over and over again.
 
This is a great thread. Am I right to conclude that Megaperls has more Zeolites and more cleaning power?

I’m debating between Color Megaperls and Color Pulver to replace Cheer powder (which I was very happy with). Could I mix in a little oxi to mimic Cheers chlorine neutralizer?
 
Hi jbrady3324, yes you`re right the Color Megaperls have more than 30% zeolites vs less than 5% in the Color Powder and according to German consumer tests they also have way more cleaning power.

Nor sure what a little oxi would do to neutralize chlorine or how much of it would make sense at all but I`m sure our Launderess could help you on this one.

Persil Professional seems to be just like Ariel Professional the regular powder in a bigger box.
 

Similar threads

C
Huffington Post Article on German Persil.
Replies
3
Views
12
launderess
launderess
Ultramatic
Here we go again. Are we using too much detergent?
2 3
Replies
40
Views
49
gelaundry4ever
G
launderess
Job Lot of Persil Going Cheap
Replies
2
Views
19
launderess
launderess
T
Great Deal on Persil Everyday Clean 100 ounce
Replies
1
Views
14
gelaundry4ever
G
launderess
You're Probably Doing Laundry All Together Wrong
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
77
fisherpaykel
F

Latest posts

Back
Top