British Cleaning Products Old and New Quiz

Answer: Sqezy

Besides to be more memorable, the main reason to misspell a word as a product is you can't copyright a normal word, so have to alter it slightly to make it into a brand name. Begun in 1959, the phrase 'easy peasy lemon sqezy' came soon after, and is probably still quoted by children now long after it has left the shops. It was actually the first ever washing up liquid, but overshadowed by others with far greater marketing budgets.

There have been attempts to revive the brand since it packed up, but none have caught on for very long.

Answer: Mr Sheen

Mr Sheen, flying in his propeller aircraft, flies around the house spraying his polish and 'shines umpteen things clean'. As of 2013 it is still going strong and I have a can in my kitchen.

Answer: Ajax

Ajax, named after the Greek hero, was originally claimed to be 'stronger than dirt', but around 1970 came up with the cartoon white tornado whirling through the rooms, with the shining house left behind after it had passed through. Begun by Colgate-Palmolive in 1947 it is still going strong in 2013 but not the slogan, in Britain at least. Pearl Drops are a whitener as well, but for your teeth.

Answer: Liquid clothes wash

Some products hold an unexplainable place in our past, both my parents, who shared most of the domestic duties, used to put Stergene on our shopping lists, and a blue bottle was usually on the bathroom shelf whatever else for most of my childhood. To be honest although I knew it was for clothes I never actually knew exactly what was in there, so decided to make sure other people now can.

It is normally used for more delicate articles to be washed by hand.

Answer: Omo

All these products were on sale throughout my life (over five decades, since you asked), and unlike many other types of product have all survived the period virtually unchanged. Daz still looks like Daz did then, while not seen on TV ads very often for decades Tide and Surf are still also going strong. Omo was exceptional as one of the few major washing powders not to survive (although the domination of Lever Brothers meant many names were actually all owned by the same company, so not really competing at all), launched in 1954 it quietly vanished from Britain with no ceremony, but is still available in 2013 in many other countries, while Surf is actually another product from the same source keeping the British income stream going. Both replaced the original product, Rinso, which was becoming less and less popular.

I never knew this until today, but direct from the Unilever (as they are now called) website, OMO stands for Old Mother Owl, but have no idea what its significance is.

Answer: Persil

I think the letters gave the likely answer as the correct one. Although Persil is also French for parsley, it was actually the shortened form of its contents, perborate silicate, which is a far more boring but relevant reason for its choice.

Answer: Lux

The reason being Lux is natural soap, while all the rest are man made chemical detergents. Soap is made from all sorts of animal and vegetable sources, while a detergent is man made from chemicals. Lux is soap flakes, originally made as Sunlight Flakes in 1899 (to reflect the self-built Port Sunlight where Lever Brothers set up shop in Cheshire, which made the Sunlight brand of soap originally), but renamed soon after in 1900 as Lux, which simply means light in Latin.

The brand grew and grew and is now far more popular for its bars of soap, while the soap flakes are more from a bygone era.

Answer: Bold

The main content of toilet cleaner would not help most clothes at all as it is bleach, so reserved for cleaning badly stained whites and little else. Added chemicals are included to deal with toilet specific germs and smells, and to cling to the surface as long as possible for the most lasting results. Putting Bold, or any other washing powder or soap down a toilet would firstly not dissolve very well, as it normally needs warm water and agitation to do so, and then would probably lather all over the equipment and need washing down afterwards.

Also natural soap does not kill germs, but wipes or lifts off dirt directly and flushes it away in the water, so would not be suitable for any use which was primarily germicidal. Detergents can be mixed to include all required properties but as described are not suitable for cold water or toilets.

Answer: Ariel

In 1969 (I remember it well, the adverts were swamping ITV breaks), Proctor and Gamble introduced the first washing powder with enzymes which broke down organic matter found in food and related bodily, animal, and vegetable stains naturally, rather than the more blunt soap or bleach approach previously available. Since then it has become widely adopted, and meant we had to sit through endless visions of clothing stained with blood, sweat and tomato juice, among others, on TV, including at dinner times. Happy days!

Answer: Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, who often market as Johnson's, is an American company who specialise in body related products such as baby oil and sticking plasters, and specialised medical supplies. They have some additional cleaning products directly for the body, such as skin cleanser and cotton buds, but not for household use.

This always confused me, as I always thought they did as many general products such as Johnson's Wax which also had their name on, and then I found out the reason. The clue is in the detail. Besides the double Johnson in the question, which is the proper company name normally found somewhere on the packaging, Johnson's Wax comes not with that at all, but the SC Johnson tag, as they are a totally different company who do make lots of cleaning products. They, however, are British, and despite manufacturing in very similar areas have absolutely nothing to do with each other. The same went for the far eastern and British companies both called Kenwood who both make similar electrical products for the same markets. I hope you are no longer confused now either.