Cusson Morning Fresh Washing Up Liquid 675ml

Product Information

Smells of lemon fruit pastilles, but I miss the green colouring which masks the dirty water better. The egg plate needs 25 seconds in the water and a bit of a scrub; for dried-on Weetabix the plate needed a bit of elbow grease but did the job. A faint “meaty” smell on the clean plates, which aren’t that shiny. The GHI team put 24 brands of washing up liquid through two rigorous tests. Firstly, they counted how many greasy plates one manufacturer-recommended dose could bring to a clean finish.

But if money is tight (or you'd prefer to spend your hard-earned on something more fun than dishwashing liquid), then the Aldi alternative is a winner. Dirty dishes piling up? Washing up is the chore we do most often. Few of us go through a day without squeezing a bottle of washing-up detergent into the sink; even if there’s a dishwasher for the plates and mugs, some things just make more sense to clean by hand.

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For nearly 40 years, Morning Fresh has been one of the leading washing up liquids worldwide. Our superior grease cutting power and performance make it the ideal product to clean dishes safely and effectively. Just one squirt will leave your dishes sparkling and fresh every time However, detergents are mostly made using petrochemicals, and some degrade much more readily than others. Eco brands generally use plant-based detergents, or at least ones which break down speedily and harmlessly – that said, there is little regulation, so it is worth scrutinising the claims made. Test conditions The most important ingredients are surfactants, responsible for lifting dirt and holding it in the water. There are three kinds in washing-up liquid:

A faintly citrus smell but otherwise nondescript. After a 45-second soak the egg plate still needs a good scrub; the Weetabix-caked plate needs a good 10-second scrub. With 1 tbsp oil added to the water the clean plates have a whiff of oil and they dry distinctly smeary. This basically means that you'd need to scrub just a little harder with the Aldi dishwashing liquid to get the same result as with the Morning Fresh liquid. Small price to pay for such a big saving, surely? Time to roll up my sleeves, don my rubber gloves and set-to test 16 different washing-up liquids on plates smeared liberally with dried-on egg and Weetabix. I armed myself with a dishcloth and a “scrubby” made by bundling together the nylon nets that oranges come in – a thrifty tip worth trying – and allowed a half teaspoon of liquid for every litre of hand-hot water (50C). The eco brands intrigued me, too. After all, the big baddies of the detergent world, phosphates, which cause “algae bloom” in our waterways, are severely restricted these days and not generally used in washing-up liquid.Close second: Aldi's Tandil Ultra Power Soak N' Clean gave the more expensive product a run for its money. Clean winner? How the top two compare Amphoteric surfactants, such as betaines, can be anionic or cationic, and are the mildest surfactant, often used in baby shampoo. They also combine with anionic surfactants, making them less likely to irritate skin, and work well in hard water. Produces lots of bubbles, even after adding oil. For egg, 15 seconds is not enough but a 25 second soak and it comes off with a bit of abrasion. With Weetabix it does well, just needed a little finishing with the scourer to get the last hardened bits off. The dried, clean plates are faintly musty, but shiny, with a few bubble marks. So our CHOICE Expert Rating includes both the foam test and the scrub test, but we've given a far higher weighting to the scrub test (90%) as grime removal is ultimately the best indication of a top performing product. There are hints of ginger in the standard detergent smell. Egg needs 45 seconds but only a light scrub; on Weetabix it does a decent job – just 5 seconds of scrubbing gets rid of detritus. With oil in the water there’s no smell on the plates from the oil and only a few water drips/smears – shiny and not greasy.

Ideally, yes. Nobody wants the lingering taste of soap in their Sunday roast, and leftover washing up liquid can leave unattractive smears on glass. Non-ionic surfactants, such as cocamide, alkyl polyglycosides, and ethoxylates, are better with oil and organic dirt and good in hard water – plus they are less likely than anionic surfactants to cause skin irritation. When your dishwater turns cloudy, it’s down to the non-ionic surfactants. Thin liquid (maybe as it has to go through a pump?) which smells of sweet shops. On egg, needs 30 seconds and mostly cloth work plus a finish with a scrubby. For Weetabix I scrubbed so hard I broke a sweat and the plate still dried with greasy marks. There’s a distinct lingering smell on the clean plates. The scrub test assesses how well the detergent removes different types of stains: rice starch, bolognese sauce and egg yolk. Stained plates are soaked in a 1% solution of the test detergent for 10 minutes before being scrubbed a set number of times with a wet sponge. Please note that parcels weighing over 2kg may be sent via courier due to Royal Mail weight restrictions.

Need to know

In recent times Ecover have developed a completely zero waste version of the washing-up liquid called Liquid Zero.