Tesco Toddler antibacterial Handwash

My first op with a rant! Yup .. all my other ops have so far been about something I think is worth getting, or at least trying out … (with the obvious exception of my miscarriage one!) So .. how do I approach writing an op on something that I am not best pleased about? It isn’t that I think the product is dreadful, nor that I don’t think it does what it claims to do, so … what is it I am moaning about?!!

First of all, let’s have a look at what the product is!

Well, I am sure you have all figured out what the product is .. what with it being written at the top of the page! The culprit … Tesco Toddler antibacterial handwash.

~~ What is it? ~~

Er … something that washes hands! And the antibacterial bit …well, kills the germs off! I think that the title of the product pretty much describes what it does, so I wont insult everyone’s intelligence and go on to describe what exactly a handwash is! If you want to know what is in it that kills of the germs then go to the bottom of the opinion and look through the list of ingredients.

~~ The Packaging ~~

The Handwash comes in a 300 ml bottle with a pump top. It is a clear plastic bottle, which is always handy so you can see how much you have left … and look for evidence that your children do actually wash their hands after all! A purple coloured label on the front of the bottle holds the product name and also a rather cheeky looking monkey .. showing off his clean hands. The bottle is topped rather colourfully with a bright yellow pump.

~~ The Handwash ..What the senses have to say! ~~

• The eyes
Just to finish off the colour combination the handwash inside is orange! So, we have orange, purple and yellow together .. yum!

• The nose
The handwash has quite a nice smell, rather fruity and “clean” Funny how soap products are always described as clean smelling! The scent isn’t over powering but at the same time it is easy to spot when little hands have been cleaned ..(great for catching the little tikes out!)

• The tongue
Er … nope .. not recommended! Jamie has got the soap in his mouth several times .. the evidence of which is a spluttering and spitting fit … followed by a cleaning of the tongue session. Most amusing to watch ;)

• The hands
The orange gunge inside is nice and thick … would be good for one of those put your hands inside something with your eyes shut kind of games .. perfect slime! The good thing about it being fairly thick is that it doesn’t run straight off your toddler’s hand. It is also easy enough to spread around once mixed with a bit of water. Top marks for the consistency

• The ears
No matter how carefully I listen with my ear up to the bottle I just can’t hear a thing! Good job too really as I would be quite freaked out if it suddenly started singing or talking to me! I wonder what it would say … “Now wash your hands” … “Pump away and watch me squirt”…. Ok .. now I think I am getting silly!! Needless to say the ears don’t really play a big part in this!!

~~ How to wash your hands ~~

The directions on the label tell you to “turn the spout clockwise to release pump, press to dispense, work into a lather and rinse thoroughly to leave hands fresh and clean.” Pretty straight forward really. I do find though that a bit of water is needed with the soap to give it a good lather.

~~ Does it CLEAN? ~~

Yup, no problems here. I have found that most things come off Jamies (and mine) hands without much of a problem. Really tough stains though still refuse to budge, like some marker pens …(funny enough the very same marker pen didn’t come off the conservatory walls very easily either .. thank you Jamie!!) For your everyday handcleaning though, after going to the toilet, before eating, bedtime etc it works just fine.

~~ Is it GENTLE? ~~

Tesco claims that this handwash is tough on germs yet gentle on toddler’s skin. Again I have had no problems here, it has never seemed to dry out Jamies skin. Even when his excema is up, the soap doesn’t seem to irritate.

~~ How much does it COST? ~~

Tesco Toddler antibacterial handwash will cost you £1.48. Not too pricey really.

~~ How long will it LAST? ~~

This obviously depends on how many times your toddler washes their hands, and how many pumps they do at a time. I find that one pump is sufficient for most washes. The bottle usually lasts a couple of months, which again I think is very good.

~~ Where’s the RANT then? ~~

So far I have pretty much said I think the product is good. And on most accounts I think it is. It is a good price, cleans well, smells nice and is gentle enough on skin. So, what could I have to complain about? The answer is quite simple … the PUMP! I have purchased this product three times now, and two out of these three bottles have had their pump break not long after opening. Two out of three, that’s pretty high! This hasn’t just been through Jamie pumping too hard, because one of the times it was my hand pumping when it broke. It snapped. Once snapped there is no way it will go back on the top and work again. Grrrrrr … a whole bottle of soap, in a nice pump dispenser … that wont come out. I have had to undo the whole top and pour a little onto Jamies hands. There is no way I would trust Jamie to do this by himself …(orange carpets I do not want!) so this means that I have to be with Jamie whenever he washes his hands. So much for being able to give a child some independence. On both occasions when the pump broke I returned the bottle to my local Tescos and they were happy to exchange. Still, exchange or not it is very annoying!

~~ Extra bits ~~

On the label on the front is the letter “M” .. both in upper case and lower case. If your read the back of the bottle it is suggested that you introduce some fun and learning whilst washing hands. It tells you how to do this … firstly ask your child the letter of the animal on the bottle ..(remember the monkey?!!) and then move on to others … and then explain the difference between the letter sounds and the letter names to avoid confusion later. Well, I don’t know about you, but I can think of better ways to introduce letters and sounds than to get your child to look at a soap bottle!! Oh well, I suppose it could work for some?

~~ Other INFORMATION that you may wish to know! ~~

• There are more products in the TODDLER RANGE including bodywash and wipes.

• Developed by Tesco with childcare specialists

• Carries a WARNING .. to keep out of children’s reach … (I assume this is not during a handwashing session!!)

• Avoid contact with the eyes. If this does occur, rinse well with running water

• No testing on animals by or for Tesco

• Ingredients: Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Parfum, Triclosan, Citric Acid, Benzophenone-4 Cl 15985, Cl 14700 …(phew … I wont be typing that again in a hurry!!)

• Produced in the UK

~~ My FINAL WORDS ~~

The actual handwash itself is good and I would recommend it. However, watch out for the pump. It doesn’t seem to matter how gently the pump is pressed, if it’s going to snap it’s going to snap! If it does make sure you take it back to Tesco for a refund or exchange .. and don’t forget to moan about it to them and hopefully they will improve the pump!