Category Archives: Cleaning Products

31 
Oct

Trick or Treat for Halloween

Trick or treat at Halloween

Trick or treat is an appropriate question for us to ask when we’re posting so close to Halloween. Certainly, the last year has been full of tricks for UK catering businesses with only the occasional treat. And the fast-approaching Christmas season promises more of the same as parties hesitate to book knocking the trade’s planning.

All Hallows Even

There are those who of course bemoan the fact that Halloween has become so big as a newfangled Americanism. But is it? The 31st day of October is the day before 1st November. This in the Christian faith is All Souls Day. The day when Christians remember and celebrate the departed. The older name for All Souls is All Hallows and een is merely the eve of. It was always the night before a holy day.

In Mexico at the same time is the Dia Los Muertos, which runs for 2-3 days. Interestingly this predates the conquistadors, so was not the result of their European faith being imposed. Somewhat spooky that it occurs on exactly the same day and for the same purpose. Especially as there is no comparable day in other faiths.

Trick or Treat Questions

When the youngsters come round and knock on doors asking the question, do they ever expect the response to be trick? Most assume that it’s an opportunity to fill their bag with sweets. And heaven help the neighbour who puts in some interesting and usual flavours as a trick!

The question expects reward much like the order in the restaurant. But the latter doesn’t usually have 2 options for the server. Is the treat-giver at Halloween motivated by a genuine desire to please? Or by the fear of potential damage like fireworks exploding in drainpipes, when they were metal, as the trick? The equivalent restaurant question is perhaps “are you enjoying your meal” when the waiter always hopes for or assumes a positive answer?

Our Treat Question

Every year at Christmas we have a rush on cleaning supplies at the last minute, as clients suddenly realise they are short in the rush. This is just when we’re busy sorting out the last-minute maintenance calls or worse the breakdown stopping the client’s service.

Our treat for you is 10% off Detergent Tabs Active Green 150 (56.01.535), Detergent Red Tabs 100 (56.00.210) and Care Tabs 150 (56.00.562) when ordered by phone before 12 noon on 10th November 2023. This does not include shipping costs. The discount code is TREAT. And we can assure you, this is no trick! Happy Halloween!

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Published Date: 31st October 2023
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Rational
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29 
Nov

Countdown to Christmas

Christmas countdown starts with Black FridayAfter the year we have had as a country and with the FIFA World Cup due to end literally a week before Christmas; there is no doubt we’re living in very strange and uncertain times. Yet those in the hotel, restaurant, pub, café and farm shop trades know that in order to make money, we need to be prepared to serve demand as it occurs. Hence our Christmas countdown.

Some of that demand is predictable with bookings for Christmas parties and events. While other demand is more ad hoc. It could literally depend on the weather or on the consumer’s feeling of the need to go out. A long run for England or Wales might dampen demand for those premises without television as people stay in; or become a place of escape for those desperately avoiding soccer.

Being Prepared for the Predictable

When demand comes, you’ll want service to function seamlessly from start to finish. For your Rational ovens this means ensuring that you have all the cleaning supplies you could need for the next 6 weeks. Regular cleaning optimises Rational performance and reduces the likelihood of a failure.

Check your cleaning supplies. Order by 2nd December and there is a reasonable chance that we can deliver before Christmas. If you order no later than 10th December and we have it in stock then you will also beat the 10-15% price increase, which Rational has had to bring in globally effective 1st December. Order either online or call the team on 01454 322222.

Being Prepared for the Unpredictable

If you haven’t already booked a Rational service or maintenance visit before the Christmas and New Year break, it’s probably too late. But we’ll happily arrange a date for January for those in our area.

Most oven breakdowns are unpredictable, but often seem to happen at times of peak demand. While many of AC Services Southern staff take a break over Christmas, there is always an engineer on call dealing with whatever crops up.

For ease of contacting us to resolve your breakdown, below are our opening hours:

In all instances, dial 01454 322222 and choose the relevant option.

  • Friday 23rd Office closes at 5.00 p.m.
  • Saturday 24th Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Sunday 25th CHRISTMAS DAY CLOSED
  • Monday 26th BOXING DAY CLOSED
  • Tuesday 27th Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Wednesday 28th Office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Engineers available
  • Thursday 29th Office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Engineers available
  • Friday 30th Office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Engineers available
  • Saturday 31st Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Sunday 1st NEW YEARS DAY CLOSED
  • Monday 2nd Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Tuesday 3rd Normal office hours resume

While we cannot predict the outcome of the football; working with our catering colleagues, we can make the season less stressful and more productive by using our Christmas countdown!

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Published Date: 29th November 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News, Rational
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01 
Apr

We’re Still Open for Key Sites

AC Services Open for Key Sites

While this will be our last blog for a while due to the impacts of coronavirus, we are still open for key sites with our core crew. If you’ve had to close please follow our Rational oven close down tips below.

So, if you’re a hospital, care home or an off-site food company with a maintenance contract with AC Services you’re still covered for any breakdowns that occur. If this does happen please call the normal number 01454 322 222 and speak to Helen. She will arrange for our engineer to visit to repair the breakdown.

If you’re already a connectedcooking kitchen, we are able to remotely monitor and identify the fault, which can minimise the time we need to spend with you.

New Customers

If you’re a not a regular AC Services customer, but have a breakdown on a Rational oven in the area we cover of South West England and Southern Wales; we might be able to assist you if you are a key site such as a hospital or care facility.

As we’re sure you understand, we are prioritising our established client base and responding to their breakdowns. This unfortunately means we cannot promise to assist you as promptly as normal and may mean our engineer will be diverted elsewhere. But for key facilities, we will try to help repair your Rational breakdown if we can.

Continuing Business and Key Sites

Obviously, we need to continue to operate within the guidelines issued by the government to minimise the spread of coronavirus. We are considering what impacts this has on the need to regularly service Rational ovens to prevent breakdowns and how we can deliver this over the longer term.

In the meantime, we’d urge customers to ensure that the weekly and daily maintenance routines are adhered to using the approved products. These are available from our on-line shop if your stocks are running low.

Rational Oven Close Down Procedures

If you have closed your kitchen then please do the following for your Rational oven close down.

For Rational SH, SI and Combi Master Plus please watch these handy videos first. Steam tank emptying. CM P tank emptying which is a download.

  1. Find the water supply and isolate the unit.
  2. Use the Handshower until it is empty.
  3. Power off unit and leave door partially open

When returning unit to operation, return power and water

  1. Use hand shower to rinse water feed system
  2. Run unit in steam for 30 minutes
  3. Run short cleanjet

Or for Rational CareControl SG range

Rational oven close down for Carecontrol
  1. Find the water supply and isolate the unit.
  2. Use the Handshower until it is empty.
  3. Follow instructions above to empty tank. If this does not work with the door closed, repeat with door open
  4. Power off unit and leave door partially open

When returning unit to operation, return power and water

  1. Use hand shower to rinse water feed system
  2. Run unit in steam for 30 minutes
  3. Run short cleanjet

Keeping in Touch

While there won’t be any blogs for the next few weeks, please follow us on Facebook for any updates. Or if you are spending time creating a new strategy for your business why not check out our earlier blogs on trends in catering businesses and show reports.

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Published Date: 1st April 2020
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News, Ovens, Rational, Self Cooking Centre
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26 
Nov

Last Service Call for Christmas

Black Friday kickoff for Christmas countdown for Rational oven servicing

In the good old days, we used to all be aware of the number of shopping days till Christmas. But now every day is a shopping day. On-line and in the real world, we’re able to get most things within 24 hours of ordering them. Increasingly we have become reliant upon that.

Problems arise when that last-minute expectation cannot be met for perfectly valid reasons. Like a finite number of service engineers and everyone suddenly needing their expertise. This is the problem we face every year at AC Services Southern; when catering businesses suddenly realise in December they need their Rational oven servicing before peak Christmas use.

Black Friday Reminder

Black Friday sales seem to be launched earlier each year. One UK retailer started theirs in October this year! Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is the last Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is the big American turkey dinner with all the trimmings followed by pumpkin pie for the whole family; while Black Friday signifies the start of the countdown to Christmas not the biggest sales.

Indeed it’s called Black Friday from all the heavy and disruptive vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This caused gridlock on the streets of Philadelphia, as the whole family went shopping on their free day. It sounds a bit like a cross between a Boxing Day walk and the start of New Year sales!

For AC Services, it’s almost become a tradition that on the Tuesday nearest Thanksgiving, we blog our gentle reminder to Rational oven users in South West England and South Wales. This is to not delay and book your pre-Christmas Rational service today on 01454 322 222.

This way both of us can tick your equipment off our to do list early and concentrate on the real Christmas dramas later in December. We can guarantee that up until Christmas Eve, our engineers will be working flat out to cope with the inevitable panicked last-minute rush of breakdowns and servicing!

Buy On-line

Now is also a good time to check that you have all the cleaning products you need to ensure that your Rational ovens continue to function at their highest efficiency. Rational Self-Cooking-Centers have automatic cleaning programmes built into their software. When used with the right cleaning materials you get cosmetic and hygienic cleanliness.

Our on-line shop enables you to purchase these at whatever time of day you remember or have free in the forthcoming rush. But please be aware as these are delivered by delivery firms and they may be affected by their delays caused by volume of parcels and weather. Again earlier purchase enables greater peace of mind.

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Published Date: 26th November 2019
Category: Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News, Ovens, Rational, Self Cooking Centre, Service plan
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12 
Nov

Rational Cleaning Routine

Ensuring service through Rational oven cleaning products

It might be mid-November but it’s getting perilously close to Xmas. Which means you should start making lists of everything you need to make the season progress as smoothly as possible.

If you are in charge of catering, then remember to add Rational cleaning products to the list. They may not be as glamorous as some of your requests to Santa, but they are an oft-overlooked necessity.

Rational Cleaning Products Save Time

Your Rational oven needs to be cleaned regularly in order to perform to its optimal capacity. And you need to ensure that the correct cleaning products are used.

At AC Services, we supply all the assistance you need to service and maintain your oven, from Rational Grill Cleaner, Rational Rinse Aid, Rational Oven Cleaning Tablets for the SCC (SelfCooking Center®) range and for those with Care Control, Rational Care Control Tablets and accessories.

If you have more than one oven, then you may need different cleaning product combinations. As a reminder, we supply:

  • Rational Oven Cleaner Tab (x100): highly concentrated tablets specially developed with a complex set of active ingredients designed to guarantee maximum cleaning power.
  • Rational Oven Care Tablets (x150) with special scale-dissolving ingredients contained to prevent limescale building up. These give reliability without a water softener and the need for separate time-consuming descaling.
  • Rational Rinse Tablets (x50) highly effective care products ensuring active protection.
  • The Rational Grill Cleaner (10 litres) for use with a hand spray gun.
  • Rational Rinse Aid (10 litres).
  • For water filtration, the products are either the Brita Purity 1200 Quell ST Filter Cartridge or the Brita Purity 600 Quell ST Filter Cartridge.

Be Prepared

You may think you have plenty of time but it never hurts to be prepared. And that means BOOKING A SERVICE now if you haven’t already to avoid the inevitable last-minute panic rush. We would be delighted to come out and check your oven over and pre-empt any problems that might arise.

Otherwise to order your Rational cleaning products, simply go to our on-line shop. Or call us on 01454 322222 for more advice of how to keep on top of your Rational oven cleaning.

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Published Date: 12th November 2019
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Ovens, Rational, Self Cooking Centre, Service plan
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03 
Sep

Time for Rational Cleaning

AC Services keeping chefs using Rational ovens happy

So you may have noticed how quickly this year has gone. Last week we were sweltering in the last rays of the summer; this week we’re starting to think ahead to winter. 31st October is gearing up to be an interesting date for many, and not just because it is national let’s-dress-up-in-silly-costumes day.

It’s impossible to make any predictions about the outcome of the Brexit deadline but as a precaution, it’s worth stocking up on various items. And from AC Services Southern’s point of view, it’s an ideal time to look at Rational cleaning products.

Fact: Christmas is galloping apace and will be upon us before we realise.

Fact: we have a politically uncertain time ahead of us with no idea about the impact on imports of foreign products or indeed, on the value of the pound.

Fact: your cleaning products may not be running low now, but there will soon be a traditional late rush on supplies so avoid the queues.

Act now to stay happy later

Now is the time to take advantage of our online store for Rational cleaning products. It takes no time at all to enter an order and wait for the despatch of the goods. So let’s look at what you could get in the on-line Rational oven cleaning range

  • Rational Oven Cleaner Tab (x100): highly concentrated tablets specially developed. A new complex set of active ingredients designed to guarantee maximum cleaning power.
  • Tablets for Rational Oven Care (x150) with special scale-dissolving ingredients contained to prevent limescale building up. They give reliability without a water softener and the need for time-consuming descaling.
  • Rational Rinse Tablets (x50) highly effective care products ensuring active protection.
  • Rational’s Grill Cleaner (10 litres) for use with a hand spray gun.
  • Rational Rinse Aid (10 litres).

There’s more: when was the last time your Rational oven was serviced? It’s probably longer than you think so pick up the phone and book a service now, not in December when we’re both rushed off our feet. Prevention is always better than cure.

To order your Rational cleaning products simply go to our online shop. To book a service call AC Services Southern on 01454 322222 for more advice and a time that suits.

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Published Date: 3rd September 2019
Category: Blog, Cleaning, Cleaning Products, News
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11 
Dec

AC Services Christmas Opening Times

AC Services Christmas Opening Times 2018So the big day is not far away, for which the country stocks up on totally unnecessary items for the festive period just in case they are needed. It’s amazing what you find on your shelves in February.

But rejoice, it’s at least another year before we hear those dreaded words again – Black Friday – and to put it in a political context, it’s only two more Brexit ministers till Christmas.

Shops have initiated Operation Santa Claus Frenzy and kids are busy writing lists using the Argos catalogue as a template.

If you followed my advice, you will have ordered the necessary cleaning accessories and booked to have your oven checked over before the holidays begin. If you haven’t, then get on to it today. Put it on that list! For those who live by the chaos theory, although the offices are closed on the key dates, we will still have engineers on call on the days in between because we know that sometimes bad things happen at the worst possible time. But just in case you are in any doubt, see below for clarification of our Christmas working hours.

AC Services Christmas Opening Times 2018

Here are AC Services Christmas opening times for 2018:

  • Thursday 20th December – normal opening hours – 8.15 a.m. to 5.15 p.m
  • Friday 21st December – normal opening hours – 8.15 a.m. to 5.15 p.m
  • Saturday 22nd December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Sunday 23rd December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Monday 24th December – Christmas Eve – office open – 8.15am to 3 p.m
  • Tuesday 25th December – Christmas Day, CLOSED
  • Wednesday 26th December – Boxing Day, CLOSED
  • Thursday 27th December – office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (engineers available)
  • Friday 28th December – office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (engineers available)
  • Saturday 29th December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Sunday 30th December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
  • Monday 31st December – office open – 8.30am to 3 p.m
  • Tuesday 1st January – CLOSED

It’s back to normal working hours on Wednesday 2nd January.

If you have an emergency with your appliance telephone 01454 322222 and press the appropriate option so we can help you as quickly as we can. If you have a non-urgent issue, leave a message for when the office is next open.

LAST CHANCE

Importantly, don’t forget to order stock parts and cleaning products. The VERY LAST DATE for guaranteed Christmas delivery for an order to be placed is Wednesday 19th December at 5 p.m. We recommend that you CHECK your stock now, to make sure that you have everything you need.

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Published Date: 11th December 2018
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Ovens, Rational, Service plan
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20 
Nov

Thinking Ahead to Profit

Christmas star serviceCleaning products for your Rational oven might not be top of the shopping list right now but it should be.

We all forget something at this time of year. Sometimes the little things don’t matter, like forgetting to stock up on batteries for those annoying, noisy little gadgets that relatives take great delight in buying for the younger members of the family. But if you run out of cleaning products for your appliance, then it could be very costly indeed.

You must make sure that you have equipped yourself with plenty of oven cleaning materials.

Rational Self-Cooking-Centers have automatic cleaning programmes built into their software which makes life a lot easier. When combined with the right proprietary cleaning materials from AC Services, the ovens are not just clean but hygienic. A word of warning: using non-compatible products can cause long-term damage to your oven, can invalidate any warranty and can cause all sorts of costly problems, so make sure that you buy the products from us. It’s akin to putting petrol into a diesel car.

Orders Please

The most important thing is not to forget to place your order for your oven cleaning materials in sufficient time. If you are a catering establishment, there are so many things to consider at Christmas: the food, the décor, the orders, the extra staff…it all mounts up.

And most people have a tendency to leave things until the last moment. When they finally do remember, or simply get around to doing it, it’s often too late. So don’t leave it to the last moment to order your cleaning materials.

Lucky for you, our online shop is a lifesaver! Our aim, as always is to maintain the highest levels of customer service and although online sales may appear simply impersonal transactions, we still want to maintain the personal touch by making it a fast and simple process. It takes no time at all to enter an order and wait for the despatch of the goods.

The On-line Rational Cleaning Range

Our cleaning products are as follows:

  • Rational Oven Cleaner Tab (x100): highly concentrated tablets specially developed. A new complex set of active ingredients designed to guarantee maximum cleaning power.
  • Tablets for Rational Oven Care  (x150) with special scale-dissolving ingredients contained to prevent limescale building up. They give reliability without a water softener and the need for time-consuming descaling.
  • Rational Rinse Tablets (x50) highly effective care products ensuring active protection.
  • Rational’s Grill Cleaner (10 litres) for use with a hand spray gun.
  • Rational Rinse Aid (10 litres).

To order your Rational cleaning products, simply go to our online shop or call us on 01454 322222 for more advice.

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Published Date: 20th November 2018
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Rational
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11 
Sep

Want Free Shipping on Rational Cleaning Products?

Free shipping on Rational cleaning productsOne of the most important aspects for any company is offering customers what they need and what they want. At AC Services (Southern) we pride ourselves on our service and our commitment to our clients in pre-empting problems through our service packages.

However, there is also the issue of consumable sales. Again, we are proud of the accessibility of our online presence in offering accessories and cleaning products. Much as we enjoy hitting the road to visit our customers, having an online shop is essential.

Customer Satisfaction

Our aim, as always is to maintain the highest levels of customer service. Customer service is usually defined as the act of ensuring customer satisfaction through product and/or services and we strongly believe in the old adage, ‘people buy people’.

We are renowned not only for our efficiency, but also for our attitude. Although online sales may appear simply impersonal transactions, we still want to maintain the personal touch. This is why we promote as many deals as possible. For instance, you can take advantage of our flat shipping rate with a £12.50 discount when used in conjunction with the code freeship. NB other charges may apply for bulk or non-mainland UK shipping .

We have introduced this deal because we are aware that we may not appear the cheapest for the Rational cleaning product you need when it comes to shipping products that fall into the hazardous goods shipment bracket. This is wholly because we use a flat rate cost contribution to shipping rather than reduce the headline cost of the product and ramp up the delivery cost.

Besides, an online sales presence is often time-saving not just for the customer but also for us. It takes no time at all to enter an order and wait for the despatch of the goods. For us, a last-minute Friday morning order for stock from a customer who hasn’t realised the extent to which stocks have dwindled could save us an emergency dash up the M5 (in rush hour, on a Friday, on the day the school holidays begin).

The On-line Rational Range

AC Services provides a full range of Rational cleaning products targeted at ensuring long-term care as a key to lifetime performance of your oven. Remember, if you have more than one Rational oven, then you may need different cleaning product combinations.

  • Rational Oven Cleaner Tab (x100): highly concentrated tablets specially developed.  A new complex set of active ingredients designed to guarantee maximum cleaning power.
  • Rational Oven Care Tablets (x150) with special scale-dissolving ingredients contained to prevent limescale building up. They give reliability without a water softener and the need for time-consuming descaling.
  • Rational Rinse Tablets (x50) highly effective care products ensuring active protection.
  • Rational Grill Cleaner (10 litres) for use with a hand spray gun.
  • Rational Rinse Aid (10 litres).

For water filtration, the products are the Brita Purity 1200 Quell ST Filter Cartridge or the  600 Quell ST Filter Cartridge.

To order your Rational cleaning products, simply go to our online shop. Don’t forget to use the coupon code freeship valid until 28th September. Or call us on 01454 322222 for more advice.

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Published Date: 11th September 2018
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Online Sales, Rational
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17 
Apr

Rational Oven Cleaning Products, Free Carriage

AC Services keeping chefs using Rational ovens happyIt’s time to talk about oven cleaning products. In particular, chemical cleaners for Rational ovens. Here at AC Services Southern, we supply a range of cleaning solutions for Rational ovens from Detergent and Cleaning tablets to Care and Rinse tablets, Grill Cleaner liquid and Rinse Aid liquid.

Rational Ovens are consistently and constantly upgrading its products and the newer CombiMaster® Plus units are no exception. The CombiMaster® Plus is a tailor-made solution for anyone who is looking for a classic combi-steamer and wishes to operate it manually, delivering exceptional food quality, helping to optimise raw materials usage and lowering resource consumption.

Automatic Cleaning

The company has now incorporated an automatic cleaning facility into this model, which allows it to make itself hygienically clean, even overnight if required. It also now uses rinse tabs. It couldn’t be simpler: choose the necessary cleaning stage and insert the tabs displayed.

These newly integrated features make it more important than ever to ensure that Rational oven owners get the right cleaning products to maximise the performance of their appliances.

We are unashamed when we urge our customers to buy the correct product as we know that only with long term care will your oven provide lifetime performance. That care includes using genuine Rational cleaning products at all times.

Every cleaning process cares and retains the value of your oven when you use the correct product. Depending on your oven type you will need different cleaning products. Remember that you may have several types of ovens in your kitchen, each needing its own cleaning product combination.

Free Carriage

AND there’s an added bonus this month. Because we’re offering FREE carriage for cleaning products from now until the end of May.

This time of year is notoriously quiet. While there are no big seasonal events, no big tournaments until the summer and with the weather not exactly being conducive to days out, many establishments are seeing a lull in activity. Take the opportunity to restock your cleaning requirements and take advantage of the free carriage by using the coupon code ‘ free ‘.

We supply Rational oven cleaning products which are specially formulated for maximum cleaning power and optimum care and suitable for all Selfcooking Center® units (SCC) and the CombiMaster Plus®:

  • Rational Oven Cleaner Tabs. These are highly concentrated tablets specially developed. They have a new complex set of active ingredients designed to guarantee maximum cleaning power.
  • The Rational Oven Care Tabs. These have special scale-dissolving ingredients to prevent limescale building up. This gives reliability without a water softener and the need for time-consuming descaling.
  • Rational Rinse Tablets provide highly effective care with active protection.
  • The Rational Grill Cleaner is for use with a hand-held spray gun.
  • Rational Rinse Aid is also specifically designed

To order your Rational oven cleaning products, simply go to online sales, select the cleaning products you need. Then all you need is to enter free as the voucher code to get free carriage.

Or call us on 01454 322222 for more advice of how to keep on top of your Rational oven cleaning.

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Published Date: 17th April 2018
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Online Sales
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