Another one of my favourite products is Ajax powder cleanser:
This product, I suspect, is simply a repackaging of the old Bon Ami cleanser which has now disappeared off the market.
This kind of thing happens all the time – products are sold from one company to another, but they are usually not rebadged. In 1985, for example, when Pea-Beu was bought from Ciba Geigy by Reckitt & Colman they kept the name.
Apparently, however, Ajax decided their name had more currency than Bon Ami. Fair enough.
You’ve never seen ads for this stuff, which is a sure-fire indicator of a good product. That is, people buy it because it actually works, not because they have been told that it works, which is the case for any advertising campaign.
So what’s in this stuff? Essentially it is a powdered bleach (calcium hypochlorite – the same stuff you buy as pool granules), some inert abrasive (alumina I suspect) and a bit of copper.
The bleach is to oxidise and disinfect anything it encounters, the abrasive is simply to rub off any dirt or material on the product you’re cleaning, and the copper is simply to go blue when it gets wet, and this is because people associate blue with clean.
So there you go – Ajax Powder Cleanser – an oldie but a goodie.
It’s mainly a hard surface cleaner – kitchen tops and glass – so you could use it in your shower. I’d use bleach just for spraying on mould. If it was an application where I needed to scrub it, I’d definately use this stuff – but use a sponge, not a scrubbing brush, as this powder acts as the scourer.
Interesting article, thanks. I’ve seen it in the supermarket but never used it myself. When would you use this instead of liquid bleach and a scrubbing brush?