UK Comfort Sunshine

[lavamat_jon]

Usually I tend to stick to either the blue or pink Comfort's, or blue or yellow Lenor, but the other day after finishing work the detergent aisle drew me (as it does) from the staff room doors on my way out... and I picked up a 1.5l bottle of Comfort Sunshine.

Whilst I love the smell of this product (very fresh, with that musky summer smell you get when clothes have been hung on the line, a pleasant change from the blue or pink formulas) I have noticed it has great difficulty rinsing down the softener dispenser - and from dosing it I've also noticed it is considerably thicker than the blue and pink concentrates.

Now this got me thinking - although it still softens and controls static as well as normal Comfort does, does this yellow Comfort have a different formulation which makes it thicker? It's not as thick as Comfort creme (that's like pouring caramel sometimes!), but it's thicker than the standard formulations... I know the fast dry version was discontinued a couple of years ago. I initially thought it was because this bottle had an Easy Iron label on the back of the packet, but I checked and the standard blue Comfort has an Easy Iron label too. So this got me thinking - is Comfort sunshine, just the old Comfort Fast Dry conditioner rebadged, if it is thicker than the usual fragrances of Comfort?

I know it sounds a bit long winded, but I just want to know why this fragrance is so much thicker than the blue original stuff... I've even tried diluting it with 1 cap to 1 cap of water in the dispenser which i filled a Lenor concentrated bottle with but the softener just seems to sink through the water and congeal at the bottom of the dispenser. It's this which is making me start to dislike it, if it wasn't for this issue I wouldn't hesitate in buying it again!

Any answers from the fellow UK detergent boffs?

Jon

 

[hoovermatic]

Can't comment on Comfort as I don't use it but another 'sunshine' flavoured product I tried recently was Surf Small and Mighty. Dreadful stuff with a choking fragrance that is enough to make your eyes water. Put me off anything with a sunshine 'fragrance' for life!!

 

[rolls_rapide]

I can only guess that the bottle was exposed to extreme temperature variation.

A few years ago, I had a bottle of the Comfort 'hypoallergenic', or whatever it is/was called. It sat under my sink for well over a year. This gave it time to become warm during the summer, and to chill during winter (boyfriend calls my flat "Siberia"). In the meantime, I had used Lenor.

When I went to use the Comfort, I found it to have a thick consistency that was not easily diluted. I think I added hot water and shook the bottle. This created a foamy cream that was able to be washed away from the Zanussi's dispenser.

Ecover's instructions on encountering thick fabric conditioner are to return the bottle if brand new, or to dispose of if old. There appears to be no effective method to thin the liquid.

Try contacting Unilever, they may be able to send you some vouchers to use against an alternative. They did that with me when I complained about their reformulated "Lynx" deodorant, a few years ago.

 

[dixieland]

La Parisienne

I am not sure how well this will work but the consistency is about that of snuggle or downy. This is made in Quebec, outside Montreal. This is the Sunshine Formula, it has that bright smell you'd expect from a fabric softener called "sunshine" but also has some brilliantly spicy undertones. I got this last night while shopping in Quebec City.

 

[foraloysius]

Overhere in the Netherlands some new fabric softeners were launched. I bought one of the scents and I noticed that it was thicker than other softeners. It totally clogged the softener dispenser of my AEG frontloader and it's hard to get out. It's called Robijn Crème and it contains Jojoba oil. I'll never buy the stuff again, I'll stick to my Neutral softener or the Lavender scented one from Albert Heijn

 

[lavamat_jon]

I think I solved the problem. I waited until I had used about 5 or 6 loads of the stuff, and topped up the bottle with boiling water and shook it for about 30 seconds. This seems to have diluted the solution and it now softens and smells just as well, but without the problems of rinsing down the dispenser!

Louis - Robijn Creme is the same as Comfort Creme. I remember seeing it when I was in Amsterdam - it is a very very rich and thickly formulated product and doesn't really smell that good IMO.

Jon

 

[lavamat_jon]

Hoovermatic - forgot to add before but this Comfort isn't as strong as Surf sunshine... it's a nice smell and really quite pleasant on the laundry once it's been washed and dried though as with most softeners it has a choking smell when you sniff the bottle!

Jon

 

[foraloysius]

No, I don't like the smell either. The lavender Albert Heijn scent is much better in that regard as well.

 

[MrX]

I stick with Comfort Pure

I've had no issues with comfort pure, but the comfort sunshine definitely lingered in our Miele's drawer.

Even though the miele's set to a high rinse level and flushes a huge amount of water through the conditioner dispensor.

The comfort pure concentrate never caused any issue or left residue.

Then again, with comfort creme, it is a bit thick, but because the results are so nice, you just put up with it.

The clothes come out smelling fantastic.

In general the old-style Miele fabric conditioner dispensor, the one at the front of the drawer (you lift up a flap) seems to pretty much handle anything. It was a great design. It's flushed out with 3 jets of water.