Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Surprising number of brands that were test marketed but never made it nationally. Especially since the New York Metro area is not used as a test market area so we miss a lot of products. Turpentine or petrol was also used when laundering clothing as well. My old manuals give directions and amounts to be used. Basically one added either to boiling soapy water, and it was supposed to do away with all the soaking and scrubbing that went with laundry day before washing machines came along. When you think about it first naptha soaps, then modern detergents (which are made from petrol based chemicals), replaced the former. Radion when it was first brought out in the UK circa 1989 was actually Levers TOL detergent. I hadnt realsied this until we got a copy of the Which report from when it first came out. Costco's "Clout" bargain powder, also with phosphates, which worked very well. When they pulled the phosphates out, it performed poorly.
Wisk-I know is available in US but only lasted a short time here, funny Mum liked it had a built in deodorizer from memory. Cinch (P&G dishwashing liquid, late '80s, with grit in it for scrubbing, test marketed in Kansas City). unusual swing spout (instead of push/pull). Later name resurrected as a window cleaner (mid 90s)Tide, Gain and Cheer's original fragrances from the 60's (Cheer's fragrance didn't change until the late 80's. The real original Tide fragrance changed in the early 70's when all that phosphate unpleasantness started and Gain's changed once in the 80's, again in the 90's and many more times since) Kellogg's Puffa-Puffa Rice Cereal (my brother and I ate only a half box of this crap before it was thrown out)
In 2013, the regulator issued a proposed rule asking manufacturers to provide it with data on the safety and effectiveness of ingredients like triclosan and triclocarban, including clinical studies showing these products were superior to non-antibacterial washes in preventing human illness or reducing infection. Wisk was an oddball. More centred around coloured washes although supposedly capable of cleaning everything - debateable as to where it stood in the market but from what I remember it was between Surf and Persils price point. I cant help but think that the Victor washing machine Ad's had it aimed at DINK's who didnt really wish to spend money on an expensive product whereas Surf was more a family/economy thing. She used Dove dish detergent and Cascade dishwasher detergent, but of course Cascade is still going strong! Famous-Barr actually advertising drug-store stuff (they pulled this out of the stores in the early 80s I'd guess)
A Brief History
It's only a short section, so I have copied out word for word (as mentioned about this is authored by Matt Haig and NOT me). Many of the brand in this section have failed because they were too far away from what the consumer wanted, but sometimes products fail because they aren't different enough from other popular products. This is certainly the case of Radion washing powder. Along with Pear's soap, Radion was one of the many brands for the chop when the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate announced it would be narrowing its scope on 400 'power' brands.
Snuggle was positioned as lower priced offering compared to Downy and Final Touch. Latter's claim to fame against Downy wasn't so much softening but whitening. Ariel & Radion - TV adverts centred around science and men in white coats, marketed towards stains, smells, target audience DINK's - Double Income No Kids and families who were well off.I forgot about Clorox Detergent. I was working in the LA area and apparently it was past test market but not national so every time i went to California, I would stuff some boxes in my luggage. I still have one box left securely wrapped in plastic. It was a pretty good product and low sudsing to boot with a great fragrance. It actually went in as a competitor to Ariel as it not only washed biologically and targeted stains but also odours. Radion had extra ingredients to Persil and was around IIRC 20p a box more expensive. It was also slightly more expensive than Ariel. Vanish/Sani-Flush Toilet Bowl Cleaners (there's an interesting link to this which I'm adding below) Pine-Sol Cleanser (made by American Cynamide who also made Pine-Sol before it went to SC Johnson, to take on Comet and Ajax, but it was a sorry contender. It also had the most hideous odor to it) Surf and Bold, marketed as cleaning well on the whole wash and costing a little less, not specifically aimed at any market group but definitely VFM.
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