Review: Persil Washing Up Liquid Warm Spice Limited Edition (and 'tipping and pouring' fun!)

We tend to have our own unique style of reviewing products on our blog. Sometimes we include videos, sometimes drawings, sometimes the kids write the reviews. As a family we often all get involved. Our blog has always been intended to be our family blog and one of the things that we are going to try to do even more this year is incorporate family life into any reviews that we do.

That's usually easily done with reviewing things like toys, baby products or even holidays, but having decided that as one of our new year's resolutions, how exactly does one incorporate family fun into a review of washing up liquid?

Well far more easily that you'd imagine actually...

We often use Persil for our laundry but I don't recall ever using Persil washing up liquid before. So when Persil sent us this limited edition 'Warm Spice' fragrance in it's vibrant red colour, I put it to use straight away.

J immediately asked 'Why is it red mummy?' which was not really a question I knew the answer to. But I did find that the bright colour helped me be far more conscious of how much I was using (I am renowned in the family for using far too much washing up liquid when I do the dishes). And being aware of how much washing up liquid I was using made me more aware of how much water I was using (again, I plead guilty of using most water in our family too). Becoming aware of, and making a conscious effort to reduce, the amount of detergent and water we use can only be a good thing.

The Warm Spice fragrance includes a cinnamon scent, with hints of cloves and citrus. Not too overpowering or 'false' smelling so it just made the chore of washing up a little more enjoyable.

And smell is strongly linked to memory (as anyone who has read the latest Ruby Redfort book will know). So I found myself reminiscing... I remembered just how much J used to love 'helping' with the dishes when he was little. Something I hadn't tried yet with Miss T. We used to call it 'tipping and pouring' as he played with a whole array of plastic containers tipping and pouring water from one to another whilst I used to squeeze in alongside to wash the actual dishes.

So we set up a chair and some floor towels by the kitchen sink, popped on her Nuby Cover all waterproof bib, found a few plastic containers and a plastic funnel and Miss T got busy...splashing and tipping and pouring...and spilling water on the floor (thank goodness for the towels). A fantastic early learning opportunity for things like understanding capacity, measuring, liquids, vessels, as well as role play. She was, after all, copying mummy and daddy by thinking she was doing the washing up. She loved it!

With J's return to school after such a long time of homeschooling, I am hoping that me and Miss T will get plenty more opportunities to play 'tipping and pouring'.

Now she is nearly 21 months old she seems to really be able to join in with activities like this.

Whilst thinking of the topic of less waste, when both 7 year old The Brilliant Chef and us received Hotel Chocolat Chocolate's to review, we didn't let the outer packaging go to waste. The kids got busy using the white foam packaging as snow and made these Snowmen.

We also tried Shaving foam play over the Christmas period. Adding a few small world type toys transforms this messy play activity into a magic winter wonderland. We even added a sprinkle of glitter!

So one bottle of Persil Washing Up liquid did it's job of washing the dishes effectively, whilst inspiring us to waste less. The Warm Spice fragrance encouraged us to have winter-themed fun with our play and crafts. The kitchen is the place where all these activities took place and it was all the better for having that Warm Spice winter fragrance wafting around us. And I'm sure that Persil won't mind us doing this review in our own fun family way because after all, as a brand, Persil oozes with the ethos of family fun!

Persil Washing Up liquid currently retails at £1.00 for a 500ml bottle and is available from all major supermarkets. It is also available in four more colourful fragrances; Pink Blush, Orange Crush, Lemon Burst, Apple Fizz. For more information about the Persil Washing Up liquid range, visit www.persildishwash.co.uk

Disclosure: We were sent a bottle of Persil Washing Up liquid Warm Spice for the purposes of review.  As always, please double check any prices stated yourself at time of purchase. All opinions are our own. Whilst we have shown Miss T doing water play, please remember to always keep detergents out of the reach of young children! Always supervise children around water.