FAQ
With the dosage table on each Persil pack, the necessary dosage amount for the garments to be washed can be easily seen.
The dosage amount depends on the degree of soiling of the laundry (shown in the columns) and the regional water hardness (shown in the rows). The dosage recommendations for all Persil products are based on a 10 lb load.
Every pack of Persil has a specific dosage recommendation. The optimum amount of detergent depends on the amount of laundry in the machine, the degree of soiling and the water hardness. If a prewash makes sense in the case of extremely heavy soiling, choose the lowest recommended dosage.
Only by dosing the detergent correctly can you help look after the environment, save money and avoid build-up in the machine and fabric.
If you do not know the water hardness in your area, you can ask your water supply company. Our tip: You can find your water supplier's contact information on the water bill or on the Internet.
The water hardness tells you the amount of dissolved lime in a liter of water, measured in millimoles of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). In Germany the water hardness is usually measured in German degrees (1º dH corresponds to around 0.19 millimoles of CaCO3 per liter of water).
This is important to be able to determine the amount of detergent that you are to dose according to the instructions on the packaging.
Lightly soiled:
No visible soiling and stains*. Some garments have taken on body odor. Examples: Light summer and sports clothing (worn for a few hours), T-shirts, shirts, blouses (worn for up to 1 day), guest sheets and towels (used for 1 day).
Normally dirty:
Pollution is visible and/or a few light stains* are visible. Examples: T-shirts, shirts, blouses (sweaty or worn several times), underwear (worn for 1 day), towels, bed linen (used up to 1 week), curtains without nicotine stains (used up to 6 months).
Very dirty:
Dirt and/or stains* are clearly visible. Examples: Dish and kitchen towels, cloth napkins, baby bibs, children's and football clothes (soiled with grass and earth), tennis clothes (soiled with silica red) and work clothes
Very heavily soiled:
Numerous and intense soiling and/or stains*, clearly visible and possibly aged, heavily smeared garments.
Examples: above-mentioned stains on table linen, cloth napkins, dish and kitchen towels, cleaning rags, mop, baby bibs, children's, sports and football clothing (heavily soiled with mud, earth and grass), work clothing.
* Typical stains
Bleachable: Tea, coffee, fruit, vegetables
Protein- / carbohydrate content: blood, egg, milk, starch
Fat-/oil containing skin fat, edible oil-/fats, sauces, mineral oil, waxes
Pigments: Soot, earth, sand
Laundry that is permanently washed on a lower dosage than is required by the water hardness level not only shows an unpleasant grey haze after some time, but also loses its desired wear and usage properties:
- They feel increasingly hard
- They smell unpleasent
- They become increasingly heavy and less absorbent due to the deposited lime
- They are a subject to faster wear and tear in the end
Unfortunately, heavy lime deposits are irreversible! If you care about the longevity of your washing machine and textiles, you should make sure that you use a sufficient amount of detergent. In this case, "less" is not "more", but can become really expensive. The water-softening component contained in Persil (and in all other Henkel detergents) is absolutely sufficient to prevent the negative consequences described above. The amount of detergent required can be easily found on the dosage table on the products. If you do not know your water hardness level, please ask your local water supplier.
Heavily soiled laundry should not be washed together with only slightly soiled laundry. Heavily soiled laundry requires a higher dosage and possibly a higher washing temperature, whereas lightly soiled laundry can be washed at a lower dosage and already at 20°C.
If you follow the dosage instructions, water softeners are not required with modern Persil detergents.
All Persil products already contain limescale protection. Therefore, an additional water softener is not necessary.
Washing sustainably means "washing correctly"! This includes the correct sorting of the laundry, the correct stain treatment, the correct loading of the washing machine, the correct dosage of detergent (according to the degree of soiling and water hardness level) and the choice of the correct washing program.
Fabric softeners like Vernel make your laundry extra soft, make it smell good, reduce static and help to protect your clothes. Laundry done with a fabric softener dries faster on the line as well as in the clothes dryer, is easier to iron and is kinder to the skin as the fabric does not rub as much.
There is no minimal durability date for detergents and cleaning agents, as is required by law, for example in the case of food articles. Our detergents and cleaning agents have a shelf life of several years when stored in a cool, dry place. However, do not store liquid detergents at too low temperature or expose them to frost.
The production code indicated on our products cannot provide you as a consumer with any information on the age of the product in this context, as it is an encrypted code. Whether a detergent is still usable can be told by its appearance, fragrance and texture. If, for example, the contents of the package of a powder detergent only consist of a single hard lump, the detergent has already absorbed a great deal of humidity. It can then no longer be dosed and washed in correctly and should therefore no longer be used.
If an older detergent as described above still has the normal appearance and can be dosed and rinsed in without any problems, you can use it without hesitation. We, however, recommend that you choose the dosage for heavily soiled laundry, as the performance of some ingredients, such as bleaching agents and enzymes, may deteriorate over time. In case the appearance and condition of the product is no longer in order, please dispose of it properly.
If you put a maximum of three jeans in the machine at the same time, turned inside out, your jeans will stay beautiful longer and will not show any unsightly white stripes (color abrasion).
Select a low spin speed and wash in the delicate wash program. Knock the jeans out well immediately after washing and hang them up for drying immediately.
Depending on the recommendation on the care label of your textiles, please select a delicate or easy-care program and dose the detergent for heavily soiled laundry according to your local water hardness level.
The possibly indefinable stains of food can be easily dealt with by pre-treating them with Persil Gel which will help you remove the toughest of stains using its deep cleaning German technology. In both cases: Allow the product to act briefly (max. 10 minutes) but do not let it dry and wash the textile directly afterwards.
Usually, it is not necessary. Exceptions: extremely heavily soiled textiles, e.g., from workwear, outdoor sports, gardening and agriculture.
Both detergent types are mainly designed for colored fabrics. Persil Gel is ideal for normal to heavily soiled fabrics, which can be washed on a color washing cycle with a wash load of 10 lbs or more. Stubborn grease stains can be removed with this high-performance detergent even at low temperatures. What’s more, stains can also be directly pretreated.
Fabric care and mild cleaning are a priority. For this reason, a maximum load of 5.5 lbs is highly recommended for delicate and easy-care washing cycles. If delicate fabrics requiring washing with mild detergents have tough stains, we recommend that the fabric be pretreated with Sil multipurpose stain remover gel, or that you add it to the detergent. à we recommend that the fabric be pretreated with stain remover gel, or that you add it to the detergent.
Whitewash 60° C
Persil Universal (Gel or Powder)
Colored laundry 60° C
Persil Color
Delicate laundry 40° C
Silk/Wool
Persil Universal Gel
Blackwash 60° C
Persil Black
Tough & Deep Stains 60° C
Persil Premium
Wash your curtains with Persil Gel in the delicate program. Please note the following points: Follow the manufacturer's care instructions, select a dosage according to the degree of soiling and the water hardness, load the machine with max. 2.5 kg curtains, spin curtains only briefly at a low spin speed to remove dripping water. Do not leave washed curtains in the laundry basket for long periods of time - this prevents unnecessary creasing. For colored curtains we recommend Persil Color. The color tone of delicate and strong colors will be retained even after a large number of washing processes.
The best option is Sil saptil. Add a strip of Sil saptil paste (approx. two inches) to approx. a gallon of warm water and dissolve the paste. Soak the laundry and then rinse.
New textiles can lose their color. If you are not sure about the color fastness of the textile, it is best to wash the new garment separately at max. 40 °C. Colored textiles should also be sorted and light or dark colors washed separately, i.e., garments with similar colors should be washed together.
Tips for stain removal:
Pre-wash stains directly with Persil Gel until the fabric is wet. Then wash with Persil Universal®. Select the highest possible washing temperature according to the care label and a detergent dosage for "heavily soiled". Sometimes, however, the stain cannot be removed with the first wash. In this case repeat the two steps described above or soak the garments overnight. In the case of color-sensitive, use Persil Color whether the removal of the stain or the color retention of the garment is the main concern.
Spray the stain with a stain remover (use a spray with a benzene-based cleaning product) and then wash the garment with Persil Gel.
Choose the dosage for “heavily soiled” laundry according to the local water hardness and set the highest wash temperature possible as stated on the care label. If the stain is old and has been previously treated with other products, it may be necessary to repeat the process twice.
Sun cream stains in summer can be one of the most stubborn types of stains. The higher the SPF of the cream, the more difficult it is to remove the stain. If the dirty textiles stay in the laundry basket for a long time, this makes it extra difficult to wash out the stains. In particularly stubborn cases the stain can sometimes not be removed completely.
Tips on stain removal:
Spray the stains with stain remover (use a spray with a benzene-based cleaning product) until the fabric is soaked through.
Then wash with, for example, Persil Universal Megaperls®, adding a stain remover. Use the highest wash temperature possible as stated on the care label and the detergent dose for “heavily stained” laundry.
However, sometimes the stain does not come out in the first wash. In this case, repeat the steps above or leave the garment in soak overnight. To do this, dissolve approx. 3 fl oz Persil Universal Megaperls® together with 3.5 fl oz stain remover in 2.5 gallons of water. In the case of delicate pastel colors, it is necessary to decide whether removing the stain or preserving the color of the garment is most important. If pastel-colored fabrics are washed with a detergent containing a bleaching agent, their color may fade.
Stains like these are often caused by so-called polyquats, which can be contained in a variety of hair cosmetic products, among others. They are deposited on the textile surface and adhere particularly stubbornly to the fibers. This effect enables them to bind the dissolved dirt from the washing liquor during washing. If too little detergent has been used, the stains will become clearly visible, as the dirt particles accumulate in these areas. Due to the described properties of polyquats, such stains are usually very difficult, if at all, to remove.
Try the following:
In any case, soak the garment in a detergent solution for several hours. Depending on the color of the textiles, use e.g., Persil Universal Gel® or Persil Premium® in the dosage for "heavily soiled. Then wash the textiles with the above products in the washing machine in high doses (note the water hardness) at the highest possible temperature according to the care label.
The color of these stains can change over time due to the influence of oxygen from the air or even after insufficient washing. The previously only hardly visible stain then becomes brownish.
Stains on white or color-fast clothing can be removed with Universal (Persil Universal Gel®) or Color Detergent (Persil Color®). Select the highest possible washing temperature according to the care label.
Pre-treat sensitive colored clothing at the stain areas with Persil Universal Gel, allow the product to soak in for ten minutes and then, depending on the care instructions, wash by hand or machine with a mild detergent.
If very stubborn stains have not been removed after the first wash, it is best to pre-treat them before the next wash cycle and then increase the detergent dosage.
Alternatively, soak the garments overnight in a detergent solution or use the soaking function in the washing machine. For one detergent solution, dissolve 150 ml Persil Universal Gel® or Persil Color® in 10 l of water.
These stains are often residual stains containing dyes, for example from coffee, tea, fruit, vegetables, spices, sauces, etc., which were not completely removed during the first wash. These bright yellow to orange stains remain on the textiles after the washing cycle if the detergent dose is too little.
However, it can also happen that the stains are initially no longer visible after washing. Only after sometimes do they regain their original color under the influence of atmospheric oxygen - e.g., while the textiles are lying in the laundry cupboard. The dyes of the stains mentioned above can be removed with Persil Universal Gel® (dosage for heavily soiled laundry)
To remove particularly color-intensive or already aged stains, it is usually necessary to soak them overnight in a detergent solution containing bleach.
Problems with red wine stains in your laundry? Would you like to remove stubborn grease stains? Or do you need help removing tough blood stains?
The Persil stain advisor app gives you tips for washing all kinds of stains out of a wide range of fabrics and materials!
Further information on the new Global Harmonized Systems (GHS) hazard symbols or pictographs on Persil products by Henkel can be found at http://ghs-hinweise.henkel-waschmittel.de/