There can be few people who haven’t heard of the fairy liquid brand; after all it has been around for 45 years now! I hate washing up and have a dishwasher to minimise the number of dishes I have to wash by hand. However I still find myself washing up my hand at least once a day and anything that helps make this task a little more pleasant gets my vote!

I have tried several different brands of washing up liquid but have always come back to Fairy liquid as I think it is heads and shoulders above the rest.

Most other brands of washing up liquid fail to remove grease as well as fairy liquid can. I find that one small squirt of fairy is enough to tackle even a roasting pan. With other washing up liquids I have to use far more and even then it can take a fair bit of scrubbing to remove all the grease. With fairy I find that I need less effort to remove grease.

Fairy liquid also rinses off well and doesn’t leave any soap scum on the dishes, another real plus.

I buy fairy liquid in its original form, the green liquid of the famous mild green fairy liquid advert! It is available in several different versions including lemon, apple blossom and floral breeze. There is also antibacterial fairy liquid designed to kill germs that dare to linger on your washing up cloth! I like the smell of the green version best, as it smells fresh to me. I find the scent of the lemon version a bit too overpowering.

Fairy liquid claims to be mild and gentle on your hands. So how does it do in the hand test? I have a really sensitive skin and can react badly to some household products. I can’t use Palmolive washing up liquid as it irritates my skin. Fairy liquid however has no detrimental affect on my skin. I wouldn’t say it leaves my hands feeling soft but it doesn’t dry them out either so full marks to fairy!

Fairy liquid is not only good for getting the dishes clean. I put a squirt in hot water to wash the kitchen and bathroom floors. It also makes a good job of my car!

Fairy liquid is more expensive that many of its rivals, 95p in Tesco for a 500ml bottle compared to 60p for Tesco own brand washing up liquid. However I really do think it is worth the extra cost.