Cif Multi-Purpose Actifizz Ocean Spray

Like most people, I seem to get through copious amounts of cleaning products in both my kitchen and bathrooms so I tend to buy products that are on offer rather than being loyal to any one particular brand. Although, having said that, when it comes to cleaning products I always go for brand names rather than trying stores own brands...I don't know why that is, I suppose I just trust the bigger brands to clean better. This is how I came to have a couple of bottles of this Cif Multi-Purpose Actifizz Ocean spray cleaner in the cupboards.

It's been a while since I bought it and I can't remember what I paid but the current price at Tesco is £2.75. I can only assume it must have been on either a half price offer or a "2 for" offer at the time of purchase as there is absolutely no way I would pay £2.75 for a kitchen or bathroom cleaner unless it came with an actual cleaning lady to do the work too!

The Cif is a typical spray cleaner bottle in that it contains 750ml of product which is dispensed through a spray nozzle at the top. The bottle is a turquoise blue colour which you can see through to see how much product you have left. The front tells us that it contains active fizzing technology (honestly, who comes up with this stuff?!) and that it gets rid of all kinds of dirt, gives a fresh fragrance and can be used in both the bathroom and kitchen. The back gives more detailed information about how quick and easy it should be to use this spray 9again, because of the Active Fizzing technology! It also tells us which surfaces it is suitable for use on, the usual warnings about keeping it away from children and your eyes and gives us the contact information for the manufacturer (Unilever, in case anyone is that interested!).

The spray itself is very easy to use, you simply have to turn the nozzle until the spray symbol is at the top then pull the trigger to squeeze an amount of the product onto whichever surface you want to clean. I tend to use 2 or 3 squirts per metre of kitchen work top, 5 or 6 in the bathroom sinks and a good dozen or more in the bath.

I have used this product in both kitchen and bathrooms for all the surfaces. In the kitchen it has been used on work surfaces, hob, sink, tiles, bin, taps, upvc door frame and door handles. In the bathroom is has cleaned the sink, toilet lid, bath, windowsill, tiled walls, glass shelving, metal bin, toilet roll holder and towel rails. In all cases it has left them looking clean, dirt free and shiny.

It only takes a few squirts of this to get rid of even the most horrid dirt (ie when husband washes up and doesn't rinse the sink out afterwards, or doesn't wipe the counters down properly and so leaves pasta sauce festering on the worktop and I don't realise until the next morning!), which I suppose the manufacturers would put down to this mysterious active fizzing technology but which, to be honest, I would expect from any cleaning product that they think is worth payng £2.75 for.

I would guess that with average use (a thorough cleaning of the bathroom once a week with the odd squirt every couple fo days to keep the sink etc fresh) this has lasted me around 6 weeks. I bought two bottles and I know I bought them after Christmas but can't remember exactly when, and am just about at the end of the 2nd bottle. Although had I continued using it in my kitchen it wouldn't have lasted as long as there are lots more surfaces etc to clean in there.

This Ocean fragranced spray does leave a nice fresh, although somewhat chemically, smell lingering afterwards for quite a while and this is the main reason that I only used it for a short time in my kitchen. I like the fragrance and don't find it offensive in any way but it is not something I really want my kitchen to smell of. I prefer the more citrussy smells in a kitchen rather than these oceany smells. For the bathroom, however, it is ideal, as this is exactly the kind of thing I think a bathroom should smell of.

All in all I have been very happy with this Cif actifizz. It works well at getting rid of dirt and grime in both the kitchen and bathroom, although I think the scent of this particular one is more suited to the bathroom. It is quick and easy to use, although I'm not sure about all the hype of the active fizzing thing...yes it does fizz a little on contact with the surface you spray it onto and yes this may help it clean things but I don't think it cleans any better or worse than other brands I've used. Having said that I would definitely purchase it again if it happened to be on offer when I was looking out for more spray cleaner but it definitely isn't worth paying full price for.