No odour but smells nice - hmmm? (Dettol Antibacterial Surface Wipes)

Member Name: SusanLesley

Product:	Dettol Antibacterial Surface Wipes
Date:	11/06/08 (285 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: They clean well, hopefully get rid of bacteria, smell nice

Disadvantages: Something else to put in the dustbin

I was doing a spot of housework at the weekend - I do occasionally you know - and I was using Dettol Anti Bacterial Surface Wipes. Of course my overriding thought was 'I must write a review about these'. Dooyoo gets you like that doesn't it?

Well here goes then.......

Packaging

These wipes come in a plastic packet with a slit in the top covered by a peel back label, similar to Wet Wipes and that sort of thing. There's a picture at the top of this page so that you can see what I mean.

The wipes come in packets of 56 regular wipes or 28 large wipes.

The peel back label has the basic information about the wipes including the familiar Dettol logo in blue writing on a green background with the white sword through it.

The wipes are said to 'kill bacteria' whilst being bleach free, with no taint and no odour.

The wipes

The idea is that you peel back the label, remove a wipe and then replace the label to form a seal so that the remaining wipes don't dry out before you get round to using them.

The wipe itself is about 10 inches by 6 inches, but I am unclear as to whether this is a regular or a large wipe! The reason for this is that, on the label, it has the words '56 regular' and '28 large wipes' - why both are written there I can't understand. The 56 regular is in slightly bolder print so I am guessing that this pack contains regular wipes.

The wipe feels like soft cloth and is damp to the point of being wet. Now for another odd thing about these wipes - the label clearly states 'no odour' yet the wipe is perfumed. Don't get me wrong it smells really nice, but why advertise them as being odour free? I can understand that they are trying to tell us that they don't smell like bleach or disinfectant but why not say that they are perfumed?

Anyway as I say the fragrance is very nice. It is light and flowery without any chemical odour there. It is very pleasant as you use the wipe but only lingers very slightly afterwards.

How and where do you use the wipes?

Well it's quite simple really, the wipes can be used to wipe pretty much any 'hard, washable surface' that's dirty!

I used mine primarily in the bathroom. I wiped round the skirting board, the toilet, the sink, the bidet, the bath, the window sill and the radiators. I hasten to add I used separate wipes for each part - please don't think I wiped the toilet and the sink with the same wipe!

I also used some in the kitchen on the work surfaces and draining board.

The wipes left my surfaces looking sparkling clean and smelling fresh.

In some cases I found that the wetness of the wipe left slight streaks so I did rub over the surface with a clean cloth.

The folks at Dettol suggest that these wipes are ideal for cleaning anywhere that food is to be prepared such as worktops, chopping boards, microwaves and fridges, all the surfaces in the bathroom and anywhere around baby areas such as high chairs, potties, playpens and changing mats.

When you have finished using the wipes you just throw them in the bin. Do not flush them down the toilet!

So what are these wipes supposed to achieve?

Well again the folks at Dettol tell us that that these wipes will kill 99.9% of harmful bacteria including E coli, Salmonella, MRSA and the Flu virus (H1N1). To be fair I find the claims a bit far fetched for just wiping down your surfaces but if it helps then it'll do for me!

Obviously the claims can't be tested in my home because I wouldn't know whether I would have caught bugs had I not used the wipes if you see what I mean. Still, as I say, the cleaning results were good and if it helps to reduce bacteria as well that's fine.

Is there anything else I should know?

Obviously keep them out of reach of children and pets. Don't use them on carpets or upholstery - only hard washable surfaces. Be sure not to get them in contact with your eyes - if you do wash your eyes with clean water immediately and seek medical advice.

The other warning made my eyes water - these wipes are 'not for personal use'. Yuk and ooer!

By the way - how much do they cost?

Currently a pack of 28 wipes purchased from Tesco's will set you back £1.74 so they're not bad value for money.

Dettol also do an anti bacterial trigger spray for those of you who would prefer to use that sort of thing.

In conclusion

I was very impressed with these wipes and would definitely buy them again.

I wouldn't use them all round the house though, just in the kitchen and bathroom where needed. This is mainly because the wipes have to be thrown in the dustbin to clutter up a landfill site and I can't say that I am happy with that.

This review will also be posted on Ciao at some point.

Summary: A great surface wipe