washing – the joy of five

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few weeks you couldn’t have missed all the hype that has been surrounding the release of the new Disney film ‘Beauty And The Beast’.

A true Disney classic that in my mind would be hard to be recreated; so when we were asked along by Persil to a screening at The Mondrian Hotel on Southbank I have to say I was certainly more excited than Izzy…well just, to see how it would be played.

Upon arriving we were welcomed into a dimly lit room that just shouted “be our guest” at me with a table filled with beautiful gold candelabras and deep red roses.

It was definitely a table fit for a room full of little princes and princesses.

Lots of hungry tummies were filled with plates of scrumptious food and with a little bit of room left they got the chance to get creative and decorate their very own cupcakes.

As you can imagine after all that fun there were more than a few sticky fingers and faces around which if your children are anything like mine tend to get wiped on the nearest object, which is usually a cuff or more often than not my trousers!

This is where my good friend Persil comes to the rescue, and believe me I have put their washing products to the test over the years.

Persil have collaborated with Disney for the release of Beauty And The Beast and are giving away a £5 Disney Store voucher with every purchase of 22 and 38 wash Persil capsules.

This in turns means happy parents and happy children!

Full to the brim and eagar to get into the cinema we all took to our seats and were in for a very special screening indeed.

Izzy face lit up the minute Emma Watson took to the screen and I was immediately drawn into the familiar songs and spectacular cinematography.

However it was not your run of the mill cinema viewing as at pivotal points during the film the cinema came alive with bursts of confetti, feathers and much more cascading over the audience to make it a truly interactive experience.

I left the hotel with a tear in my eye, snow in my hair and a head full of memories that Izzy and I will never forget.

With a house full of children aged 1-18 muck, spills and stains are a daily battle. Be it makeup wiped across the carpets, scooter dirt being driven through the house or food covering every available surface.

When I was given the opportunity to work with Vanish I jumped at the chance to take some of their stain removal tips and use their products.

The biggest problem in my home are food and drink spillages from the youngest ones. No matter how hard I try to keep them at the table before my head is turned they are are clambering the stairs leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

I had some really ground in stains in the carpet that needed coming out, and to be honest I didn’t think anything would touch them. After around four applications of Vanish power shot carpet remover the stains had almost completely disappeared.

My other pet gripe is trying to remove stains from clothing. The boys are the real issue here as they are just muck magnets. My oldest seems to bath in mud everytime he plays football and the youngest two end the day covered head to toe in anything they come into contact with!

I have tried most stain removers and never really found one that worked that well for me. I gave Vanish gold powergel pre-treatment stain remover alongside Vanish gold oxi action powder fabric stain remover a go and was really pleased with the results.

The pretreatment came in a really easy to use bottle and simply needed working into the stains and leaving to do its magic for a few minutes before I put on my usual wash with an extra scoop of stain remover added.

Whites are by far my biggest issues and I will be regularly adding both of these products to my wash which will be a much cheaper option than throwing things away which is what I normally end up doing.