I just put my new Aqualtis onto a wool cycle and was rather amazed at what happened.

The machine started to rotate the drum up to distribution speed, i.e. the clothes adhered to the sides. It then started to fill with water + detergent and continued to spin, the clothes are forced through the water, without tumbling!

The machine continued this for a few mins, then stopped spinning. Added a lot of water, so the clothes soaked for a few mins.

After that it emptied and went into distribution spin again.

Increased speed to 600 rpm to squeeze clothes.
Dropped back to distribution speed
Added water (while spinning constantly)
continued to do this for a few mins.
Emptied and back up to 600rpm
(repeated for second rinse)

Then full spin at 600rpm

Results were AMAZINGLY good. My woolens came out spotlessly clean and smelling much better than usual and seem to be far less fluffed up / damaged than any previous machine's wool cycle!

Quite a cool wash action though .. foam and water flying everywhere!!

Hi Mrx,
Yes that's the Platinum Woolmark cycle, I think it gives vastly better cleaning performance and less risk of damage or shrinkage than conventional extra gentle tumbling.
The Superwash button also adds a similar distribution wash along with a higher water level to Cottons cycles.

Prolonged use of distribution speeds with high water levels is made possible thanks to the massive torque of the 3 Phase (Inverter) Induction Motor. Reliability, power and silence you gotta love the Inverter drive.

David

What a contrast to the wool cycle on my Hotpoint h-axis TL. Wash performance poor, rinse performance poor. The more I hear about the Aqualtis, the more I want one!

I have to agree the platinum wool cycle is the best wool programme i've ever used!

I'm really pleased with my hotpoint so far! I have to agree david, the torque on these inverter motors is phenominal! it reminds me of my servis quartz, how it can throw everything into distribution on the first tumble! Outstanding!

Darren

Mrx,
Any chance of any pics or vids of your new machine?!

Thanks!

Darren

Interesting cycle indeed! How long does this take?

I have to say it's a very well designed machine (and I'm used to using Miele!!)

Impressive features:
1) Inverter motor: Silence, rapid move into distribution & spin, no tumbling around for ages. Very interesting wash action.
2) Door lock - seems extremely solid and sensible. It's a little like a good quality dishwasher door lock, but automatically locks when the machine starts (you hear a solenoid lock it as the machine starts). It's pretty hefty metal fitting too, looks extremely solid.
3) Hinges - both heavy solid metal
4) Rain system - the lifters pick up water as they rotate and shower it back on the clothes in the traditional Ariston "rain wash" system. I have always thought it's a more robust way of ensuring plenty of water flow through the clothes without resorting to recirculating pumps which can go wrong.
5) Detergent drawer design - Simple, yet robust looking and is largely self-cleaning.
6) Detergent saving system - when the machine fills it starts by running the rinse valve then when there's some water in the outer drum, it adds the detergent.
7) Controls - extremely logically laid out with a very nice user interface and multi line text display. Tells you how long's left to the end of the cycle, cycle name, gives you extra info in scrolling text if you press "i". You can add various options to the cycle at a single press : SuperWash, MiniLoad and Extra Rinse. Full delay start options etc. Also, you can adjust the wash temp or the spin speed for each cycle (like most machine it will lock it to a maximum though to prevent fabric damage). This model also has 4 memory keys in the middle of the dial. You can store your 4 favourite washes, including any modifications.
8) Pause / Start - You can pause the wash and open the door at anytime - provided the water level's below the door and the water's not dangerously hot (Same as Miele!)
9) Duvet cycle - It can handle any type of duvet using the combination of rain wash + distribution speed pulses it thoroughly cleans any duvets, pillows, quilts and is even safe on feather-filled items. The machine also came with a HUGE wash bag for very delicate quilts to avoid damage.
10) Suds are no issue for it at all - Normal detergents don't seem to oversud in it at all, but if you do run it with something like Woolite etc which foams a little more, it's no challenge to it at all. It seems to handle it without the slightest difficulty!


Performance :

Wash - excellent (A+ rated) - while it doesn't use vast amounts of water, it really does get the clothes VERY wet very quickly through a combination of very intelligent top up filling, raining water from the lifters and the odd distribution speed run.
Produces very good results. Also, the washes don't seem ridiculously long either yet are very effective.

Rinse - It uses plenty of spin + ads water as it tumbles and distributes! The clothes get extremely wet very quickly. It follows that with a high speed spin.
I've found the rinse results outstanding. The water runs clear after 2 rinse!!! Even with really sudsy detergents. You can add a 3rd rinse, but it's hardly even necessary!

Spin : Huge drum, 1600 RPM spin - very silent. The clothes come out drier than I've experienced even with a 1600RPM Miele!

Design : The machine looks great.

Noise : Almost fully silent - you hear a slight splash when washing. Slight whir when spinning at 1600RPM with a full load!
Vibration - none!

This machine is very definitely not a Hotpoint by background it's a very high end Ariston. Merloni put >10 years R&D into Aqualtis and seem to really be aiming to take a chunk of the top end of the market.

Also, it's extremely energy and water efficient - e.g. it tops the Aussi environmental ratings and it's AAA rated in Europe (1600 RPM model) (A+ Rating)
Even though it's very water efficient, it seems to really use the water. The clothes look really like they're getting plenty of water put through them. I've seen plenty of machines to seem to spend hours tumbling clothes around in a tiny puddle of water. The Aqualtis approach is VERY different !!

Overall - I'm VERY impressed. I'll know how it goes in terms of reliability in a couple of years, but so far, I would highly recommend it.



The only down side was that the transit plugs / bolts were rather tricky to remove. But, you'd get over it :)

Does anybody know if American Front-Loaders like the Whirlpool Duet operate thier Wool cycles the same way?

I'm not sure - it'd be interesting to find out though. It seems Merloni (Ariston/Hotpoint) have been innovating with these new washing methods...

I don't think the Aqualtis is sold over in the US, although I could see a market for it. It takes 8kg (17.6lbs) of washing in a single load, can cope with duvets/quilts/comforters/pillows with ease and does all that without being any bigger on the outside than a standard European washing machine unit.

Also, as it's really quiet, it's ideal for apartments!!

Only downside would be that without a 230V hook up you'd loose the profile wash (optimised enzyme action), the possibility of doing very hot washes and various other features.

Profile washing = heating the water to various set temps to maximise enzyme activity in the detergent. It's one of the ways that higher end European washers achieve excellent results.

The wash times on this aren't too long either. It seems to plough a full cotton cycle at 40C in a little over an hour. The time saving comes in at the end i.e. it's been spun at 1600rpm (and in a huge drum so huge G forces) so the time in the dryer / hanging up is enormously reduced.

U.S.A. Front-Loaders do that on 120 volts though. Most of them have a "Sanitary" cycle that fills up with hot water and then heats it to being extra-hot.

Not the same thing really.

Profile washing involves taking cold, lukewarm or warm water and gradually heating it to hot or boiling. Purpose is to prevent setting stains by starting with too hot water, and give the enzymes time to work before they are killed off by wash temperatures above 140F or 120F. Profile washing also eliminates for the most part the need for pre-washing in cool or cold water, thus saving time, energy and water.

The above not withstanding, with the advent of newer enzymes and activated oxygen bleaching agents, or using sodium percarbonate instead of sodium perborate bleaching, means profile washing can be less important. With bleaching taking place at 100F or even 80F, and enzymes working at 100F to 140F (sweet spot is around 100F to 120F), unless one is doing a boil wash for other reasons, no one really uses high temperatures that much anymore.

Have left grossly soiled table linens soaking in cool water and a TOL detergent with bleach and enzymes such as Wisk tablets, Persil or Tide, and several hours later most if not all soils and stains were gone. Indeed wash all my fine table linens at 100F (saves wear) and they are quite clean.

L.

The hotpoint wool wash is super although I have noticed that if you put things with gunk in (scone dough to be exact) it was still on at the end of the cycle. This may have been because there were five items in the drum with it but I suspect because of no tumbling it does not give the chance for the gunk to be rubbed off.
Not complaining though as it makes a pleasant change to see a wool wash that appears to actually freshen woolens rather than wet them and leave them smelling funny.

According to Hotpoint/Ariston the Aqualtis is the first ever machine to be ranked "platinum" in wool wash because of the innovative wash system. It sure sounds interesting but I'll continue to bring my woollens to the dry-cleaner's.

Funguy: My father had the European version of the duet, no the washing action is normal, it does turn left, stop, turn right and so on... but it doesn't it no more, the electronic board broke and it was replaced with a Candy machine, it broke just a few days out of the warranty...

Unfortunately with woolens there isn't a lot you can do when it comes to big food stains other than remove them by hand. The cycle's really designed to deal with normal smells and body odours and clean the wool.

If you were to run a normal cycle with agitation and enzymes you'd destroy the garment.

You'd really be best advised to pretreat areas like that using a damp cloth before putting them into the machine.

The key with profile washing is that it uses a range of temps.

The machine takes in cold water and the detergent starts to work immediately - then you gradually warm it up and hold it at the 'sweet spot' temps to maximize the effect of he enzymes and the surfactants.

Other than for white washes, bleaching isn't really too important.

I find I do most of my laundry with Persil Colour powder / Ariel Colour Care. If I need to do whites, I chuck in a scoop of Vanish Crystal white. Most of the time even that's unnecessary.

First message here - I hail from Italy..
why do you think Which? (one of the most reliable consumer magazines) included the Aqualtis in its recent list of 'DON'T BUYs' (the other washer in the list was an Indesit)?
Andrea

I don't know, but I do know that I have used Which in recent months and found the advice very poor.

We'll see how this machine works anyway. It has an extended full 3 year warranty and a 5 year parts warranty so, fingers crossed it works out ok!

I just realised my platinum care wools wash distributes during washing and rinsing but on final spin it now DOES 1000 rpm when i press wash enhance and press the spin button again through the wash or before.

and don't forget you get this from the Ultima WT960/5 only as far as i know

my aqualtis is emabrking on a big test at the moment - its now in a house of 4 lads, so its getting hammered with our normal clothes and does our team football and rugby kits twice a week (from matchday and training..)

guess only time will tell!

Hummmmmmmmmmm! Did I hear right four lads Rugby and football kit’s sounds like northern Mary’s? Dreams come true!!!!! Sorry I was away with the fairies just then.

Northernmary x

My annoyance with the Aqualtis is that they have built in obsolescence. The machines have welded outer tubs, so what are you meant to do when the bearings eventually go? I don't think many people will pay out for a new tub when it's about the same price as a new machine.

At a time when we are supposed to have more concern for the environment and reduce wastage I think Merloni/Indesit should show a bit more concern.

5 years down the line many machines which are perfectly servicable apart from worn bearings will have to be thrown away! Complete and utter madness in my opinion.

Tom.

Over on WashertalkUK site they speak of the exact same thing!

Apparently while a great machine from a cycle point of view, these washers have a sealed tub which means once anything major like the bearings go, that is the end of that. However in Hotpoint's defence the machine does have a five year warranty.

Lots of people over on WashertalkUK, who happen to be repair persons/appliance hobbists like ourselves say the same thing. With all the noise about being "green" and protecting the planet and it's resources, what is the good of building appliances that will break down in about five or six years and require chucking out and replacement. To be fair, many UK and European countries now require appliances to be recycled, and even if not mandatory, many are; still.

Site is Washerhelp,not Washertalk

Just be warned : you need to activate the 5 year parts warranty by calling the number listed for the UK or Republic of Ireland! It's free to activate, but they register your name, DOB and the machine's model no, cost, etc

I took an optional extended warranty with the store too. They cover all repairs and replacement of the machine with a new equivalent should the repair value exceed its value.

Also, under Irish consumer protection law, you're entitled to a lot more than a 12 month statutory guarantee. Any product is expect, by law, to have a reasonable life span. 12 months would more than likely be considered too short for a pricy washing machine. So, if the manufacturer / retailer fails to provide service you can take them to small claims court for the full cost of the repairs / machine.

Just to be fair, it has been disucssed over on Washerhelp as here; laundry appliance makers are caught between a rock and a hard place. If they build them "like they used to", consumers balk at the costs, and look to lower priced machines. If they try to give away the store, their stock price gets hammered and heads roll. Either way not a pretty picture.

As I've often said, many of the appliance greats saw the writing on the wall from the late 1960's or so: major appliances were moving towards, and indeed probably have reached a mature stage in the market cycle. No longer are washing machines, dishwashers, dryers, etc a luxury; but a comfort that everyone can afford (thanks to easy credit). There simply isn't a point from many appliance maker's point of view to knock themselves out on quality when regardless of how the thing is built, it will probably be chucked out or otherwise disposed of within 10 years as people want something "new" or move.

Commercial laundry appliances, for the most part have held standards, but then again they have to, don't they? No laundry owner is going to plunk down several thousands for a machine that will constantly break down and or end up as rubbish within five years.

L.

It is my opinion that it is peoples' attitudes that need to change when it comes to choosing to repair or replace. But how can these attitudes change if the manufacturers aren't prepared to be proactive and make the things repairable? The whole thing is a vicious circle.

Fair enough there's the fact that many appliances are now recycled, but it still requires alot of energy and resources to manufacture and transport the things in the first place does it not?

I'm not sure that the wanting something 'new' aspect is always commonplace, I know plenty of people who would still have older machines repaired if it was economical to do so.

Finally, putting a few bolts on a tub to allow bearing replacement would cost only a few pounds more than welding the thing together at the most. Any manufacturer who still takes pride in making a quality product over profits will realise this.

Certain Italian manufacturers in particular seem far more concerned with profit and design than actually turning out a quality product, have they no shame at all? Money isn't everything is it?!

Tom

I have an Indesit still under warranty and the most basic model (not through my choice).
My issue is the rinsing.
Whist it uses water up to one third on the porthole, it only does 2 rinses. Even with a half load of cottons, I have to put the load through a second set of 2 rinses to achieve a decent result.
If I have done a large load of whites, (not even the machines 5KG maximum) I sometimes have to do 6 rinses in all!
My 4 year old AEG washer dryer can deal much better with less water over 4 rinses and high spins on cottons than the indesit.
IN my opinion.... not impressed with Indesit unless you do an extra rinse cycle with 2 rinses almost every time. This way, I get the result I would expect.

As far as Miele is concerned.
I had a commercial Miele WS5425 (i think).
On the wool cycle it filled with about 2 inches showing at the bottom of the drum on both the wash cycle and rinse cycles. It then would turn the drum full circle once per minute and that rythm would carry on throughout the programme. Not good at rinsing, which in my opinion is pretty important for woolies. They should be washed gently and rinsed quickly and thoroughly. The programme was very inadequate, sorry

Peter

Hi Peter,
I have a Miele W3985WPS which is Miele's current top of the line washer it cost me £1300. By default it only does two low level rinses on cottons cycles and to be honest does not rinse at all well unless Water-plus with extra rinse is selected. I have also selected maximum water level rinses in the service menu, this makes the machine fill one third up the door glass during all rinses. I live in a very soft water area so rinsing is much more of a problem here.

I found my Aqualtis (Sadly no longer with me) good at rinsing only needing the extra rinse option on large loads of towels.

It is very unusual to find modern machines that do three rinses, I suppose its European legislation that forces manufacturers hands.

David

Does anyone have any experience with these sensors and when exactly they activate?
Reason i ask is my AEG LL1620 is meant to have one of the sensors but sometimes i really wonder whether it does or not and how sensitive it actually is.
As standard mine will do two rinses like most other machines but extra rinse options are available, but what is the point if the washer is meant to detect how cloudy the water is. Since i've had my AEG i have never seen it decide to add another rinse.
Also there is nothing in the manual that states that the machine has the sensor so my only guess is that they have decided not to put the sensor in the UK version but have still decided to say that they have on their website and product information, which it seems electrolux do alot.

Did AEG ever put turbidity sensors in their washers? Maybe your washer "just" has a suds detection sensor like most other washers. It'll only activate in the case of oversudsing during the cycle but won't do anything if the rinse water isn't clear.

Hi logixx,

Yep its definately a turbidity sensor, in their brochure on page 8/9 its says, turbidity sensor " This measures the clarity of the rinse water. If turbidity is dectected then an extra rinse is automatically addded in to give perfect rinse results."

If the washer does get a suds lock the only thing it does differently is pause on the intern spin for a few minutes and try try again until the foam has gone. Other things which are strange if you use time saver with sensitve rinse, you get three high level rinses, but use sensitve without time saver and you'll get three low level rinses, why it does this is a mystery :)

My hotpoint WT960 performs great with 2 rinses, The 1200rpm spin between the rinses really shifts the residue!

The good thing is you can select an extra rinse while its performing the first rinse, so if things are getting abit hectic in the suds department you can add the extra rinse! I always do extra rinse for bulky loads like towels!

Darren

Does anyone think that laundry detergent manufacturers should be trying to create ultra-low foaming versions of detergents, now that we have machines that wash in puddles of water?

I know we have 'automatic/high efficiency' detergents for front-loaders, but I was thinking along the lines of dishwasher detergents being ultra-ultra low foaming.

In my experience, if you try to use the manufacturers' minimum "recommended" dose, the foam has a hell-of-a-job being rinsed away, particularly in towel loads.

I think you may have a point there...
I always used Ariel tabs in my AEG 168100.
That was until Jon Lavamat told me to try Persil powder. What a difference. Much less unclean smell after washes with extra rinse used!!! I think they maybe need to look at todays washers and sort out their products accordingly!
Peter

Unilever Persil Powder (or Omo in other markets in Europe) meets that criteria

I've been finding that Unilever Persil also out performs Ariel in many ways. Much of the Ariel "fresh clean" effect seems to rely on leaving a very pungent smell on the fabric. Even after 4 or 5 rinses, you can still smell it really strongly on your clothes.

I find Persil cleans just as well, if not better, particularly on oil splashes (e.g. salad dressing). Persil has removed those on a very short 30C wash, while Ariel has left traces.

The clothes come out smelling clean and not heavily perfumed. It does have a slight fragrance, but it's nothing like the smell of Ariel! If you leave a box of that stuff in a room you can smell it when you walk in, and that's without even opening it!! It's not a floral scent like what has been described for South American products, rather it's a kind of citrus/pine or slightly herbal aroma. It's very distinctively Ariel. It's not unpleasant and it does smell "clean" but I just think it's very unnecessary.

Persil's smell is not floral either and is quite subtle. It's closer to the scent you'd get in a shower gel or a shampoo and it doesn't really linger on the clothes strongly.

Their S&M liquids smell very like a non-floral shower gel / shampoo. Slightly citrus / herbal. I would rate them as having the best scent of any of the detergents on the market here. It's fresh and pleasant but not overpowering.

Older Ariel formulations were not as heavily perfumed, yet had a distinctive scent which I actually liked. The new formulation scent is just not my cup of tea at all.

As for rinsing :

Persil - after one rinse + interim spin on the second rinse the water runs clear.
Ariel takes at least 3 rinses and interim spins for that result.

Foaming:

Ariel - foams quite a bit
Persil - you'll see little/no foam during the wash.

Cleaning:
Both provide excellent results.
Persil performs better on oil/grease/makeup/cosmetic marks.

Also, I tend to use non-bleaching detergents i.e. colour forumulations more than 'universal' formulations.

Persil Colour definitely performs better.
Ariel Colour and Style is, in my experience, second best.

Also, possibly because it rinses so well, Persil seems to leave clothes much softer. E.g. if I tumble dry towels after washing in Persil Powder they come out very fluffy where as if I do the same with Ariel they're definitely a little 'stiffer'.

Also, Ariel Colour smells quite different to the normal version of Ariel with oxygen bleach. The Colour version's smell is a lot more acceptable in my opinion. I find the normal version a bit too overpowering.

It's funny you should say that Ariel Colour was more pleasing to the nose than regular Ariel; I agree.

I don't know who is running the fragrance dept of P&G's detergents, but they must be a bunch of loonies - remember less is more, in terms of fragrances.

As for stiff laundry: I have found that using Procter & Gamble detergents, Ariel tablets or Daz powder, they tend to leave a powdery feel to the tumble drier filter. This is probably the zeolite content (Bring back PHOSPHATES!!!).

I agree about the Ariel powder acting as a room 'freshener', and so do my parents. They couldn't stand the smell when it was changed a couple of years ago.

The stench was quite overpowering.

Just did a wash at 60C in a Miele (older style non honeycomb) with 2 Ariel tabs and a fairly small load of cottons.

The suds completely covered the glass!!!!

That's following the P&G dosing guidelines for Ariel tabs..

Even 1 tab will give a suds half-way up the door result and the wash results are much poorer when things get that over foamed.

I guess it depends on your water, but I've been using Ariel tablets for the past few months now and haven't had any sudsing issues like I used to with them... perform as well as Persil too, if not slightly better!

Jon

Sounds like an amazing washing action for woolens, I wish every washing machine did that, sounds like great fun lol.

It kinda reminds me of Powerstream, a feature that was on my old Hotpoint Aquarius Extra WMA34P, going into distribute speed anti-clockwise during the main wash on cottons programmes. It didn't do it on the woolens programme though.

My Miele on the wool programme lasts only 40 minutes at either 40C, 30C or cold wash temperatures. It uses low level water throughout and it only tumbles intermittently so that makes it somewhat dull to watch. It does 2 rinses, interim spins after the main wash and 1st rinse and a final spin at 1200RPM but no anti-crease tumble after it's finished.

What I'm saying simply is that woolen washing actions vary from different brands but still cares for them in the best way possible.

The wool programme is a different on my Miele as it is on the Hotpoint Aqualtis. If I had the latter, I'd be using that programme all the time lol.

What I find impressive is that the clothes seem to come out softer and smelling much better than they have done in other machine (including Miele) that I have used.

Basically, the Aqualitis forces a lot of water through the clothes without damaging them.

You don't get that "wet wool" smell, rather you get a clean clothes smell at the end.

I doubt any of the wool cycles are much good at removing heavy staining though as you can't really use tough detergents on wool. They really just freshen things up and remove any body odours or other odours present in the clothes and light soil.

If you've bad stains on a light coloured woolen item dry cleaning's often to best option as the solvents can remove the stain without any detergent action. That being said, even dry cleaning can eventually cause wool to become brittle by removing all the oils.

IF you are doing wool washes, use woolite (with ceremides, like hair conditioner) and then use a good quality fabric softener to keep the fibers in good condition.

If they're REALLY delicate, wash by hand with good quality shampoo !

Shampoo??? Like in hair shampoo???!?!?!
*jaws dropping*

I know about dry-cleaning, eventually (will take more than a decade in my experience) it will make the germent brittle, but what about wearing it? And besides good laundires use a wool additive, it's like a conditoner to preserve the softness.

Why not, wool is hair after all.

If you really want to look after your woolens, use L'Oriel, Tresemme, Pantene etc!
I wouldn't suggest machine washing with them, but if you just lather, rinse, repeat and condition, you really can't go too far wrong!

Wool is indeed just sheep hair. It appreciates a good shampoo!

Actually, hair shampoo is also fantastic for silk too!

You just wet the fabric throughly, put a dollop on and work it. You don't need to soak it in water.

Then just rinse by flushing through with plenty of water e.g. using the shower.

It works wonders!!

Ok, you bought me... I'm going to wash one of my pullovers with Nivea straight silk shampo and conditioner... let's see what happens!

I agree, the ariel scent is absolutely vile, it smells like cheap pine disinfectant mixed with curry powder, did you know that ariel colour smells exactly the same as ariel biological did before they changed it,

when i am doing laundry at uni, if i get a wiff of ariel biological i cough and sneeze.

Persil is exceptional, i like the powder and the gel tablets, though i can't use the gel tablets here as they don't dissolve in the speed queen FLs in the launderette.

I really like the scent of asdas powder and tablet detergents, their bio powder reminds me of persil automatic in the early 90's.

regarding scents, i agree that P&G should be focusing on actual cleansing of garments and stain removal rather than strong fragrances.

I'm currently using Daz liquid, very vintage subtle scent yet very good cleaning. i still prefer pouring liquid on the stain and rubbing it in before i put the ball into the heart of the wash. it works best for me in the uni washers because of the very quick cycles and there is no prewash.

So do you have the Speed Queens with only four cycles? Ours have five cycles + prewash (SWFX74 series).

Regarding scent and Ariel: I'm using Ariel liquitabs for the prewash, Ariel powder in the main wash and both about three caps of Lenor concentrate and still - once the clothes are finished drying there's hardly any smell left! I don't get it.

i thought the plus button was an extra rinse cycle but now i know that its a prewash button lol

i find liquid works best in the speed queens

Perhaps German P&G Ariel is a totally different scent formula then?

The UK/Ireland version is very heavily scented indeed :)

Don't quite know. I've never (or rarely) had any detergent smell left on my clothes when doing laundry back home using Ariel powder or liquid. However, I've found Persil Gel for Colors' scent (by Henkel) to be very strong.

Here in the UK it doesn't really matter what I use: those Speed Queen dryers are excellent at removing any type of scent. :( Must have used about a 100 ml of Comfort Sweet Almond Conditioning Crème for the last load and still... nada. Well, at least the steam venting from the dryer made the accommodation's parking-lot smell great :-/

The Unilever Persil Liquids and Gels do smell quite strong, but their powders are extremely lightly scented compared to P&G.

I still prefer the smell of Persil Liquid to Ariel powder though. It's just a subjective thing, but I find it a lot more pleasant to the nose!

However, if you wash with Persil Powders, at least you just have a "clean clothes" smell rather than a fake pine cone :) This seems to be the result of washing with Ariel.