Ecover Washing Up Liquid

...lecture on Camomile & Marigold Ecover Washing Up Liquid…..


Washing up liquid may well be something that we use everyday, but how much do we think about what goes down the drain and where that drain goes. Ecover have been thinking about that on our behalf and here are their results:


Who are Ecover?

It may surprise many of you, as it has surprised me, Ecover have been in existence for more ...
...

The Ecover Range:

Although this review is on the washing up liquid, I feel I should also introduce you to some of their other products, as although you may want to stick with your current brand of washing up liquid I may be able to pursuide you over to Ecover for another of their products, so here we go a quick list. (If you aren’t interested in other products, please feel free to skip it!):


For ... more

When I first thought about writing this review I was cautious, firstly I don’t want to preach and secondly how interesting can washing up liquid be. So for the last few weeks I’ve mulled it over and decided that it’s the same as every review, for the people who are interested in the product it may help. So here we go my short lecture on Camomile & Marigold Ecover Washing Up Liquid…..

Washing up liquid may well be something that we use everyday, but how much do we think about what goes down the drain and where that drain goes. Ecover have been thinking about that on our behalf and here are their results:

Who are Ecover?

It may surprise many of you, as it has surprised me, Ecover have been in existence for more than 20 years. Established in 1979, Ecover’s mission was to produce ecologically friendly cleaning products. Now, if you cast your mind back to 1979 or even to most of the 80’s you may agree with me that this company was once way ahead of its time. Since then culture is starting to catch up and more and more of us are becoming more ecologically aware. Ecover’s mission is not only to produce ecologically friendly products, but ones that are also not tested on animals, and only use supplier who also do not carry out testing on animals .

The Ecover Range:

Although this review is on the washing up liquid, I feel I should also introduce you to some of their other products, as although you may want to stick with your current brand of washing up liquid I may be able to pursuide you over to Ecover for another of their products, so here we go a quick list. (If you aren’t interested in other products, please feel free to skip it!):

For Washing Up:
• Lemon and Aloe Vera Washing Up Liquid.
• Dishwasher Tablets
• Rinse aid for dishwashers

For Cleaning:
• Floor Soap with natural linseed oil
• Cream Cleaner
• Multi-Surface Cleaner
• Toilet Cleaner Pine Fresh
• Squirteco (All purpose cleaner)

For Washing Clothes:
• Biological Washing Powder
• Non Biological Washing Powder
• Washing tabs
• Non-bio Laundry Liquid
• Laundry Bleach
• Fabric Softener Morning Fresh
• Delicate Fabric Softener
• Stain Remover

Other Household Products:
• Heavy Duty Hand Cleaner
• Compost bags

The Bottle:

As you may expect the bottle is pretty plain and tasteful. The image they are selling is clean, fresh and pure and this is definitely reflected in its packaging. With a semi transparent blue flip lid the liquid is as easy to pour as any other. The bottle itself is a cloudy transparent with a small semi transparent picture of the extract the bottle contains (in this case marigold but varies according to the extract the washing up liquid contains). On the back is a small list of ticked elements which the washing up liquid achieves, Instructions of use, size of bottle, ingredients and contact details for Ecover.

The Liquid Itself:

So I’ve plugged Ecover, their other products, told you what the bottles look like and now it is time to tell you about the liquid itself. The liquid is nearly clear, although has a slight hue to the transparency. The smell is subtle and natural as you might expect and surprisingly soothing for a washing up liquid. It doesn’t have any of the normal detergent smell that other leading washing up liquids have. Instead it is fresh, flowery and pleasant.

The consistency I would guess from picking up other liquids is slightly thinner, more in line with that of thin bleach than treacle!

Using the liquid:

The bottle says ‘One squeeze is enough’ and in my experience of using this liquid it seems to do the job with a very moderate amount. However, do not expect the same appearance in your washing up bowl as when using other liquids, keep reminding yourself that this is a predominantly natural product. It will not produce huge quantities of bubbles no matter how much you put in, so don’t! If you stop and think about it, why does it actually need to produce bubbles anyway? Nothing else we use for cleaning produces bubbles, so why is it a pre-requisite of washing up liquid? Bleach the mother of all cleaning, dirt killing products doesn’t produce bubbles does it? The reason that other washing up liquids do, is for one reason only, because they believe that is how we judge a good washing up liquid. And they are right aren’t they, just think of the Fairy ads and their references to bubbles!!! And why do we like bubbles, because it hides the dirt we have produced and gives us the feeling that the dirt has vanished as we look down on our pure white bubbles. But think of it like this, how many of us after taking the beautiful clean dishes out of the bowl, then rinse the bubbles away, subconsciously knowing that what is alright for the water is not alright on our plates! How often have you washed up a cup then made a cup of tea only to realise it tastes of washing up liquid, well remember that taste, that is how bad the liquids & bubbles are!!! So like I say don’t worry at the lack of bubbles!

The bottle states that the liquid is ‘Kind to your hands thanks to plant based ingredients’ and I have to say I have found this to be true. I can remember before I switched brands the feeling of tightness on my skin, with this liquid I’ve never had this feeling. Also following using it, I don’t have the feeling that I should rinse my hands as also I had previously.

Where can they be brought?

This is the good part. I’ve been using Ecover’s washing up liquid for the past 5 years and until recently it really was a mission to find it and buy it. Now that mission is gone, it can be purchased from Tesco, Waitrose & Sainsbury and I think Asda. As well as these leading supermarkets it can also be found gracing the shelves of many health stores and hopefully it will make an appearance at markets in the near future. If you are reading this from somewhere else in Europe then there is still a chance you may be able to pick it up if you are in the Netherlands, France or Germany.

Price & Size:

The smallest size the liquid comes in is the trial size of 100ml, beyond this it matches all other leading brands in size. But perhaps the biggest selling point for this washing up liquid is that it is available for very similar prices to the leading brands such as Fairy. I think last time I looked there was about 1p difference between the two! So this is one of the only ecological products that is as widely available and as competitively priced.

Ingredients:

Normally I wouldn’t tell about the ingredients, however in this case it is a vital part of the product. I don’t have any other brands of washing up liquid, but if you are curious how these ingredients compare, have a look at your brand, I’m sure you will be shocked at the number of un-understandable ingredients there are! So here is what Ecover washing up liquid contains:

5-15% plant based anionic & non-ionic tension-active surfactants (ok difficult to understand, but basically put they are plant extracts which have an acid component to them).
Water
Milkwhey
Plant based fragrance
Extracts of Camomile & Marigold (or whatever version you are using)
Salt
Citric Acid
100% bio-degradable preservative.

So as you can see, nothing scary or manufactured in there!

Refilling Bottles:

As I mentioned earlier, Ecover’s mission is to save the planet in more ways than one. Not only are their products friendly, but so are their containers. All of their containers are recycled and all can be refilled. The chore with refilling is that they can only be refilled from Health food shops. If you go to the Ecover website (listed below), there is advice on how to find your nearest refilling agent. But if you really want to do your bit, the option is there, if not then using & attaining this product is as easy as any other.

Want to Try it?

If you are slightly curious about Ecover Washing Up Liquid after reading this review but aren’t convinced enough to buy it as an alternative to your normal brand then there is another option. Ecover are presently working alongside the bodies looking after the River Thames to encourage people to switch to friendlier products and clean up the Thames so that fish can live happily once again. In this bid there are free samples presently being given out (I’m not sure how long this is going on for, so if you read this review and the link is dead please let me know!). If you go to www.riverthames.co.uk there is an advert on the homepage for Ecover. From here it will lead you through the procedure to claim a free sample. They will then send out a 100ml sample, generally in the space of a couple of weeks. The sample is enough to plough through a week or so of washing up (depending on how much washing up you do!) and should give you an idea of its cleaning ability.

So there you have it, plenty of info to digest, the chance for something free and the end of my lecture, all that remains is to give you useful contact details, so here is the real end!

Contact Details:

www.ecover.com (For company info etc)

01635 574553 (UK Customer Careline)

www.riverthames.co.uk (To get a free sample)
 

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