Fairy is usually found next to my kitchen sink, but sometimes I like to give other brands a try - although invariably end up going back to my favourite.  I paid 59p for this 500ml bottle, which is a good saving compared to 99p Fairy.

You need a good old squirt to use this washing up liquid properly, fortunately the thin consistency makes this easy every time - even when you only want a bit!  I knew from the way the level dropped in the bottle after my first washing up session that the bottle wouldn't last long, and I was right - just six days later I was throwing the empty bottle in the bin and cracking open a Fairy.  Makes the 40p saving seem a bit pointless considering I can get roughly three weeks out of a single bottle of Fairy.

As this is the original version it has a soapy, clean smell.  It's a nice smell but nothing special, it doesn't leave a residue on my crocks which is the main thing for me as I'm not the best rinser in the world.  This Daisy washing up liquid actually rinses very easily, on this it can compete with Fairy.  It's surprising in a way as you have to use so much of the product in the first place, but rinsing under the cold tap is extremely quick and never leaves a residue even on bakeware - which is notorious for clinging to the smell and taste of washing up liquid.

As far as cleaning abilities go, I wasn't surprised that it didn't work as well on tough food stains as Fairy.  The consistency of the washing up liquid is visibly too weak to cope with foods such as dried on bolognese sauce or particularly greasy crocks.  I was almost gagging the other day washing a lamb fat encrusted roasting tin, I could tell the Daisy was trying to crack through the grease but it failed and left the whole washing up bowl in a vile greasy mess.  That was after leaving it to soak in hot Daisy-d water for half an hour too, terrible!  In comparison Fairy would have had the same tin clean in minutes after a soaking, so yet again that 40p saving is in doubt.

Daisy bubbles up quite well, you don't get soft or luxurious foam but the generous slug of washing up liquid I mentioned earlier will transform into plenty of bubbles to get you in the mood for washing up.  Again, it doesn't compare to the soft tickly bubbles from a squirt of Fairy but again I didn't really expect it to.

I keep referring back to Fairy, it might seem a bit unfair considering I'm reviewing the Daisy brand here but it's my way of getting my point across.  Daisy, for all it's cheapness, simply isn't worth switching to.  At least their Lemon variety has the smell going for it, but this original one is just a dumbed down (and not always effective) Fairy copy.