“Now look,” my mother said, “I’ve bought this HG cleaner, it’s expensive so go easy and I want you to get up on the ladder and get the paint marks off the vinyl.”

Stuff £6! For two years I’ve constantly recommended this wonderful miracle product from 151. Called “Elbow Grease,” to all of my friends - it’s a non-toxic degreasing formula god send! I’ve been using it to clean ovens, hobs, the microwave and the recent drama of washing down kitchen lights which are prone to grease caught from the cooker opposite in our kitchen. One spray, one wipe – you’ll be surprised as to the amount of grease and dirt this spray formula lifts.

So let’s go back to 2005…This is a long review and I make no apology for it; I found this product to be the best on the market against higher priced cleaning solutions.

Picture this. Asked if we could help out a friend move into a new home, my mum responded saying that I was free that weekend to help out, particularly as the carpets hadn't arrived and there was no vacuuming to do, but I was more than happy to clean and wash down the cupboards. My mum's choice was to use her favoured Kitchen Power spray, a spray which manages to make me sneeze at the best of times where it's highly toxic fumes can over come me from time to time - particularly if my mother keeps squeezing the trigger on the bottle to get more of this chemical solution out to burn off dirt and grease - without a window being open.

I however had my secret weapon; 151's non-toxic Elbow Grease formula.


** Availability & Product **


Elbow Grease is made by 151 Products, who supply most Pound and Thrift shops with a lot of cheap different products. Elbow Grease seems to be more of a consumer friendly first, rather than industrial, because everyone I know who has used this product always talks about its positive strengths.

The price per bottle should cost a mere £1 but it is hard to get unless you live near a privately owned pound shop OR Semi Chem who after Christmas has started stocking this excellent product on their shelves. Semi Chem's price is usually just 99p for the standard 500ml bottle.

Elbow Grease is a NON-TOXIC formula which is one of the best advantages going for this product. It was recommended to me and in turn I've since recommended its use to all the nurseries and pre-schools I've worked in as well as the current secondary school I'm in, not just for shifting dirt on contact but other uses which I shall elaborate on later.

Primarily Elbow Grease Degreaser is just what it states on the label. It is a non toxic degreasing spray liquid, non-aerosol type which breaks up dirt and grease on contact.

I have used this product for two years now and still heartily recommend it to anyone who is looking for an all purpose degreasing spray in the home. Notably for any consumer who hates using products which have lots of chemicals especially around children, this is one spray you should consider.

Looks wise the bottle has a red top with a white twist On/Off channel and a white accompanying trigger. The bottle is a clear acrylic, slightly clouded and carries a green label with "Elbow Grease," written in red thick lettering and slightly angled. Below this you'll find the words "All Purpose Degreaser" in smaller white lettering against a bluish rectangle background.


** Examples **


I've found that Kitchen Power spray seems to break up grease after five minutes. And I mean this by the liquid forming a mass of bubbles at the centre of the grease spot rather than around it. I’ve found whereas Kitchen Power needs time for its properties to hone in on the stain rather than working immediately 151 Elbow Grease does its break up upon contact instantly.

Squeezing the trigger on the bottle should either spread a fine mist or a hefty squirt onto the affected area according to the 4 way rotating square white nib at the end of the spray and it has the usual “on” and “off” markings with further markings of optional releases . Whilst my mum stood and chatted away to her friend waiting for the grease to shift on her side of the kitchen, I was already wiping down all the stuck on grease, dust and dirt which had stuck itself to the tops of the food cupboards on my side of the kitchen in less than 2 minutes. Oh yes the Kitchen Power finally managed to clear the grease, but only as I found in one area where the spray had hit the spot, in the centre whilst the Elbow Grease cleared it all up in one.

Elbow Grease can be used on virtually every surface. I've used it in our bathroom as well as the kitchen sinks and worktops. Of course in harder to reach areas, EG is brilliant at breaking up grime but if you don't wipe it immediately you'll start to see lines of the liquid dirt starting to fall down walls, which should shock you into realising how dirty places can really be! One of the key points of this cleaning spray is that whenever it hits dried on food stains, food spots in particular; it will surround the spot with its liquid and eventually loosen.

Here are a few other examples:


• Burnt on grease around gas hob rings: Here for example one spray is more than enough to leave on the hob before applying a hot sponge or wet cloth to the area. Elbow Grease is not flammable so you don't have to worry if you have left surplus liquid on the hob after washing down.

• Microwave: Interior cleaning is simple, again spray and leave for a moment before applying wet cloth. What is remarkable is the amount of dirt which comes off the metal, and any painted area inside such an oven if you don't have stainless steel inside. Externally, Elbow Grease gets rid of food stains which have been stuck on and removing marks from the fascia at the front is very easy.

• Car grease and Oil is no problem for Elbow Grease. It cuts through car oil and grease, particularly if you get it on your hands. Whilst Elbow Grease can leave a sticky feeling behind on skin, it gets rid of oily substances which have been left on machinery in general.

• Finger marks and general oily deposits left on window surrounds also come up well with Elbow Grease. With other products if you can’t be bothered to put some of your manual elbow grease in yourself, spray EG on the hob and wait a couple of minutes for the burnt on stains to break down.

• Soap deposits simply roll off with Elbow Grease, handy to use in the bathroom, around the bath itself on any type of porous material as well as coloured plastic baths. Elbow Grease brings stainless steel and chrome up looking professionally gleaming.

• I was curious one day to see how this would benefit in the school. I left it in the department for general worktop cleaning as well as use with some of the keyboards in the school which can get oily from pupil's fingers. We no longer have chalk boards at school, and they have since been replaced with white PVC boards. Elbow Grease managed to destroy and break down permanent ink which had been applied to the board by mistake - a common problem - but because white spirit is a no-no product to keep in the classroom, Elbow Grease CAN get rid of permanent ink marks on a PVC white board. Excellent when you consider some of the prices schools are charged for purpose ink removal sprays and creams and they themselves are never available due to constant use.


** Tips To Using **


The secret I use with Elbow Grease is with a damp cloth. I find that too much water on a cloth will make this agent foam up, and as such a damp cloth usually produces great results. Elbow Grease works better if you use a lukewarm towel as opposed to cold water too. Although EG will shift grease and oil, it works faster with the aid of a hot cloth rather than cold and works even faster if you have a Micro fibre cloth or one of those Spongex metallic scourer foam pads (another product I love but seldom find!)

For the price then, I have bought 3 bottles in one go; one for use in the kitchen, one for use in the bathroom and one for use elsewhere in the home – and EG is quite a universal cleaner.

From time to time, depending on usage I have found that the liquid can foam up in the bottle, and with it having a twisting unlocking action on the neck, it's handy to loosen off and add some water to water down the content - this does not harm the agent's contents, if anything I find it prolongs Elbow Grease that little bit longer until I can buy another bottle!


** The Scent **


Unfortunately the scent of this product is something I don't really like. It isn't as strong as Kitchen Power but there is a distinct chemical smell here, some scent of citrus oil, which could well justify partly some of its brilliant ingredients which shift oil and grease stains. There is a strong smell here of Windowlene type products, similar also to Flash but if it works and if the product does state it's non-toxic I guess there is one downside in general terms to this product when using it. Looks wise the liquid is a slightly off lemon water colour, not cloudy but coloured and clear.

151 (from 2007 onwards) have also launched Elbow Grease with Orange oil, which lessens the original chemical smell and replaced it with a vibrant orange scent.


** Other Problems **

As the bottle states, as a consumer you should test a small part of the area you are cleaning and as the bottle goes onto warn, Elbow Grease will not clean plastic acrylic or see through plastic such as Visors. I have tried this already and find that the liquid rolls off at any given notice and does not clean acrylic terribly well.

Contents wise, this product does carry very small amounts of Irritants despite its non-toxicity so it is best to check the back of the bottle as to what it contains. It is however solvent free.

Largely depending on the shop you visit, there are slightly two different designs of the bottle but both are the same 500ml with red gun and white trigger. Look for the more angular design against the softer oval shaped top and channel spray outlet. Why? Well for some reason, those bottle's tops have a tendency to fall off. I always grip the bottle where the hand defies logic on the well designed grip just below the neck of the bottle. There have been times however when I did this on the oval shaped bottles, the top comes off and all of the EG gets knocked out and gets all over me.


** Conclusion **


Elbow Grease Degreaser is one of those products which by its very advertising could pass you by. Designed with very much the cleaner type employee in mind, this is one spray you should consider for instant worktop stain removals, particularly in the kitchen and of course, lastly without saying, degreasing and oil removal. For £1 who am I to argue with? The only downside is looking for this product. Impress the manager of your local supermarket to get this in! Thanks for reading. ©Nar06 (review originally from Ciao)


** Update; 2007 **


So to recap to the beginning of this review; briefly the EG knocked spots off a chemically based product called HG cleaner for the removal of paint marks on vinyl walls; that product cost £6-95 for a 500ml bottle and usually sits on the shelves at paint shops. Needless to say we won’t be wasting money like that on HG’s products when we have 151 Elbow Grease.

Another miracle which has occurred has been using Elbow Grease in my Vax. Splitting the parts of carpet shampoo, one half of the cap with one half of Elbow Grease means that grease on kitchen flooring shifts a hell of a lot quicker than the standard hard floor or 3 in 1 carpet/floor cleaning agent is supposed to do. Mixing the two solutions together however leaves our kitchen floor smelling very clean and fresh as opposed to using Elbow Grease all on its own.

www.151.co.uk

151 Products Limited
Globe House
Southall Street
Manchester
M3 1LG