Persil Liquid (all varieties, excl. Professional, Sensitive & Wonder Wash)

Use our detergent dosage calculator for a tailored dosage amount.

Long-form detergent review

Experienced members of our community test detergents with cloth nappies and general laundry.

Excellent option for soft water, washes well at 40ºC.

OMO/ Persil is a leading brand of detergent across Australia and New Zealand. It’s reliable, readily available and performs well in liquid, powder, dilutables and capsules. 

Unilever (the brand owner) often reuses base formulas and tweaks them slightly to appeal to different consumer needs. This creates a new variant without needing to overhaul the formulation. Sometimes, the only difference is in fragrance profile, something that is not reflected in the public ingredient list.

Each variant performs similarly, with the Ultimate range performing slightly better on stubborn stains.

Product varieties

We scored the ingredients list on the Unilever website to determine which varieties contain enzymes.

Out of interest, we compared the listed ingredients for Active Clean F&T Liquid to Touch of Comfort Inspired Freshness F&T Liquid. There’s no visible difference in the listed ingredients between the two. Both contain the same surfactants, enzymes (protease, amylase, mannanase), preservatives, chelating agents, polymers, and colourants. 

Any differences are likely due to variations in the specific fragrance components, which are not detailed in the ingredient lists.

Persil Professional

We find Persil Professional performs similarly, but needs a slightly large dose of detergent.

Unfortunately, Unilever does not list ingredients for the professional range alongside their other products. We reached out to Unilever in both Australia and New Zealand to confirm which varieties contain enzymes. 

Long-form review: Persil Black Wash (Jes, July 2025)

Exclusive to the New Zealand market, Persil Black Wash detergent is marketed towards dark clothing and is available in 1L liquids.

First Thoughts

Boujee! The glossy, black-pigmented detergent exudes luxury, reminding me of Black Opium perfume. Its price point is the same as the 1L Persil Sensitive or Active Clean and contains enzymes, so I had expectations that it would perform similarly to the rest of the range.

Scanning the ingredient list on Unilever’s website, the only difference between Black Wash and Active Clean is that Black Wash has two additional dyes: CI 17200 (Red dye) and CI 19140 (Yellow dye). This gives the liquid a darker colour, and is strictly marketing; the dyes do not tint fabrics.

The Results

I found, just like the rest of the Persil range, I needed to use more than the bottle recommended for my main wash. This matches our standard recommendation for Persil liquid of 1.5 caps.

The bottle states 50ml for normal loads. This worked well for smaller loads, but I needed for heavy/ large loads, I needed to increase 1.5 caps. 1 cap still left some staining, although not a huge amount. 

Strangely, my husband developed a mild allergy while I was testing this detergent. He’s never reacted to any of the other Persil ranges, but when I tested two bottles of Persil Black Wash, he developed a rash on the back of his knees. This resolved quickly once laundered with Persil Scents.

Back to the ingredient list, the irritant is likely CI 19140. This is a synthetic yellow dye, also known as Yellow 5 or tartrazine. It is possible, but rare, to have an allergic-type reaction to a colour additive, so keep this in mind if you experience a rash after switching to Black Wash.

Testing Information

• Soft water.
• Whirlpool 8kg Freshcare+ Front Loader
• Cycle: Whites (2hr35m, 40 degrees, spin speed 1400rpm) – General Laundry 

Overall impression:

• Fragrance: Moderate
• Stain Removal Power: Good
• Value for money: Poor

I didn’t find it performed any differently from the rest of the liquid range, although there is something about the look of the shimmery black detergent that just looks like ✨luxury✨ 

Long-form review: Persil Ultimate (Jes, October 2024)

Persil Ultimate is the gold standard (and gold label) detergent with enzymes in New Zealand. 

I happily used the powdered variant with my Fisher & Paykel front loader. After buying a Whirlpool front loader earlier this year I found the powder created too many suds. This is a common issue in soft water areas, and switching to a liquid detergent is a simple solution. 

First thoughts

Annoying. The 4L bottle is more difficult to fit on my shelf than the boxes were, I had to adjust my shelf height which wasn’t the end of the world but an inconvenience nonetheless. Yes, it comes in smaller bottles (1L & 2L) but they’re more expensive per ml so I wasn’t going to waste money on a little bottle.

The fragrance is stronger than the powder. Some people describe this fragrance as potent, but I didn’t find it overwhelming.

The mouth of the bottle has a spout to prevent dripping. This spout was my favourite part of using Persil Ultimate.  

The results

Solid. I was really happy with this detergent. It didn’t cause excessive suds like the powdered version, it was easy to use. 

I found I needed to use more than the bottle recommended for my main wash. The bottle stated 50ml for normal loads, this worked well for my first wash but the 1 cap recommended for a heavy or large load did need to be increased to 1.5 caps for a 40ºC main wash.

I normally use bleach in my first wash to extend my main wash to 5-6 days. Even though this detergent is good, I wouldn’t recommend an extended routine without using 60ºC first washes or adding chlorine bleach.

For general household laundry, washing on 40ºC with 1.5 caps worked well with no stains or soiling left behind.

Testing information

Soft water.

Whirlpool 8kg Freshcare+ Front Loader

Cycles: 

• Mixed (40ºC, 1hr, spin speed 1000rpm) – First Wash
• Cottons (4hr15m, 40 degrees, spin speed 1400rpm) – Main Wash
• Whites (2hr35m, 40 degrees, spin speed 1400rpm) – General Laundry 

Overall impression

• Fragrance: Strong in bottle, moderate once dried
• Stain Removal Power: Good
• Value for money: Okay

Definitely a solid choice and a workhorse detergent that is now a staple in my revolving door of laundry detergents. Worth adjusting the shelf for, even if it is a bit pricier than the powder.

Looking for the Persil range detergents in Australia? Persil New Zealand is owned by the parent company, Unilever, which markets it as OMO in Australia. 

Parent company: Unilver