Yes and No. It smells almost the same in the bottle, or the dissolving packs, but once washed and dried....I found the scent to be a mere shell of the German Persil. I do NOT like Walmart Persil at all!!!

Is it available in powder? Im pretty disappointed with Sears detergent anymore after 8 years of use. I found terrible hard water deposits on the washer interior drum surfaces, sump areas, inside all the hoses, dispenser box. inside the baffles. Well I essentially replaced the entire machine in parts I have been stowing away little at a time over that 8 year period so its like a brand new machine again. I used German Persil for the first 2 years and it was great but I have used Sears for the past 8 years. Though I have been satisfied with the cleaning it appears to have a problem with hard water. Maybe its a problem I have to solve with monthly cleanings with citric acid but that had limited effectiveness in the few months I tried it.
These arent scum buildup problems like my model 4000 had from cold water and liquid detergent, its hard deposits. No mold problems at all.

Available in powder, liquids and dissolving packs.

Fordtech:Have you seen that Sears has Kenmore detergent now. Could be just a renamed thing/same stuff but I did read where someone said a sales person told them it was being made now by a different company. Time will tell. So have you gone through your 7500 and changed out some things due to build up lately? Is there anything you can use on the parts to clean the build up off without any damage to the parts so they can be reused?

Sparky, they were so bad I didnt even try. I replaced everything but the walls and base of the machine. I did save the control board and motor and its controller and the control panel because they are all still usable. I saw no benefit of saving anything else. I am in the process of moving to another home in the next couple months so Im getting rid of as much salvage stuff that I can. I did replace those items too but saved the old ones for spares. I did the complete rebuild a couple weeks ago.

This is how they look with new components

This is what I didnt replace

I made a side trip to WM and bought a bottle of the knockoff megaperls. I washed a load of whites and some of the stains remained. I don't use oxygen bleach w euro Persil. I'm thinking that it will have to be added w the WM version. I use the universal megaperls for whites only. The WM version is safe for colors and definately not the same as the universal. I am finding it comparable to the color version. The scent is definately weaker.

The container is very awkward. These aren't roundish pellets like the standard perls more like shards if that makes sense. I am happy to see Persil available here and will definately use this for colored clothing but stick w my all in one original Persil or add oxy bleach for whites.

Fordtech: Were you surprised how your machine looked after 8 years? I wasn't expecting that myself. Wonder why the Sears detergent causes all the build-up? Are you switching back to Persil now or something else? Years ago a service guy told me he used Cheer powder and he recommended it to customers. Said it was not as harsh on parts, pump as Tide was. I used to use Tide w/bleach powder all the time. I do know when I would clean out my dryer vent pipe it would be full of fine white dust like flour. Later changed detergents and noticed the "flour" was gone. I guess it just wasn't getting all rinsed out or something.

Maybe yours will run many more years without any problems.Did you ever use the Affresh or vinegar or anything like that in it to clean it out now and then? I do run vinegar through mine ever now and then. That is what Maytag told me to use but that was before Affresh. Mine doesnt smell, I just do it thinking it is cleaning the pump etc.

I was definitely surprized the hard deposits. Unfortunately I dont know if its just the detergent brand that is the issue. Im moving to a different home in a couple or three months and maybe the water condition there will be different. Ive lived here in this house 20 years and though the water seems hard I do know that the water heater was just replaced after 17 years without a failure so it seems to not be terribly hard or it would have gone out sooner I would think. I will try a different brand after I use up the last 3 or 4 big boxes I have left of the Sears detergent I buy in bulk.
I did try a cup of citric acid once a month for several months. I think that attributed to the cleaner sides of the tub but it may have been too little too late. Ill have to try monthly cleans from now on and Ill check its effectiveness after a couple or so years.
I can say I have not had one hint of a mold smell in all this time though.

Are those mineral deposits in the photos? Is the buildup reactive to a mild acid?

I used CLR on it 5 yrs ago when the heater element was caked over and it was almost impenatrable. Took over an hour of chiseling and 2 hrs soaking in CLR just to clean the element.

I had a different experience with the Walmart Persil than Larsi. I have the blue German Persil for colors and the Walmart Persil appears to be that product. There is a slight difference in the fragrance (the Walmart is original scent) but I had the same excellent results.

I noticed that the German Persil has a small amout of phosphates which the US Persil does not have.

Someone brought me the Persil Original so I haven't been to Walmart as yet to see the whole range. There appear to be 4 liquids and 2 versions of Perls. It's made by Dial, which makes Purex which it turns out Henkel owns.

Here's the Walmart link showing the range.

Re the deposits on that washer. Everything in our house looked like that. It's lime scale from very hard water. The lime scale was coming out of the shower fixtures it was so bad.

We replaced every single plumbing fixture and installed a whole house water softener.

There is probably a preference in Europe for separate white and color Persil products. I doubt from a chemistry standpoint that different products are necessary anymore.

Liquid detergent dominate the American market due to consumer preference, not functional superiority. What the market thinks it wants is the major factor in determining which products are delivered.

It is probably safe to assume that the Persil sold in the U.S. is Henkels best effort for this market. They may not actually make the Persil, but they likely have control over what is in the product.

It is remotely possible that they simply sold the rights to the Persil name in the U.S.

@fordtech: Are the deposits in the drum detergent or mineral? How can it be a detergent problem if it is mineralization? I ran citric acid through my washer last night after seeing your photos. You provided motivation to keep the washer clean :)

I'm now thinking about adding vinegar at every rinse.

I dont know if the detergent is what caused it or not, just thought I would try a different one to see. If it were simply a water issue I cant imagine why it wouldnt affect water faucets, water heater, water valves, etc. Only the washing machine.

"They may not actually make the Persil," ??????????

Dial makes American Persil. Henkels owns Dial.

Henkels is making Persil.

I don't understand why someone would state incorrect information when there is a link directly above the post with the correct information on it.

In some markets Henkel licenses their product. Henkel still own the trademark. Nothing in the link you provided indicates the company that either formulates or manufacturers the Persil sold at Walmart.

The first two sentences from the Persil wikipedia entry: "Persil is a brand of laundry detergent made by Henkel; but which is now also licensed for manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by Unilever. Henkel and Unilever both manufacture their own formulations. "

From the American Persil website: Persil Power-Liquid detergents are made by the same company that
makes Persil in Germany and many European countries. Persil Power-Liquid
detergents deliver the exceptional cleaning experience that Persil
consumers across Europe have come to know and love.

That's not what you linked above my post, now is it. Go snark at someone else. Maybe there are some kids on your lawn.

@dzzmiller -- sorry my bad.