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Dylon Colour Catcher
by scooch12
The washing machine is on constantly, whether it be for my daughter's endless amount of dirty babygros or for my husband when he suddenly tells me he needs a jumper washing by the morning. As a result, when I saw these Dylon colour catcher sheets in Tesco, I bought them to see if I could combine washes and cut down the use of time, ... energy and water. I have purchased these a few times, the best I've paid being £2 when on special offer in Tesco, I think they usually retail for around £3 and are available in all of the supermarkets.
Packaging and Sheets
The packaging is nothing special, a red cardboard box that has a perforated edge two thirds of the way up. The box opens once this is pressed inwards. There are 24 sheets per box, they are white and look a bit like thick recycled paper. They are around 25cm x 15cm in size when unfolded. They have a lovely fresh smell to them, a similar scent that you get from washing powder. The box is easily stored as it is very slim, they should however be kept out of reach of children.
How to Use
The sheets are easily separated from each other. To use, 1 sheet is unfolded and placed at the back of the machine before the washing is loaded in. Then normal washing powder (or similar) is added. The wash is carried out as normal - the sheet is designed to draw any excess colours that run in the wash and loose dirt to it. For heavy loads and those that have a poor colour fastness, the instructions suggest using 2 or more sheets and to wash denim and towels separately as their colour loss I assume must be too large. It then says that items should be dried as soon as possible. I have a washer dryer and it states on the side of the box that they are suitable for use in dryers so there's no need for me to wait until the wash part finishes to remove them, I can just let the machine get on with the whole cycle.
My Opinion
I'm torn on my opinion of these sheets. I really like them in the fact that around 95% of the time I use them, the washing comes out clean and no colours have run into one another and onto other garments; everything is as it should be. You can sometimes see marks on the sheet where the colour has been attracted to it so it has helped to stop those colours running onto other garments in the wash. The lighter colours in a coloured wash eg grey and yellow usually haven't been ruined by reds and blues. They also work very well in washes with denim on their own. I use them in these instances because I don't want the dye from jeans to still be in the drum for the next wash especially if that next wash is whites. The sheets come out very dark blue every time so I don't deny that it's quality of drawing the dye to it is good. I always air on the side of caution using them, with 2 sheets going in most washes unless it's a small wash because I am paranoid of the colours running into one another.
The issue I have is that I find I can never quite trust them and to me, this kind of defeats their purpose. For the 95% of the time that they work fantastically, the other 5% they don't work well and I've ended up with small dye stains on garments. I never know which washes will fall into this 5%! I have noticed though that this happens mostly with my daughter's outfits. I tend to wash her items on their own and not with ours, just because it's a routine we've got into. She has a lot of pink items of clothing. There have been a few occasions were the pink from tops and bibs, in particular the bright pink colours, has ended up on her lighter coloured tops eg sky blue and bright yellow coloured items and become unusable as they look unsightly.
Precautions
The box also comes with a huge list of precautions. One of which is 'reasonable care should be taken if mixing colours with whites'. This is such a broad statement to make. It therefore makes me think twice about trying to wash colours and whites together at all because it sounds as though unless you are extremely careful examining all of your garments, it is inevitable that some colour running might occur even with using the sheets. I don't have the time to start examining everything carefully before it goes in the washing machine and the reason I bought these was because I thought they would save time, not use it up. Another precaution is that their use can't be guaranteed where large quantities of dye runs from non-colourfast garments. Again, I find this is such a broad statement - maybe it's just that I'm not as clued up on clothing materials as I should be but I'm not the sort of person that can tell from quickly looking at a garment whether it's going to run lots of colour from it or not, unless it's obvious like from dark denim jeans!
Conclusion
I rate these 3 stars overall - they are great when they work, but unfortunately I have had a few occurrences of running dyes in washes and this has knocked my confidence in using them to the point that I will never put colours and whites together as I don't trust that the whites will come out without marks on. This, and the precautionary notes that they have on the box put me off. I can't risk trying it as I don't want to end up having to buy new clothes! I do still buy the catchers on a regular basis, but not for use to mix washes, only to catch the colours within the normal washes that I used to put on anyway. Perhaps saving time isn't the reason that they are available, but that was what I purchased them for and unfortunately I've not managed to cut out the number of washes I have to do each week.
Thanks for reading :o)
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Clarks Protector Spray
by paulie1975
For anyone who shops at Clark's it is a familiar question. "Would you like some protector spray to go with your new shoes". Being honest, my reply will often depend on how excited I am about the new shoes, if they are a good pair or a real bargain quite often I'll buy the protector spray, if it's a functional purpose probably ... not. Unfortunately because you don't always think when you are buying things I have to admit I have probably overbought this product for the amount of times I've used it and we have three canisters in our cupboard currently.
The spray is a lean aerosol can containing 200ml, it can be used on leather, canvas or nubuck and is suitable for use on any colour. The idea is that this spray is designed to help ensure your new shoes have a long and protected life. The spray is designed to protect against stains and reinforce the shoes material against water damage.
Obviously in the UK, this is quite handy, but my argument has always been that if my shoes aren't waterproof why did I buy them?
I generally use the protector initially after buying shoes and then forget about it for ages and use it again when my shoes have some kind of scuff. I have found my shoes are generally very capable in rainy conditions at avoiding taking in too much water, I am not sure though if I can attribute this to the shoe or the spray, equally I find that stains or scrapes on my shoes are equally well removed using old fashioned shoe polish.
I have only used the protector spray with leather shoes, so can't comment on it's powers with canvas or nubuck, and being honest would struggle to comment on their power with my leather shoes. I have leather shoes which haven't been sprayed and they are relatively water resistant, ditto for the ones which have been sprayed. Is this a marvel of the spray or of Clarks powers of making shoes, I don't know?
For me the product has an element of Emperors new clothes about it, it claims to be invisible, which is very convenient, as you can't see that it is doing anything, and I think that is why it only really sells to people buying new shoes. Much as hungry people are enticed to buy certain foods in supermarkets, or bars entice drinkers with various smells and product placements, people buy this spray in the feeling it will add to the product they've just bought, when really you should ask the shop assistant when they try to sell you this, whether the shoes you are buying are not water resistant anyway?
The spray costs £4 and comes in a long thin can, which doesn't really look appealing or enticing, it is silver with a clear lid, the labelling is attractive enough, but it is dull and not something you would ever look at twice.
From writing this review, I've realised I've wasted £12 on something I really can't confirm works or not, I will be asking the Clarks assistant next time I buy shoes about this as I have enough of this product to last me another 20-30 pairs of shoes, although more likely the next time I buy shoes I will forget all about this review and about the unloved cans sat in my cupboard and will purchase another bottle believing it will somehow add something to my lovely new shoes.
In terms of whether this product protects your shoes, I find it difficult to provide clear evidence either way, my shoes generally last a long time, many have been sprayed with this spray, but they have no difference in life span or quality of product to those which haven't been sprayed, so this makes me presume the product doesn't do much other than provide reassurance and a placebo for people who worry about shoecare.
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Dylon Colour Catcher
by alyson29
I was the worlds worst when it came to carrying out the laundry, particularly as I wash for only my husband and myself and as a consequence, I tended to stick everything in on the same wash. Whilst my husband's Next tee shirts were once of a gleaming white, let them have an hour with me when I would transform them into a lovely shade of ... pale pink! It didn't matter what went into the machine - my lovely cerise colour bath towels, a bath mat and a couple of white tee shirts - oops! However, an opportunity to try some of Dylon's Colour Catchers was more than welcomed and this review discusses my experience.
Whilst I was made aware of Colour Catchers a few years ago through reading online reviews and my mother's positive experience, I made no attempt to make my own purchase. Consequently, trying out some of the colour catchers for free was a fabulous opportunity for me, particularly as I've been fortunate enough to receive three twin packs over a period of time. Colour catchers are white coloured anti-transfer odourless sheets, which measure approximately 12 cm x 24½ cm with their texture being similar to that of a thin sheet of cardboard.
The idea is that you position the sheets at the rear of the washing machine drum prior to placing the laundry inside. Whilst one sheet is generally suitable for my needs, I would advise that a further one or two sheets may be required, particularly for cotton fabrics or darker colours. However, we are informed that new colour garments should be washed separately for the first five or six washes. After placing the laundry in the machine, your normal washing powder or gel should be used with the appropriate washing cycle selected.
As we are advised that jeans and towels should always be washed separately and not placed with other garments, my general use of Colour Catchers is with my husband's white tee shirts and my coloured tops. Unfortunately, the sheets are not designed to remove dyes from garments that are already coloured, so I ended up forking out to replace my husband's lovely feminine pink tee shirts. I must admit that I was initially a little apprehensive about mixing colours, particularly following my previous escapades, so I tried only a few items to see what happened. I was pleasantly surprised at the results, as my husband's white tee shirt remained white and had not taken on the colour of the cerise coloured ribbon adorning my black bra and pants!
The appearance of the Colour Catcher was another matter, as it displayed a lovely shade of pink, which would have previously transferred to my husband's tee shirt. Whilst Dylon state that the sheet should be disposed of, I find that they are fine for a further couple of uses dependent upon the level of colour it has drawn from garments. The idea behind Colour Catchers is extremely clever, as they are anti-transfer sheets, which have been treated with special ingredients that act like a magnet, which subsequently traps any loose dye and dirt during the washing cycle.
I must admit that these days I am more careful with sorting out the laundry and tend to separate light and dark colours, particularly if I have a sufficient amount for two loads. However, I know that I can always pop in a Colour Catcher on those occasions when I need to run only one load of mixed colours.
Whilst a box of Dylon's Colour Catchers, which contains twenty four sheets normally retail at £3.20, at the time of writing you can make a purchase from Tesco for just £2.00, which represents excellent value for money, particularly as they are so effective and prevent me from having to replace my husband's tee shirts!
Due to the reasons discussed above, I feel a five star rating to be appropriate together with a high recommendation.
I hope you found my review useful and thanks for reading.
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