Method VS Murchison-Hume

Recently, in my wild state of nesting, I have become obsessed with cleaning.

The Husband watches me in amusement as I polish the glass on our balcony doors, refusing his help as I need the satisfaction of doing it myself and often quips "I hope you stay cleaning crazy forever!!" - Don't count on it buddy.

I don't know why, but all of a sudden I have become rather fanatical about making the change to more environmentally friendly products also.
I guess that the idea of inhaling bleach and passing it on to The Baby doesn't sit well with me, and it's about time I became more environmentally concious.

I can't even believe I am blogging about cleaning products. Who have I become??
The name Domestic Divinity was a tongue in cheek jab at my domestic fails but it looks like I am slowly clawing my way up the ladder. Go me.

I was discussing Method vs Murchison-Hume on twitter with some girls when Leanne from Method contacted me and offered to send me a selection of the range for my review. This will not affect the outcome though and I paid for the Murchison-Hume products fair and square.

I try and use white vinegar, bicarb soda and lemon often whilst cleaning, but sometimes they just don't cut it - despite the fact that I love making the volcano.

If we have lemons which are too squishy for my likings I squeeze all the juice into a bottle and stockpile it for cleaning needs.

I purchased the "Classic Six" Boxed Set from Murchison-Hume for $73 all in Australian White Grapefruit scent which includes:-

-Boys' Bathroom Cleaner 500mls $12.50

-Premium Glass Polish 500mls $12.50

-Spit and Polish Chrome and Stainless Steel Cleaner 500mls $12.50

-Everyday Furniture Spritzer 500mls $12.50

-Counter Intelligence All-Surface Cleaner 500mls $12.50

-Effortless Floor Splash 500mls $12.50

-Bamboo Cleaning Caddy

and was sent the following products from Method:-

- Gel Hand Wash (sweet water) $4.99
- All Purpose Cleaner (French lavender) 828ml $5.99
- Daily Kitchen (clementine) 828ml $5.99
- Bathroom Cleaner (Eucalyptus Mint) 828ml $5.99
- Dilutable All Purpose Cleaner (French lavender) 1064ml $11.99
- Stainless Steel Microfibre Cloth (Cannot find online)
- Steel for Real Stainless Steel Polish $5.99
- Glass & Surface Cleaner (mint) 828ml $5.99
- Daily Shower Spray (ylang ylang) 828ml $5.99

Now, on to my comparisons:

Method Daily Kitchen vs M-H Counter Intelligence All-Surface Cleaner

When The Husband cooks we end up with oil everywhere. I mean oil on the appliances, floor, roof, you name it. I let it sit for a day for the purpose of this trial and then used the same amount of both sprays on new cloths.

The Method worked faster, but they both worked. I just needed more elbow grease for a deeper clean with M-H.

Preferred Scent: Murchison-Hume

Cost Factor: Method

Less effort: Method

Looks wise: Murchison-Hume 

Winner: Method

M-H Boys Bathroom Cleaner vs Method Bathroom Cleaner

I actually put these both nearly on par with each other. I cant fault either product, nor can I see a clear distinction but I think that M-H wins for me in this round, just. Hopefully the fact that the M-H bottle says 'boys' on it, The Husband will get on board. I wont be holding my breath though.

Preferred Scent: Method

Cost Factor: Method

Less effort: Murchison-Hume

Looks wise: Murchison-Hume

Winner: Murchison-Hume

Method Glass & Surface Spray vs M-H Premium Glass Polish

I used both of these on glass windows, mirrors and shower screens combined with a clean microfibre cloth.

Method is the clear winner here, pun intended.
They both work but Method works far faster, leaves less streaks and smells better!

I actually get enjoyment out of using this product, but do feel as if I go through it very quickly - which is a good thing that the Method is more wallet friendly. Maybe I am spraying too much but I find such satisfaction in it.

Preferred Scent: Equal

Cost Factor: Method

Less effort: Method

Looks wise: Murchison-Hume

Winner: Method 

M-H Spit and Polish Chrome and Stainless Steel Cleaner vs Method Steel for Real Stainless Steel Polish 

These were both kind of the same same to me but maybe our stainless steel stuff was just gross before I tried them! I used them both on the Method microfibre cloth which seemed to make a big difference.

Microfibre cloths are the bees knees when it comes to cleaning.

Preferred Scent: Murchison-Hume

Cost Factor: Method

Less effort: Equal

Looks wise: Method

Winner: Method 

M-H Everyday Furniture Spritzer

I don't have anything to compare this with but I had a gross stain (that looked something like squashed avocado..) on our rug, which is a cheapy from Ikea so didn't take to kindly to spills and stains and nothing could get this gross stain out, until, I attacked it with a more than generous dose of the spritzer on a chux wipe and taa daa - good as new.

I don't think this is even what the spritzer is for but it worked so that's good enough for me.

I'm freaking impressed. I am looking forward to using this on our new furniture to keep it fresh to death.

Method Dilutable All Purpose Cleaner vs M-H Effortless Floor Splash

I don't know. I just didn't love either of these products. They didn't float my boat.

They both worked okay but nothing brilliantly awe taking like the glass polishes.

Maybe it is just the way I mop though. My mop is pretty old now.
A bad tradesman always blames his tools after all. 

Preferred Scent: Method

Cost Factor: Method

Less effort: Equal

Looks wise: Murchison-Hume

Winner: Equal

Method Daily Shower Spray

I use this every day after I shower, and I told The Husband to as well but who knows if he does. 
The shower is actually staying quite clean, I haven't had to do a major clean lately at all so that is good. 

I spray it on the tiles and fixtures but not the glass as I find that it is a bit streaky if you don't wipe it off.

The smell is fresh though so that makes me happy. What exactly is Ylang Ylang?

Conclusion:

Murchison-Hume

I pretty much ordered this because the bottles are beautiful and would look fine left on a counter, in a shower etc. People had told me that it was like spraying water, but I found it worked okay, not as useless as I was expecting but nothing ground breaking.

It definitely is not worth the cost though in my honest opinion. If I am going to pay this much for cleaning products, I want a cleaning lady attached. 

I will use it up, and then I will probably pour the matching Method products into the bottles for better presentation. Ha. 

I really like grapefruit smell in general, and have some candles in this scent but I didn't get that vibe from these products. Maybe my nostrils are slightly off though.

I wont buy this again, except for the furniture spritzer. 

Method

As everyone on twitter said, Method works really well.

There are some scents that I do not love but then again, when I received a box full of cleaning products it didn't have that pungent odour that most do so that is a positive.

I think the bottles are cute and modern and like the M-H products they don't need to be hidden under a sink.

The price point is also spot on. Really good value.

I will definitely be buying Method again and it has now become my preferred cleaning product. 

source

What cleaning products do you use?

Do you have any 'environmentally friendly' tips for me? 

Home Owner At Last!!

At last, I am a home owner!

I really did think that we would be in our apartment for ever, and have 3 kids in bunk beds in the one room, ha.

So, last week I inspected a property in Bayside, then The Husband went to have a look during the week.  He gave me the A-OK, which is rare as we have very different tastes in dwellings.

The auction was on Saturday and being Super Saturday there was a large number of people there which scared me a little.  We had decided on our cut off line (well, The Husband had told me our cut off line as I am not to be trusted with such decisions) and as the bidding got under way in $20,000 increments our limit was hit very quickly and we hadn't even got a bid in.

Of course, I thought that it was all over red rover for us.  The Husband was on the road and I was safely on the footpath out of potential harms way so I couldn't even nudge him with disappointment, and nearly fell over in shock when he put a bid in at the final call of the sale for someone else.  

A few bids went back and forth and then I heard the tell tale Blackberry email ping, and looked over to see The Husband checking his emails during the bidding, come on – attention please.

After the auctioneer  had a quick meeting with the vendor, he called his ‘first call.....second call’ and I swear I have never felt time move slower. At the SOLD call, they let of this massive thing full of confetti – scaring everyone half to death with the bang.  I couldn't believe it – we just bought a house!!

We went in to sign the contracts and The Husbands hands were still shaking from the mixture of his triple shot coffee and adrenalin so I took the pen and was filling out the contracts, and had a moment of “Do I put my name down? Do I own it too?” haha, so silly.

This photo was taken before the auction, a bubble blower was a good talking point – very cute.

Our settlement takes place January 25, which is also the day I start maternity leave so I will be 33 weeks pregnant and nesting will well and truly have taken over.

We need to paint, rip up the carpets for the floorboards etc before moving in but nothing major or that will take too long. 

I've been googling laundry and general storage ideas like a mad woman. 

We will definitely need to have a washer and dryer stacked on top of  each other for maximum space saving.

I love the presentation of these Murchison Hume products. I have been told that Method is better, I may get both to compare and review for you. 

A front door mat. It’s the small things in life that make this lass happy! 

I got these yoyos from David Jones food court and the shortbread bit tasted like cardboard. 

Sunday morning I went to pick up my lovely friend Laura from the airport and drove her to the Peninsula where we had this amazing breakfast.

When it arrived, an old man stopped at the table and said “You cant finish that!!”. Well, I showed you.

This isn't a normal dinner plate either, this is on a serving plate and it was just for little ol’ me. 

I woke up to a message from Cottonsocks this morning informing me of super duper cheap Missoni baby wear on Ozsale.

I had already banned myself from buying more baby clothes but who can resist a mega bargain, not me anyway.

I picked up these 4 items, I could have found a lot more but self restraint kicked in eventually. 

They are still for sale as you read this. 

If you are not already a member, sign up using my link HERE .

I am obsessed with baby cardigans I tell you. 

Look at this cute Pure Baby one! I have so many Pure Baby clothes already as when they are on sale they are dirt cheap.  I got them all in neutral colours like white and grey though so that they can do double duty when No.2 comes along, or if No.1 pops out a boy haha. 

I received an email asking me to do a YouTube Baby Clothes Haul video - is there much interest in something like that though?

The Pantry

Does anyone else just freaking hate cleaning out their pantry? 

In a bid to attempt to live up to my blog name, I cleaned out the pantry.

I kid you not, I found items that expired in early 2010. 

I also found stuff that I didn't buy, and can only assume have been sitting there gathering dust since before I met The Husband, 5 years back.  Gross.

It gets to the point where I am throwing food into the pantry and closing the door as quickly as possible to stop stuff falling out. 

We have another cupboard for breakfast cereals and the like, but here is the before and after.

As you can see, I had a lot to throw out. 

I know, another riveting blog post... You are welcome, as usual. 

I'm in Sydney right now, this is a scheduled post - sorry.

Vampire

I snapped this shot on Friday and lots of people were commenting on my eye shadow, but I actually only have on eyeliner and then a little bit of smudging on the bottom lash line. 

Simple and effective. Of course, eyebrows must be filled in also! I'm loving my eyebrows beyond words lately. The girls at Brow Theory at Miss Fox do a darn good job.

I feel like a bit of a vampire, but not an Edward Cullen type, more old school.

I wore my Caroline Morgan polka dot skirt paired with my Review Belt but as I had 2 tops on, and tucked in, I looked like a lumpy sack of potatoes. 

I need to buy bodysuits to wear with fitted skirts so that I am not a lumpy sack.

We had dumplings for lunch and I could not put my bow belt back on all day.

I've attempted to hit the gym lately, I usually look slightly Thug Lyfe on my way to throwing some weights around.

This Oakland Raiders vest has gotten me through some tough, cold situations, let me tell you.

In other news, I had to forrage for coinage and found the mother load. $86 in coinage laying around the house. 

It will be less now as my sticky fingered niece came over, but am intending on taking it to the bank to be changed into notes. Just not sure how I intend on carrying it to the bank. This ish is heavy.

My brother was meant to stay over on Sunday night which lead to me being forced to clean the spare room (read: hang up The Husbands clothes) and make the bed in a hurry.

He bailed.

Damn him. He made up for it the next day when we had my niece and took us to the Aquarium! 

Oh well, at least the room is clean now. I need to get rid of the desk and my turtle tank and resurrect the clothes rack so that The Husband can hang up his shirts which are folded and shoved into every nook and cranny in the apartment.

I took down his clothes rack the day he left for America. Our apartment looked like a shirt making sweat shop. All that was missing were small children.

I swear that when we look at houses, if it doesn't have a walk in wardrobe, I walk out. Maybe I need to lower my standards. Same thing for kitchens, if it's ugly I close the page, but am going to be more lenient, after all -  a kitchen can be fixed! We are not looking for our 'forever' house, just one for the next 3ish years so it doesn't have to be 100% perfect I suppose! 

The Usual Offenders

It’s the start of another week, another day another dollar!

I had a pretty good weekend, fair to say that my highlight was that The Husband came home! After an 8 hour delay, I was at the airport with my palms sweating, butterflies in my stomach, full of excitement and nerves! 
It was like our first date all over again (which I was two hours late for…). 
Who would have thought that a month without seeing him could leave me feeling like that!

I was so excited to see him when he walked out of the international gates, and did a double take as he looked younger. His hair was due for a cut, he had lost weight and bulked up from daily gym sessions (who goes to America and actually comes back fitter?!) and believe me, I ran to him for that hug and kiss.

This was my airport outfit, consisting solely of Zara pieces, except my handbag and shoes.

These classic fit jeans were a fantastic find, they fit perfectly and don’t need to be taken up, which is a miracle for us short legged beings.

Don’t mind my awkward stance.

In order to get ready for his arrival I had the usual wax and threading, I even shaved my legs and slapped on some fake tan. The things we do.

I have never been able to have my 'lady waxing' and my other waxing done by the same people. I just cannot bear the thought of it. 

I had my brows threaded at Miss Fox as usual and as usual they are awesome. Even if threading is a bitch. 

I went to Zara with the girl known as cotton socks and we wound up in the children’s section and I walked out with a jacket for myself, who would have thought. 

I got this chanel-esque tweed jacket for about $45. I need to shop in the children’s section more often! 

Kids must be big these days. 

Essie - Lovey Dovey

This one belongs to Kitty, but I feel the urge to buy it. 

This was my Peacock outfit last week.

Luxx Dress

Alannah Hill Belt

OPI DS Temptation over China Glaze Senorita Bonita 

I got totally sucked in by one of those skincare booths in the middle of Melbourne Central.

I usually try and ignore them as I know that if I get sucked in to stopping, I’ll leave with a product.

The girl roped me in, and was so sweet and convincing that I couldn’t resist. Grrrr.

How do people resist them!?

I used to do promo stuff back in the day and every now and then would have the terrible job of handing out pamphlets or samples to people, so I feel guilty now if I don’t stop or grab whatever someone is offering.

This product (honey facial peel) felt pretty nice on my hand and actually exfoliated some skin that I didn’t know was on my supposedly moisturized hands, so I bought it.

I’ll report back on if it is any good.

I’m all for supporting Australian businesses too… but still!

It was $140 but I told her it was too expensive and she gave it to me for $100 plus a free lip balm which has actually been really good. $100 is still expensive so bloody hell it better be worth it. Sigh. 

I popped into a health store last week and said to the staff “I need either chlorophyll or chloroform but whichever is not the date rape drug” and it took a minute for the girls to stop laughing and point me in the right direction.

I had asked if it was okay to take as am hoping to conceive in the future, and then 5 minutes later she looked pointedly at my belly and asked how far along I was.

Hopefully she just heard me wrong and I didn’t look like I was pregnant. I had my peacock outfit on so perhaps need to suck it in or wear spanx.  

I have it in my water at work and it is pretty much tasteless, but it looks disgusting. Perhaps I’ll just suck it down straight next time.

Our apartment is still smelling amazing thanks to this little bad boy.

The Husband was so impressed with how clean and organized it is and then was even more impressed when I cooked him a roast dinner, all whilst wearing a cute frilly white apron. 

Such simple things yet they get me so far haha.

Considering the name of this blog, you would expect me to not be so domestically challenged but hey, what can you do. 

Amongst the presents that The Husband brought be back from America were 16 nail polishes that he picked out himself and then had to cart around the states, and this was one of them.

Sephora by OPI – Mermaid to Order.

He picked out colors that I normally would not look twice at, and he did such a great job! I love them all.

I didn’t sleep through a full night once in the past month but having The Husband back has changed that, thankfully.

Apparently my comment form thing wasn’t working well over the weekend, so hopefully we are back in business now.