Traidcraft Fair Trade Rubber Gloves Eco Product Review

Just a quick review this week as it was something I bought not planning to review but because I needed a pair of rubber gloves. I picked up this pair of Traidcraft Fair Trade Rubber Gloves from some supermarket, I actually can’t remember, but when I was using them recently (during a blocked up sink incident I’m trying very hard to forget) I thought I must write about them.

Traidcraft work with a company in Sri Lanka called Firstlight (named after the fact farmers tap the rubber trees first thing in the morning) to pay farmers a regualr and fair wage and offer them assistance with equipment and technical support.

There’s not much else to say about the the gloves, they fit nicely (size medium) and have a little bit of grip on the fingers to help. I don’t really know why you would but non-Fair Trade rubber gloves, especially as they’re only around £1. You can learn more about Traidcraft here and buy the gloves from supermarkets and online from places like Big Green Smile.

Fresh And Green Toilet Cleaner Eco Product Review

I don’t tend to buy environmentally friendly products from the supermarket, but this caught my eye so I thought ;why not?’. Fresh and Green’s Eco Friendly Toilet Cleaner and Limescale Remover is part of TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson’s range of cleaner products, and there’s quite a range, is derived from natural plant extracts and promises to have used sustainable agricultural practices in making it.

The problem with reviewing toilet cleaner is that if you use a different one regularly and your toilet is clean, all the cleaner you’re reviewing needs to do it keep it clean, rather that get rid of a lot of limescale etc. But as most people are in that situation, where they regularly clean the toilet, then I decided it was fair enough to review it this way.

The cleaner is clear and has a nice citrus-like fragrance which stays around after a couple of flushes but as with all the varieties I’ve tested it tends to disappear after that. Once you squirt it on you can actually just leave it for up to two hours and just flush before using it, but I like to use a toilet brush too. And it worked really well, no problems at all with it, it’s easy to use and left the bowl looking nice and clean – you can’t say much more than that eh?

Fresh And Green Toilet Cleaner is available a supermarkets like Adsa, Budgen and Waitrose, as well as smaller stores like the Co-op and Robert Dyas. Prices vary, but expect to pay around £3.00. For more information you can check out the Fresh and Green website.

Method Wood for Good Wipes Eco Product Review

Out of the growing number of Method products being released, the latest we’ve reviewed at Life Goggles was the Steel for Real wipes. In the same vein come the Method Good for Wood wipes, but for use of wood furniture obviously.

Using the same clever packet as the steel wipes, with it’s pop open ’stay fresh’ lid, it holds about 30 wipes which for the limited amount of wood I have in my flat, that means about a year’s worth of cleaning! Not bad for the price I reckon.

I haven’t tried the spray version of the surface cleaner so they were totally new to me and the first thing that hits you is the smell, it reminded me of holidays for some reason but is in fact almond oil.

Using them is simplicity itself, just take it out of the packet and wipe away. They leave a lovely shine without too much work and as happy as you can be when cleaning, they left me pretty content.

Made from bamboo, the wipes can be put on the compost heap when you’ve used them, and you can’t say that about many cleaning products can you? As usual, a Method product has impressed me again, I always look forward to reviewing its products.

Method Wood for Good Wipes cost £3.50 from most supermarkets and online shops such as Big Green Smile.

Method Steel For Real Wipes Eco Product Review

As regular readers will know, here at Life Goggles we’re big fans of Method products. The latest one we have in for review is Method Steel For Real Wipes for cleaning stainless steel.

The first obvious thing to raise your eyebrows is that these are disposable wipes – not very eco-friendly is it? Will yes and no really. These are made from bamboo and will biodegrade unlike mainstream brand disposable wipes that sit in landfill for millions of years. It’s important that the eco world offer alternatives to mainstream products, people who use wipes will not want to move back to cloths and spray so these are a eco-friendly alternative.

That out the way it was time to test the wipes. But first I had to get into the packet – and for some reson I found it a joy. There’s a little plastc pop up lid that I’ve never seen before. Maybe lots of products have it but the last time I used wipes they had an allegedly resealable sticky cover that doesn’t work. This little plastic lid is genius. Although it doesn’t say whether it’s made from recycled plastic but hopefully people who buy these will recycle this bit.

Right, now to try out the wipes. The smell is exactly the same as the Method Stainless Steel Cleaner spray I reviewed a while ago, which is probably as it’s the same stuff! But using the wipes is a different experience that the spray and cloth. I immediately thought I preferred the spray as that worked brilliantly but I struggled a little with the cloths, but after a while I realised as that’s because I don’t clean my sink and draining board very often so need to use a more abrasive cloth that these disposable ones. These wipes work really well, I just need to use them more regularly than I have been!

I did find I needed to use another cloth after the wipes only after I got one wet. If you’re cleaning your sink I’d advise you to wait until it’s dry before cleaning it as once the wipes are wet it leaves a milky residue on the surface that you need to wipe away. Not a big problem, but something to look out for.

I think these are a really good alternative to buying other disposable wipes, although I might stick to the spray version and a cloth. Or maybe I’l clean more often with these, hmmm.

Method Steel For Real Wipes cost £3.50 from most supermarkets and online shops such as Big Green Smile.

Ecover Window & Glass Cleaner Eco Product Review

Part of Ecover’s new range of cleaners with ‘Eco-Surfacants’ (you can read more here), the Window & Glass Cleaner was sent to me along with well-known brand Mr Muscle Window & Glass (with vinegar) to compare with.

Nowadays when I read the instructions on mainstream brands, the first thing I look at is the ‘caution’ section. And on this Mr Muscle it warns you not to breathe in the spray, use only in a well ventilated earlier and avoid prolonged contact with the skin. Not something I really want near me to be honest. But in the name of research I gave it a go.

And it’s pretty good actually. To be honest, neither gave the smear-free shine I was hoping for, but that means they work more or less the same. My windows in the lounge were particularly dirty so any sort of cleaning would have made a difference. But using it on the kitchen windows made a difference too although I wouldn’t have considered them dirty really. It’s quite satisfying having shining windows (or indeed, ones you can see out of) and the Ecover did a nice job. I didn’t have to use a great amount either.

Ecover Window & Glass Cleaner costs around £2.69 in supermarkets and is available online from places like Nigel’s Eco Store.

Ecover All Purpose Cleaner Eco Product Review

Part of Ecover’s new range of cleaners with ‘Eco-Surfacants’ (you can read more here), the All Purpose Cleaner was sent to me along with big brand Flash One for All to compare with.

I’m one of those people who like to be told what to do with a cleaner, this cleans ovens, this cleans windows etc. All purpose confuses me slightly, you put a capful or two in a bucket of water and then just go mad with it I think.

So I did, and it’s quite a refreshing thing to do. Cloth in hand I whirled around the bathroom and kitchen and enjoyed myself. Well to be honest I’d rather be sitting down with a beer watching the footy, but I enjoyed it as much as you can with cleaning.

I did the same with the Flash but wore some attractive rubber gloves (supplied by Ecover actually for the petrochemical big brand cleaners they sent and they’re Fair Trade made by Traidcraft) while doing it.

Both worked very well, it’s really hard to decide which is better. The scents were similar too – both lemon but slightly different but again I couldn’t decide which I preferred. What is comes down to again is that the Ecover is better for the environment – when you can get something as good as Flash but better for the world in which we live then why wouldn’t you?

Ecover All Purpose Cleaner costs around £1.59 for 500ml in supermarkets and is available online from places like Nigel’s Eco Store.

Ecover Power Cleaner Eco Product Review

Part of Ecover’s new range of cleaners with ‘Eco-Surfacants’ (you can read more here), the Power Cleaner was sent to me along with big brand Cilit Bang Power Cleaner/Degreaser to compare with.

Now Cillit Bang is known to be extremely powerful and when it cautions you not to use it on certain surfaces you realise it is. And I smells like it, it has an incredibly strong scent which, to me, means I don’t want to be around it for long. Ecover’s version on the other hand hardly smells of anything, it says it has a fresh plant fragrance.

The other difference is that although both are liquids in the bottle, Ecover’s Power Cleaner squirts out in a foam. Not much difference you would think, but I found it very useful when cleaning surfaces that aren’t horizontal – the Cillit Bang would run off quickly.

When it comes down to cleaning power, I didn’t found too much difference but if I’m honest the Cillit Bang seemed work a little better. But not much and I actually preferred using the foam as mentioned and I’ll feel happier using it on pots and pans than I do the Cillit Bang. Impressive stuff.

Ecover Power Cleaner costs around £3.99 in supermarkets and is available online from places like Nigel’s Eco Store.

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