Cleaning the closet in the bathroom/washroom could be a demanding task. Thanks to some sophisticated products, it is no longer a cumbersome task. Some actually find it intriguing enough to indulge in it.  

Image Courtesy : muncha.com

Our focus today is on one such product which makes cleaning toilets very easy. We would have seen some advertisements on the television about this from time to time, but here we are covering some different aspects of this wonder cleaning liquid - HARPIC.

For starters, Harpic is a brand owned by a British company called Reckitt Benckiser who is a strong player in the Indian Market along with many other interesting products. We will cover them one after another in the coming days. Interestingly enough, Reckitt Benckiser was previously known as Reckitt & Colman India. Harpic was originally invented by Mr. Harry Pickup (hence the name!).

Launched in England in the 1920s, Harpic toilet bowl cleaner has been successfully extended to 47 countries on a platform of powerful cleaning. Harpic provides a full range of liquid toilet bowl cleaners, tablets, wipes, toilet bowl blocks, cistern blocks and brush systems. (taken from Reckitt Benckiser’s website)

One of the features on the product is that it has a “child-proof” cap which has to be pressed and opened, making it safe against kids at home.The primary claims of the product enhanced by its ”Opti-Thick” formula are:

1. Kills germs post 60 minutes of contact with undiluted product.
2. Removes tough stains and keeps your closet sparkling clean.
3. Removes bad odour from the closets and keeps your bathrooms fresh.

The product is available in 500 ml, 200 ml and 35 ml quantities. The first two are bottles whereas the last one is a sachet.

The competing products for Harpic are primarily “Sanifresh” and other local players such as phenyl and powder based cleaning agents.

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Hello Everyone

We would like to wish all of you a joyous Christmas day. Hope the festivities continue with gifts, sweets and lots of fun.

Image Courtesy : davidjones.com.au

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Thought I’ll write on the Christmas tree decorations as a follow up to yesterday’s post. It is not commonly seen in Indian homes, but is extremely popular in countries with a more temperate climate. I am guessing mostly US, Canada and Europe although I have been told it is popular in Taiwan as well.

The tree is set up within the house a few days before 25th and is kept inside until first week of January. It is decorated with lights and trinkets to give a very colourful feeling to the scene. Usually, the presents received at the time are placed beneath the tree to give it an extra touch. We used to place the greeting cards we used to get on it. Even that gave off a good show effect. A star is placed right on top as can be seen in the picture above.

The custom itself does not have an indisputably clear origin, unlike for that of Christmas cribs. There appear to be some evidence in favour of a person called Boniface to have started the custom. But at that time it was not connected in a specific way with Christmas season. Martin Luther also appear to have influenced the way in which the tree was set up in homes.

Mass adoption of the tree as an interior decoration at Christmas time appear to have gained popularity around the 16th century. There are clear accounts of some trees being set up in cathedrals of the time. It seems to have become popular in Germany to start with and spread slowly outward. For instance, Britain did not adopt it until the 19th century.

I must say that this sort of decoration has parallels with other festivals I have seen celebrated in India. In that festival also, people celebrate by using a tree (not the evergreen fir tree though) which is adorned with decoration and baubles. Will write about that some time in January.

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It’s that time of the year again. Christmas is round the corner. My advance greetings to everyone

Am going to talk about a uniquely Christmas activity - the making of cribs. For those not in the know, the ‘crib’ is prepared in most homes at the time of the festival - it represents the circumstances surrounding Christ’s birth. It holds special symbolic significance to Christians as Christ is supposed to have been born in a manger - an open box used for holding feed for livestock (a picture is shown below).

So kids at most homes have a gala time preparing the crib. When I was young we used to have an elaborately choreographed crib making. We used to first spread charcoal on large papers to make it resemble rock formations and then arrange them so that they appear in the form of a cave on the mountainside. The actual crib would then be placed inside this decoration with the associated figurines - usually some cattle and the baby’s parents. Think the picture below would make the final outcome clearer. Man, how I wish I had photographed those self made cribs in the earlier years

The custom of making cribs is one of the few activities with clear starting points. It was first done by a person called Francis of Assisi (same person who founded the Franciscan Order which continues to this day) in the year 1223 AD at an Italian town called Greccio. The arrangement proved very popular and was copied widely from then onwards.  

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Bathrooms in Indian homes, especially the ones in apartments have some defaults. A typical apartment has

• One bathroom with Indian closet
• One (or more) bathroom with western closet - Also known as WC

And each of these have:

1. A tap for warm water
2. A tap for cold water
3. A shower
4. Possibility a spare tap
5. A wash basin
6. A towel hanger
7. Provision to mount a water heater

At least a majority of Indians still do not use a shower. They prefer to use a mug and a bucket to have a bath. For others, shower is an option and a few even indulge in a hand shower attachment.

This article aims to explore people who would like to use the shower. As most of us know, any form of shower or water usage in the bathrooms, causes the water to stagnate. This is true on most counts unless there is some specific slope given to the floor to facilitate faster drying. But we have to admit, wet floors are not really great.

Wet floors reduce the life span of your tiles, increase risk of slipping and encourages microbial growth.

A shower cubicle is an answer to this problem. There are quite a few types available:

• Semi enclosed type - This model has its sides open and would expose the walls to the person inside the cubicle. In other words, it provides two glass walls to shield the water from getting splashed outside. This would be a cheaper option.

Image Courtesy : comparestoreprices.co.uk

• Fully enclosed type - There are many variants here, but the basic idea is that this model would be more or less like a phone booth. Some models would even have the shower system and soap holders built into the cubicle. In case you are using this, you need not provide them on the bathroom walls.

Image Courtesy : bathroomheaven.com

A shower cubicle has a false floor with an water exhaust opening. The door on the cubicle could be either a regular swing door, or a slide door. Choice would entirely depend on how much space is available in your bathroom.

If your cubicle is covered on the top as well, steam will not escape out and fog the mirror!

Using two plastic curtains can also contain the water to a great extent. It is certainly an option for cost effective implementation. But the curtain is typically used when you have a bath tub and want to prevent water splashes from occurring. This is only true if your bath tub has a shower provision.

Image Courtesy : ecobathroom.com

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