Not unfounded: experts have found out which powder is better - Ariel, Persil or Tide

What should you choose, and most importantly, what should you consider when choosing a powder? We will conduct a study in which the three most popular brands will take part - Ariel, Persil and Tide.

Safety

This is the main criterion for evaluating all household chemicals. Despite the fact that washing powder is considered relatively safe, it can still cause attacks of bronchial asthma, cause allergies and dermatitis. Moreover, such a reaction can be caused by any of its components, and it is almost impossible to predict it. People who are prone to these diseases should choose phosphate-free powders of organic origin with natural fragrances, or even without them. Unfortunately, none of the listed brands offers such products to customers.

For other consumers, Ariel, Persil, and Tide will be fairly safe if the rules are followed. The powder should not be inhaled (that is, you should not sniff the open package), nor should it be used to wash food, body or dishes. It is important to limit children's access to laundry detergents.

One way to determine how harmful a particular laundry detergent is is to measure the amount of anionic and nonionic surfactants that remain in the water after washing clothes and rinsing them three times.The results of examinations carried out in 2015 by the Testing Laboratory Center of the Federal Budgetary Institution of Health "Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in Moscow" commissioned by the online publication "Roskontrol" were as follows:

• Ariel "Mountain Spring" became the worst among all tested samples, since the water contained 568 mg/l of anionic surfactants (the most dangerous to humans). Experts note that when using this powder, repeated rinsing should be used.
• Persil Expert can be called one of the best - the surfactant content in the water turned out to be minimal.
• Tide "White Clouds" is also not bad, its performance corresponds to average values.

By the way, on the packaging of all three samples there is a designation “suitable for washing children’s and adult clothes.” This needs to be emphasized, since according to the results of the same examinations, powders with a norm of 70–120% received the following toxicity levels:

• "Ariel" — 33%;
• "Persil" — 48%;
• "Tide" — 52%.

The lower the percentage, the more toxic the laundry detergent, and Ariel was the worst again this time. However, all three powders failed this test - despite the manufacturers’ assurances, it is not recommended to use them for washing children’s clothes.

Efficiency

The effectiveness of washing powder is a somewhat ephemeral category, since it depends on many factors that are difficult to control in everyday conditions. For example, the temperature, hardness and volume of water, the duration of washing, the degree of contamination of items and the properties of the fabric from which these items are sewn, the amount of powder, and the mechanical impact of the washing machine are all important. Therefore, if you wash with powder at home, its effectiveness will be different each time - and this is not the manufacturer’s fault.

In laboratory tests, samples of standard contaminants produced in Switzerland and Germany are used, as well as washing machines equipped with special measuring equipment.

When testing the effectiveness of Ariel, Persil and Tide powders, the following results were obtained:

Explanation of values ​​from the table:

“0”—the powder did not remove the dirt;

“-” - the result is little noticeable;

“+” — the result is unsatisfactory;

“++” - the dirt has been washed off quite well;

“+++” - not a trace of contamination remains.

Foaming

This criterion is important for two reasons:

• The quality of the wash depends on the amount of foam, since its bubbles push the smallest particles of dirt out of the fabric onto the surface.
• Excess foam has a bad effect on the performance of the washing machine. Moreover, if foam leaks through the smallest cracks and gets to where the electronic “stuffing” of the device is located, the machine may be permanently damaged.

More defoamer is added to powders intended for machine washing, but, unfortunately, not all manufacturers carefully monitor compliance with the technological process. Here's what the examination showed:

• Ariel when used in the dosage recommended by the manufacturer, it produced so much foam that it came out through the hole for the powder container.
• Persil distinguished itself by average foam formation indicators - there was a lot of foam, but its amount did not exceed the norm.
• Tide It also foamed well, but the amount of foam remained within the prescribed range.

Thus, it turns out that among the three mentioned powders, it is worth giving preference to Persil - it has good performance in all criteria. Tide is also suitable for washing clothes without visible dirt, but Ariel is much inferior to its competitors and can hardly be recommended for purchase.