Problems with heavily scented Persil Colour Care Powder (UK)

[letim]

I have been happily using Persil Colour Care Powder for several years. The last box that I bought boasts a "just washed feeling" and has red flecks in the powder in addition to the normal blue ones.

The scent from the box is really quite overwhelming and the scent on the resulting washed clothes is equally as powerful. It's almost menthol!

Problem is, I'm very sensitive to strong perfumes and the changes in the product have made it useless to me.

I've been to the supermarket and I noticed that Arial has a similar "new" and "just washed" claim on the packaging. I hope that this isn't a new trend for the manufacturers.

I also use Persil non-biological powder for my whites - I noticed that the new boxes of this also have the "just washed feeling" on the box. I hope there are no perfume changes to this too!

I'm currently re-washing everything with Sainsbury's own Colour care gel capsules. I've never used this before but I'm hoping the scent will be ok, I figured that the supermarket own brand would be the least scented...

Does anyone have any good recommendations for powders or liquids that don't have strong scents but do a good job!!!??

This is my first post having lurked on the forums for some time.

 

[spoodles]

I noticed the change in scent to Persil Colour too. The previous version had the best smell ever, but the new one is pretty bad. I think Ariel have used the "just washed freshness" (or whatever it is) tag for a long time now on the top of packs, it's not a new thing.

Ariel Colour powder does have a fairly strong scent in the box (probably only as strong as the old Persil Colour) but it's not strong or lingering when the laundry is done and dried. Try a small box and see if its OK for you maybe? Ariel Colour liquid also has a very mild scent that has pretty much disappeared by the time things are washed and dried.

Ariel Bio powder has a very strong scent in the box and on laundry afterwards too - best avoided if perfumes are an issue for you.

All Persil variants now have this new formulation "just washed feeling" thing - it's supposed to keep clothes feeling fresh for 28 days apparently (Unilever aren't going to be advertising the 28 days aspect as they are worried about people washing their clothes less - the adverts will just focus on clothes feeling fresh all day instead). I think there is some change to non-bio, but the scent probably won't be as strong as the other versions.

Your best bets may well be the own label versions as, like you say, they tend to have lower perfume levels than the big brands, but might not be as great at cleaning.

 

[maytagbear]

That is curious-

Here in the States, most detergents have a "free and clear" formula that has no dye or scent. I wonder if there are any in the UK. If not, I think there should be. One of my cousins has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and needs unscented household products.

Good Luck!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[panthera]

It is annoying

I am not in the UK often enough to follow the changes in many products. This is annoying because I take home fond memories of certain brands, tastes and smells. I look forward to them again the next time I am there...and am ever more often disappointed to discover that what has always been an exclusively British scent or taste or funny way of opening a box is now gone and the Europe wide blah-blah has replaced it.
I do think you should give the "Sensitive" or "Hypo-Allergenic" detergents a try. At least here in Germany, the Ariel scent free, color free stuff really does wash out without leaving an unpleasant scent. It cleans considerably better than such products did even five years ago, too.
House brands, at least to my nose, are often the formulation from last year's advertising campaign at the biggest producers. Maybe you can track down one which is close to what you like?
There are times when I understand why the French get so testy about preserving "their" cultural heritage.

 

[MrX]

I don't know what P&G did to Ariel recently but I find the current version of Ariel Bio Powder and the tablets almost stomach churning. It's like a combination of baby oil and lemons or something. Personally, I find it totally repulsive. It doesn't smell 'fresh and clean' it just smells highly chemically.

I'm currently using Persil Gel Tablets which may have a slightly different formulation to the UK version. They're foil wrapped and are phosphate free, if I remember the UK ones were plastic wrapped and contained phosphates. They smell quite acceptable.

I will be really disappointed if Persil has now been reformulated with some vile new scent.

I've also noticed that Comfort Pure seems to suddenly smell a whole lot more pungent than it did before. Perhaps it's just my nose, but I've stopped using fabric softener as a result.

Can they not leave well enough alone?!

 

[spoodles]

mrx - Yes they have made Ariel Bio reek of some sort of lemon infused god-knows-what lately and that also used to smell gorgeous. :-(
How come Perisl tabs are foil wrapped in Ireland and phosphate free too? I would have thought they'd be identical to UK ones.

Maytagbear - We don't have "free & clear" type detergents in the UK - we just have non-bio for sensitive skin, enzyme free but with perfumes and dyes - usually quite a mild perfume. I've never understood why the UK is the only country that markets non-bio as a sensitive detergent instead of a bio with no perfumes or dyes, as the rest of the World does.

 

[MrX]

There is tighter regulation of phosphate content in detergents in the Republic of Ireland than there is in the UK. Unilever Ireland's also a completely separate marketing and distribution operation to Unilever UK. That being said, most of the products are identical and the UK ads are just tweaked for the Irish market i.e. change of telephone numbers and a different voice over artist used.

I assume that they're quite likely to be the same tablets used in France for Skip as they're also fully phosphate free and look and smell identical to these.

We've had different a different formulation for Persil Tabs here for quite a while.

There are also some other Unilever products here that don't exist in the UK at all e.g. the whole range of Sun dishwasher products like Sun All-in-One Power tabs (which I find vastly superior to finish quantum btw), Sun dishwasher cleaner etc etc.

Quix dishwashing liquid (non-machine)
and various others.

You also have to remember that it makes more sense for any Irish distribution operation to source their products within the Eurozone as we also use the Euro. This avoids currency conversion costs, so it's quite likely that Unilever Ireland will source product from Unilever's French, Belgian, Dutch or German operations rather than the UK.

 

[danemodsandy]

You're Not Alone:

Yesterday I spotted an old friend at the store- FAB. Not having seen it in a long time, I grabbed some. When I got it home, I opened it and took a whiff of its "Ocean Breeze" formula. I never knew ocean breezes smelled like cheap candy!

I personally want to corner the CEO of one of these giant detergent companies and dunk his $5K three-piece suit in one of his own products. I'd be willing to bet that those guys wouldn't be caught dead smelling of what they're fobbing off on the rest of us. Don't get me started about P&G's stuff- no one who isn't named Barbie could possibly want to smell like that.

 

[spoodles]

mrx

Yeah that makes sense. I always assumed they would be the same as the UK ones, just by the fact that both the UK and Irish addresses are listed on the UK packs.

 

[hoovermatic]

I agree with you guys about Ariel. Have no idea what sense of smell-less scientist came up with the current 'fragrance' but even as a long time fan of Ariel, I have stopped using it. They should bring back the fragrances of the the 1970's and 1980's as far as I am concerned. I am now using Waitrose brand bio and colour and they have very little fragrance but are superb at cleaning and very good VFM

 

[rolls_rapide]

Ariel

I used to use ARIEL too - so did my Mum. We stopped using the powder in 2005, due to the new smell. I used the tablets for a while, as they were a different smell, but they too have recently changed to a new stink.

I also tried BOLD "Crushed Silk & Jasmine" and at the same time used the Lenor conditioner that matched it. BOLD smelled reasonable in the packet, and the laundry smelled ok after drying. But 'His Nibs' decreed that his clothes smelled terrible, so I'm afraid it is back to the DAZ "Limey-Lemoney" version for us, plus the Lenor mentioned above.

I honestly think the detergent companies are trying to alienate us. Don't they want our money?

 

[MrX]

The new P&G scents are all gross. I just want something that smells mild and nice!
I'm discovering the own brands as a result of these scent changes and they're not bad.

If Persil now stinks too, I will be moving over to own brand detergents too!

 

[rolls_rapide]

All these high-powered fragrances clash with the deodorants and aftershaves that one puts on after one's morning shower.

I want to smell of the aftershave, not of the soap powder.