Waterpik WP-562UK Cordless Water Flosser

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good water flosser

This is a good water flosser.  It's well made and does the job, although it is, frankly, large and ugly.

I had a cheaper Chinese water flosser for a while until the charger nearly caught fire.  It had convinced me of the benefits of water flossing, though, and I'm glad to be able to try another one.  Personally, I don't find it a complete substitute for ordinary flossing; I use this in the morning and normal floss in the evening and the combination gives excellent results.

This machine is a great big thing, and it's not pretty.  However, this is necessary to get a decent sized water tank and it's designed so that despite its size it is pretty easy to use and manoeuvre into place for all my teeth.  The tank isn't quite big enough to do the whole lot in a single fill, but a quick top-up half way isn't much trouble.  It has a decent pressure although it could be a little stronger, and it leaves things feeling good and clean.

Charging is pretty quick using a very neat magnetic charger, and I find that a full charge lasts about a week using it once a day.  It's decently accessorised and seems like a well made, robust object.  I'm pleased with this and I can recommend it.

Amazon page HERE

Russell Hobbs Dorchester Kettle

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good kettle

This is a perfectly decent kettle from a good manufacturer.  It has very few bells and whistles, but that's fine with me; it looks good and does the job, which is what I want from a kettle.

The kettle is well made, is a pleasing shape with simple black trimmings and sits solidly on its base.  There is no external level gauge, nor any "on" light.  Inside is a little plastic level gauge with three steps to show you one, two or three cups' worth of water.  Personally, I've just taken this out (fairly easy to do) because that leaves no plastic in contact with the water in the kettle, something I much prefer.  The plastic lid is just lifted off manually; again, that's fine with me, although some people may prefer a hinged one.

In use…well, it's a kettle.  It has a standard 1.7l capacity and 3kW power rating, so it boils fairly quickly (as do all kettles with these ratings).  My one gripe is that the "max level" mark is just faintly printed onto the interior surface and is almost impossible to see.  Once you know where it is it's not hard to judge, but it could be much clearer.  The on/off switch on the base is very simple to use and the automatic turn-off works well, and there is an automatic cut-out if it's turned on with no water in it.

So, a slightly basic kettle, but well made, attractive and fine for my purposes.  Russell Hobbs are a reliable firm so I'm expecting this to last well, and if you like the look of it I can recommend it.

Sanimaid Boston Silicone Toilet Brush

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Good, not perfect

I like this toilet brush, but I'm slightly reserving judgement.  It's well made and hygienic but it is harder work on the arms than a normal brush and I'm not certain that it cleans quite as well.

It's good in many ways.  It is solidly made and looks very robust.  The silicone cleaning head is certainly far more hygienic than a brush-head and it's neat and compact.  It does get under the rim well and reaches further round the bend than my existing brush.

I'm less keen on the storage: you have to stick or screw a bracket for the plastic holster to the skirting board (not something I really want to do), and it's not a very elegant addition to the bathroom.  You can, however, unclip the holder from its bracket to clean it, which is important.  The cleaning itself seems OK, but it's a lot harder to move this over the surface than it is a conventional brush.  I'll be interested to see how clean it keeps the loo long-term and I'll edit this if I'm unhappy after using it for a while.

This is a decent idea which may be a very useful development.  To me it seems expensive for what it is, but it's a good, well-made product and may well be worth a try.