Neither Ecover nor their PR company have paid me for this review and in fact requested that I was completely honest. In order to provide a fair comparison, I was sent Ecover’s new range AND products from their leading competitors.

So as I mentioned in my last post, Ecover’s PR people approached me and asked if I’d like to do a side-by-side comparison of their products against some leading brand petrochemical-based cleaning products. At first I was a little bamboozled – surely they’d read this blog and my varying mentions of hating housework and my lack of cleaning prowess? Why on earth did they want the world’s most apathetic Mum blogger to test their products? Then of course, my interest was caught because I’ve always been a fan of Ecover’s philosophies but my concern was that being plant-based and “green” would mean the products wouldn’t be up to much. I should also mention here that I have hideously sensitive skin and contact dermatitis and as much as I’d like to be cautious, I don’t have time to go searching for rubber gloves every time the kids spill something you know? So the more I thought about it the more my interest was piqued and I agreed to test them out.

When the trug arrived with some serious-looking  cleaning products I was even more curious. Ecover’s PR people pulled no punches, they were requesting that I test Ecover against the big guns – Cillit Bang, Flash and Mr Muscle. By this point I wasn’t sure what to think. Were they serious? An ecologically friendly, plant-based real alternative to less-than-environmentally-friendly cleaners that may not be green, but get the job done? Sounds amazing in theory but I just couldn’t see how it was possible.

My first test was on the windows. Nairn and Erica had drawn on the windows with crayon which I’d left as a sign of their independance and artistic creativity. Crayon is a pain in the patootie to get off of most surfaces at the best of times so I didn’t hold out much hope. I gave each window a skoosh – one with Mr Muscle and one with the Ecover – and both worked straight away. No real win for either… until I realised the Mr Muscle had smeared the wax rather than lift it straight off. Plus one for the Ecover brand, there.

My second test was with the all-purpose cleaners. I’ll confess here that we usually use a fair amount of bleach to clean the floor in the hall, bathroom and kitchen because quite frankly we have a lot of children who walk muck from one end of the house to the other. The problem being that the bleach irritates my skin and I can’t walk on the floor barefoot even once it’s dry, so I was really hopeful that the Ecover product would do the job. My gripe with this product though was that when I (stupidly) opened the cap and had a sniff it nearly blew my nostrils inside out, BUT once I’d diluted it in water the smell was a lot less grab-the-back-of-your-throat than I’m used to with other cleaning products. Plus two for Ecover.  The back of the bottle mentions using this one neat for stubborn stains but I found simply mopping with it diluted was enough to lift everything the kids/cats/goblins had traipsed in. This one I wouldn’t say was particularly better in terms of cleaning ability than the Flash, but it was comparable and had the added benefits for me of not irritating my skin.

Showing myself up here, but the kitchen is really Bob’s domain and so I handed over the degreasers to him so the hob could be given a once over. He used the Cillit Bang on one half and the Ecover on the other, then promptly forgot which side was which. But this in itself was a success because the hob was spotless with no ‘giving it a bit more welly because it’s eco-friendly and therefore not likely to be up to much’. The simple fact is, this stuff is good. My hob was pretty grotty and Ecover’s power cleaner managed to stand up to that against a product that is seriously strong.

The final product I tested was the multi surface cleaner (which I tested against Flash One for All spray). Stupidly, I used the flash on the first day and wiped down the table without wearing rubber gloves. Within an hour, I had a sore red rash in between my fingers which immediately hacked me off so I switched to the Ecover and it has now been my go-to product for everything. I’ve used it to clean the bathroom, I’ve used it to clean the table and I used it in the car to clean up after Erica spewed everywhere last week. In cleaning terms I found I preferred the Ecover immediately because it wasn’t irritating my skin but still getting the job at the same time.

So – I have to admit I’m surprised. I was worried about writing this review because I thought if I was honest and the product was crap that a) People that read this blog would stop buying eco-friendly products and b) Ecover’s PR people would send a hitman in an electric car to make my body into worm food. Luckily for me the Ecover range stood up to all the crap a family with four grotty kids and two less-than-tidy adults could throw at it. Would I recommend it? I’d do more than that – I’ve already replaced the multi surface cleaner and I’ll be moving over to an Ecover household. I do like it when I feel like an ethical and responsible consumer!

Ecover have kindly donated for a giveaway the complete set of the products tested by us. Please click here to enter.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted under recommendations