Old Shirt, New Shirt? Hard To Tell With Ariel, right?

Which among these two shirts worn by these two models have been washed and stained ten times and which was brand new?

On my seat, munching on a plateful of spicy nachos, it was quite hard to tell. I checked one shirt, which didn't seem relatively thinner than the other one. Usually, washing an outfit ten times could result to fading or the fabric wearing thin but both shirts seemed like they came straight from the store. When the answer was revealed, my answer from my seat was proven wrong.

It was another exciting day as some members of the media participated in a game that pitted them with clothing experts from Metropole Laundry and Dry Cleaners, Inc and Bench. Trivia and questions on fashion, laundry, washing machine 101, and even Ariel were asked trimming down the crowd as the questions got harder. Some questions were quite easy, like choose among the choices were Ariel endorsers up to trivial ones like the origin of the iconic T-shirt we know today.

Game host Mo Twister puts Bench Senior Store Operations Manager Patrick Tan's fabric care knowledge to the test. Patrick successfully answers all questions and wins this round. So how about the prizes? The prizes were actually donated to the participant's charity of choice.

Ariel actually is a brand that doesn't disappoint me. Not only do I like the name (since it belongs to my favorite Disney Princess, heeheehee) but it performs quite well, with no chalky extenders that cause the annoying whitish residues on the fabric. Every particle in the powder dissolves right there in the water and my clothes are clean whether I hand wash them or dunk them in the washing machine. Even without fabric softener, my clothes still smell really good and fresh. Even with a (slight) rubbing, the powder didn't feel hot on my skin. The little "O" particles are really cute too!

The little "O" particles weren't just confetti though. They actually do the job. The Oxybleach system of Ariel removes tough stains (even metallic stains like rust, blood, copper, and even dye) with minimal scrubbing and rubbing. Sounding like a superhero to blast the stains to nonexistence yes? There's the bleach activator that decolorixers and removes the stain in the wash and even when drying the clothes out under the sun, Ariel's got photobleach, a light-activated agent that provides additional bleaching effects (like when the work inside the wash isn't enough). If that's not enough, there's fabric care enzymes to care for the clothes to prevent the sadness of the fabric weakening and our wallets thinning as our credit card bill goes up for the need to shop for clothes.

I also got some tips in fabric care, which I ought to use later on so I don't end up buying more clothes with the excuse that my old clothes are faded already. Like when there's a stain, the best way to get rid of it is to act fast and not wait for the next laundry day to remove it, since as time ticks on, the stains set and the fabric weakens. And remember those tags that annoy us that we remove them? Before removing them, it's best to read them since they are fabric care instructions so we know how to make our clothes last longer. If we hate the thought of having them in our skin, maybe we could write them in a notebook so we have a reference to look back on, yes?

Definitely with this day and age to save, my clothes and linens would definitely last longer with proper care and the right detergent so they still look like new. So how about colored outfits? I was quite impressed that the colors of my dark-colored outfits didn't gray out. As you all know, I wear black most of the time like I'm in perpetual mourning and this is a must since I want my black outfits to still be black for a long time. It worked too for my recent ukay haul where I washed my old-new outfits in Ariel - thrice after having it subjected to hot water and Domex twice. Did it look old? Nawp nawp. The only ukay haulage that looked old on me was the beat-up leather bag I got that was peeling in all places, but I really wanted it that way.

Ariel costs actually Php6.00 per sakto pack, which isn't bad. The sakto packs are actually great for travel when you wash your own clothes or if you want to portion the Ariel you use for your laundry per laundry day.

Before the event closed, a mini-fashion show featuring clothes by Bench was shown.

What I didn't know was that the announcer said that one group was stained and washed ten times, and the other group was brand new. Which was which? Hard to tell, right?