Daisy Antibacterial Washing Up Liquid > Reviews (8)

Before I begin this review I must state that the blue antibacterial daisy washing up liquid appears to have been replaced with this product but the title is the same so can’t be added as a new product.

I am lucky enough to have a dishwasher but I always have a bottle of washing up liquid handy for those items that can’t go in the dishwasher and for those odd household tasks that need a bowl of hot soapy water (washing window frames etc). I usually buy Fairy but last time I was in Tesco I decided to try one of the cheaper products. I thought that just about anything would be suitable for the few jobs I needed it for and it would save some pennies.

I had heard of the discount Daisy products that Tesco are now producing and some reviews had been quite positive so I thought a bottle of the washing up liquid would be worth a try.

My eyes were immediately drawn to a bottle containing an attractive pink-coloured liquid. I don’t know why I opted for pink, it doesn’t go with my kitchen at all but I suppose I thought it looked pretty and would brighten up the dull job of washing up.

It cost me 70p for a 500ml bottle which seemed excellent value as the Fairy products were £1.40-£1.60 a bottle depending on the variety.

I must admit the label does look rather basic and cheap, it simply shows half of a drawn flower with the word Daisy in red and a small blue cross in a circle to indicate that it has an antibacterial action. The label also states that this is a concentrated washing up liquid.

Turning the bottle around reveals all the normal sorts of warnings found on this sort of product such as keep away from eyes and don’t ingest, a real idiots guide to what not to do with cleaning products! This is also where I found out that the product has “antibacterial pink grapefruit”. There is no mention of this in the ingredient list so I presume it is antibacterial with pink grapefruit perfume but I am not too sure what this statement is really supposed to mean.

The instructions say to dilute with water and use sparingly or use directly on a cloth or sponge after washing up for antibacterial effect. Once again I thought these were rather ambiguous instructions, I understood the bit about dilution obviously but wasn’t sure whether the other part meant squeeze and leave on the cloth to disinfect it or use neat on a cloth to wipe down surfaces. I am not paranoid about bacteria so I wasn’t worried but I just thought the statements were strange.

I found the bottle a convenient size and shape to hold and it had a good flip-open lid which was firm enough that it didn’t come open by accident but not so stiff that it was difficult to open when needed.

On first using the product I had a good sniff to see if I could detect any aroma of pink grapefruit, I was hoping for a fresh smelling product with a citrus edge. I was immediately disappointed, this smelt more like cheap bubblegum, really not particularly nice and it certainly didn’t smell clean and fresh.

The next step, obviously, was to use some in a bowl of water.

Unfortunately the week after I bought this my dishwasher stopped working so I had to start washing all my dishes by hand, a proper challenge for the washing up liquid. I tipped the bottle up and went to give it a squeeze, I hadn’t realised the consistency was so watery and I found I had squirted about a fifth of the bottle into the bowl! At least I expected I would now have lots of bubbles but unfortunately this wasn’t the case, the bowl was bubbly but no more than I would expect normally. I started washing the glasses and then the cutlery and although they were coming out clean without too much effort by the time I got onto the plates I had already run out of lather and the water was looking scummy. To wash-up a normal meal (that is with no greasy trays or burnt on grime) for four of us it took me two bowls of washing up water as there was just not enough cleaning power in one bowlful. The manufacturers claim that you should use the product sparingly which is really quite comical considering that a large dose still can’t even do the job properly.

I do not suffer from sensitive skin and I am useless at remembering to wear rubber gloves when I am washing up but I did find that my hands felt very dry and my skin felt tight after using this and I only used it for washing up properly for three days whilst waiting for my delivery. I could have just developed soft hands after years of not washing up regularly but since I rarely wear gloves for any cleaning jobs my skin is usually pretty tough!

Luckily I now have a new dishwasher so I have manage to relegate what is left of this bottle to just washing up the bits and pieces again. I have used it on a roasting tray and rubbing it directly onto the burnt on food with a scourer does just about get it clean but it requires a lot of elbow grease too.

Overall I must say that this stuff is really a complete waste of money. It may be cheaper than brands such as Fairy but the watery consistency and the poor performance means that I have had to use loads more than I would normally so, in fact, I think this product has worked out to be far less economical than the expensive brands are. The best things about it are the colour and the secure lid but they really aren't great selling points for a washing up liquid, I want clean dishes really!