Grangers Extreme Cleaner Plus Tested

Grangers Extreme Cleaner Plus Tested

Price: £5.99

Contents: 300 ml

Features: Pure vegetable soap based technical cleaner with additive which eliminates odours, unlimited shelf life, Gore approved.

No more smells plus doesn't strip DWR treatments from technical fabrics. Relatively expensive.

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The Concept Extreme Cleaner Plus is based on Grangers' existing Extreme Cleaner and is a pure, liquid soap with an added secret ingredient that works to prevent odours - that's the 'Plus' bit by the way.

Commercial detergents contain chemicals that stop durable water repellant - DWR - finishes on clothing like waterproofs and soft shell / windproofs working effectively, and just using them once can permanently contaminate the fabric. Pure soap, on the other hand, doesn't have this effect.

Extreme Cleaner Plus has the added bonus of containing an ingredient which prevents odours developing, presumably by stopping the bacteria and microbes that create bad smells from growing.

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Features It comes in a plastic bottle with a screw top...

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In Action We picked out a few particularly smelly items and washed them regularly using Extreme Plus to see what effect it had. As an aside, it's essential to clean out the detergent tray in your washing machine and run a couple of rinse cycles, as even small particles of conventional detergent can have an impact.

First it worked brilliantly on a much abused TNF base layer and an armpit-flavoured MHW Transition Top. Both lost their pong after just one wash. The real challenge was a pair of Nike gym shorts that had 'clear the room' potential after about 25 minutes use on a treadmill - you get the idea, they really stank.

We washed them regularly in the Extreme Cleaner Plus and the effect was stunning. Before use you could barely sit in the same room as them, after one wash the smell was considerably reduced and after five, approximately 90 per-cent better.

Grangers confirm that the product has a cumulative effect with peak efficiency reached after around eight washes and that tallies with our experiences. Note though, that when we went back to washing using normal detergent, the effect disappeared immediately and fellow gym users ran off holding their noses in disgust once more.

As the product isn't cheap, we reckon the solution would be to use pure soap flakes instead of the treatment once the garment's actually been treated, with an occasional top up with the Extreme Cleaner Plus. And Grangers confirm that this should work fine.

Verdict

We were dubious to start off with, but this stuff works brilliantly, both as a pure soap cleaner that doesn't strip treatments from technical fabrics, but also as an effective odour eliminator. The effect builds up with use as well. The three stinking garments all improved massively and the worst of all, those shorts, were quickly rendered relatively benign.

It's not cheap, but you can always switch to pure soap flakes from the supermarket once the treatment has taken. If you're a victim of stinking base layer syndrome that even your best mates won't tell you about, or even if they do, we reckon this is the answer. The only downside is the cost.

Performance
Value

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Grangers web site

Pushed for time: Pure soap-based liquid cleaner that not only leaves the DWR treatments on technical fabrics unmolested, but also builds up in fabrics to prevent nasty pongs from developing. The effect reaches its max after around eight washes and it works surprisingly well. It's not cheap, but you could always switch to pure soap flakes after initial treatment with Extreme Cleaner Plus. If you have a baselayer that you love apart from the pong, this could rekindle a beautiful friendship.

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