| Product: |
Holts Screenies Wipes |
| Date: |
29/11/06 (516 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Simple and effective
Disadvantages: Impregnated with what
It was ‘chucking it down’ the other evening as I left to pick one of the kids up from football practice. As I leapt out of the front door narrowly avoiding falling A over T on the wet leaves that littered our driveway I decided to take the wife’s car as it was closest.
It’s a 7-seater people carrier and I jumped in and turned the ignition, the dash lit up and I immediately looked at the petrol gauge, something I’ve learnt always to do as I’m sure my wife has a phobia of petrol stations. One solitary amber bar was displayed, well that was enough to get me to the training ground and back again so off I went. As I pulled out of the drive a high pitched beep sounded and the dash displayed a picture of a petrol pump, sometimes I wonder if she’s not standing at the window pointing a remote control at the car to make this warning indicator appear.
I have to say the interior of the car was sparkling, clean as a whistle, then I remembered she had said a few days earlier that she had spent an afternoon cleaning the car. There were a few smears on the windscreen but hey I’m not one to pick faults or look a gift horse in the mouth when someone else has cleaned the car. As I turned out of our road and the headlights of the on coming traffic bounced brightly off the windscreen, the few smears suddenly turned in to a mass of lines and scuffs. I could not see a thing, it was as though the windscreen had turned in to a block of cracked ice. Oh dear me I said or something along those lines anyway and pulled over as quickly as I could.
Taking a handkerchief out of my pocket, ok I haven’t had one of those since my school days but it did sound posh! Taking an old tissue out of my pocket I rubbed the windscreen as hard as I could and managed to clear a patch big enough for me to get to the local garage safely. I filled up with petrol which would obviously put my wife’s fear of petrol stations to the back of her mind for a couple of weeks at least and also picked up a packet of ‘Holts Screenies’ to clean up the interior of the windscreen.
This was the only interior screen wipe the garage stocked and I paid £2.99 for a pack of 20 wipes. The packs are about 6 inches by four inches and are packaged in the same way facial cleaning wipes or Johnsons baby wipes are. There is a self sealing air tight pull down flap on the front which when opened allows you to pull out a wipe much the same way you would pull a tissue out of the box. The flap needs to be closed afterwards so that the air does not dry the wipes out.
The screen wipe is actually folded in half in its packaging and when opened out resembles a normal tissue in appearance, it’s moist like a wet wipe but not sodden and the fragrance is not unlike some cleaning detergents or could also be likened to a mild turps or white spirit smell.
The packaging does not state what chemicals the wipes contain. There is in fact very little information on the packaging at all. On the rear of the packaging Holts claim the wipes are non-smearing and clean in seconds. They also recommend using two wipes on very dirty surfaces. Their website offers little more information other than saying the wipes are ‘impregnated with a powerful cleaning agent’ and ‘Improve visibility, maximising all-round vision’.
On the night in question I was in a hurry, as I did need to pick my son up, so it was just as well the wipes did clean in seconds. The people carrier has a large screen and I did end up using 3 wipes, but the wipes cut through the residue on the screen with ease, it did still look a little smeary but the third wipe I used left the screen crystal clear. I was unsure what the oily residue was on the interior of the screen but the wipes made light work of it and I was soon on my way.
The easiest way of seeing if your windscreen is clear is at night with beams of light from the on coming traffic shining on your screen. I’m pleased to say the wipes passed this test with ease. I mentioned the smell of the wipes earlier and one point worth mentioning is the smell does not linger, five minutes after the screen was clean the detergent smell was not noticeable.
On returning home, the rain had subsided, the screen was nice and clear, the tank was brimming with petrol, I walked in the back door to explain my eventful drive but first I saw the second cracking view of the evening as my wife was bent over loading the washing machine. Enough of those cheeky thoughts!
As it turns out the Mrs was so into cleaning the car she had used household polish on the interior of the screen, just to buff it up! Well that explains that and well done to Holts, what ever the detergent impregnated into the wipe is it did a very good job of cleaning the windscreen.
I am at a loss as to why they don’t state the chemicals used, could the wipe cause an allergic reaction to an unsuspecting user? I don’t know the answer to that but that really is the only fault I can find with the product.
Halfords also stock these wipes and at the lower price of £2.49. Also, Holts produce Screenies for both the interior and exterior of the windscreen, the packaging is the same for both products except for the one word change. Make sure you choose the right one.
Thanks for reading.
Summary: Cleans in seconds with minimal fuss
| Processing/Quality: |
|
 |
| Reliability: |
|
|
| Features: |
|
 |
| Spaciousness: |
|
|
|
|
