Surf powergems

[michael]

Are lever bros on a self destruction course??
I spied today ..SURF POWERGEMS!!..The persil variety has turned into a farce with supermarkets virtually giving them away, so why on earth would they launch them under the surf brand...The darn things don't dissolve and certainly don't clean..i feel a Persil power moment coming on...

 

[mralex]

lol I was surprised to see a for colours version and ofc the surf versions

 

[rolls_rapide]

"SURF POWERGEMS!!"

Dear God... design vanity is once again steering the good ship 'Unilever' towards a looming iceberg.

It'll all end in tears.

Meanwhile, here is a another Persil variant...

 

[rolls_rapide]

Here is an example of the residue (courtesy of Twitter)

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Do you think the reason they dont dissolve is because modern washing machines dont use as much water? Could be why they dont dissolve.

 

[launderess]

To be fair

Quite a lot of R&D and other funds/effort went into developing those "power gems", and thus Unilever needs to make back their money some how.

P&G, Henkel, Unilever and so forth all have for some time now moved technology down the line from their TOL offerings (Tide, Persil, etc..) to middle or even lower tier. Just seems Unilever is pushing things down a bit faster with the obvious not so great sales of Persil Power Gems.

As to the dissolving issue; someone may be onto something there...

A vast array of modern laundry products simply do not work well in my AEG/Oko-Lavamat because of low wash water levels. Ariel gel when used in the dosing cap comes to mind. Next would be most pod type of products which if contain any sort of powder take some time to fully dissolve and or otherwise are messy. Pure liquid content seems to be fine.

 

[liamy1]

I’m such...

A sucker, why do I do it to myself?

I picked some up today - the Violet Blossom ones, although I really didn’t like the Persil ones.

They were on offer (they’d have to be) so there you go.

I’d actually really gone to get the new Daz “bed of roses” powder, but alas, it wasn’t on the shelves in my local Morrison’s.

On a side note, unlike the Persil gems, the Surf ones don’t smell that nice in the bottle at all (I didn’t smell them at the store), the first thing to mind was toilet cleaner.

I’m hoping the smell fares better in the machine.

 

[rolls_rapide]

" Daz “bed of roses” powder,"

What?! Another variant? Probably smells like Turkish Delight - full of Eastern promise - but delivering little.

Less than 5% oxygen bleach too, whereas Ariel has 15-30%.

 

[liamy1]

I know,,

It was actually looking up the Persil colour Powergems I came across the Daz (only seemingly sold by Morrison’s and Ocado at present). I am intrigued as to what it smells like.

Suppose with the *very* low bleach content (probably why they can aim it at colours too) it is definitely going to be nigh on useless for bleachable stains (tea, coffee, curry etc), so Vanish will be on the back lines.

Mind, Daz was overdue a fragrance variant as, and correct if me I’m wrong, but I think citrus blast has gone, and of course the long gone summer flower power and violet blossom blast (I’m sure ther was a lime one too at one point).

So bed of roses, is no doubt another stab at Surf’s share of the lower priced (and grade) fragrance detergent market, as with Bold that is actually a costly detergent (at some points of the year (week for week) it is more costly than Ariel, but as it was once the UKs 2nd best selling detergent brand, I suppose it can afford to be.

 

[liamy1]

Oh another...

Point to note, whilst speaking of dissolution of the gems, I wonder if Unilever have taken on some feedback from Persil as the Surf gems don’t look as “heavy” in the bottle (they seem “lighter” and not as thick).

Only other thing I can think of causing the problems with regards dissolving of the gems, is how Unilever actually have the user dose them (in case anyone isn’t aware, you pour the necessary amount in to the cap and place the cap on top of the wash load, just like you do with liquids).

Suppose if they were dosed like the unstoppables, as in you measure in cap then toss in the drum before adding laundry, they may be more effective at dissolving?

Maybe something for me (and anyone else) to try? Saying that, I didn’t have all that much a problem with dissolving (I did have issues, but not as bad as some reports) I can’t remeber a cycle that ended with undissolved gems.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Yes, there was Daz Citrus Blast, because I quite liked the smell of it.

I wonder if the Daz Summer Flower Power will pop up again this summer?

Has anyone tried dosing the Powergems via a thoroughly dried powder dispenser drawer? I am assuming that any water droplets present would cause them to stick fast. I'm actually tempted to buy a small bottle to test them, just to see what the Panasonic's optical sensor makes of them. Maybe that was the reason for Tesco getting shot of the Powergems pronto, because of a product reformulation?

Regarding the optical sensor, heavy zeolite powders (eg. ACDO) lengthen the wash time. Lighter fluffy powders (eg. Daz) minimise the wash time, as do liquids.

 

[michael]

I got a box of Daz bed of roses in Asda...£4 for a box of 40 wash (on rollback) I will keep it for the colours...regarding the Persil powergems, I tried them in the drawer and they stuck!, I tried sprinkling them in the drum before adding the laundry, and they still appeared on the glass...and stayed there... I took a photo and sent it to persil on facebook and told them how crap it was at cleaning too.. it soon disappeared!!

 

[iej]

Tried them once, just out of curiosity as I have auto dosing, and they were absolutely terrible at dissolving and stuck to the glass on my Miele.

Once can only assume that they also become stuck to parts of the outer drum, where you can't see, too.

What's the point in producing a product that's hard to dissolve, in an era when people expect to be able to do short washes?

I can't see this product lasting unless they completely change it to make it more soluble.[this post was last edited: 3/15/2018-04:52]

 

[rolls_rapide]

Powergems sticking...

In that case, I don't think I'll bother even trying the Powergems.

It makes you wonder how they tested the bloody things... or if they even bothered to trial them.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Surf variant...

Courtesy of Ocado...

 

[rolls_rapide]

I've noticed on Ocado's website that the photos of washing powder actually have "washing powder" emblazoned upon the box, as in Reply #7, above.

Are their customers really that thick?

 

[liamy1]

Are their customers really that thick?

Most, if not all of the grocery online stores are doing that now.

Obviously we can’t be trusted to know what a product is.

I will try the surf Powergems asap and report back, as whilst I can’t be sure, they do seem lighter and not as thick as the Persil ones, so wondering if they are reformulated.

They may have done the same to the Persil ones, but I only bought them once when they first launched, which was probably about 9 months back now.

Thanks for letting me know about Asda having the Daz Michael, will see if I can get down as I don’t shop at Asda normally.

 

[michael]

I tried the Daz tonight on some light colours...it had a great fragrance when I opened the box..subtle rose smell.. I didn't add any conditioner, very sudsey on the wash! When I removed washing, there was no smell at all...

 

[mralex]

Michael - I wanted to try the Bed of Roses :/ but if there's no scent left after wash.. I don't know..