Waitrose Essentials Bio Powder

[hoovermatic]

I don't tend to be swayed by advertising, at least I try not to be but I guess we are all prone to fall for advertising spin at times. However, I read good reviews about Waitrose Essential Bio washing powder so decided to give it a try. Having used Waitrose 5 in 1 dishwasher tablets and been very disappointed with the results I was a little sceptical however, I cannot speak highly enough of the washing powder. I had a large family gathering at the weekend and cooked various Indian dishes. The white linen table napkins and the tea towels were heavily stained with tomato paste, tumeric, red wine, coffee and chocolate and this morning, it was a full load of such whites that went into the machine. My machine is an old Bosch (WFF 2000) and generally, the programme times are not as long as modern machines so I was wondering what the results would be like. I used the Coloured/Cottons programme at 60 degrees and as I can report that not a single stain was left behind. Everything came out spotless and having ironed it all and given it close scrutiny I can assure you it is pristine. I normally use Persil or Ariel but at £4.00+ a packet I thought I would give this a go. At £1.90 a pack it will definitely go on my shopping list again. I think that Which? rated it highly recently so am happy to report they are correct!

 

[liberatordeluxe]

I have used Waitrose Colour care liquid and found it fine. I preferred it to the top brands because the perfume doesn't last. I think Waitrose brand is made by Mcbride.

 

[electradeluxe]

At £1.90 a box it's definitley worth a try,I've just opened a box of Ariel Bio which was on offer for £4 at Tesco for a 22 wash pack,a 10 wash pack was £4.40!!!! And if it can tackle heavy curry and tomato stains easily then it's a mega bargain,
What's the fragrance like?

Neil

 

[hoovermatic]

The scent is very slight - fresh but not at all cloying or overpowering and at 40 degrees it produces virtually zero suds, only marginally more at 60. I find it rinses out really well also and I have very soft water. I have just bought a box of the colour version to give that a go. As you say, at £1.90 it has to be worth a whirl. Incidentally, I was recently borrowed an old white grocers apron from a friend (it belonged to his grandfather) for a stage production. Not only did it stink of cigarette smoke (he smokes indoors), it was yellow from years of storage. I washed it before the show and after, before giving it back to him and he initially refused to beleive it was the same item, it was so much whiter than he can ever remember it. I thouroughly recommend it!

 

[electradeluxe]

We sometimes like to shop online at Waitrose,so next time i'll get a small box,I use softener aswell in every wash so i might give one of the softeners a whirl too,I love Asda Line Fresh so i'd be hard pushed to switch to something else

 

[optima]

Waitrose

How lucky are you to be able to shop at Waitrose. I used to work at Robert Mcbride's in Barrow in Furness on the refill powder production lines in the 90s. We used to or maybe still produce their own brand detergents.

 

[optima]

Mcbride

And i can remember the many forms of Safeway Cyclon, Tesco Advance, Asda Integra & the classic Sainsburys Novon brands.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Waitrose do seem to stock a good range of detergents for different fabrics compared to the major brands. I wonder if Mcbride produce Marks and Spencer detergents too as they are made in UK and BUAV approved.

 

[electron1100]

Powders

I have always found Waitrose washing powders Bio/colour to be very good at cleaning, and more so they are both low suds and rinse out very easily and are also low scented, along with the Waitrose powder i now use Tesco Colour powder, exactly the same excellent cleaning and again low scent and very low suds, but often on offer at £3.00 so it is a pound cheaper.

Anything difficult i use a scoop of vanish or spray vanish

I Like all the major band powders as far as cleaning goes but to me they are over sudsy and over scented.

My machine being from the early 80s has very short wash times, and high wash/rinse levels compared to modern automatics so its important to me that powder can do its job quickly