I am not a person who ‘loves’ to clean. I have heard that there are people who are, but I am not in their number. I do neat and tidy well, but not spotless. My house could be described as, ahem… lived in. However, every now and then I get in what my husband kindly refers to as ‘a mood’ and insist on the spotless. It was a happy coincidence that this mood coincided with the appearance of Norwex in my life.
Truth be told, I was becoming more concerned about the number of chemicals in my family’s life. My under sink cupboard is a treasure trove of all things bleachy, piney, ocean misty, eucalyptusy; you name a cleaning product smell and I’ve got it. Chemicals are not only bad for us, but they’re bad for the environment, so with that in mind I decided to give the Norwex eco-friendly products a go. I was also interested to see if firstly this could really work and if it did was this a viable economic option for our household?
There is something about the thought of cleaning an oven which is really just all too hard. But given that our oven hadn’t been cleaned in erm… some time… I thought I’d start with that. I’d had my weetbix and coffee, put on my serious cleaning outfit (the most disgraceful pair of tracksuit pants and t-shirt I own) and prepared myself for some hard core upper body muscle usage. I had my tub of Norwex cleaning paste and sculpt scourer at the ready and set to. I’d allocated an hour for this task, thinking that by that stage my arm would be close to numb and that I’d have done about half of what I set out to do.
In less than 15 minutes I could see through the glass on the oven door and there wasn’t any throbbing pain in my arm. Wildly impressed by not having to use my brute strength, I continued on. In less than an hour I had an oven that would make the most fastidious of mothers in law proud. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I’d managed to accomplish with two chemical free cleaning items and some water. Better still, when I made a cake that afternoon, I couldn’t smell burning chemicals!
Sheridan Hodges, my Norwex consultant, tells me that there is such a thing as an Oven and Grill Cleaner that would make cleaning the oven even easier!
Oven door, before and after
I then went on to the ceramic hot plate with its baked on gunk and a saucepan which had been involved in a boiling dry incident. Suddenly, I was the Mary Poppins of the cleaning world and I felt compelled to clean everything in sight. I loved the two products I’d used thus far, it was quick and easy, imagine what I could get done in the next hour!
So off I went in my ‘cleaning mood’. I managed to remove some permanent marker that one of my Mini Picasso’s had used to decorate the dining table. Some dirty finger marks from walls and doors were easily wiped clean. The kitchen and bathroom floors were swept and mopped to a beautiful shine. The shower screen was devoid of all soap scum for nine days!
Although I was impressed with my cleaning frenzy, my favourite of the Norwex products was the Suede Make Up Removal cloths. I have a packet of ‘standard’ make up remover wipes which I use when we’re away or if I just want to quickly wash gunk from my face. Use, throw in the bin and then buy another packet. The Norwex ones are reusable. You just wet, use, rinse or throw in the washing machine. They worked as well as the wet wipes from the supermarkets and I could reuse these ones so they were always on hand.
Permanent marker on wood, thanks to a Mini Picasso
The range of products available from Norwex really is quite extensive.
Oven is looking less than its best? Say hello to the Cleaning Paste and Spirnet scrubber.
Need to clean your windows? Here’s your Enviro cloth.
Soap scum on the shower screen? Meet Blue Diamond.
The dusting mit
Dust behind the TV? Show me the Dusting Mit.
At the end of the day, I was happy with the clean given by Norwex products. I’ve been using them for three weeks now and haven’t bought any cleaning items from the supermarket, so I’ve saved lots of money there. I’ve also drastically reduced the amount of harmful chemicals in our home which I’m very happy about.
I sat down and worked out how much I spent on cleaning products and associated paraphernalia. Whilst in the short term purchasing from the supermarkets is cheaper, the fact that you can use, wash and reuse the Norwex products makes it a viable long term alternative. The Norwex microfibre cloths have a two year warranty.
The pros:
- Free from harmful chemicals
- Reusable
- Easy to use
- Easy to wash
- Economical in the long-term
- You can join the shopper program and get the items for a reduced rate, sent to your home
- By hosting a Norwex Demo you can set up your home with Norwex for free and find out the best products for your home.
The cons:
- Expensive to set up, but if you stick with it you don’t buy the other products you normally would
- I didn’t love the washing powder. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it either. Personal choice. I did like it as a soaker though
- You need to remember which cloth is for which job, but there is a tag attached to make it easier.
Norwex is a Norwegian owed company who have been in Australia for about six years. Their aim is to ‘radically reduce chemicals in our homes to promote the health of your family and of the environment.’ They offer items designed to help you clean your home in an environmentally friendly and healthy way. Norwex also have a range of personal care products that are ECOCERT certified natural and organic cosmetics, enzyme based natural cleaning products and household items aimed at reducing plastic waste and landfill.
You can buy Norwex products either online from NSM Sheridan Hodges or you can host a party and receive Norwex for free through the Host Rewards program or buy products from the party.
Our local North Shore consultant is Sheridan Hodges. To host a party or to order, call 0429 123 632 or email [email protected]. Otherwise ‘like’ them on Facebook or view on the Norwex website.
