Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Home product o' the week: Bon Ami


When I was a kid, my mom always used Bon Ami for cleaning. This was the stuff that we used to scrub the bathtub. It was abrasive enough to get rid of soap gunk but it didn't scratch the porcelain. There was always a can of it under the sink. My grandma used it too and probably her mother before her. It's been around since 1886, so I think that qualifies it as a Nostalgic Homemaking product, don't you think? Turns out this oldie but goodie is also a "green" product, which is nice. We could all do with a little less bleach and dye - well, except for my hair, which always needs those things.

Apparently, we were limiting ourselves by just using it for the bathtub. The folks at Bon Ami have plenty of uses listed on their website that go beyond the scrubbing of the tub. How about fiberglass boats and swimming pools? Grout, shoes and crystal candle holders? Plastic cutting boards and wooden decks? Yep, that too. All the uses are at the Bon Ami website, should you get your kicks reading websites for cleaning products. Hey, who doesn't?

Note:
This post sounds like a plug for the product, and I guess it is in a way. I thought it might be interesting to start a weekly post on common products that have been around awhile.

4 comments:

Heather said...

I like your idea of a weekly post on this topic. I've never heard of or seen Bon AMi and am not sure it is sold in Canada but I'll look further and find out.

Forsythia said...

I remember Bon Ami and a similar product called "Dutch Cleanser." It had a profile view of a woman in wooden shoes , her face hidden by her cap, chasing dirt with the stick. Grandma and Mother did laundry with Duz ("Duz Does Everything") and Rinso ("Rinso white, Rinso bright"). Every once in awhile, the name of a long-gone product pops into my brain.

Doralong said...

The little yellow chick has always been in residence under my sink ;) That and good old 20 Mule Team borax..

Lorraine said...

I love that stuff. And I like it precisely because of the little chick. And the French name. Sucker for packaging, I'm telling you.