Product reviews

Meaco Cordless Mini Fan

Heatwaves....I loathe them. But they're a marginally more bearable prospect armed with these mini cordless fans by Meaco. They costs £34.99 and I periodically buy another one...currently I have three and I think I'll be upping it to four. One by the bed, one in the sitting room, one in the kitchen and I need one to carry around with me as they weigh virtually nothing.. And our sons, now in their early 20s, have cottoned on to how much easier it is to sleep at night in summer with a fan blowing a gently breeze over you..so they're accumulating them too.

Air for Life air purifier

Air for Life says its air purifiers use Nasa technology to clean the air in your home or office. We have been trialling a mini sanifier, which is a compact 15.5x11cm unit that sits on any surface. Plug it in, switch it on and it will, say the makers, clean your air.

We're thrilled to have it and when the X is blue we feel all is clean and Alpine fresh. It's very portable so if you feel you have stale air in a room, take the sanifier to it and you'll feel better about using the space thereafter. 

Roomba - life with a robot vacuum cleaner

Thank heavens Christmas is over. Because the tree is gone, so are the guests, and Mr Robot has been able to roam across the floors of our maisonette giving them a good vacuum and making the place look clean and tidy again.

Healthier snacking that tastes good

We don't review food normally, but we were at an event where we had the chance to taste Insane Grain knobbly sticks, as they call them, and  Jade & Joy's vegan protein bars.

Review: Lupe Pure cordless vacuum cleaner

I've been trialling the Lupe cordless cleaner for two months and I will say that our flat has never had such uncrumby, unmuddy, undusty floors. It is a very good machine. But that should go without saying given its cost.

Cordless vacuum cleaners: Gtech AirRam Mk2

We tested the original Gtech cordless vacuum cleaner soon after it was launched (when back when in 2013!) and as we said at the time, it's a good machine for quick clean-ups. On the downside it was noisy, didn't get close in to the edges of skirting boards and kick plates and I also felt it was better on carpet than on hard floors.

Nonetheless I wasn't expecting any significant changes when we were given the Mk2 upright and the hand-held Gtech Multi to test...possibly a bit of new styling, a little more horsepower so to speak.