Sainsbury's 'Basics' Washing Up Liquid > Reviews (7)

When it comes to washing up liquid, I tend to just purchase the cheapest going as I have a dishwasher and don’t tend to wash up very often, and only wash up when I only have a few items that need washing and therefore a bottle of washing up liquid lasts me quite a while so I only buy cheap.

The last bottle of washing up liquid I purchased was Sainsbury’s Basics Washing Up Liquid as the price was attractive to me. This washing up liquid costs just 47p for a 500ml bottle which is exceptionally cheap when compared to branded products such as Fairy.

The liquid comes in a very bland, plain white plastic bottle which bears little more than the orange Sainsburys basics logo. To the eye, it is very unattractive and quite unappealing but I am more interested in the product itself than the packaging and if bland packaging saves me a few pennies, then I’m all for it.

The liquid itself is a little thinner than many washing up liquids I have tried before, almost a little watery so although it did create bubbles when mixed with running water, it didn’t create a soapy, bubbly lather to work with as I would have liked. The washing up liquid did have that usual ‘soapy’ smell which I like. I tend to use gloves when washing up but don’t always bother if I am in a rush and I did find when not using gloves that my hands did feel a bit dry after use and I did have to use some hand cream after in order to take the dryness away from my hands.

As for its cleaning capabilities, the best I can say is ‘ok’. It cleaned ok though some more stubborn marks did take a little elbow grease to remove. Some more dried in marks certainly didn’t fall off the plate after a quick soak like you see on the Fairy adverts! All marks were removed though with a little bit of a scrub and my kitchenware was left clean enough but it looked a little dull.

When I use the dishwasher, my glassware is generally streak free and my plates etc are clean and shiny but there were a few water marks on my glasses and although my plates were clean enough, there wasn’t any shine to it so they didn’t look like they’d had a really good, thorough clean.

Overall, this is an ok washing up liquid for the price but it isn’t anything special. There is quite a noticeable quality difference between this and the likes of Fairy, but then there is a noticeable cost difference too so you really do get what you pay for. In summary, this is an average washing up liquid and no more.