Product review - Astonish cleaning paste and dishwasher tabs

I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning, but sometimes you have to. Like when opening the oven sets the fire alarm off, which of course has never happened here ever in some alternate universe. Now, cleaning an oven is, I'm afraid, likely to occasionally require the use of nasty chemicals. That doesn't mean we shouldn't make sure they're vegan nasty chemicals!

Of the 'branded' cleaning products out there, Astonish have the best track record for avoiding animal testing and ingredients. Plus, they are mostly found in discount stores - Savers, Poundstretcher and B&M are just a few examples - at low prices, so nobody can complain that principles cost money on this score.

The first product I tried was the oven and cookware paste. It comes in a blue tub and is sort of beige and gritty. (Keep the lid on when not in use, otherwise it'll dry up) It can get the oven from fire-alarm-starting dirty to clean with relatively little elbow grease. I've also used it occasionally on the stovetop (be careful about scratching) and casserole dish.

This paste has not, however, done any good for the skin on my hands. I can't complain, as nobody is marketing it as a hand exfoliant. Point is, it's probably best to wear gloves when getting up close and personal with this product, and have a decent hand cream around. (See how I didn't say 'to hand'?)

The dishwasher tablets, well - they get the dishes clean. I've been using a different discount brand until now and don't see a whole lot of difference, but I don't see what premium brands could do that would be better, if you see what I mean. Also, the Astonish tabs don't look as much like sweets, so if you have small children around that's something to think about.

Astonish may also score eco-points by virtue of their products being made in the UK. I'd need to know the score on a few other companies before confirming that though.