Rub a dub dub (Persil Biological Liquigel)

Member Name: juicy_lucy

Product:	Persil Biological Liquigel
Date:	14/10/06 (831 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cleaning and smell

Disadvantages: smell could be too distinctive

Dirt is good

I have to make it clear from the start that I have absolutely no loyalty to any particular product for washing clothes. I usually use powder, merely because there always seem to be more powders available and usually buy any brand from the local shop-it's one of those things I always run out of. However, as mentioned in a previous review, I am an absolute sucker for these loyalty cards, and a couple of weeks ago received some money off vouchers, one of the vouchers being for a pound off Persil Liquigel. Well, I had to use it…rude not to.

THE PACKAGING

This comes in a nifty plastic see through 1.5 litre bottle with a carry handle at the side so that it's not easily dropped, presumably. On top of the screw on cap is the dosing ball…more about that later. We have the obligatory child on the front of the bottle, splashing around in water and still looking amazingly clean, and instructions and ingredients on the back of the bottle.

THE PRODUCT

The liquid, which I can see through the plastic bottle is green, and I am useless at describing smells but it smells sort of clean fresh, and "green". It's quite a dinstinctive smell so if you like things to be fairly neutral after washing, I would avoid this.


THE PROMISE

• Great cleaning without pre treating
• 20 standard washes from 1.5 litre bottle
• Results at all temperatures
• Contains highly efficient enzymes which are efficient at removing stains at low temperatures
• Feel free to get dirty, we'll get your clothes brilliantly clean

HOW DO I USE IT?

Firstly, and as is pointed out on the bottle, sort whites and coloureds; find that rogue black sock and remove it from the white wash, check for colour fastness (do I really have time?) and check the care label.
Mr Persil tells me that to get the best results, I use the dosing ball. Fine, it's on the top of the bottle, so that's easy enough. This dosing ball has to be filled with the correct amount of liquid and placed upright on top of the load of washing towards the back of the drum. That's easy enough until I start to try to get past the washing right to the back of the drum. Why are they not made so that you just put the dosing ball at the front of the machine…much simpler!
Anyway, there are pictures showing how much liquid you have to put in the dosing ball, depending on the weight of the load, how dirty your clothes are and whether your water is soft, medium or hard. This I have never understood; I am not that sad (yet) that I weigh my washing loads and exactly how dirty is dirty?
Once the dosing ball is in the machine, turn in at the correct wash cycle and away you go.
Simple, but then come the warnings. The more I read these the more scary every day activities seem

THE WARNINGS

• Do not use the dosing ball for pre washing
• Do not put the dosing ball into tumble dryers
• Do not wash flame resistant fabrics in hot water
• Do not soak non colour fast or flame resistant fabrics
• Keep out of reach of children
• If it goes in your eyes, rinse immediately
• Avoid prolonged contact if you have sensitive skin rinse and dry hands after use

INGREDIENTS

I know some people are allergic to certain products so here is the list…just in case:
5-15% Anionic surfactants, Non Ionic Surfactants. Less than 5% Soap, Cationic surfactants, Phosphonates, Perfume, Optical brighteners, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, Enzymes, Benzisothiazolinone
I so wish they made ingredients easy to spell.

PRICE

I don't like to ponder too much about the price because there are always special offers as the supermarkets wage a war on prices.
However, it does "retail" at about the £3.20 mark but I have always seen it on offer at under £3.00.

OTHER PRODUCTS

Available in 1.5l bottles...
Non biological liquigel
Colour liquigel
Biological liquigel

All of these are sold at the same price, or you can get persil biological with comfort for about 50p more


DOES IT WORK?

We have lots of dirty washing in our house to try this on…in fact we could do an advert for before and after. Sports kit straight off the rugby and football pitch, and "oops" my dinner's gone down my jumper stains. Yes, it does work. The clothes came out clean, but I always think they do look clean when they are washed.
What I did notice is that the grubby look on cuffs and collars went without pre treating, as I often have to use a spray pre cleaner before putting shirts in the wash, so that's a good thing. The clothes have a distinctive smell, and whilst I don't tend to use fabric conditioner, I do wonder what would happen if you used one-the smells could clash and make something horrible. I like the smell because it smells fresh and clean but as I mentioned before, it is quite distinctive.

HIT OR MISS?

As I said, I am not particularly loyal to any one brand, but I did like this, and would definitely buy liquid cleaner again, although which one would depend where my hand lands on the shelf.
It is easy to use and does get clothes clean.
One thing I found difficult was the fact that you can't leave the dosing ball in the tumble dryer. We have a washer dryer which is great for getting clothes clean and dry with two spins of the dials but with this I had to root around to find and then remove the dosing ball before I could dry the clothes.
The product is quite expensive for a clothes cleaning product, especially with such effective products doing the rounds.
Perhaps I should find a liquid without the dosing ball!

LITTLE EXTRAS:

• For a free dosing ball call 0800 243131 (UK) 1850 445555 (ROI)
• Talk to advisors on 0800 776644 (UK) 12850 445555 (ROI)
• Money back guarantee

WEBSITE

www.persil.com

ADDRESS

Unilever UK
St James's Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey

Thanks for reading

Daniela x

Summary: A good cleaning liquid