George Clooney - it is OK if he is a bit dirty - I will wash him when he gets here. That is my idea of a laundry goody!

Seriously, is the soap so much better in Italy that it is worth dragging it all the way across the ocean? I must be missing something. I just go to Target. Works on my regular old American dirt.

Have a great trip. I am very envious.

:-) and thanks!

I posed the question because so many people on this board use European laundry products like Persil. I'd love to try it but the cost here is prohibitive (I'd have to mail order it and I don't want to waste my money if I don't like the smell of it - I'm very scent sensitive and end up using mostly unscented products here in the US because the scents of detergent and softener are so overwhelming here). So I thought being in Italy would give me a good chance of smelling and performance testing of some European products....

Buy some Persil or Ariel while in Europe. The Persil will be about 75-80% cheaper in Italy, than what you will pay for it in the USA. You can try Persil Sensitive/Sensitiv, if you do not like strong smells. Ariel is quite perfumated, but I like it.

Sensitive has a nice pleasant smell. Not too strong. I find regular Persil too strong for me.

a maid?

We lived in Milan for four months and our absolute favorite Italian laundry item is their indoor clotheslines. Italians rarely have clothes dryers, instead they dry their clothes on items know as "stenditoios" - usually a set of six stainless steel tubes that hang from the ceiling and can be raised and lowered using a simple pulley system. You may consider this a bit quaint, but clothes dried quickly, without annoying line marks in them (because of the relatively large diameter of the tubes), and with the right amount of fabric softener were quite nice. You don't get that fluffy feeling from towels, but you'll save a ton of money on electricity. Stenditoios are something you would find at a hardware store, or a specialty home furnishings store. You can find them for sale in the US via the laundrylift.com website. We have one in our small NYC apartment (hanging over our bath tub). Works great!

ManhattanTransfer, thanks for the information on the "stenditoios". It looks like a great idea to me, so I've just ordered one for my laundry room. I can't wait to try it out.

George Clooney and a maid, wouldn't that be lovely!

Thanks all for the feedback - I'll be on the lookout for Persil Sensitive. Vaska Unscented and Sears detergent which has almost no scent is about all I can handle at the moment. Everything else makes me sneeze uncontrolably. And I'll check for any specifically Italian products as well to see if I find anything interesting.

ManhattanTransfer, I am very familiar with these pulley driers. They are very popular with apartment dwellers in Europe. My parents have one and I used to have them when I lived in Poland. And I agree - they are great. I considered getting one when we lived in a condo previously but now I have enough space for a standing one.

Hi Izeve,

- you won't find Persil here in Italy ... cause it is called DIXAN Click on the bottles to enter each powder/liquid scent .

- The Persil Sensitive equivalent

- Henkel gave up selling Megaperls on the italian market since the last millennium .

- Be aware that Dixan "Igiene & Purezza" (eucalyptus oil scented) either powder, liquid or concentrated liquid will make your laundry smell as if it had been washed with Vicks Vap-o-rub *LOL* .

- As for George, he' ll be available as long as he 'll give St. Peter John Malkovich the coffee maker

- This liquid detergent RIO BOLLEBLU is the only one containing oxygen bleach. Other ones don't, cause it breaks down enzymes. It's not very easy to find, but it's worth to look for it as it cleans well and leaves a nice clean scent

- Pril perfect gel (Somat) is probably the best dishwasher detergent available in Europe. IMHO it cleans far better than the finish quantum tabs

Hidroman, thanks for the very useful information and links and also for a good laugh!!!! I'm very excited about the upcoming trip and thanks to you now I know what to look for in the laundry isles in the grocery stores.....