UK Ariel formulations - turn it down to 30!

[nickuk]

There has been a post about this before, but this one is specific to the UK Ariel.

I saw tonight a TV commercial for what looked like repackaged Ariel (logo on a slant, I think emulating a programmer dial pointing at a `30 degrees cotton' position on a typical Euro machine dial) and they seem now to be really going for the 30 degrees thing (`saves 40% energy compared to 40 degrees' or something).

Has the formulation been zapped up again, has the packaging really changed or is that just for the commercial, has the scent changed, has anyone tried it etc etc etc

Nick

PS Aquarius don't tell me to get a life again, I know I'm a sad git ok?!!

 

[sadose]

I mean really!!!

Nick - Methinks it's a possibility. Procter & Gamble are always faffing about with their formulations unnecessarily so I wouldnt be at all surprised if theyve zapped up the formulation again.

However...and this is my point! Who washes day to day laundry (ie rugged cottons and polycottons) on 30c!?!? If there is anybody out there then I'd be interested to hear about this, and also the effectiveness of washing at such low temperatures. 40c I can understand, maybe 30c is effective these days especially with sooped up new Ariel if it has changed.

I wonder what will be next, no internal heaters in our front loaders and still carry on with cold fill only?!?! Yes lets wash our soiled bacteria ridden kitchen linen and bedding which may have dust mites on a nice low level fill cold wash... Lets save some energy and start washing in cold water guys!!!(Might sound sarcky but I think I've got the point across....)

Nick - Would be interested to know more re the new Ariel should you find anything out.

Kind Regards

Saj

 

[lavamat_jon]

Was in Tesco's tonight, and they do indeed have new packaging with Ariel at a slant, and saying turn down to 30.

Sad thing is the general public are going to do this and then moan even more about a) washing results being poor, and b) possible more allergies or whatever from laundry not being done at high temp.

According to my Miele and AEG manuals, 40*C washes only use a smidgen more than 30*C anyway so I don't see the whole beef of using just 30*C.

At least we all know better and will continue to wash at proper washing temperatures!

Jon

 

[lavamat_jon]

BTW I do get good cleaning results on 40*C or even the occasional 30*C wash on light to normally soiled darks and colours, but anything such as linens, towels, kitchen linen, as well as heavy soiled whites just need the 60*C or higher wash regardless of the energy usage. Plus I'd hate to smell the laundry and inside of the machine of somebody who doesn't go above 30*C...

Jon

 

[carlstock]

Hi, Nick.

I saw this on TV a couple of days ago as well. I even rewound the programme because I missed the advert the first time! LOL

Methinks this is going to cause problems. I am absolutely in favour of energy efficiency – many of us need to go much further than we do at present to save energy. However, there are some areas where ‘saving energy’ may present problems:

1. Washing machine engineers have been noticing problems with machines for years now since the advent of regular 40ºC washes – that is, clogging up, smelly machines, etc. You are most likely aware of this already.

2. Clothes need some heat to be washed, for goodness’ sake! 30ºC is classed as ‘cool’. However, some items of clothing can only be washed at 30ºC as a maximum.

Ariel packets have advertised the fact that they can be used at 30ºC for some time now, although there appears to be some cross-advertising with the UK Energy Saving Trust, whose work is laudable. Indeed, we have managed to secure grants from them for energy efficiency measures in our home because I am in receipt of disability allowances. However, it did take many years for us to realise we could claim them (and we are always quite reluctant to claim benefits, which is a silly thing to say, I know).

Ariel apparently does clean better than any other UK laundry detergent, including Persil. This is according to Which? (an independent UK consumer association) tests and other independent tests. Ariel scored higher for stain removal; Persil bettered Ariel for brighter whites in Which? tests. However, as has been mentioned here recently, although Ariel does not appear to rinse out well, it does appear to leave something in the rinse water. These should not cause most people harm, but they really should not be there – the rinse water, excluding conditioner, should be clear.

Hmmm… Not sure what to make of it all. (BTW, this message is getting too long! Nick, Jon, do something! Glue my hands to the keyboard to stop me typing, or something!) Perhaps a better method would have been to make it clear that much modern clothing can only be washed at a maximum of 30ºC, not the usual 40ºC, and that we should check our clothes’ washing labels. Come to think of it, I’m not sure many know that such labels exist these days, do they? LOL

I know are bodies are not like clothes (LOL), but how could you possibly have a bath or shower with your hot water set at a maximum of 30ºC? Imagine the scenario:

“I’m just going to have a bath/shower, dear/honey,” you say.
“OK, dear/honey. Don’t have the water too hot, or you’ll waste energy...” says your partner/mother/father/friend/child.
“Of course I WON’T – it doesn’t go above 30ºC any more! I doubt I’ll even get CLEAN!” you say.

Bleurrghhh! Horrible situation! LOL

I don’t doubt that we can get clothes clean at 30ºC – just not all of them! Bed linen should always go on at least 60ºC to kill house dust mites, even if one does not have an allergy to them. We wash towels at 60ºC, too, as well as the dogs’ towels after we have bathed them. Dishclothes (left in bleach overnight and then rinsed first) and E-cloths (microfibre, reusable cleaning clothes) are washed together at 75ºC or 95ºC.

Oh, I sound so sad and… err… old-fashioned! I am a 27-year-old man – honest!

Regards,

Carl

 

[carlstock]

I meant to say “dishcloths”, not “dishcloths” above!

What on Earth are “dishclothes”? ;-)

 

[aquarius1984]

Nick, no far from it. Guessing your still angry? I really regret my comments that evening it was bang out of order. But i also did try to buy allbeit a small pack of ariel tabs the other week. They went in the trolley and before i got to the till i had put them back. Just could not do it. It stems mostly from a fear that if i use them i will come out in a mega rash like last time my mum used it. They change their formula too much and it just annoys me. But anyhoo I too noticed the new pack couple days ago, what i want to know which is the better of 2 evils? Pumping chemicals into water systems killing aquatic life or using more energy to heat water up releasing C02 and doing the whole greenhouse warning thing? I think the answer is using hot washes and planting more, preserving our trees and plants that absorb CO2 and produce oxygen which is released. With renewable energy sources becoming more accessible everyday its possible. Im all for each house to have a mini wind turbine and solar panels etc but balance it out with bushy well stocked gardens. nick.

 

[nickuk]

Hi folks

No, Aquarius, not still mad....just kidding with you.....

I will buy some of this stuff tonight and report back when I've tried it. I have saved all the cloths I clean the toilet with in a plastic carrier. Tonight I shall `turn down to 30' and launder the lot with Ariel colour on a quick wash. I shall then use them as kitchen dishcloths.

Seriously, what will happen if I use this new Ariel on 95 degrees? Will little gremilins start appearing like in that movie `Ghost' whenever a bad guy died, and drag me off to some sort of laundry correction camp?

Anyone

 

[aquarius1984]

oh the relief

thanks nick. Dare you to lol! Maybe i could pop over for tea one night i would love a dose of tummy illness, such a thrill hehe.

 

[lederstiefel1]

Your are right to do so with natural resources of energy - but chemicals can be taken out of the water in the sewage - energy that is once used, is gone!
Dishcloths? That sounds like the exact translation of the German word Geschirrtuch - wich means indeed dishcloth and is.......a tea-towel!!! i never will understand why they are called like that in English - you don't wipe tea with it, do you, but dishes?!?
But back to the problem of energy usage...
Didn't you read my file concerning the new ARIEL in Germany? COLD WASH POWER? They promise to wash with good results at even 20 degrees! I could only laugh - we wash cold for two years now! With ARIEL of course! And do not have any problems!
BTW I have to add: we use an american top-loader. And as we do not have hot-water taps in the basement of the appartment-block...there's only cold washing poss. Only in my twinnies I heat up the water to 35-40 degrees because of the short wash-times.
Ralf

 

[lederstiefel1]

It's thread 7925!
Ralf

 

[lederstiefel1]

And thread 7614, too!
Ralf

 

[brisnat81]

30deg isnt that cold

I admit that I usually use 40deg for darks, and 50deg for pretty much everything else. I've occaisionally used 30degs for non colourfast items and dont notice any smell.

I think the secret to machine maintenance is to make sure that if you dont wash at high temps IE 60deg or higher frequently, you do maintenance washes every other month.

The detergents we have in AU give good results on whites down to about 18deg C, 30degs in TL machines is Warm and around 45-50degs is hot.

I dont beleive that excessive temps are required to kill household germs. If you wash for the appropriate length of time, and then dry properly, most bacteria will die off without any moisture.

If I'm really paranoid, I'll add some antiseptic additive to the final rinse which in theory kills off any remaining bugs.

 

[lederstiefel1]

Antiseptic additives have nothing to do in normal households! Only in case of an infective desease they might be useful! This kills our immune-system!
What kind of bucks are you afraid of? The air you breath is full of them! Our skin is covered with them - thanks God for that, as otherwise we would mildew still alive! And the bucks inside a group (family, partnership) is mixed after a short time and keeps the individuals healthy! Not to mention the digestive system; a quater of the content of the intestines is bacteria-mass!! Our biggest part of the immune-system.
As long as you are washing with oxygen-shedding detergents (powder with sodium-percarbonate bleach not perborate!) once a week or so, which kills every bacteria even in cold water, there won't come up mildew or mold if you always let the machine dry out after every wash.
We are no longer washing with pure bar-soap and washing-soda today like in Ye Olde Days - aren't we?
Washing hotel items and hospital textiles is something absolutely different of course!!
Ralf

 

[lederstiefel1]

sorry - the bucks inside a group are mixed....and so on!

 

[sparkcymru]

Hmmm Ariel comes near me I end up in a rash, be interested in this new Ariel if its any different. How many people do a maintanence wash anyway in the general public, not many i bet which is why so many slimey gunked up machines are out there. How many people even read the instructions? lol. Well anyway the answer is we should all have our own power generation systems on our houses. turbines photo voltics etc plus a rainwater collection system with a huge tank in the ground. If the government will make it compulsery on all new houses then prices will fall and more of us can afford such things. Then we can use 60 degree washes to our hearts content. One day maybe !
Steve

 

[nickuk]

Went to get some

All Tesco Chelmsford had in the new line up was bio powder. No ingredient change, no dosage change, no scent change, just new packaging. So I didn't buy any cos I already have tons of the stuff, even if it has got something new about it.

I'll get the tabs when they appear cos I'm running low on them anyway.

 

[aquarius1984]

contradictions by the imbeciles

Ok so we have Hotpoint reccomending Ariel in various ways linked with their cool wash cycle. fine and dandy until you read the instuction book which clearly states about "maintenance washes".

Im not wasting electricity powder and time, not to mention wear and tear on my machine by washing at 30* and running an empty load at 95* when weekly i can do a boil wash with towels and dishcloths in and kill two birds with one stone. i never do a maintenance wash on my own machines as a rule but then i do use 95* regularly and dont have a need.

Its this rubbish that makes my blood boil.

Nick

 

[brisnat81]

How do you boil wash

Modern Towels?

99% of my T Towels have at least a 5% synthetic component, and its hard to find them otherwise.

80% of my towels have some elastic/synthetic in the composition and are in bright colours.

How does one boil wash that stuff, and not end up with the synthetic component disintergrating.

I dont have enough items that are 100% natural fibres, with no synthetic component or trimmings to make up a load.

 

[aquarius1984]

here

t towels are generally 100% cotton here but even if they are not they still get 95*c. even when they are lightly coloured too. white bath towels are 100% too as do white socks when i wear them, white bed sheets and linens and all cleaning cloths whether microfibre or cotton. it all goes in together nothing colour runs and i have pristine whites everytime with 160mls Persil Non Bio Powder.

 

[lederstiefel1]

I nevr did maintenance washing! That is stupid - when do it with a load of whites!
Also here in Germany we still have 100% cotton articles as Germans hate synthetics in towels and tea-towels!
But have some from Spain - they do everything but dry anything! And once I boiled them which made them wrinkle totally! So I gave it into the waste!
Ralf

 

[nickuk]

Quick update

Bought a new `turn down to 30' pack of Ariel Colour and Style tabs and nothing seems to have changed apart from the packaging. Perhaps I'm being over cynical, and actually PG have added some sort of ingredient which improves washing at lower temperatures....although actually they don't claim `new product' or anything. Perhaps it is just new packaging aimed at energy awareness - it looks like a `deal' has been done somewhere along the lines because Ariel is now a `proud supporter of the energy saving trust'..............

Regards to all

Let us know if you try any of the new Ariels and tell us what you think. Anyone like the packaging? I think the design is quite nice but I don't support the `wash at thirty' concept.

 

[dascot]

Having seen the adverts, I'm suspecting that all that has changed is the packaging. Maybe I'm being a little too cynical.

I do use 30º for some items, but generally clothes get washed at 40º. Bedlinen mostly gets done at 40º or 50º, and towels at 60º but sometimes 90º.

All my towels are 100% cotton - I've not seen any in the shops that aren't 100% cotton though.

 

[carlstock]

I do not think the actual products have changed at all, Nick, although I could be wrong.

We tried it. Dad’s verdict (and he didn’t know it had been put on at 30ºC): “There aren’t very clean.” I didn’t even speak to him or give off any signs! LOL

Admittedly, 30ºC is not exactly freezing – it is classed as “cold”, though – but only some fashionable items and fashion sportswear need be washed at 30ºC. However, I doubt many know this, and I also doubt how one is meant to remove some dirt and stains at 30ºC.

Engineering I’ve spoken to have said that some heat (over 40ºC) is needed sometimes. I am all in favour of saving energy, but there can be a case when saving energy likes to goes too far.

Also, someone here mentioned that it is not right to simply improve detergents, polluting our watercourses, and turning the temperature down. We get our electricity from Ecotricity, which generates green energy. Admittedly, the energy we get is still the same as before, but we are instead paying a company to generate new sources of green energy, not simply carrying on using the same green energy sources that have been around for years. It’s not a con – honest!

For us, it’s this:

Daily loads (i.e. colours): 40ºC Minimum Iron (with Persil Gel Colour tablets)
Bed linen: 60ºC Cottons (with Persil Gel Colour tablets)
Towels: 60ºC Cottons (with Persil Gel Colour tablets)
Some ‘special’ fashionable items: 30ºC Minimum Iron (with Persil Gel Colour tablets)
Dishcloths and E-cloths: 75ºC or 95ºC Cottons (with Persil Gel Biological tablets)

Yes, I do a monthly maintenance wash with biological powder/tablets: 95ºC Cottons programme.

Now, where was I? I’ve lost track of what I was saying… LOL ;-)

Carl

 

[carlstock]

Whoops! Got a bit wrong there!

Bed linen and towels go on with Persil Gel Biological tablets because we want them to be virtually destroyed, despite being lightly coloured! LOL

 

[carlstock]

Not Again! LOL

Oh, I have not even answered your questions, Nick (hehe):

The scent does not appear to have changed, although Ariel does not seem to smell the same as it did, say, a few years ago.

We have always been a Persil household (hehe) and have only been playing with Ariel lately.

 

[aquarius1984]

Carl

your a man after my own heart. Where you use bio gel tabs i use non bio powder. And having bought some colour gel tabs im back on my regular colour liquidgel. The gel tabs dont rinse as effective in my 1994 Hotpoint. If i ever got a Servis Quartz i would dearly love to use Ariel in it. But im incapable of buying it, it seems. I do keep tabs of formulations though and generally ariel smells great in most formulas. But the powder is way to strong. The twin tub powder now does not smell like it used to. And my fav ariel smell is the liquid. Thats always been that scent since Ariel Futur liquid. Maybe even ariel ultra liquid previous to that. I hope Persil fights Ariel back with a keep 95,c campaign. Lol! persil never seen to fight fire with fire. They just coolly advertise saying Yeah Whatever to Ariel we have been doing this for years. As the case when Ariel brought out Antibac at a premium price. Persil just said. Well our normal bio powder hygienically cleans anyway at 40 and has done for years. Cool as a cucumber. Thats my Persil.

 

[aquarius1984]

it was me that said about polluting the water courses and another member said... You can purify the water but the energy is lost forever. Thats toss IMHO. Please No offence to be taken. But where does the residue of chemicals go after water purification? Land fill? To sea water? I dont know enough about water treatment but im guessing im vaguely right. Also water purification must require some energy consumption. Pumps, plant lighting, computer controls, etc etc. So its double negative to use Ariel etc with added extra ooomph. Lol. Nick.

 

[peterh770]

Sounds like they are jumping on the cold water trends here Stateside...