Household and or cleaning products from your past.

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twinniefan

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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718
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Sydney Australia
I put this qustion a few years ago, and now I thought I might resurrect it seeing as though we have a lot of new friends in the group, and the question is what household cleaners or household products, excluding laundry detergents did you use or do you remember from years gone by,here is my list.
1.Flash-a multi purpose powder cleaner which was a real favourite of Mum's and mine, off the market for quite a long time now.

2.Ezi-Kleen-a spray on multi purpose foam cleaner for bathrooms, mirrors, benchtops anything really,nice light lemon fragrance.

3.Air-O-Zone- Room deodorant spray, used to have the most delightful range of fragrances,lavender,rose,citrus, pine(my favourite.),spice.(not really a cleaner I know but I just had to put it in.).Also discontinued.

4.Mrs. Sparkle- basically a female version of Mr. Sheen.(Mr. Sheen still around Mrs. Sparkle discontinued.

5.D.X.-(No not the 2 wrestlers.),a brand of disinfectant similar to Pine-O-Cleen,also discontinued.

6.Shelltox pest control products-,Hanging Pest strip, cupboard based pest strip product, tropical strength fly spray.- All discontinued for a very long time, I think the strips were removed because they were full of either D.D.T. or Dichlorvos,very potent and poisonous.

7.Flytox- Without a doubt THE MOST potent and lethal insect spray ever created, it was so bloody strong, you had to evacuate the house whyen spraying or you would choke to death along with the flies and mosquitoes.also discontinued-thank heavens!!!.

8.Woolworths "Minit" range of products, this was Woolworths original generic range of household products there was a fly spray, (had a nice musk fragrance from memory) and a range of different fragrant room deodorants.-Discontinued for many years.

9 Vapor-Brite oven cleaner-was a metal tin full of cleaning agents which were activated when you poured hot water into the tin and placed it in your cold oven and the escaping vapours cleaned your oven.-Discontinued.

10.Phenyle-(pronounced phenol)was a very powerful disinfectant mostly used for cleaning the household garbage can and for pouring down drains, very strong fragrance you would not use it for washing floors etc.- Might still be around not too sure.

11.Solyptol- household anstiseptic/disinfectant very similar to Dettol.-May still be available not too sure.

12.Johnson Protector flyspray range-was the first insect spray to have a wide nozzle for dispersing the spray was available in lemon and mint-citronells fragrance.-Discontinued was replaced by Raid later on.

13.Medic- medicated room spray for coughs and colds, was basically an aerosol version of vicks vaporub you sprayed it into the rooms of anyone suffering with a cold or so and the vapours (supposedly),cleared blocked nostrils etc while you slept.

Well that's all I can think of for now looking forward to your trips down memory lane.
Cheers.
 
Here in the states in the 1960's I remember.....

Johnson Wax products:

Liquid Pride - Furniture polish - IIRC it was a watery proudct that you wiped on and let dry to a haze and then buff off. Super strong solvent smell.

Liquid Jubilee and Spray Jubilee kitchen wax - great for Formica counters and appliances. My aunt in WV used to send me the liquid for my birthday to CT when it was discontinued here when I was a small boy. Spray version was only discontinued within the last few years.

Rinso laundry detergent -powder of course, with phosphates.

Glass Wax - pink cream that you used on windows and mirrors. IIRC it had a gentle abrasive in it too. You would rub it on, let it dry and buff off.
 
Jubilee wax

If you like Jubilee wax, you can find something that folks claim is similar here:


 
Handy Andy all purpose cleaner discontinued had ammonia in it.
Top Job all purpose cleaner pg sold the brand and it now sucks
comes in fruit flavors now the original had ammonia in it is was very good.
Original Comet cleanser pg sold the brand and now it is no good. the new company has cheapened the formula.
Spic N Span powder pg sold that brand do not know how it is because can not find it any more use to be very good.
Red Devil Lye very good drain opener they do not make it anymore because someone got the great idea to use this to make drug with to get high so the company does not sell it for household use.
Crystal Drano is a very good drain opener but is also hard to find because of the same thing with the lye it is used to manufacture drugs with.
Kleen n shine it was a very good multi use product furniture and multi surface product even glass.
 
Spic 'n Span...

...Is still around, though a little hard to find. It has a new "Sun Fresh Scent," so it's not exactly the same as before:


Jubilee can sometimes be ordered through the Johnson Wax website. They have small quantities of it from time to time (I think they do a small production run periodically), and a little of it also finds its way to hardware stores. You have to contact SCJBrands though their website and ask if any is available at the moment, but only the spray formula is available this way:


I miss liquid Jubilee, which was really great stuff. I also liked Original Pledge, before they began putting lemon and other scents into the product and making it creamier. Pledge used to be absolutely wonderful on plastic, restoring its colour and giving it that "new" feel again. Today's more emollient Pledge doesn't do that. Favor High Shine furniture polish is what I like for plastics nowadays.

I wish Boraxo hand cleaner wasn't so hard to find, also Lava is getting a bit tricky, since stores are all but refusing to carry bar soap *. They're both out there, but you sometimes have to hunt.

And Wenol metal polish, a German polish that works wonders on neglected metal, is one of those things you just have to give up and buy online only, which is a mystery, because everyone who uses it loves it.

* I am personally so fed up with the wastefulness of liquid bath soaps and laundry detergents that I'm thinking of founding the C.T.B.B.S.B.S.A.P.D. - the Committee to Bring Back Sensible Bar Soaps and Powdered Detergents. If anyone wishes to join, annual dues are one case of Palmolive Green and four boxes of Oxydol.
 
I remember Panel-Nu - kind of a combination between Pledge and Liquid Gold. It was in a spray can like pledge, but left a finish more like liquid gold. It cleaned woodwork, and cabinets and left a nice shine and cut grease pretty well. You see it occasionally in old hardware stores, but I haven't seen it in a major retailer in a long time.

Wes
 
Comet Cleanser!

Still use it to this day! Great for cleaning toilets!
I do agree with Carl though. Prestige Brands seems to have altered the old P&G formula a bit. At $.92 a can, who can complain though? =)
 
Comet brings back memories

Hearing you guys mention Comet powder cleaner bought back another memory, we never had Comet in Oz but we did have Bon-Ami, basically the same as Comet and Ajax powder cleanser but not as harsh,used to be made by a brand called Kiwi i think.
There does seem to be a common theme running through our posts in that the older cleaners or formulas of those cleaners were better than today's modern products,(with the exception of Flytox though, aarrgghh I hated that stuff.)
 
Glass Wax is great stuff. I get it at Home Depot.

Love Jubilee and still use it.

Gulf Insect spray with DDT. Never been anything as effective before or since. I really miss this product. Turns the house into a toxic waste dump and nary an insect to be found. Just my kind of place. I also enjoy the use of my new extra arm and hand that mysteriously grew----------

ALL Automatic Dishwashing Detergent. Inexpensive and great stuff.

LaFrance Laundry Bluing. The best I ever used. Would really perk-up a load of colored clothes that had seen a bit of wear.

Kirk's Castille Bar Soap----at least it can still be found here and there. I always keep a supply of it. 100% Pure Coconut Oil Soap, without all the different "sodiums"(salts) that dry skin like hell! Especially good in hard water, nothing lathers up quite like it. I learned to use it years ago while living in Tampa with their terrible water.

Cashmere Bouquet Bar Soap. Perfect for hands. Wonderful cheap 'ho fragrance. The wonderful Mexican detergent PALOMA smells just like it! Love to wash towels in it.

Final Touch Fabric Softener. The "newer" version smells nothing like the original.

Ivory Snow Soap Flakes. Great fragrance and perfect for towels and delicates. I'm always looking for it at estate sales.
 
My grandmother used Spic n Span powder for cleaning her kitchen and bathroom, always used Oxydol detergent and Final Touch fabric softener. My mother always used Pine Sol on floors, Breeze laundry detergent, and either Final Touch or Sta Puf fabric softener. For dish washing soap I think mom used Lux and grandma used Ivory.
 
Does anyone remember Comet in the red can? My mother-in-law swore by it, and had a fit when it was NLA. I found several containers of vintage Ajax cleanser at an estate sale a couple years ago, and the stuff is awesome. I miss Vanish Crystals toilet bowl cleaner too.
 
Who remembers Janitor in a Drum? The bottle looked like a miniature oil drum. My mom used to buy it because it was cheap. Also she swore Comet would ruin everything in the bathroom.
 
And She Was So Right!

"Also she swore Comet would ruin everything in the bathroom."

Comet was a highly abrasive pumice-based product in the 1960s - I well remember that most people I knew had dull sinks and tubs as a result of using it. Sadly, there weren't many alternatives to Comet back then. Today's spray bathroom cleaners that can zap soap scum via chemical actions hadn't been invented yet. The only real alternative was Bon Ami, which uses a finer, soluble abrasive called feldspar, but not too many people knew there was a difference, and the fact that Bon Ami came in a can like Comet didn't help to convey the idea that this product wouldn't scratch. There was also a heavy-duty Bon Ami that did scratch, complicating matters further.

My maternal grandmother was the most Comet-happy housewife you ever saw, with the worn-out porcelain to prove it.
 
My mother and her mother used such varied items as:

'Fairy' washing-up liquid,
'Squezy' washing-up liquid,
'New Min' spray furniture polish,
'Windolene' window/mirror cleaner,
'Pledge' spray furniture polish,
'Vim' scouring powder,
'Jif' cream cleaner,
'Lifeguard' disinfectant,
'Domestos' chlorine bleach,
'Parozone' chlorine bleach,
'Dettol' antiseptic-disinfectant,
'Lux' toilet soap,
'Lifebuoy' toilet soap,
'Knight's Castille' toilet soap,
'Camay' toilet soap,
'Imperial Leather' toilet soap,
'Fairy' toilet soap,
'Palmolive' toilet soap,
'Fairy' kitchen soap (dark green),
'1001' household cleaner & carpet shampoo,
'Robin' starch,
'Airwick Ball' air freshener,
'Haze' aerosol air freshener.
 
*Haze "Magic Mushroom" Airfreshener. What happened to those???
*Squezy WUL
*Camay soap - can still get this but I wonder if its as good.
*Flash Powder
*Lux Soapflakes
*Fairy Spring Fresh WUL
*Mr Sheen/Topps wood touch up polish. - a bottle lived in my Mums cleaning caddy for years and years.
*Lord Sheraton solid paste - again My Mum probably has the jar still with half its contents.
*Original Glade Plug Ins which had a Gel insert as opposed to all these glass liquid bottles.
*Chambourcy Chocolate Mousse to keep kids occupied while your cleaning.
*Woodland Glade Shake N Vac - best scent there ever was.
*'Q' cleaning products like bleach and the such also the QMatic washing powder and liquids
*7 cleaning products more vivdly remember 7 bleach and WUL
 
Cleaners and waxes

My mom used Johnson's Pride on all our wood furniture, Jubilee on the metal kitchen cabinets and Formica, and Bruce Clean and Wax or Johnson's paste wax on the oak floors. Needless to say the house had a strong solvent smell on cleaning days.

For the kitchen sink and bath fixtures she used either Comet (mainly green can) or Bab-O, and Vanish crystalls, Bowlene, or Sno-Bol in the toilet.

Dishes were machine washed using Cascade or sometimes Electrosol, and hand washed with Gentle Fels, Lux pink liquid, or Ivory. She started using Dawn when it was introduced.

When I was real little, she did laundry in Instant Fels powder or All, then started using Salvo when it came out. We had FL Westinghouse equipment at time, up until '73. When we got the Maytag set, she began using Wisk. I also remember Era being used toward the end. She never cared for Tide for some reason. Sometimes Downey or other softener was used. Ironing was frequenly starched using spray Niagara or Faultless starch or sizing; early on she used Argo laundry starch that had to be cooked. She kept using that for things like curtains, and I still have a box of it today.

For general cleaning we used Mr. Clean, Handy Andy, Spic and Span powder, and Ajax with ammonia. For really greasy or dirty surfaces, Lestoil was used. Sometimes other cleaners were bought, such as Top Job or Janitor in a Drum. She liked using plain TSP for washing the walls and ceilings, which were all painted with oil-based paint. Remember onetime my sister's room was painted with latex, and when when it was washed with TSP, it started coming off on the sponge. It quickly was prepped and repainted with oil paint.

As for Spic and Span powder, I recently bought some of the pine scent made by P&G Professional at GFS. They also have P&G Comet heavy duty cleanser. Lux pink liquid dish detergent is made by JohnsonDiversy (Lever), but only comes in gallon jugs. I've not bought any since I like using Dawn by P&G Professional, purchased in gallon size and a non-Ultra formula. The Ajax with ammonia is avialable in gallon size, made by CP Institutional. I do wish Johnson would bring back Jubilee. I checked, and they must be out of it now. It did better than anything they have now.

I agree with Sandy about Comet, Ajax, etc. taking the finish off fixtures. As my mom used a lot of Comet, the sink and bath tub were rather dull. Conversly, the acrossed-the-street neighbor always cleaned her's with Bon-Ami. Her bathroom was older than ours, but looked like new.
 
Boraxo

I've seen Boraxo in the general area of cleansers and air fresheners section in Lowe's and Home Depot, as well as at the supermarkets Vons, Ralphs, and Albertsons.

Until recently (about three months ago), Home Depot carried 20 Mule Team Borax, but when I could not find it on the shelves, a floor manager checked for me and said that the product was no longer being stocked. Getting this information took a while of waiting in the store to find out, and I did not have the patience to wait to see if this was also the case for Boraxo.
 
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