I should start this review by telling you that I am a HUGE Wilko fan. My family has lived near their HQ for years and my mum even lived in the same village as one of the Wilkinson Family for quite a few years. I've been to their shops all over the country and I love the range they sell and the quality of their own brand lines. Here in St Albans we have quite a large branch which I probably go into about once a week and buy everything from chocolate bars, to moisturiser, to cold and flu treatment, to fish food to kids craft materials. Where else can you get all that under one roof and at great prices? And on the high street too!
When I was contacted by their PR company asking if I wanted to review some of their cleaning products I was rather pleased. My heart did drop a bit when she said that she was sending me oven cleaner (the last two times I've cleaned my oven I've gone into labour within 24 hours – it's not exactly a job I'm a fan of) but I was intrigued to see what their own Wilko brand was like compared to the other brands that you see on the shelves.
Room Fragrance Spray
Now I'm not normally a fan of air freshener, but this Vanilla and Ylang Flower Room Fragrance Spray actually smells really nice. It's not at all overpowering, but it does mask unpleasant odours, or just make the room smell a bit nicer. The vanilla is fresh smelling, but also warm at the same time. A pleasant surprise.
Anti-Bacterial Wipes
With two children in the house there are plenty of times that I'm reaching for a cloth of some sort to wipe something up. And rather frequently what you're wiping up is pretty gross. I know wipes are a bit wasteful when you think in terms of landfill, but when you're wiping something like a highchair tray that Master C eats his meals off you want to use something anti-bacterial and these Wilko lemon anti-bacterial wipes are perfect. The lemon smell isn't over powering and the wipes are strong enough that you can use them without risk of them disintegrating.
Oven Cleaner
Now, this was the part that I was least looking forward to testing, but actually it was no where near as bad as I feared. The aim of the Wilko Oven Cleaner is to make the job simple. Let's just say that my oven was pretty dirty when I started on it. The shelves, door and interior were grotty – so much so that I didn't want to take too many photographs for fear of putting off anyone eating anything I cook in it again!
The cleaner comes with a large strong plastic bag in which you place the shelves and then pour in half the bottle of cleaning solution. The other half you pour into the base of the oven and then spread it around the dirty surfaces. This is strong stuff so they also provide you with a rather fetching pair of gloves to protect your hands.
The bag is agitated after a couple of hours to make sure that all the shelves get covered by the cleaning liquid, and it was rather frightening at this stage to see how dirty the liquid was! I was going to take a photo of the shelves in the bag, but frankly it was just too disgusting!
After four hours I attacked the oven with a damp cloth and was amazed at how quickly and easily I was able to wipe away the rest of the liquid and a year's worth of dirt and grease. I should have taken the rails of the sides first, but didn't think to do so. A lesson for next time.
For the shelves I just opened up the bag and put in some water straight from the tap. I then sloshed it about for a bit before pouring the liquid down the sink and then just rinsed the shelves under the tap. For a couple of stubborn burnt on bits I used a sponge scourer which removed them quickly.
I'm very pleased with the finished result – a vast improvement – and just in time for my mum coming to visit too!
Dish Cloths
I don't tend to use dish cloths for their primary purpose, but I did try a couple of the Wilko Dish Cloths when cleaning my oven and I really liked how large they are. They are also strong and easy to rinse out. These Wilko ones are also cheap enough (£1.20 for 4) that if you're doing a really dirty job you don't feel too bad about putting them in the bin afterwards.
Sponge Scourers
Chez C we tend to use sponge scourers for all our washing up as we like having the scouring ability there when ever we need it, but also the sponge side for things that don't require so much effort. It was lovely therefore to see a huge pack of 20 if them as part of the package to review as we use them do regularly. These one are a great size to fit in your hand, but again good enough quality that they last really well, certainly longer than some supermarket own brands that I've bought previously. At just £1 for 20 of them they're a complete bargain!
Disclaimer: I was sent this bundle of Wilko own brand cleaning products for the purpose of this review. All views and opinions are my own. Prices are correct according to the Wilko website at the time of writing. For latest prices and any special offers please go to their website.
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