Cleans, Dusts, and Shines (Pledge Clean and Dust)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	Pledge Clean and Dust
Date:	17/07/07 (686 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: anti static so repels dust from surfaces, light fresh unchemical scent, does wood, glass, chrome etc

Disadvantages: not for use on leather

~~~Tidbits about the maufacturer~~~

I like to know just who I am buying from. Familiar names sometimes turn out to have ethics I would rather not support, so now I check out the manufacturers before succumbing to mere sentimentality and familarity.

SC Johnson Wax was founded in the mid 1880's when Samuel Curtis Johnson purchased a parquet flooring business and decided to refocus the business on his paste wax for wood floo and named the business after it (Johnson's Prepared Paste Wax Company). The business did well, and continued to expand into other areas of household cleaning.

Interstingly, for a company so alrge, it is still a family held business. The business passed from father to son, and so on down the line. This is perhaps why it never lost its focus as a family friendly business, even to being ranked in the top ten of comapnies who are wonderful for working mothers to work for, by Working Womean magazine for the past two years. It also has the distinction of scoring 100% every year on Corporate Equality Index report prepared by the Human Rights Campaign. THE HRC is a lobbying group for homosexuals and transgenders, and the index scores firms on related workplace issues. This of course is not without controversery, with some religious conservatives therefore boycotting the company for its "antifamily and pro-gay" stances. Other firms to be so boycotted include Disney, IBM, Volvo, Nike, and American Airlines. As I am personally pro humanity, and for all to have equal rights and thinking people should be allowed to be happy in themselves in general, this issue does not afect me, so i happily purchase from SC Johnson (and from Disney, IBM, and hey, we drive a VOLVO!). Now that my curiousity into their corparate integrity is satisfied, let's have a look at the product at hand.

~~~The product~~~

Ordianry polish is for just sealed woods, and puts a waxy sheen on it, though Pledge itself is wax free so no build up. Dust and Go is one of the newer types of polishes that is a multi-surface and anti-dust product rather than just a mere polish. The company claim that its anti static properties will help repel dust and allergens from surfaces, and that it will pick up more of said dust and pet dander than normal cleaners would. It also claims you can use it on all sorts of surfaces, from sealed woods to laminated kitchen cabinets, to stainless steel and chrome, to glass. Having two small children who delight in making fingerprints, and two cats, I decided to put it to the test. Allergy tablets at the ready, I waited TWO weeks to dust my living and dining rooms, did not wash the interior of windows in those rooms, and did not wipe down the exterior of my kitchen cupboards or my refrigerator.

Grime to the ready, when my shopping was delivered, I put everything else away, but kept out my 250 ml tin of this stuff, and a dry, clean dust cloth. The intructions said to shake the tin well before use, hold upright, and spray directly onto the surface to be cleaned from a distance of aproximately 8 inches. Into the living room I went and tried it out. Upon spraying down my mantle and various wooden surfaces with a light mistt, I was greeted first by a light citrus scent that was quite pleasant and unchemical seeming. It wiped off well, without streaks, and my wood was left dust with a light shine. A quick go over of the dvd cases yielded a similiar result. Next came my TV. The plastic outer cleaned up well, and so I bit the bullet and put a light spray onto the glass. I need not have worried. It cleared the dust off the screen and removed the children's fingerprints as easily as glass cleaner. Unlike glass cleaner however, it did not run meaning I did not have to race to catch drips, and it was less hassle to wipe off as a quick wipe down was all that was required to remove it without any streaking or reapplications needed. Okay so far so good, but what aboout my windows? I have my exterior windows washed once a fortnight, so inside dust and fingerprints always really show. I do wash them down inside once a fortnight, but hate haing to do the entire window on the near daily occasions that my children put messy handprints on them. Such handprints were in place, and my exterior windows had just been washed so the muck was glaringly obvious. I gave a light spritz of the Pledge Clean and Dust on JUST the affcted area and... it cleaned it off easily and without a need to polish the entire window to blend the "just cleaned" spot in. This told me that it removed the offending mess without my having to distribute it about as I wiped, and I was quite pleased about it. Satisfied with its performance on real wood, plastic, and glass in my living and dining room, I moved onto the kitchen.

A quick spritz on the cupboards and the refrigerator gave a nice quick shine without runny, wet mess and very little effort. A quick spray on my stainless steel kettle likewise yielded great results, and when I later boiled said kettle, I did not see any darkened spots appear from residue being heated. My kichen taps likewise shined up, and that evening before bed, I tried it on my laminate worktop. My laminate worktop is a black gloss variety, and shows streaks VERY easily. This stuff left NO streaks on show, and I was VERY pleased on the amount of reduced time I spent getting that non streaky gleam to my counters. All I had to do was use a soapy sponge to remove food and any grease as usual, and wipe dry, then lightly spray on the Pledge, and wipe off with a duster. Fantastic!

As for the claims on helping repel dust, I have to say it appears to be true. When using glass cleaner on my TV and monitor screens, we had to wipe for dust at least twice a week due to static attracting it. Now it is down to once every other week , unless my son forgets and touches the TV again with his hands! ARGH! LOL

~~My verdict~~~

I have to say that I love this stuff. At 83 pence a tin, it won't break the bank. It is versatile, and the cleaner does not aggravate my allergies or asthma in any way. It makes my clean up easier, as I do not have to carry quite so many products about room to room. The sheen on the wood is not as deep a shine as normal Pledge, so I use the normal type Plege now once a month, and maintain it between times with this stuff. Window solutions are not found here anymore. I use soap and water when I need to wash an entire window, and handprints and what not are dealt with a quick spritz of this stuff. I appreciate the non runny formula, and like the light fresh scent a lot more than window cleaning liquids' typical chemical odour. The dust repelling nature of the product has meant I can dust less frequently in the various rooms, down to just once a week, as dust simply does not settle heavily on the surfaces any longer. Between this and my Dyson, dust and dander simply don't have a chance in this house! Continued use on my counters and cabinets has not produced any bubbling or dulling, and there is a distinct lack of buildup on any of the surfaces I have used this on, so two thumbs up from me!

~~~Availibility~~~

I ordred mine from Asda, for 83 pence a tin, and a quick glance at Tesco's site tells me it is the same price there. You are likely to find this in the cleaning aisle of most supermarkets and general stores for about this price. Being easy to get a hold of and inexpensive, I really do recommend you try it.

Summary: Another great product from a reputable comapny, and it lives up to its promises