I tend to keep a couple of spare toothbrushes at home for emergencies such as when my step daughter comes to stay and doesn't bring a toothbrush! As they aren't ones used on a daily basis I only tend to purchase cheap ones. They didn't have my usual ones in Tesco's last time I wanted one so I ended up purchasing a pack of Tesco Value toothbrushes.

The main thing that attracted me to these toothbrushes was the price. I didn't think you could go wrong when paying 30p for a pack of two toothbrushes. Obviously they were going to be pretty basic and nothing special but then provided they cleaned teeth then that's all that mattered.

I tried one of these out myself when my usual electric toothbrush broke and I have to say it wasn't a pleasant experience at all. For a start, the bristles felt really harsh and although I don't really suffer with gum problems, it actually made my gums bleed a little after use which wasn't nice! These toothbrushes have rigid necks so there is no give in them which also made it hard to get right into the nooks and crannies of the mouth. Most decent, manual toothbrushes these days have flexible heads to enable you to reach all parts of the mouth with ease and the flexibility also helps with getting right in between the teeth to get rid of anything that shouldn't be there.

The brush head was around the right size, it was rectangular in shape with decent sized bristles but the lack of flexibility was an issue. I cleaned my teeth with the same toothpaste and for the same amount of time as I did normally, but my mouth just didn't feel like it had been given a good, thorough clean.

I gave up with this toothbrush after 2 days as it had made my gums quite sore. The bristles have very little give in them and are way too harsh for brushing your teeth. I decided I wouldn't put this torture on anyone else in the family so I threw away the one I had used and found a much better use for the other one.

The other toothbrush has come in rather handy I have to say but not for the intended job. The grout in my shower quite often looks yucky and I have found a great way to whiten it back up again. I simply pour a little bleach on to the toothbrush and scrub the grout. It really takes the dirt out the grout and leaves my grout looking perfectly white again. Ok, this isn't what a toothbrush is meant to be used for but if I can't use it for brushing teeth, I thought I might as well get some use out of it!

Overall, for brushing teeth I would not use these. They were way too harsh for me and the lack of flexibility in the neck meant it was quite difficult to get right into the back of your mouth so I didn't feel like I had given my mouth a thorough clean. For cleaning the bathroom though, these were a bargain! I have brought another pack of these since but they will only be used for cleaning purposes. I have upgraded our toothbrushes though to better quality ones and they do a much better job.

In summary, these are rubbish for cleaning teeth, but great for cleaning tile grout!