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How To Tell If Your Laundry Detergent Is Strong – or If It Is Your Imagination…

How Much Of Your Favourite Laundry Liquid Is Water?  MOST of it!!

Hooper’s Store in Emerald recently measured the Refractive Index of some of the leading Australian laundry liquid brands to help people understand more about how to get real value with their cleaning products.

In the Table below – the bright yellow column shows the RI of major brands, plus the formulation that the team at Hoopers has created.  In general terms, a score of 30 indicates that the liquid is “30% Active”.  The other way to think about this is that 30% is “not water” – and therefore 70% is water.  With detergents we need there to be some water – so that it is liquid!  The right amount makes it easier to use, and helps it dissolve better to give you a great wash.

Don't be a sheepThe majority of the brands in the table are owned by global conglomerates who have been using wonderful marketing for the last 40 years to capture the loyalty of the us Australian consumers.  They have used attractive personalities, lovely scents, unique shaped bottles, and people in white lab coats to convince us of the power and value of their product – because they know we are creatures of habit – and will usually keep buying the one we choose.  They have treated us like sheep for decades.

When you look at your detergent bottle – does it tell you how strong the detergent is?

No – it just says platitudes like “Cleans Your Clothes Whiter/Better”.  Or “because you care about your clothes”.  They add images of cuddly animals, and use psychology of  different colours different colours to make us trust them more.

But the bottles do NOT tell you their relative strength or activity – and without this you can only make your buying decision based on their platitudes (“strong and gentle”).  ALL detergents will clean grease and dirt and tomato sauce and coal dust out of your clothes.  It works better than just water.  But some detergents have half or quarter the cleaning power of other detergents.

The Table below is one way to estimate this.  The table also shows the PER LITRE cost of these detergents at major supermarkets in Emerald, Qld on Friday, October 21st.  The supermarket chains also mess with consumers ability to calculate value by changing their prices constantly.  Why should a product be $15 a litre one week, and then $7.50 a litre the next?  Why is it not ALWAYS the best price?  Perhaps because the supermarkets and big brands know that playing this game makes them more profits?  It is certainly not for the benefit of customers.

Our goal with Vortex Premium is to kick the global conglomerates with massive marketing teams AND the cynical supermarkets right where it hurts most.

For less than 50% of the cost of the “brand” name products that have become household names – you can get a better product.  For $3 per litre, plus container cost if you do not refill or sway (which is $3 for a nice solid 5 litre container that you can refill or swap when empty) – you get a 30% active laundry liquid that is safe on your clothes, smell great (new Lemon), has no nasty fillers, is septic safe, good for top and front loaders, and is perfect for washing your clothes.

Laundry Detergent Activity

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Quick Video Demo of “The Pink Stuff” – Super Cleaner

Buy The Pink Stuff Online (in Australia) Click Here

Product Demo from Hooper’s Store

This boring-looking little plastic container is full of a pink goop that may save you hundreds of hours of cleaning.  Or – if you are already a clean freak – it may give an extra brilliant result – and you do want that?  Right?

We now use this product in-store at Hoopers to clean down the shelving as we upgrade.  For the shelves we keep – some up to 40 years old – it is a challenge to get them nice and shiny.  We have used many products in the past – and we have access to best cleaning products around.  Now our first choice is “The Pink Stuff”.

As an example – you know the gummy mess that old labels and price stickers can leave?  Previously we used a volatile oil – like eucalyptus or ti-tree oil – and then washed that oil off with a detergent after it had dissolved the gum.  Now we use Pink Stuff paste.  It is faster, does a better job, and does not leave a strong smell (although I like the smell) in the air.

The video below is an old toaster I cleaned up.  You can jump to 3 minutes in if you want to see the after shots.  The stainless steel was mirror like, and the powder-coated surface was pristine again.  And this toaster was GRUBBY!

I recently also used Pink Stuff paste (not to confused with our Pink Detergent) – to detail a gas powered fridge that I sold.  The 5 year old fridge was immaculate – and probably cleaner (and whiter) than when it was new.

Here is the demo video.  Please visit the store if you would like a demo of this product – John will be pleased to show it off for you.

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New Lemon Scented Vortex Premium Laundry Detergent

Educated Emerald Consumers Lead New Trend In Qld

A new trend is developing in Emerald.  It may not seem all that exciting, until you see the mindset change that underpins it.

In a nutshell, people are realizing that “consumer” products like your clothes detergent, your dishwashing detergent, you bench cleaner and even your wheelie bin disinfectant do not need to be bought in tiny, expensive packages from multinational owned conglomerates who produce them overseas.

A great example is the popBulk Premium Detergentularity of the 20 litre Vortex Premium (Lemon) Clothes detergent.  This product was specially formulated by the Hooper brothers to be not only more powerful than the leading (Multinational) brands – but to also be more gentle on your clothes (and the environment).  It is a proprietary mix of the best cleaning ingredients – while excluding the “nasty” components found in a large number of clothes detergents in the Australian market.

Did you know that you can make ANY detergent feel more “luxuriant” – which in real life means thicker – just by adding salt?  This is commonly done with cheap (and weak) dishwashing detergents – and some clothes detergents.  Some brands are made of the cheapest, nastiest ingredients – and then have added salt to make them thicker to seem better quality.

Apart from better control of quality of ingredients – the other benefit is that without the millions of dollars spent on marketing PLUS the massive cost of freighting products (often from overseas) – these “bulk” products cost less.  This is further improved by the encouraged re-use of containers.  Most detergent containers are capable of lasting over 50 years, and some over 100 years.

Say your household uses 2 litres of clothes detergent per week.  Over the course of the year you will need about 100 litres of laundry detergent.  We have been “trained” by multinationals to buy detergent in small lots (eg 2 litres) each week or fortnight.  It becomes “habit” – and we become extremely brand loyal – through repetition.

It also means we buy 50 plastic bottles.  We can recycle them in the right wheelie bin – but is it better to RE-USE them?

The new mindset says to buy your cleaners in an economic size, in a way that increases your convenience, improves the value (saves money), helps reduce waste in the environment – PLUS helps the Australian economy because you buy locally produced goods.

If your need is for say 100 litres of clothes detergent – you can purchase 4 twenty litre containers (with a tap) over the year.  You can even return your container to be refilled – with further savings.    Compare buying Dynamo 2 Litres x 50 – from Woolworths right now price is $16.49 or $8.25 per litre.  With Vortex Premium Lemon (see pic) for $89.50 for 20 litres ($4.47 per litre).

Vortex Premium has a full “Happiness” guarantee – you will love it or you get a full refund.

Or you can purchase 5 litre containers at almost the same price.

Not only do you save money, the environment and the time of not having to buy more every week or fortnight – you get to support our local economy rather than continuing to fill the coffers of cynical multinationals based in Nigeria or the Seychelles.

 

 

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Vote on our new Radio Advert please

Here are some of our options for a new radio advert. What do you think? Which one do you like best?

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Emerald Air Conditioning Refrigeration Mechanics

Sale This Month on Coil Shine (Top Quality Coil Cleaner) and Cobra Aerosol…  Buy Local and Stop Being Ripped Off!

It is great to see more and more of the local Emerald trades taking advantage of our wide range of cleaning supplies.  One fridgie this week said that our price on Coil Cleaner was almost half – and for a far better product.

You can see our main refrig products here.  Click.

More and more plumbers are getting their drain openers from us – not only because we have the “bomb” products (Minehan Drain-O-Flush) but because we are open 7 days for long hours.  We also stock septic/sewerage products, and zinc gal, penetrating sprays and dispersants.

Commercial cleaners already know that our range of cleaners, disinfectants, carpet cleaning chemicals, glass and hard surface cleaners, floor strippers, cleaners and polish.

Motels are now buying Livi brand paper products in bulk.

And an increasing number of small businesses know about our bathroom products – like really nice hand wash, paper towels, deodorizers, cleaners and disinfectants.  You can buy better, professional products in any volume you want – and will save both money and time.  (Buy in 5 or 20 litre containers).

We are quickly adding a lot of our products to our online cleaning store (click on the “shop” button near the top of this page).  At the moment we are personally reviewing each order before accepting payments – so we can be sure we have the stock!  It is a bit tricky to link our convenient walk in and self serve store with our online store – so we are checking.

You can pay on collection of your items or by credit card or bank transfer once we have checked your order.  Our delivery system to Central Highlands locations will be available very soon.

 

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Minehan Pink Concentrate – Awesome General Purpose Cleaner From Hooper’s Store

A High Quality Commercial and Domestic Cleaning Product (Minehan Agencies – Hooper’s Store)

Watch the Video to Discover A Very Useful Cleaning Product for Home, Hospitality, Schools, Offices, Meat Markets, Food Processing Plants.  

  • Safe and effective use on vast range of surfaces.   This one product has a wide range of uses.
  • Can be diluted to get perfect results while still saving you money.  Choose the dilution that does the best job.  Use a less dilute version for non-streak cleaning of floors.
  • This is a “Concentrated” product and is great value.

 

See more Minehan Agencies products click here and Here for amazing tar and bitumen degreaser

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Safe, Effective Tar & Bitumen Degreaser by Minehan – Emerald Qld

This is one of the very best degreaser on the market.  Safe and biodegradable, you can avoid using hydrocarbons (kerosene) for your degreasing.  The video shows how effective it is on one of the toughest challenges – a bitumen spray truck.

You need to remove the tar regularly to comply with Transport Department rules – this is the way to go.

Watch this video to see a great demo of a new product that you can just spray on, wait a little, then wash off.  We used a pressure cleaner and Minehan’s BIO-S-SOLVENT BITUMEN HEAVY DUTY to clean up a bitumen spraying truck.

Notice how you can use a hand sprayer – because it is safe and biodegradable.  Notice how the tar is dissolved and is even running off the stainless tank – even before application is finished?

This product is suitable for a very wide range of degreasing and cleaning problems.  In the case in the video it replaces the use of hydrocarbons (kerosene) which is environmentally damaging.

Bio-S-Solvent Bitumen Heavy Duty is in stock at Hooper’s Store in Emerald.

See More of Minehan Agency Range in Emerald Click Here

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Minehan Agencies – Emerald Reseller/Stockist – Hooper’s Store

Minehan Agencies Reseller – Emerald Qld

Do you need a refill of Minehan’s excellent products and want local service, the same pricing and 7 day availability?

Hooper’s Store holds a lot of stock, and will look after you.  Once we know what you need and how much – we will hold it for you.

PRODUCTS
AIR CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION

Aerosols:

CHARGE
COBRA
COIL SHINE
STAF
Chemicals:

ALKALINE ALUMINIUM CLEANER
CHEMICAL TABLETS LARGE
CHEMICAL TABLETS SMALL
COBRA
COIL & DUCT SPRAY
COIL KLENZ
COIL SHINE
DRAIN PAN TABLETS
GREEN COBRA
ICE MACHINE CLEANER
LEAK DETECTOR

 

PRODUCTS >AUTOMOTIVE

Aerosols:

BIG ORANGE
BRAKE KLEENER
CRYSTAL KLEER RO
DASHBOARD & INTERIOR CLEANER
PAD KLEEN
Chemicals:

BIO-S-SOLVENT
BIO-S-SOLVENT BITUMEN HD
BRAKE CLEANER
CITRASOLVE
CITRUS DEWAXER
GREASE BREAK QB
MA TRUCK WASH
ORANGE SOLVENT
SEAL’N’SHINE
SLEEK
TAR SOLVE
TAR SOLVE HDC
TARBABY
TRUCK AND WAX
VINYL RESTORER
V1-20 CAR SHAMPOO
Wipes:

PROTECTANT WIPES

PRODUCTS >AVIATION

Aerosols:

LPS 1
LPS 2
LPS 3
LPS BRIGHTCOAT COLD GALVANIZE
LPS COLD GALVANIZE
MEK AEROSOL
PRECISION
SAFETY SOLVENT 2000
Chemicals:

HI-TEMP FOOD GRADE
ISOPROPANOL
MEK
SLEEK ANTI STATIC PLANE WASH
TOLUENE

PRODUCTS >CLEANING

Aerosols:

CRYSTAL KLEER
GLEAM
SHEEN
WHAM
Chemicals:

ALUMINIUM CLEANER BRIGHTENER
BIO-S-SOLVENT
BIO-S-SOLVENT BITUMEN HD See This in Action Click Here
CITRO KLEEN
CRYSTAL KLEER RO
GP PINK
HIGH FLASH QUICK BREAK DEGREASER
LEMON LIME DETERGENT
MPD996
NEUTRAL CITRA CLEAN
PINK CONCENTRATE
POWERSOLV
QUICK BREAK DEGREASER
SHEEN
SUPER CLEAN
THE PINK STUFF

PRODUCTS >DISINFECTANTS

Aerosols:

GERM AWAY
STAF
Chemicals:

ALGACIDE 150
APPLE FRESH
BIODET LIME ZEST
BORONIA
BUBBLEGUM DEODORISER
FOAM-CHLOR
HYPO-10
IRONSIDE
LEMON LIME DISINFECTANT
LEMONISE
LINGERZON
MAJESTIC
ODOUR-CIDE APPLE
SANI FOAM CHLOR
SPICE
SPRING FRESH
SPRINGTIME DISINFECTANT
WASHROOM SANITISER

PRODUCTS >ELECTRICAL

Aerosols:

AQUA-LUB
BATTERY CLEANER & PROTECTOR
BATTERY TERMINAL PROTECTOR
LANO LUBE AEROSOL
MOISTURE GUARD
PRECISION CONTACT & COMPONENT CLEANER
QUIKLEEN
SAFETY SOLVENT 2000
Chemicals:

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC SOLVENT
ENVIRO-SOLV B6

PRODUCTS >ELECTRONICS

Aerosols:

PRECISION
SAFETY SOLVENT 2000
Chemicals:

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC SOLVENT
ISPROPONAL
LPS 1

PRODUCTS >FLOOR CARE

Hard Floors & Surfaces:

APOLLO
BIODET FLOOR STRIPPER
LEMON LIME DETERGENT
MINEHAN LOC
MINEHAN SKUNK
MK POWDER
NEUTRAL CITRA CLEAN
NEUTRAL LIME KLEENER
OPTIMAX TOP COAT
PINK CONCENTRATE
POWERSOLV
Carpets:

REDI-STEAM
REDI-STEAM GP CARPET SPOTTER
REDI-STEAM TRAFFIC LANE ULTRA CONCENTRATE

PRODUCTS >HAND CARE

Hand Care:

CITROSCRUB
CITRUS GEL
CITRUS LOTION
GLOVES IN A BOTTLE
HAND SCRUB
HANDS DOWN
INSTANT HAND CLEANER
INSTANT SANITISING FOAM
INSTANT SANITISING GEL
LIME HAND CLEANER
PEPPERMINT LOTION SOAP
SOY LOTION HD
TEA TREE ANTISEPTIC HAND CLEANER
ULTRAPOWER WIPES
Body Care:

BIODET BODY WASH
NATURAL BATH & SHOWER GEL
TEA TREE ALLOVER WASH
Dispensers:

5000 DISPENSER
6000 DISPENSER
DISPENSER 561 – 350ml
DISPENSER 563 – 1 Litre

PRODUCTS >HOSPITALITY

Aerosols:

CRYSTAL KLEER
GLEAM
TUFSTUFF
WHAM
Cleaning & Deodorising:

BBQ – HOT PLATES, GRILLS & OVEN CONCENTRATE
BEER LINE CLEANER
BIODET LIME ZEST
DEW DROPS
ENVIRO-DET
FRESH COCONUT LIME
FRESH MANGO
FRESH SPRINGTIME
FRESH START
FRESH VANILLA
FUSION METERED AEROSOLS
GP PINK
LEMON DROPS
LIQUID CREME CLEANSER
PINK STUFF
MAJESTIC
NEUTRA TABS
PINK CONCENTRATE
SAFE-D-SCALE
TUFSTUFF BULK
Laundry:

AUSSIE BLUE
CARIBBEAN SPICE
ECONO LAUNDRY POWDER
FABRIC SOFTENER
LUXURY FABRIC SOFTENER
PREMIUM
Dispenser:

DISPENSER MODEL 1

PRODUCTS >INDUSTRIAL

Aerosols:

BATTERY CLEANER & PROTECTOR
BATTERY TERMINAL PROTECTOR
BIG ORANGE
BLACK ZINC
DEFENSE
ECONOMY SILICONE
GRAFFITI GONE
HEAVY DUTY SPRAY ADHESIVE
LPS COLD GALVANIZE
LUBE WIZ
MR MECHANIC
NUCHAIN
PAD KLEEN
QUICK ZINC
RUST BUSTER
SILVER ZINC
SLIDE OUT
SLIP SHOT II
ULTRA TAC
WG100
Chemicals:

ALUMINIUM PLATE
ANTI-FOAM
BIO-S-SOLVENT
BIO-S-SOLVENT BITUMEN HD
BLOCK RELEASE
BRAKE CLEANER
BULLDOG
BULLDOG QB
CITRASOLVE
CITRO KLEEN
CITRUS 10,000 QB
CITRUS SEWER
DRAIN-O-FLUSH
ENVIRO-SOLV B6
FLEETMASTER EXTRA
FLEETMASTER GOLD
GENSOLVE HD
GENSOLVE KO
GREASE & ODOUR CONTROL
GREASE BREAK QB
HD 50
HIGH FLASH QB DEGREASER
HOT STUFF
HYPO-10
KLING SOLVE
LANO LUBE
LANO LUBE GREASE
LANO LUBE PLUS
LIMASOLVE
MA DEGREASER
MA TRUCK WASH
METAL FREE 2000
MK POWDER
MPD996
OPEN UP PH
OPEN UP SH
ORANGE SOLVENT
PARTS WASH
POWERSOLV
QUICK BREAK DEGREASER
RESTORE
SAFE SCALE
SAFETY SOLV PARTS WASH
SCALEX
SUPER CLEAN
TAR SOLVE
TAR SOLVE HDC
TARBABY
THRIFT
TRUCK & WAX
ZEOLITE
Wipes:

GRAFFITI WIPES

PRODUCTS >INSECTICIDES

Aerosols:

BAYGON HIGH PERFORMANCE
BIO BUG
CHILL
PEST GUARD
PEST-O-MINT

PRODUCTS >LUBRICANTS

Aerosols:

CIRCLE SPRAY
DEFENSE
LANO LUBE AEROSOL
LPS 1
LPS 2
LUBE WIZ
MR MECHANIC
RPM
RUST BUSTER
SLIDE OUT
SLIP SHOT II
ULTRA TAC
Chemicals:

EP2 GREASE
HD-50
HIGH TEMPERATURE BEARING GREASE
LANO LUBE
LANO LUBE GREASE
LANO LUBE PLUS
MA PENETRANT
METAL FREE 2000
PSG
ROPE LUBE EXTRA

PRODUCTS >SAFETY

BLISTEX
EYRES CLEANING WIPES
EZY REACHER PICK UP STICK
GLASSES
GLOVES
NITRILE FUSION GLOVES
PRO BLOC

PRODUCTS >ABSORBENTS & SPILL KITS

ABSORBENT 15
ABSORBENTS – PADS & ROLLS
BOOMS
SPILL KIT 120L RED
SPILL KIT 120L YELLOW
SPILL KIT 240L RED
SPILL KIT 240L YELLOW
SPILL KIT VEHICLE 20L RED
SPILL KIT VEHICLE 20L YELLOW
SPILL KIT VEHICLE 40L
ZEOLITE

PRODUCTS >AIR CARE

Aerosols:

ORANGE TWIST
Chemicals:

BUBBLEGUM DEODORISER
FRESH COCONUT LIME
FRESH MANGO
FRESH SPRINGTIME
FRESH START
FRESH VANILLA
FUSION METERED AEROSOLS
ISLAND SPICE
LAVENDER AIR FRESHENER
OCEAN BREEZE
ODOUR BUSTER
ODOUR-CIDE GP107F
SPRINGTIME DISINFECTANT
VANILLA AIR FRESHENER
Dispenser:

DISPENSER MODEL 1