DU Brits...Yankee stupid question time.

[Skidmore]

Mods, I realize this post might belong in the Frugal Living or some other social forum on the board, but I'm not certain if our Brits frequent them. Please leave this for a little bit. Anyway, I could use a little schooling in cleaning products. I've become a fan of the "How Clean is Your House" show on BBC--Kim and Ags are just fantastically wonderfully practical women. They've such wonderful cleaning solutions, many of them natural and not chemical in the the commercial sense of the word. They refer to washing up powder and biologic washing up powder on a regular basis. Now I've made the assumption that washing up powder is essentially the same sort of product as our powdered laundry detergents (e.g., Tide). Or is it an abrasive cleaner, like Comet or Ajax? Or something else entirely? If myt assumption is true, then is the biologic washing up powder a powdered laundry type detergent with enzymes? Thanks for the assist.

[SmokingJacket]

1. I'm not british, but I watch that show, and I think they use washing soda

which is NOT the same as ajax. It's chemically similar to baking soda but, according to this website, "more caustic." But safe and natural, too.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-wonders-of-washing-soda.html

I've been meaning to look for some...

In general Europeans are WAY ahead of us in terms of using ecological cleaning products.

[Skidmore]

5. Most of the grocers in our area carry Arm & Hammer washing soda

in the laundry section in a box and you can buy some in a cleanser like shake box in the section with the cleansers. I use about a box a month between adding it to laundry and cleaning elsewhere in the house. It's much cheaper than soap powders. I bought the cleanser shaker type box and refill it just so I'm not lugging a big cardboard box around the house all the time. I also buy white vinegar by the gallon.

[VLC98]

2. Hello..I'm British.

You're right, washing powder is just powdered laundry detergent and biological washing powder contains enzymes, which I don't think you can buy in the US...at least I've never seen it. However, the term "washing up" means to do the dishes, hence you would use "washing up liquid" instead of dish detergent. Hope that helps! I'm a fan of the show too, but they're all repeats lately.

[Freedomofspeech]

3. I love that show, too...

those women are fabulous.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Ok, please just don't start the vacuum

I need to wake up a little more. Let me have another cup of coffee first, please? Freakin vacuum drives me out of my mind....Aaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!