I'm not usually one to have tissues around the house, but after having both colds and flu this year I have realised just how handy they can be!

Let's face it, there's only so many times you can blow your nose with loo roll (no matter how fancy or posh it is!) before your nose becomes so red and sore that you can't bear to touch it anymore.
Not a good situation to be in when it's only the first day in and you can expect another 3 or so days with a runny nose!

If I was buying myself, I would probably just go for an 'Own Brand' box of tissues, but on this occasion a friend (obviously with money to burn!) bought me a few packs of Kleenex Anti-viral.

I have the small, pocket sizes tissues which I believe can be bought individually or in packs of three. You can also buy a large, standard sized box of the tissues. Kleenex Anti-viral are slightly more expensive than standard Kleenex. Boots are currently selling them for £2.25, compared to £1.99 for the standard boxes, although they do have a two for £3 offer on, which makes them quite reasonably priced.

But are they worth it?

I had never really understood the need for tissues to be anti-viral before as they end up going straight in the bin (not going to cause trouble for anyone in there are they?!?), but after looking on the Kleenex website I kind of get the idea.
Basically, kids get colds more often than most people (five times more often, apparently); kids then pass the cold on to the rest of the family; they also leave tissues lying around the house (so true!) - Hence the need for virus-free tissues.

Kleenex Anti-viral kills 99.99% of viruses, specifically the viruses that cause colds and flu; they also kill the Respiratory Syncytial Virus virus, which is the leading cause of lower respiratory infection in children. Obviously, this is something that we cannot really test for ourselves, so we'll just have to trust Kleenex on that one.

The tissues themselves have three layers, the middle of which is the Antiviral sheet. This is the sheet that 'catches' the virus; it looks and feels exactly the same as the other sheets, apart from a pattern of blue spots that cover one side of the sheet. Using them, they feel exactly like the standard Kleenex tissues; soft and gentle, yet strong enough to keep their shape and texture.

They really are great quality tissues, although I'm not sure that they are good enough to tempt me away from my Own Brand packs (and Own Brand prices!).
I am not particularly impressed by the 'virus killer' tissue claim; my son tends to sleep in my bed with me when he's ill, so it would take more than virus-free tissues to reduce my risk of infection! It is therefore just the softness and general quality of the tissues that would tempt me, and as they are exactly the same as the standard Kleenex tissues, this isn't a huge selling point.

I have decided that, although they are a nice idea, the Kleenex Anti-viral tissues just aren't the miracle product that they seem to promote themselves as, and just aren't really worth the extra money.
Yes, having virus-free tissues is a nice idea, but just binning the things in the first place is an even better one!