Fairy Washing Up Liquid Original > Reviews (22)

Like Mr Sheen furniture polish there are some household cleaning products that have been around for years and years, Fairy liquid is another that I remember both my parents and grandparents using when I was a child and as the years have gone by and I've grown up I find myself using the same products that they once did.

Fairy Original is perhaps the best known washing up liquid on the market, it's been around for decades and despite stiff competition from other brands I do think it remains the best product available for getting your dishes and cutlery clean. There are many varieties of 'Fairy' available now, some are different in colour to green, others contain skin-softening ingredients but the one I always go for is the 'Original' and it's my bottle of the stuff that I'm reviewing here.

It doesn't need much of a description as I would imagine that everyone at some point in their life will have seen a bottle of Fairy and my photograph shows how it comes packaged today. Proctor and Gamble (the maufacturers of Fairy) don't even bother to give a 'directions for use' instruction on the bottle these days probably down to the fact that its a self-explanatory product and anyone with any sense will know that a small amount of the product should be added to a sink or bowlful of hot water in order to generate a mass of foaming, cleaning suds.

If you are of the age where you remember the old television adverts for Fairy you'll recall that they always told you that you only ever needed a small squirt of the washing up liquid to be able to create enough bubbles to effectively clean your dishes and that remains the case today. A little does indeed go a very long way with Fairy and I find that I only have to add a small amount of the product into my kitchen bowl for it to generate a large amount of suds which in turn easily cut through any grease and dried on food that might be on my plates and cutlery. There's nothing that Fairy wont shift when it comes to washing up and even remnants of burnt-on oven cooked food on baking trays and grill pans cause it no trouble, admittedly they need to be soaked for a while but they do come up a treat and it's the same with glass dishes, and again if you remember TV adverts from the 70's and early 80's you'll recall the 'squeaky clean' claims that were made by Nanette Newman and co (yep, I'm that old!). Cutlery in particular always ends up with a shine that is hard to replicate by using other brands and because you don't need to add a lot of the liquid I never find that my pots and pans end up with a soapy residue or have any hint of a soapy taste to them.

Fairy claims to be upto 50% longer lasting than the next best selling brand and speaking from experience I would say that would be about right. I haven't always been loyal to Fairy I must admit, I have been swayed by the cheaper-priced competition and budget brands but have found that I had to use a lot more of the product to generate the same amount of suds that Fairy gives and the cheaper buys end up being a false economy as a bottle doesn't last as long and needs replacing a lot quicker.

Fairy might not be the cheapest washing up liquid available but it is the best and even though I may from time to time wander away from the product I always end up going back to it in the end and always notice the difference when I do. It's not that expensive anyway to be fair, a 433ml bottle costs around £1.50 depending on where you buy it from and sometimes features on a "two for £2" offer instore at Tesco and Morrisons.

It's a five star product as far as I'm concerned, it's not the most glamorous product in the world but washing up isn't the most exciting way to pass some time. For a job that has to be done I want something that works quickly and efficiently and Fairy ticks all the boxes for me. Definitely recommended, thanks for reading my review.