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charterops

Downy Imagination?

CharterOps
10 years ago

Ok, so I was Target today and was browsing the detergents and fabric softeners and thought I'd get a whiff of the Downy "April Fresh" to see if it's still sick and sweet and it was. After I cleared out my nose and head of that smell, I went down the other aisle and took a whiff of the Tide with a touch of Downy and I don't know if it's my imagination or what but the April Fresh downy smell in it was significantly different. It smelled like the original Downy from years ago. It wasn't sweet and sick smelling. I realize the concentration was a lot less but the particular smell the April Fresh Downy had back then is unmistakeable as many of you know.

I didn't buy the Tide but thought about it and wanted to ask if any of you have used or now use the Tide with a touch of Downy and if so, what you think of it.

Please comment below. Thanks.

Comments (11)

  • covingtoncat
    10 years ago

    Your are right Charter! The LIQUID Tide w/ a touch of Downy does smell like the Downy of memory. The powder? GAG! GWebber Larsi posts here about finding some success with scent beads you add to the clothes in the washer (I think its called Sweet Sizzle) that is very similar to the old Downy smell. You can adjust the intensity by adding more or fewer beads. Also can add to unscented Downy and shake it like heck to get a similar scent profile. I've tried it and it works. You have to play around with it to hit the right amount for you, IYKWIM.

  • CharterOps
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    covingtoncat: Thank you for posting that. I did read Larsi's post in the past about the Sweet Sizzle and thought about trying it but before I could, someone mentioned that they had already changed the formulation on that as well and it wasn't the same anymore either, or did I just make that up in my head, lol. I'm thinking I'll get a small bottle of the Tide with a touch of Downy and see what happens.

  • larsi_gw
    10 years ago

    P & G, those bast*rds, changed GAIN Sweet Sizzle scent beads, and now they smell exactly like the sickly, sweet and horrible April Fresh Downy. I have about 10-12 bottles left of the original GAIN Sweet Sizzle, and it smells just like the old April Fresh Downy! I love it!!

    Tide he liquid detergent with a touch of Downy does smell VERY similar to our old, beloved April Fresh Downy! Covingtoncoat is 100% correct, Tide powder with Downy is GAG!!!!!

    I just wish P & G would return April Fresh Downy to it's former glory. I think they tried a "fast one" and made GAIN Sweet Sizzle scent beads to smell like the old April Fresh Downy, but then changed it. The original April Fresh Downy was, what I read, created by a French perfume house in the 1960's. I think P & G has lost the rights to the fragrance. There are literally 1000's of complaints, yet P&G refuse to change back to the old formula. Makes NO sense. I miss my old Downy so much!!

  • covingtoncat
    10 years ago

    Oh no, Larsi! Say it isn't so ): What is up w those poopheads at P&G?

  • larsi_gw
    10 years ago

    It's sadly true Covingtoncat!!! GAIN Sweet Sizzle no longer smells soft and powdery, and like the old April Fresh Downy. It is now sickly sweet, overly perfumated and smells like chemical sweet tarts. SO, So sad. P&G has alienated 1000's of loyal Downy customers!

  • CharterOps
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Larsi; see that's what I thought about the Gain Sweet Sizzle, I went back to Target this morning and bought a bottle of the Tide HE liquid with a touch of Downy and came home and decided to try it on my sheets. I prayed through the whole wash cycle that it wouldn't come out smelling sickly sweet or I was probably going to go on a cursing rampage. Well, I was so thrilled when I opened the door and that old familiar April Fresh smell was in the sheets; I was like "Now that's the smell I remember!"

    If the original scent was licensed and they lost that, whatever is in the Tide liquid is close enough for me to be happy. My biggest fear now is that P&G will find out that many of their loyal customers like the scent and change it to that sickly sweet nastiness! :-(

    I've written several letters (emails) to P&G expressing my displeasure with their so called April Fresh Downy and they said that many of their customers liked it. I wanted to write back: "I call BullSh** on that" Look at the reviews on P&G website, it got what, 1 to 1 1/2 stars compared to the rest which got 3 stars and up, even the Free & Sensitive which I use for things I don't want fragrance on got like 4.5 - 5!!

    While I'm on my "laundry" soap box: I'm a 40 year old homemaker and have done laundry since I was old enough to reach the washer dials. My mother taught me to tend to my own laundry and she always uses P&G products because they were always so consistent and never sickly smelling. Therefore, I used P&G products continuing after I moved out on my own and had been happy up until whenever that point was where they started changing stuff and making it so gross you want to throw up to feel better :-(

    Now, I'm on this quest to find decent products, while my mother has reduced to using only Tide Free in her washer. No softener or anything anymore. She told me, that a lot of detergents and such smell like some kind of candy. I told her that was a big gripe her on GW's Laundry Forum.

    Anyway.....ok, back to my laundry, I'm gonna go wash some throw blankets and stuff and try to relive the good 'ol days. Thanks for input. I don't know what I'd do without this forum. Thank You!!

    Fletcher

  • larsi_gw
    10 years ago

    CharterOps....Washing with Tide he liquid with a touch of Downy and using Downy unscented softener and adding a Downy April Fresh dryer sheet during drying....will almost recreated our beloved, classic original April Fresh scent so many of us love. I am totally dumbfounded why P & G is being so stubborn about ruining, yet not doing something about the hated new scent of April Fresh Downy. It is just BAD business!! Loyal customers, like us, helped P & G become one of the biggest companies in the world. Sad, it is!!

  • vetwife1998
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the heads-up; I'll be going to purchase Tide HE with Downy today! I've been using my Gain Sweet Sizzle (original scent) sparingly, since the P&G people screwed that up!

  • vetwife1998
    10 years ago

    BTW, is it just me, or do many of the liquid detergents smell like motor oil to you? I know I have an overly sensitive sense of smell, but just wondering....

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    I only buy the unscented stuff now. The scents that are added to detergents are WAY too overpowering and nauseating.

  • CharterOps
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    VetWife: I do agree that some liquid detergents smell like motor oil. I know the Tide HE Free & Sensitive now smells kind of like a mix of motor oil and rubbing alcohol. I've been using it but too have a sensitive nose and can tell when something smells weird. I've been using the Sears Ultra Plus in the orange box more frequently. I love P&G products, or at least I used to be a loyal customer; now - well, not so much anymore and starting to stray. I've always had good results with the Sears and sometimes adding half-dose of Downy F&S.

    jellytoast: I usually walk in the subdivision in the evenings after dinner and when I go by someone's house who is doing laundry, I get a headache. I'm thinking, how can they wear clothes that smell so strong. That sickeningly sweet stench of fabric softener is blowing out of their dryer vent. The sad part is, it's not just a house here or there but I pass at least a dozen throughout my walk that have some sort of (unmistakeable) fabric softener smell coming from them.

    I guess to each his/her own...