Welcome to another episode of "Morag doesn't stay on top of her reviews and has been meaning to write this for years". I'm not exaggerating when I say years. Somewhere in 2015 I attended one of the many Vegan Fetes at The Flying Duck and came across the cleaning brand Humble Stuff. This was back when I began switching up my cleaning cupboard to eco and animal friendly products, so this was a no-brainer purchase for me.
I'm not going to lie, even now, I'm still not sold on the whole 'natural' cleaning thing (I'm not even sold on it for beauty products either tbh). Like, this is the hygiene of my house we are talking about here - not some lipstick that I'm unlikely to get E.coli off of. I want something that kills bacteria. So I'm a lot more fussy about what I purchase and I'm a bit sceptical of cleaning my work surfaces with something grown in a garden somewhere (or paying money for something I could probably make myself).
Humble Stuff has three products in its range: Soft Cleaning Paste, Toilet Freshener, and a Multi-Surface Spray. All three come in simple packaging and are all made using a small list of ingredients (and I can pronounce every single one). There products are all cruelty-free and vegan, plus the packaging is recyclable. The products are also handmade and made-to-order so you know they're fresh.
I'll start with my favourite: the soft cleaning paste. At the fete I was told I could use this as an oven cleaner, work-surface cleaner or drop some in my hand basin and use as a soap for my dishes. It's only the third I use it for and it is excellent for cleaning dishes. I still use regular washing up liquid, but this is great to add in with when you're cleaning something stubborn like a burnt pan. I used it for my work surface once, but white marks were left when it dried up. And it's just not strong enough for hobs and ovens.
The next product is one that I like, but it's not amazing, and that's the Multi-Surface Spray. As I reiterated above, I don't like to put the hygiene of my house in the hands of natural products so this isn't the only cleaning spray I use (once hospitals start using natural cleaning products, I'll become sold). What I use this for is a quick spritz after I've been making my dinner to get rid of the worst of it. But for my weekly deep-clean I prefer something a bit stronger. Saying that major plus is that it smells gorgeous (I have spritzed it around my living room in place of an actual air freshener a couple of times!).
Finally, we have the product I have no intention of re-purchasing: the Toilet Freshener. This isn't a bleach or one of those gel things you put in the cistern that turns the water blue. The best way to describe this is 'a bath bomb for your loo'. Except this bath bomb doesn't have glitter or leaves a beautiful smell that swirls round your bathroom for days. Nope. It's white in colour and you pop it in your loo and watch it fizz. There's also no strong smell. So your guests aren't going to lift the lid of your toilet and promptly compliment you on your great smelling toilet. I don't like slating brands but this is honestly one of the pointless things I've reviewed. I've fused them up because I hate waste, but that's all else I have to say.
Toilet bath bombs aside, I would seriously consider re-purchasing the spray and the paste. But only for helping my cleaning routine - none of the products clean thoroughly enough to become a holy grail product.
Obviously, this is only my own opinion. The lovely Mica wrote a glowing review of the Multi-Use Spray and the fabulous Sarah rates the paste and spray highly.
Have you ever tried Humble Stuff cleaning?
