Hand of senior woman in protective rubber gloves using sponge and cleaning shower cabin in bathroom, concept of household duties
Using the old-fashioned technique of water and a cloth works just as well as some cleaning products in the home, new research has found.
A test conducted by consumer advocacy group Choice discovered that some of the popular cleaning products sold in supermarkets aren’t as effective as we think.
With Instagram cleaning stars such as Mrs Hinch encouraging Brits to ‘Hinch’ their homes with a variety of products, many of us are spending money on a whole host of cleaning items. But, according to the research, scrubbing your surfaces with water can do the job just as well.
‘About 50 per cent of the ones on our test weren’t noticeably different from plain water. It’s pretty scary. You’re essentially just tipping money down the drain,’ Ashley Iredale from Choice told Guardian Australia.’
To find out which products worked, the research team at Choice tested items using a mechanical scrubbing machine to ‘ensure you get absolute consistency from sample to sample’.
They covered a ceramic tile in a greasy soil formula, let it dry and then sprayed it with a cleaning product to find out how well it really worked. ‘We measure light reflectants on that tile before and after that test, which is an incredibly accurate way of measuring how much soil has been removed,’ Ashley said.
Floor cleaners were one of the products which the study found to be pointless. ‘None of them performed noticeably better than water. It’s just the mechanical scrubbing action,’ explained Ashley.
Choice also found that instead of using various bottles for different rooms in the house, one multi-purpose spray could work just fine: ‘You can do away with the 57 different bottles in your cupboard and just use one for everything.’
While the research did uncover that some cleaning products might not make much of a difference, there are still some that we need in order to ensure our homes are clean. These include…
• Toilet cleaner with stronger bleaches to properly clean the inside.
• Bathroom cleaner, as your bathroom will quickly build up dirt more than other room in the house.
• Window cleaner to ensure that you remove any smears. Water-based cleaners for the window won’t help to give them a shine.
