Dirt Devil Reach #review

On hearing that my hoover aka the Useless-Machine had blown up on me, the lovelies from Dirt Devil offered to send me a new hoover in exchange for a review.

When the hoover arrived (I wasn’t 100% sure which one would be coming) I was worried to find it wasn’t an upright but a small cylinder vacuum. I’ve had many of these before and to be honest haven’t found them the best when it comes to picking up. This assumption was my first mistake. The Reach (model DCC038) with it’s 2200 watts of sucking power really packs a punch. She may be small but she’s strong! I was very pleasantly surprised!

 

The Reach comes with: 

  • High power cylinder
  • Metalic telespcopic tool
  • accessory holder
  • crevice nozzle
  • upholstery brush
  • dusting brush
  • intense turbo brush
  • 4 in one stretch hose (5m)
  • carpet floor brush
  • user guide
  • care guide
The clever technical stuff!
This nifty machine comes with a Microban extra hygiene filter and high grade HEPA filtration. In short, it has built in antibacterial protection for an extra level of hygiene when you are cleaning. Microban is a pretty big deal in halting bacteria. More information on Microban and how Dirt Devil work with them to ensure our homes are as clean as they can be, can be found here (it’s worth a look at, interesting stuff!).
My personal opinion of the Reach is that it is perfect for a family home. Despite looking compact it has a total capacity of 3 litres, great suction and is light and easy to manoeuvre around your home.
Easy to store, easy to use (even on stairs and thanks to the easily accessible tools, and for all the places that collect dust and dirt), The Reach gets a 5/5 from us. The turbo brush which is ideal for pet hair does what no hoover tool has ever managed before… it easily cleans up our suite which has goose feather cushions (so gets very bitty and dusty very quickly!).
If you have any questions on the Reach or any of the Dirt Devil products why not say hello to the team on Twitter and keep up to date with news, offers and hints and tips on Facebook? You can find the Reach and numerous other fantastic Dirt Devil products at Argos.
The Reach comes with very simple instructions for setting up, using and cleaning

Zoflora – A Modern Solution #Candidly Cleaning

Zoflora was always in use in my home growing up – usually when one of us was being sick! A strong floral scent and great cleaning action meant it was the first thing my parents reached for to clean and disinfect after unfortunate sicky accidents!  Since then Zoflora has come on a lot and I was very pleased to be sent a couple of products from their range to try and to review as part of the ongoing Candidly Cleaning feature.

Zoflora make and sell a wide range of products including concentrated antibacterial disinfectant and bin fresh gel, which are the two products I was sent.

Zoflora Concentrated Antinacterial Disinfectant (CAD).

Uses: There is very little you can’t use this CAD for. Use diluted in the kitchen and bathroom on floors, tiles, sides, sinks, taps, baths and more. You can only use undiluted on metal or ceramic sinks, drains and toilets. As with all cleaning products, it is advised you test a small area before first used. With a long lasting antibacterial action it is safe for use around pets, as long as it is in it’s diluted form. Typically this product comes in a 250ml bottle but as you only need a small amount for each use it really does stretch.

Scent: This product comes in a range of scents, I have been sent “Lily fresh”. This isn’t one of those floral smells that reminds you of Grandma, but a lovely fragrance that is well suited to a modern home. The frangrance is most definitely noticable but is not over strong and rather than mask household smells it neutralises them. I have an ornamental vase that sits up above the kitchen sink in the window (out of reach!) and I added a few drops of Zoflora to some water and it acted as an effective (and economical!) air freshener for days!

But does it work?? Yes it does! You don’t get any residue when using this and during the trial I used it regularly to wipe over to give my home that extra layer of protection. Being multipurpose you can save a fortune on buying different cleaners for different rooms and items. The scent, as above, is fantastic, and really creates an atmosphere in your home (but doesn’t smell like “cleaning” if that makes sense?). I have had comments from people coming in on the smell “have you got one of those plugins going? That’s lovely!”.

Would I use again? Yes I would – such a convenient, economical product that does the job with the extra benefit of freshening your home. Why wouldn’t I!?

Bin Fresh Gel.

This one I get quite excited about (yes I know, I really must get out more!). I loathe bin smells and at this time of the year, when it’s getting warmer our bins seems to pong more, despite being emptied regularly – especially the outside one (which is only emptied fortnightly – great when crammed with poo-ey nappies!). I have had bin fresh things you spray, stick in the lid, powders… and whilst they have smelled nice, the effect doesn’t last and soon we are back to our usual pongy bin area. This spray is ideal, has the same odour neutralising and antibacterial action and it’s “rainforest” scent makes walking past or opening our bins much less of a horror!

This is another Zoflora product I would most definitely buy again, it’s reasonably priced, in a convenient spray bottle and more to the point…. works. A side product perhaps, though not one Zoflora reports, is that we get noticeably less flies and wasps around the bins (we get a lot!) so perhaps there is something there which acts as a deterant – or perhaps they are just not being attracted by the scent of rubbish!

More about Zoflora

Zoflora products are available in various major stores and you can find out more about these products and the others in the range by visiting the website. To keep up to date with news, offers and product info why not pop over to the Zoflora page on Facebook?

Coming Soon – The New Fragrance On The Block!

Scent is such an important thing. A certain smell can bring a memory back instantly and can completely change your mood. I am a very smell-conscious person! Zoflora are releasing a new fragrance shortly, and I’m actually quite excited about it (again, if I get this excited about cleaning products I need to get out and about more, perhaps get a hobby….?).

Apple Orchard, a perfect scent for summer, will be available for sale in the usual major outlets and has a RRP of just £1.39. If you’ve got this far you’ll have realised that a big plus point for me with the items I tested was the long lasting fragrance and odour neutraliser so a new scent to try (and I will pop back and report on whether it’s up to the C&C high standards!) is never going to be a bad thing.

**Zoflora’s PR company were kind enough to send me these products to test and review. That is where their input ends, as my findings and opinions are my own and representation of how myself and my family found Zoflora after using it over a period of time in our home.