Clorox Clean Up Review

So we were in Costco, looking for some sort of kitchen cleaner. We had run low on our current ones and my husband was eyeing some of those cleaner wipes that Costco sells in three canister packs. Instead I suggested that we choose the Clorox Clean-Up pack that Costco was selling. It seemed much more economical - it came with two 1 quart spray bottles and a something like a huge gallon jug to refill them. Plus, it was made by Clorox. What could be bad about this stuff?

Oh, how naieve I was.

About Clorox Clean Up
Clorox Clean Up is a disinfectant cleaner with bleach. Usually sold as just the one quart spray bottle, Clorox claims that this cleaner will remove tough stains, grease and dirt and that it will kill 99.9% of bacteria in 30 seconds. They also suggest using in both the bathroom and the kitchen. Sounded great to me.

There are a number of warning statements on the back of the spray bottle. For one, you shouldn't allow the product to come in contact with metal, old porcelain or worn plastic laminate for long periods of time because it may discolor the surface. Clorox also warns not to let the cleaner touch fabrics, wood, rubber, painted and paper surfaces.

Fabric? Yes, fabric. So say you're wearing a nice long-sleeved shirt and you happen to be cleaning up a countertop, and your shirt drags in the cleaner as you wipe, any guesses what might happen to it then? Well, if it's not bleach resistant you'll have one ruined shirt. This happened to one of my favorite cotton shirts the very first time I used Clorox Clean Up.

I guess Clorox expects you to clean in the nude.

Using the Product
Clorox directs you to spray 4-6 inches from the surface that you want to clean and let it sit for 30 seconds, presumably to kill all but that .1% of bacteria. Then you rinse or wipe the surface clean.

Clorox also says that you should pre-clean before disinfecting. I presume what they're saying is that you should use this product to clean up the mess and then use it again and let it sit for thirty seconds to disinfect. Seems a bit of a waste to me. And unfortunately I also found that Clorox doesn't actually clean very well at all.

Clorox says that to remove stains you need only apply the product directly to the surface and rinse or wipe clean - no need to let it sit for 30 seconds.

How Well It Works
When your own husband tells you a cleaning product sucks, you know you've got a dud on your hands. I cooked the other night which meant that my husband got to clean up. He pulled out the Clorox Clean Up and went to work. He cursed over the cooktop for a little while and cleaned the counters.

As we were going to bed that night he sniffed his hands. "You know I can still smell that Clorox crap on my hands and I've washed them twice. That stuff is terrible! It didn't even clean the cooktop you know..."

Sure enough the next morning I looked at our black gas cooktop and there were streaks all over it. Same with on our sink handle. Because the only all-purpose "cleaner" we had in our kitchen was this "Clorox crap" as my husband called it, I had to take Windex to the faucet to remove the streaks the Clorox Clean Up left behind. I ended up pulling apart my gas cooktopand washing the pieces in the dishwasher to remove the residue the Clorox Clean Up left on them.

The countertops looked fine, fortunately. But in my experience Clorox Clean Up simply does not even work on metal or porcelain surfaces. All it does is streak and make the surface look worse than ever. And to top it all off, Clorox's claim about having a "clean, fresh scent" is a load of bull. The kitchen smells like a YMCA pool once you're done cleaning it.

Cat's Bottom Line
We have a gallon and a half of junk under our sink thanks to our poor decision to buy Clorox Clean Up. I can't stand how this product smells and it does just a terrible job on metal and porcelain. No matter how hard I try to keep it from leaving streaks, it still does. I think that one star for this stuff is far too generous.