surf gems

[michael]

I had an impulse buy today in Asda...a brand I have never bought before.. surf powergems. I purchased the persil equivalent when they came out and ended up throwing them away. No stain removal and clothes smelt musty rather than fresh.
Anyway, these surf ones were on offer for £4 for a large 30 wash bottle. I thought give them a go so I tried on a minimum iron 40 wash in my Miele. They dissolved quickly and smelt really fresh when I opened the bottle. . One grey pair of trousers had oil stains and I didn't pre treat. There was lots of suds in the interim spins..reminded me of my old indesit 40 years ago!
Anyway, stains have gone but smell is that same musty smell I had with the persil gems, but at least it cleaned, so I will finish the pack off using comfort as well

 

[polkanut]

Add ½-1 cup of ammonia to your wash cycle in addition to the detergent.  It's a great deodorizer. 

 

[michael]

Thanks..i don't have problems with musty smells when I use other products..only these gem things..surf advertise that your clothes will smell of these wonderful violets and summer flowers. but the reality is they don't smell fresh at all. When I tried the persil version, it smelt the same, but that didn't clean at all. this one at least got the stains out.The persil version cost £11 at the time for the same size.i only got this because it was £4 so thought I would take the risk...

 

[rolls_rapide]

Surf Gems ingredient list

The Surf Gems have been on the UK market long enough now - you'd think Unilever would have the ingredients on their website, wouldn't you?

Nope. No mention of Gems in the Surf listings.

Either Unilever are thoroughly incompetent at updating information, or else Surf Gems aren't supposed to be for sale in the UK, as a disclaimer states: "The products listed below will only show products available in the country you live in."

Oh dear. Not quite with it, are they?

https://www.unilever.co.uk/brands/whats-in-our-products/brands-and-products.html?brand=SURF

 

[liamy1]

Oh dear. Not quite with it, are they??

Definitely not. Here are just some discrepancies

Sun Dishwasher Detergent - only on the market in Ireland officially (can easily get it online here in U.K. , but won't find it with supermarkets as you would in Ireland).

Timotei shampoos - discontinued last year

Signal toothpaste - didn't that disappear in the 90s?

Anyway, agree with you Michael, those Powergems are just not great at all, I never had a an issue with the smell they smelled quite nice actually (I used Bio/non bio Persil). My issue was dissolving, or lack thereof. I used most of them in the mop bucket for mopping or for fragrancing the kitchen bin by dumping them in the bottom of the bin.

I bought the Surf one - same variant as you, but ended up gifting it away before I could use it (this happens a lot)

 

[rolls_rapide]

Timotei shampoo

Here a link to a Daily Mirror article last year:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iconic-shampoo-timotei-set-disappear-10763097

I remember the Mill water-wheel advert.

Personally, having used Timotei in the 1980s, I found it certainly gave hair a shine, and the product smelt nice. It also caused terrible seborrheic dermatitis. Had to stop using the stuff.

 

[liamy1]

That's...

Not good at all - I did use it on and off, but never consistently (I remeber buying some last year actually) always have a few different shampoos in the shower in our house - suppose I believe the myth of not getting hair used to one kind of shampoo. Have my faves but will switch it up every few days or so.

Have to laugh at one of the comments on that news article - apparently the timotei girls hair in the advert was actually washed in Pantene to film that advert.

Don't know how true it is of course - but LOOOL!