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?