I am the Street Streaker (Cif Glass & Window Wipes)

Member Name: sandrabarber

Product:	Cif Glass & Window Wipes
Date:	20/09/03 (253 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quick, easy

Disadvantages: they don't work

All forms of housework repel me, and cleaning windows has to be the most repellant of all. But, realizing I hadn?t cleaned mine for a good year the other day, I bit the bullet and went down to the supermarket to get some solution. I?ve always used old-fashioned pink windolene ? damned hard work but very effective. However, my local Sainsbury?s didn?t have any, so I needed to choose another option.

I went for Cif Glass and Window Wipes, mainly because they were a BOGOF, and partly because the blurb on the pack made it seem so wonderfully easy. I came away with two packs, each containing 20 extra large wipes, for a little over a pound, and a sense of optimism, knowing that I?d soon breeze through the whole house with these easy-to-use, time-saving cloths.


The Wipes:

They come in a blue resealable plastic pack and, as stated, there are 20 ?extra large? in each. On taking one out, I couldn?t help but wonder what Cif?s idea of ?large? or even ?medium? must be like, as these ?extra large? were actually smaller than some kitchen surface wipes I use. They smell clean and slightly chemical, but not unpleasant. They are slightly damp, but not wet like kitchen or bathroom wipes can be. According to the pack, they are suitable for windows, mirrors, PC/TV screens, car windscreens, and anything else you have in glass or plastic.


How to Use:

Take a wipe, wipe your window with it, throw wipe away. Couldn?t be simpler. And, as the pack says, you get ?sparkling results?. Fantastic. Or so it seemed?


Effectiveness:

The wipes were fantastic at removing grime. I had a year?s worth of the stuff ? including the effects of smoking cigarettes ? and the wipes shifted it effortlessly. Because there was so much dirt on my windows, I then used a second wipe just to make sure I?d got them totally clean.

When I stood back and admired the view, my windows looked very streaky. However, as the pack
stated that the wipes contained alcohol which would soon evaporate to leave those ?sparkling results?, I wasn?t too worried and moved on through each room in the house.

When I finished in room eight, I returned to room one to assess the results of my labours now that that alcohol had disappeared.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

My windows looked worse than before I?d started. They were nothing but streaks and cloudy circular buff marks. They were almost opaque. My whole house was the same, as was my TV screen, PC screen and all my mirrors.

Thinking that maybe I hadn?t worked hard enough to remove all grime, I took another wipe and did one window again. Same result. No, in fact it was even worse.

I went out into the street to get another perspective. Dreadful. My house was the shame of the street. Defeated, I got into the car and drove off in search of some of that old-fashioned pink windolene so I could start again and do it properly.


Conclusion:

Cif Glass and Window Wipes make a travesty of the Trades Descriptions Act. They do not do what they say they do. They make your windows worse.

Avoid at all costs.


Plea:

If anyone knows a foolproof and not too laboursome way to really get windows clean and sparkling, please, please let me know.

Summary: