Win A Pamper Hamper From Ace Stain Removers

It has to be said that with the increased amount of sunlight comes an increased awareness of the sheer level of dinginess that abounds in Chez Hobbis.

Those of us with kids (or sports playing partners) know only too well that battling laundry stains, smelly trainers and sinks covered from car part grease or bicycle chains can be a tad tiring.

A fabulous pamper hamper is up for grabs

Not only that but Ieuan has just started Allstars Cricket for the Under 8's and we're mulling over tennis lessons for Caitlin - grass stains a plenty on the horizon!

But with a bit of help from ACE and their sustainable stain removal products, at least you can do battle with the grime in an environmentally friendly way.

Ace For Whites, Ace For Colours & Ace Multi-Purpose

ACE have designed laundry products to reduce the impact on the environment and they say the most important things we should be doing are:-

- Washing at lower temperatures
 - Using concentrated products
 - Using the right amount of product
 - Washing with full loads

Of these, washing at lower temperatures is the single most important thing we can do to lower our C02 emissions while doing our laundry.

I tried three Ace products.

Ace For Whites 

This is a laundry bleach with a fibre protection system which has been specifically formulated to work better on lighter fabrics.  It helps to brighten dull whites while still being gentle on delicate clothes.  It did the job nicely on Ieuan's Tae Kwon-Do whites.

Ace For Colours

As with Ace For Whites, this is designed to be as gentle as possible on your clothes.  It is fine for everyday use and gets rid of stains such as mud.  At the moment Ieuan needs a clean pair of school trousers every day due to his new found love of footie.

Ace For Colours will also help to prevent fabric colours bleeding or transferring to other fabrics and you can use it with silk, wool and even cashmere.

Ace Multi Purpose Spray

You can use ACE Multi-Purpose Spray around the home and on coloured clothes and it's great for tackling germs, grease and stubborn stains.  It did a lovely job of degreasing my kitchen sink.

To find out more about Ace products, have a look at their website www.acecleanuk.co.uk. There's also lots of advice on stain removal and some helpful videos to show you exactly what to do.  Great for housekeeping duffers like me.

You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

I also have an Ace Pamper Hamper worth £50 up for grabs (pictured above).  Entry is via the Rafflecopter and the usual terms and conditions apply which you can see on my competitions page.

The hamper contains:-

· Fresh white fluffy towels
· An embroidered white bedding set from Kensington Cotton
· Scented candles from Kenneth Turner
· Some ACE for Whites to keep everything sparkling white 

The giveaway is open to UK entrants only and ends at 11:59 pm on Sunday 9th July.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Read more

Review: The VAX Air Stretch Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner

VAX is a name I've been familiar with for a long time but I have to be honest and say that I thought the company only produced rather cumbersome machines which cleaned your carpet by dampening it.

Times have changed greatly.  VAX offered us the chance to test one of their new, lightweight, bagless models and we chose the VAX Air Stretch Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner.

Our existing vacuum is a pull-along one from a well known 'bagless' brand and, although I could never fault it's vacuuming power, it is difficult to move.  It doesn't corner so that if you pull it, it generally smacks into the furniture if you're not paying attention.

It is also quite heavy and because we've managed to lose most of the tools, nooks and crannies are often overlooked.  Its weight also doesn't help my back so lugging it up and down stairs is a problem and it simply doesn't have the reach to vacuum the ceiling.

The VAX Air Stretch cleaner has none of these problems.  It is a powerful (820w) and lightweight upright vacuum cleaner with a long reach hose and cord.




It is also ideal for homes with pets as it comes with a TurboTool  to help remove stubborn dirt and pet hair from surfaces around your home.

The product is also supplied with a 3-in-1 tool

Whilst we don't have a pet (yet!), both the Husband and I suffer from a dust allergy so a powerful vacuum is important for us. We have stripped out lots of the carpet so we also need a machine that copes well with hard floors without scratching the surface.

The VAX is multi-cyclonic (which means you don't lose suction), has a HEPA filter and, best of all it comes with a long cord and hose which reaches up to 17 metres.

You can use the VAX on carpet or hard floor by simply altering a gauge on the base of the machine and the tools attach to the body of the upright (although we haven't found where the TurboTool goes).

It weighs only 4.9kg making it easy to lift and, whilst it is a battle with my existing cleaner to lift it step by step to do the stairs, the VAX has the reach to allow you to just use the cord and the TurboTool  which makes it much easier on my back.

The machine is also easy to empty - you just detach the dust container, unclip at the bottom and empty straight into the bin.

The only slight negatives I can find are firstly that the machine is quite noisy for those of us with Tinnitus but the same could be said of most of today's updated household appliances.

Secondly, an upright vacuum cleaner does take a little more storage space but it's given us an extra incentive to clean out the cupboard under the stairs where we tend to 'store' too many coats and cans of tinned tomatoes from our forays to Costco.

The product comes with free delivery and a 6 year guarantee.  It retails at £249.99.

We found it was easy to use, light to lift and did the job well.

You can find more information about this and the full range of VAX products at www.vax.co.uk.

*We were sent a VAX Air Stretch Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner for the purpose of this review.  

Read more

Win A Good Clean Summer Pack From Astonish Cleaners

Summer is, ideally, a time when we all spend more time out of doors. Even the rain doesn't stop some of us - which is just as well if you're planning a holiday in the UK.

Not what I meant by helping me with the housework

I find that the washing pile tends to grow drastically at this time of year, as do those stains it's hardest to shift like grass, chocolate and blackcurrant.

Caitlin and Ieuan are currently playing 'spies' which means much rolling around undercover cop style and much mud.

To help make the laundry a little easier, as well as add some summer sparkle to the rest of the house, Astonish has put together a "Good Clean Summer" pack for one lucky winner.

There's Astonish’s Oxy Plus Stain Remover for a start. You can tackle your soiled laundry confident that stains and grime will be banished. Then there's Astonish Oven & Cookware Cleaner which not only tackles the darkest recesses of your oven but can also be used to bring your garden furniture back to pristine white. The Pro Grease Lifter Tablets can be used to spruce up the barbecue.  

Astonish's Good Clean Summer Pack also contains the Stain Remover Target Spray, Fabric Refresher and Clean and Protect Hand wash.

To help you with your everyday housecleaning, there's the Daily Shower Cleaner, 4 in 1 Disinfectant Spray, Window and Glass Cleaner, All in 1 Dishwasher Tablets, Fresh Sea Mist Floor Cleaner and the Dustbuster.

That's quite some prize!

I'm already a fan of Astonish's "The Oven and Cookwear Cleaner" and I found that the Fabric Refresher has a light refreshing scent whilst the Daily Shower Cleaner is a great help because you can just spray it and leave it until the next shower.  The Window & Glass Cleaner is fabulous for removing the handwriting practice left across the bathroom mirror and secret messages left in lipstick.

I don't really let them play with household cleaning products - in case you're wondering ........

For more details about Astonish and its range of British manufactured cleaning products please visit www.astonishcleaners.co.uk or visit them on Facebook.

The Astonish Good Clean Summer Pack contains the following:-

• Oxy Plus Stain Remover 

• Stain Remover Target Spray
• Fabric Refresher
• Clean and Protect Hand wash
• Grease Lifter Tablets • Daily Shower Cleaner
• 4 in 1 Disinfectant Spray
• Window and Glass Cleaner
• Fresh Sea Mist Floor Cleaner
• All in 1 Dishwasher Tablets
• DustBuster

Entry is via the Rafflecopter widget and the usual terms and conditions apply (available on my competitions page).  UK entrants only.  The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm on Wednesday 31 August.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read more