TEST: Another Detergent Challenge

[nrones]

Cottons 40 test sheets

Motor oil - Slightly better job from Ariel. Although not remooved and very visible.
Mud - Again, Ariel did a little better, but stain still not remooved.
Olive oil - This time Persil did a little better job, but both are still present.
Lipstick - Ariel did a little better, but still very visible.
Tomato Juice - both remooved.
Coffee - Ariel did better, but both didn't remove it
Sauce - Ariel did better, but both didn't remove it

Wine (forgot to mention on R30) - was eliminated on both washes.

so it's 15:5 for Ariel so far.

(Each detergent gets a point for a completely removed stain, or better removed stain than another one. If stain's equally remained on the sheet, neither gets points.)

 

[nrones]

Cottons 60 test sheets

Motor oil - Persil did better, although both very visible.
Mud - Ariel did better, although both sitll present on cloths.
Olive oil - Persil did better, although both remooved quite a lot. It's just a small difference, however Persil left less oil.
Tomato juice - both remooved.
Wine - both remooved.
Lipstick - Persil did noticabley better.
Coffee - Persil did better, although both still visible on cloth.
Sauce - Ariel did better, although both still very visible on cloth.
Sock - Ariel did better.

So it's 20:12 for Ariel.

 

[nrones]

Final verdict

Looks like Ariel is the winner, however it got most of the points just by being Better than Persil, and not for remooving stains. It did a better job.

On the other side, Ariel was much harder to rinse (water was always less clear on final rinse), and it left a strong scent even after drying, while Persil rinsed out well, and generally left no scent after drying.

So - Ariel IS the winner of this challenge, but if someone doesn't like strong detergent scents, and needs better rinse of clothes Persil might be a better choice, since they both didn't remoove most of the stains. Alternative when using Persil are obviously higher temperatures (which is not bad at all), where it will make even better results then Ariel, better rinse, and leaves nearly no scent.

Now it's just up to consumers to decide what is their preference.

Please give me your feedback and thoughts on this Test, and results.

Thanks a lot indeed,
Dex

 

[electron1100]

Test

This is a good test you have set up, I haven't found any powder etc that will remove Bolognese type sauces without soaking them first.

Engine oil is a very difficult stain to remove with washing powder, normally I would treat engine oil with a hand cleanser (swarfega) first.

But to be honest non of the stains are completely removed, maybe try leaving the test clothes in a soak over night in each of the powders.

Thanks for doing this
Gary

 

[gorenje]

@ Dex - Interesting test, thanks for taking the time to do this. I would expect a bit better result from Persil, but neither one nor the other removed the stains. (well ok engine oil is really hard to remove, this is clear to me)

@ electron1100 - I agree with you, Bolognese sauce (a combination of oil and tomato) is hard to remove. I usually pretreat with an organic laundry soap and if the stain don't come out completely in the wash cycle I put the cloth on the sunlight till the cloth is wet. Try this. You will see that the stain will completly disapper

Ingemar

 

[optima]

Detergent Test

Great thread Dejan.

I always pre-treat stubborn stains with the good old classic Green soap bar & i have always much preferred the cleaning abilities of Procter & Gamble over Unilever products. Daz Automatic has always been a winner in my eyes.

 

[thomasortega]

That was a great test, Dejan.

First of all, i'd like to congratulate you for the criteria you used. I know many professional testers and believe me, many of them aren't able to conduct a test with such rigid criteria to get these very realistic results. Half load and 1/3 load tests are as important as full load tests but nowadays, at least here in Brazil, people only care about the mandatory full load tests and by our ridiculous standards, the "standard full load" means "dramatically overloaded" to make consumers believe the machines are much bigger and much more efficient than it's previous model.
Also, detergent tests aren't performed.

Electrolux has 10kg capacity top loaders with the same drum i designed more than a decade ago for a 6kg machine.
Whilpool (Brastemp) uses the same 5 kg world washer's drum from the 1990's in a 10kg machine.
Brastemp (Whirlpool) also stated in the owner's manual 30 years ago that 36 (yes, thirty six!!!) bath towels could be washed in a 4kg capacity machine that has exactly the same 1950's "frog eye" Whirlpool drum. And before you ask, bath towels in Brasil are the same size as in the U.S. it means huge and thick. (maybe it would wash no more than 5 or 6 in a full load). Believe it of not some consumers were stupid enough to believe that
What to say about manufacturers that claim 16kg capacity using an 8kg drum nowadays? Duh, even a child knows that clothes need to move freely to get properly cleaned and rinsed.
And the competition for the biggest drum continues maybe soon the machines will have "circus tent", "parachute", or "escape slide" cycles instead of duvet cycle. You know... everybody has 1000 shirts to be washed at the same time. LG is now going to launch a 20kg capacity washer-dryer combo. But... why would somebody need a monster machine like that for household use? Insane, isn't it?

Back to your test, the results show something that alwasy happened in Brazil too.
PG detergents (In our case Ariel is the TOL and Tide is getting introduced slowly in our market) performs much better than Unilever detergents (in our case Omo is their TOL brand)

The only country I know that has an Unilever detergent performing much better than PG is Argentina. Their Skip Perfect White performs much better than any other detergent in the world and it wouldn't surprise me if it removed 100% of all of the stains including the pen writing. The only problem with that detergent, as it's name says, is the perfect white results, even when you wash colors or darks... It's so strong that everything turns out perfectly white...

That detergent is great for my white Reebok and Nike socks... but the black logos simply dissapear right on the first wash.

 

[chris74]

Interesting test

Congratulations on that fine testing! By the way, Skip in Germany has been a Henkel brand as is Persil. Link directs to Argentinian Skip...

http://www.skip.com.ar/home.php

 

[electron1100]

Oh Those Difficult Stains !

Ingemar

I like your idea, if I boil wash (90o) the tea towels with bolognese sauce then the stain will come out, but I also do 60o washes for whites aswell so I am willing try different ways of removing the stains as they wont wash out completely on this program unless I soak them overnight, I am just being lazy I know, I want to throw it all in and it all come out clean ;-)

Optima

Do you mean the green fairy soap?

Gary

 

[thomasortega]

Christian, that's intersting. Do you know why that?

By the way, all argentinian Skip versions are totally different from the european ones.
Nowadays there are 5 different versions: Skip Perfect White, Colors, Blacks and Results powders and Skip Intense concentrated (and awful) liquid.

Skip perfect white cleans like no other, as I said above. Skip colors cleans very well, but luckily it doesn't make colors fade and perfect black is the only detergent I know that can recover faded blacks. I love it.
Skip perfect results is ok, but even Ala (Unilever's el cheapo) is better and costs 50% less.
Skip intense was the worst disaster ever launched in argentinian market. It skinks, it doesn't clean anything, and even the 33ml can cause a sudslock in a 10kg machine full loaded with very dirty clothes.

And best of all, as there is a huge crisis in Argentina and the exchange rates made their currency (Pesos) loose it's value, shopping in Argentina is amazing for those who live on the borders like me. A bag of Skip costs 7 pesos, 2.10 reais or 0.80 american dollar.

 

[stan]

Should I

do similar test, with the same stains, same fabric, using a Maytag wringer, lye soap, and borax?

Wonder how it would compare?
What do you all think?

 

[electron1100]

Maytag

yea do it lets see what happens ;-)

Gary

 

[haxisfan]

Expert feel... well done!

Brilliant... very nice tests! I have personally used both Ariel (which I keep using) and Persil, but in liquid form, and I had greater results with Ariel. Awaiting your verdict ;-)

 

[stan]

O.K

There's one "yes" do I hear two more?
And was that a 100% cotton shirt? Would want it to be the same material, and put the same stains on, and leave for the same amount of time, for the test.

 

[nrones]

Yes

stan,
One more Yes from me! I always love to see tests on here. It was 100% cotton sheet, dried from 16:30 till 10:00 in the morning next day..so that's around 17-18 hours.

I always love to wear white/bright clothes, and eat spagetti. I believe more than 100 times I've got stained those whites/brghts with them. Boilwash always took them completely out. No additives.

Persil in Serbia is Henkel Persil. So I used that one, not Unilever. But now, speaking of which, how come 2 premium competitors having rights for production of one worldwide known brand? Anyone knows what happened between them?

Dex

 

[chestermikeuk]

Testing...

Hi Dejan, thanks for taking the time to complete the "Dirt Challenge", I like your way of thinking - very lab oriented!!, where you expecting different results?

I visited P & G technical centre a few years ago and was amazed how many square samples they get through, when you see them all laid out on the tables it was like a warehouse full!! I always thought the testing would have to be on max capacity but as stated above they vary their loads!! Now all you need is a row of them like these...

I`ve switched from using Ariel here at the mo to Persil, appears to be slightly better than Ariel for stain release and has a much cleaner fresher "Vintage" aroma...

 

[chris74]

@ thomasortega

Well, I'd love to test Skip for blacks because German detergents for coloureds always make them fade... There are special liquids for black clothes though.

The price is flawless, meaning you do not pay more than one Euro...

@ chestermikeuk

Interesting to see that P&G uses good old Míele machines.

 

[MrX]

Someone will have to send you over some Unilever Persil Bio to see how it compares.

 

[chris74]

@ nrones

Story of Persil:

Link directs you to Wikipedia.

By the way: in France, it is called "Le Chat" which translates to "the cat" because "Persil" is some kind of parsley. Also, "le péril" meaning "danger" so they had to look for another name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persil

 

[nrones]

chestermikeuk,
Hello, before testing I thought results would be equal, or with extremely small difference, but after test, I was happy that I was able to judge clearly, with no problems or confussions

mrx,
It's exactly what I thought. Since Henkel Persil sold in Serbia (Made in Serbia in Henkel factory as well) is different than Henkel Persil sold in Germany/Austria, and as I have both I will test Persil VS Persil, so it might be interesting.
Same goes for Ariel. Ariel is P&G but prouced in Romania, or Chezc Republic (depending on stock), and it's different compared to one sold in Germany, UK, Netherlands etc, so I will doo Ariel VS Ariel as well...but it all needs time, so I will doo it some time

chris,
Thanks for the link! It's awesome!

Dex