Cleaning the toilet. One of those chores that no one really likes to do, but yet it is a necessary chore. Being a Mother to a young girl who now takes themself to the toilet, and also being Nurse, i am a little bit ocd with germs and bacteria. When it comes to toilet cleaners i'm not overly loyal any brand. I normally pick up some sort of thick bleach or a loo cleaner such as Toilet Duck or Harpic that is on offer in the supermarket at the time or anything that reassures me that it kills germs really. This weekend in Sainburys they had Domestos thick bleach on offer for £1 a bottle. Normally Domestos is priced around £1.20 which is not bad really compared to Harpic which i noticed this weekend was £1.99. Obviously shop own brand bleaches are a bit cheaper than the likes of Domestos, but i generally find these to be a bit too thin for my liking.

Domestos comes in a variety if coloured bottles. I think they are supposed to be associated with a particular fragrance but to be honest i find bleach just smells of bleach really. Obviously it may not be everyone's cup of tea. My Sister for one hates the smell of bleach but i quite like it. I suppose i associate it a bit with hygiene with working in the hopsital. Anyway this time i picked up a pink bottle and a light blue bottle - this means i can leave a separate bottle next to each loo rather than be carrying a bottle up and down the stairs from one to the other when i do my cleaning. The bottle is the standard bleach type bottle, made from plastic with a curved bit at the top for cleaning under the toilet rim. The bottle has a child safety cap, but i generally keep these sort of bottles out of reach of little hands. There is a list of instructions on the back of the bottle for using thie bleach on toilets, sinks, drains and floors. Personally i don't use bleach for anything other than the toilets so i can't vouch how it works for the other areas. On the front of the bottle is written 'extended germ kill' and that it 'kills all known germs dead' and that it continues to kill germs after the flush.
Using this bleach to clean the loo is fairly basic really. It works just like any other bleach or loo cleaner. The lid comes off the bottle fairly easily - another reason to keep this out of reach of little hands! Then just aim the bottle under the rim of the loo and squirt the bleach around the bowl. The bleach is definitely thick and can be difficult to judge sometimes how much to use to make sure the whole bowl is covered in the bleach. The liquid does have a slight yellowy tinge to it to help you see where has been covered although i have got into the knack to squeeze the bottle around the loo fairly slowly to make sure of complete coverage. The instructions suggest that it take around 15 minutes to do the job of killing any germs. I tend to leave it to work for between 30 minutes and and hour before i go back and finish cleaning down the loo. Then its just a matter of a quick sweep with a toilet brush and flush the loo and you're done. When flushed the loo is left with a layer of foam in the water, and the bowl is left looking super clean and smelling fresh.

Overall i do like using Domestos. Although i'm not overly loyal to buying it, i will always pick it up over other toilet cleaners and bleaches on the shelf when i see it on offer. I tend to find that the bottle will last me for roughly 6 or 7 separate toilet cleans, which is no more or less than other bleaches and toilet cleaners i have used before really. What i like about it is that the bleach seems to be a lot thicker than other cleaners, meaning that it clings up under the rim of the loo especially as this is where a lot of the germs gather so its good to know that it stays in contact with the sides rather than just sliding off like some other cleaners i have used before. Secondly what i like about Domestos is that it kills all germs and continues to do so after you have flushed it away, which is reassuring to know especially with a young daughter taking herself to the loo now.