Household products & gadgets – product reviews

Helpful reviews from LivingWithKids on household products and gadgets, including vacuum cleaners, blenders and cleaning products Each month we will be adding more products and reader reviews in The Mum Test section of the blog. If you are interested in participating then please contact us here.  
 
Oreck XL3 Upright Vacuum Cleaner, with Multi-Vac Canister Rating:  4/5 Price:£295.00 (RRP) Retailers:  John Lewis
“It was simple to use and stores away easily…read moreCatherine Campbell, 41, London.
 
Vax Mach Air  Rating:    3/5 Price: £179.99 (RRP) Retailers:  Tesco & Argos  
“The Vax Mach Air is incredibly lightweight and very powerful…read more Carol Smith, New Mummy
 
   
James Martin by Wahl Table Blender Price: £59.99 (RRP) Retailers: Robert Dyas Rating: 5/5
“This blender is very smart and would look good in any kitchen, the glass jug makes it feel very sturdy.  Girls loved that fact that it lit up blue and were quite happy to drink up the smoothies made in it from all the fruit left over from the week.  Grinder part is good for crusing ice for drinks and I have used it to crush up the biscuits that were needed to make banoffee pie.” Alison Torrance, 36
 
Lindam mini blender Price: £14.99 (RRP) Rating:  5/5 Retailers: BootsTescoAsda  
“I like this blender a lot.  Nice and compact but not too small to be of use.  Doesn’t seem to go right down to pureed “mush” but a nice consistency for and second stage of weaning.  Very efficient – only needed to be on for a short time to give the consistency. The size means you don’t need much space for storage. I would definitely recommend this product – I was using the big blender before and it was a bit of a pain, so this is great.” Catherine Shipley, 35, Manchester
E-Cloth Anti-bacterial cloth Price: £4.95 (RRP) Rating:  5/5 Retailers: Lakeland  
“It’s incredible how cloths can perform so differently. Just a touch of water and this one is a miracle dirtbuster. It’s fantastic on windows – perfect for kids’ sticky fingerprints which it wipes away without leaving those smears which really show up at this time of year. Worth buying to save on elbow grease and cleaning products. I’ve also found it polishes the Aga brilliantly.” Sally Brockway, 43, Surrey       
 
Milton Anti-bacterial Surface Wipes Price: £1.98 (RRP) Rating:    4.5/5 Retailers: Boots
“These wipes are great, no more rushing to the kitchen for kitchen roll and spray during dinner. Very convenient to have on the table for between courses as my little girl is at the stage where if you feed her she takes it out her mouth puts it on high chair table then puts it back in her mouth.  If you give her the dinner on a plate it gets tipped onto table.  Easy to use and you know that the surface is now clean and safe from germs. I keep a packet in my changing bag to use on highchairs when we go out anywhere so that I am sure that the surface is clean and safe. Packaging is nice and there is not a chemical smell from the wipes.”Alison Torrance, 36, Paisley
 
Milton Antibacterial Surface spray Price: £2.19 (RRP) for 100ml Rating:  4/5 Retailers: Boots
“This surface spray is great because it is proven to be non toxic and therefore safe for use on highchairs, toys etc. It cleaned exceptionally well. Personally, the only down side is despite it stating “new fresh scent” I found that it smelt quite chemically. Particularly good for cleaning highchair because despite the smell the fact it is non toxic is highly attractive especially when my little one loves chewing on the straps and when food drops on the chair it will go straight back in her mouth.”Angela Larkin, 34, Sheffield
 
Fairy Non Bio Gel Price: £4.89 (RRP) for 18 washes Rating:  5/5 Retailers: TescoOcado
“This is an excellent washing liquid. It’s a good size which makes it suitable for easy storage and caters for an adequate number of washes. I really liked the smell of the gel and felt confident that it would be soft and gentle on baby’s/child’s skin. I like the style of the packaging, too, it’s very easy to use.” Andrea Cave, 29, Lincolnshire