Ecover, previous winners of a Green Apple Award, have asked us to ‘road test’ the following products:
Washing Powder Biological Concentrate
Fabric Softener Amongst The Flowers
Being of delicate skin, I was a little apprehensive of the washing powder, liquid and softener, and also the hand wash – but I thought, no, give them a go: it will only be an hour of itching and scratching at worst.
So I arranged four lots of washing (two items in each): one for washing powder and softener: one for the liquid and softener: and the final 2 for liquid and powder without softener.
Once dried, and over a few days I wore these clothes and was very pleasantly surprised. They were soft and smelled fresh, both with and without the softener, and – best of all – no irritation to my skin with any item of clothing.
As a result, I really pushed the boat out and washed some towels in both powder and liquid – and enjoyed the same resul; soft, fresh smelling and no irritation.
I then turned to the hand wash.
After doing some DIY at the weekend and getting down and messy, installing a toilet (the builder’s putty being the messy part) I used the hand wash on my hands, arms and face.
This was very risky as nearly all hand washes cause irritation on my arms, but I was pleasantly surprised as there were no little itches or intense scratching. And even better was the fact that I used an Ecover-washed towel to dry – and still no irritation.
I felt like I was on to a winner so far, although I did wish for a different smelling hand wash.
During the DIY duties, I needed to remove a full-length mirror from the bathroom and my partner decided to clean this, using the Window and Glass Cleaner. All I heard was: “Wow, this stuff is great. No smears. I will be buying that in future.” No more needs to be said here!
Finally, I washed the floor with the All Purpose Cleaner.
I found this to be good on the wash, but the lemon fragrance was certainly lacking, even though I added an extra measure. The only way I could smell it to my satisfaction was to hold my head over the bucket – but it did clean the floor very well, and that is its primary purpose.
Overall, these products are right at the top of my eco-list of environmentally friendly products and will recommend Ecover to everyone I know. Add a few more fragrances and I believe more sales will follow.
Written by Karl Tullett