Outperformed all other detergents that I have tried in one cycle.
I came across this particular laundry detergent first by reading about it's #1 ranking on ConsumerReports.com. I then wanted to get real "consumer reviews" from Amazon.com and Walmart.com. Since Walmart struck their deal with Persil to be the exclusive carrier in the United States, this #1 rated UK product came available to us in the states. MY PARTICULAR NEED: I became frustrated with our endless search for an effective laundry detergent. Firstly, I have eczema that can be triggered by fragrances, chemicals, dye's, etc, but most importantly, the smell of my husband's workout clothes started to appear on my 'clean clothes' if I tended to sweat a little; and I mean, just a little. A little background, he is an F-16 and commercial airline pilot. He works out everyday and likes to get a good sweat in to keep his body in tip-top shape. During his trips when working with the commercial airline, he keeps his used sweaty clothes in a sealable laundry bag until he can get home to launder them. So yes, these nasty clothes would sit and marinate for several days, up to a week. Trying to keep our footprint small, we try to keep our separate washing loads to a minimum and the size of our loads to the maximum. However, I wash his workout clothes in a separate load, all together. Because they would never been fully clean the residue would somehow transferring to the rest of our clothes through the washer, in the finished loads basket, or in the closet/drawer. They would come out 'smelling clean' but after getting a little sweaty in our normal clothes, that same B.O.wy/musty/pungent smell started to appear. So I was in between a rock and a hard spot. Either keep throwing away and purchasing new" sweat wicking" gear after he wears them or try to find a detergent that will actually work. Challenge accepted. METHOD: I have always had to soak the clothes or prewash them with vinegar to try to release all of the smell,bacteria and dead skin cells that interweave themselves in the special fiber's that his clothes are made with. So I have tried every suggested method and detergent that I could find on the internet to get those clothes back to not stinking so bad after he starts to sweat. HOW I USED THE PERSIL ON HIS STINKY WORKOUT CLOTHES: What I did with his entire drawer of workout shirts, shorts, socks, and underwear. I soaked them for 1 hr in a mixture of warm/hot water with a little Dawn dish soap, vinegar, and a touch of TSP (Yes, I know that this is extreme but they were very pungent even after repeated washings in our machine.) I then placed them into the LG washer (model number: WM80000HWA) on the "Sanitary" setting. I them place them into the dryer on the "Cotton/Normal" setting. RESULTS: With other detergents, same settings and method, they would come out smelling clean. With further investigation; i.e. face-buried-into-the-freshly-laundered-load-sniff-test, I could still smell a tiny little linger of stink. Even after repeated washings, I could never fully get those clothes clean. Time after time, the moment he starts to sweat, the room is filled with yuck. After just one load of soaking with my simple solution for 1 hr, washing on sanitary and drying normal, the entire load of his marinated workout gear came out smelling clean with absolutely no linger of stink! So I then took his entire pile of folded "clean" and stored workout clothes from his drawer and did that load as well. They all came out clean. The real test was after a hard workout. To my utter surprise, he didn't stink up the entire gym, and close up, he didn't stink. I mean, if you put your face into his pit he would stink, that is normal, but HASMAT didn't have to come into the place after he left! OVERALL: I give this product 5 stars. I too have had better results and less headache with using this product in my laundry. Not only did I find that my husband's clothes would actually come out cleaner compared to all other brands, but my whites were coming out whiter as well (without pretreating). I am very impressed with my results and this is my current preferred brand of detergent for all of our clothes. *NOTE - Yes, the detergent smell will be too strong on your load if you use TOO MUCH and not throughly cleansing your clothes after washing them with detergent! That is the fault of the machine and how you wash your clothes! I did not find the smell of this detergent over powering nor offensive (I am very sensitive to smells). My eczema has not flared up and it hasn't caused any concerns so far. I also put half of the recommended amount of Persil into my washing machine that LG indicates/recommends. So I am saving a little there! BOTTOM LINE - IT IS A MUST TRY! Purchase a little bottle like I did and use it on a few loads. Get the amount that you use, dialed in and see the performance of this cleaner. Worse that could happen is that you don't like it and have to find another. Read more