~~ Tesco Active Toilet Gel ~~


In a bid to reduce the cost of our forever increasing weekly shop I am substituting some of the top brand products with those belonging to Tesco. Consequently, my normal purchase of Toilet Duck was replaced with Tesco's Active Toilet Gel and this review discusses my experience with using it.

Identical to Toilet Duck we are provided with 750 ml of gel in a sturdy plastic container and whilst there are dozens of brands of toilet cleaners from which to choose it was the 100% limescale remover in addition to the lower price that was my deciding factor to purchase. The product contains a child proof lid, which needs to be squeezed tightly on the two pads to enable the lid to be unscrewed and subsequently removed. When choosing new toiletries I am rather cheeky and will remove the lids to take a sniff, but I cannot admit to every having done this with a toilet cleaner!

I was not keen on the aroma as whilst it was clean and fresh it reminded me of public toilets! I'm not being a snob when I say this, but they always give off a very strong aroma of cleaning chemicals, which of course, is far more favourable than the alternative. The upper section of the dispensing area was sufficiently curved to enable me to easily access all around the rim and the toilet bowl and the vivid blue gel appeared to be of a good consistency. However, the aroma considerably intensified when I squirted it into the loo and I felt rather nauseous, so I had to go elsewhere in my home for the required 15 minutes to allow the gel to do its job. I was then required to simply flush the toilet and to use the product three times a week. A big problem that occurred each time it was used was that several small patches of blue gel had stuck fast onto the sides of the toilet and would refuse to budge without some elbow grease from yours truly! Consequently, I did not find this a particularly effective product as gels such as my usual Toilet Duck would completely flush away of their own accord.

A grumble I have experienced with a few brands of toilet cleaner is that they drip from the dispensing unit following use and unfortunately, this was the case with Active Toilet Gel. Consequently, it was necessary to wipe the area with a piece of toilet paper before I could safely store the container in an upright position. On a positive note I felt the gel was effective at keeping my toilet clean and was reassured that any bacteria had been killed. There was no build up of limescale during my use of the two bottles I purchased, which I squirted down my two toilets over a period of a month or so. However, the fact that I needed to intervene and scrub the gel from the loo is more than likely a contributing factor to the end results of the product. Although my loos gave off a clean and fresh aroma this is not a product I would repurchase as the fragrance is far from favourable and for the reasons discussed above, Active Toilet Gel receives only 2 stars from me. It's back to the duck for me!

I do not intend discussing the do's and don't of a toilet cleaner, as they are self-explanatory. The product normally retails at 80p per 750 ml bottle, but at the time of writing you can purchase two for £1.20.

I hope you found my review useful and thanks for reading.