Household cleaning
Vax Ultra+ Carpet Cleaner Solution dupe
Why pay around £8.50 for Vax? The bulk active is SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate) — 56% less per working litre than a typical shelf pack.
From the retail pack to the active and the mix
1 · Retail
Vax Ultra+ Carpet Cleaner Solution
1.5 litres · £8.50 typical snapshot
Water, fragrance, dye and preservatives
2 · Active
Anionic surfactants (SLES family)
5% on the label
68585-34-2C12H25(OCH2CH2)nOSO3Na
Bulk SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate)
3 · Mix
1:4 (200 ml of 27% SLES in 800 ml water ≈ 5% tank fill)
£2.50 per working litre · 56% less than the shelf pack
- Active
- Anionic surfactants (SLES family)
- CAS
- 68585-34-2
- Dupe
- SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate)
- Saving
- 56% / L
Saving is per litre of working-strength mix versus a typical pack price, not versus the DIY kit total. Shop prices move — always check the listing.
Label teardown
What the pack promises versus what the label chemistry actually is.
The marketing claim
“Rose Burst scent — combats odours”
The chemical reality
Carpet-washer ‘solution’ is dilute anionic surfactant with perfume. Sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) at a few percent in the tank does the same wet-extraction job without the rose-burst markup.
Active vs filler
5% Anionic surfactants (SLES family) · 95% carrier / filler — Water, fragrance, dye and preservatives
- Typical retail
- £8.50
- 1.5 litres
- Estimated active cost
- £3.47
- Scaled from bulk £12.50 / 1 litre
- Indicative markup
- 2.4×
- Snapshot maths, not a live shop price
The Marketing Claim & The Catch
A 1.5 litres pack of Vax Ultra+ Carpet Cleaner Solution typically retails around £8.50 in household cleaning. That is a UK shelf-price snapshot for the maths on this page — not a live shop quote or a manufacturer RRP. Listings, sizes and deals move. The marketing line is that you are buying a finished lifestyle product, not a weighed chemical.
On the pack: Rose Burst scent — combats odours; Designed for Vax carpet washers; and Lifts dirt and stains from carpets and upholstery.
The catch: Carpet-washer ‘solution’ is dilute anionic surfactant with perfume. Sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) at a few percent in the tank does the same wet-extraction job without the rose-burst markup.
- “Rose Burst scent — combats odours”
- “Designed for Vax carpet washers”
- “Lifts dirt and stains from carpets and upholstery”
Proprietary Blend & Dosage Breakdown
The labelled active is Anionic surfactants (SLES family) at 5%. Everything else in the pack is water, fragrance, dye and preservatives.
At 5% active, most of what you pay for is carrier and packaging. The brand is selling convenience, fragrance and a label — not a uniquely potent molecule.
Branded working strength is whatever comes out of the bottle. The bulk alternative is 27% SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate), mixed to 1:4 (200 ml of 27% SLES in 800 ml water ≈ 5% tank fill).
- Labelled active
- Anionic surfactants (SLES family)
- 5%
- Carrier
- Water, fragrance, dye and preservatives
- Retail pack
- 1.5 litres · £8.50
The Active Chemical Alternative (Dupe Stack)
The dupe stack is SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate) at 27% bulk. Indexed as CAS 68585-34-2, formula C12H25(OCH2CH2)nOSO3Na. Buy it as 1 litre for around £12.50 from Amazon UK.
Working strength: 1:4 (200 ml of 27% SLES in 800 ml water ≈ 5% tank fill). Indicative cost £2.50 per diluted litre — 56% below a typical branded pack on a per-litre basis, before you reuse leftover bulk.
Follow the mixing method and the supplier SDS. Wear the listed PPE. Do not mix incompatible oxidisers, acids or ammonia.
- Irritant to eyes. Gloves if you have sensitive skin. Label the jug — this is not drinking water.
- For a carpet-washer tank: mix 200 ml of 27% SLES into 800 ml of warm water (1:4). That lands near 5% surfactant — the same band as typical UK machine solutions.
- Pre-treat stains with a damp cloth and a dab of the mix. Extract with clean water afterwards to pull residual surfactant out of the pile.
- Do not mix with bleach, quat biocides (Zoflora, Patio Magic) or strong acids. Keep foam modest — overdosing leaves sticky residue that re-soils faster.
- 1 litre of 27% SLES at 1:4 makes 5 litres of working solution — more than three 1.5 L Vax bottles.
Dilution recipe
1.5 L working batch
Working strength 1:4 (200 ml of 27% SLES in 800 ml water ≈ 5% tank fill). Educational estimate from the listed ratio — check the SDS before you mix.
Chemical
300 millilitres
SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate)
Water
1.2 litres
Carrier / diluent
20% concentrate · 80% water by working volume (solids are dissolved into the water share).
Required PPE
Loading calculator…
Side-by-Side Price & Potency Comparison
Head-to-head comparison
| Measure | Retail brandedVax | Raw active dupeDupeStack |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Ultra+ Carpet Cleaner SolutionAmazon UK search — listing, not a confirmed seller | SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate) |
| Pack / unit | 1.5 litres · £8.50 | 1 litre · £12.50 |
| Active | Anionic surfactants (SLES family) at 5%Carrier: Water, fragrance, dye and preservatives | 27% bulkC12H25(OCH2CH2)nOSO3Na |
| CAS number | Not disclosed on pack | 68585-34-2 |
| Working strength | Ready-to-use pack | Dilute 1:4 (200 ml of 27% SLES in 800 ml water ≈ 5% tank fill) |
| Cost per litre | £5.67 / L typical pack | £2.50 / L mixed from bulk |
| Headline saving | Baseline | 56% cheaper |
| COSHH / PPE | Follow the branded SDS | Gloves. Chemical-resistant gloves (nitrile or neoprene) |
Active ingredient and cheaper alternative — FAQ
Will this foam too much in a Vax machine?
Keep the working strength around 5% SLES or below. High foam can fool dirty-water sensors and leave residue. If the recovery tank looks soapy, dilute further and run a clean-water rinse pass.
Is this the same as Vanish Oxi Action?
No. Vanish Oxi is solid sodium percarbonate for soak bleaching. This teardown is liquid surfactant chemistry for extraction machines — same job family as Vax Ultra+, not an oxygen powder.
How do you mix the Ultra+ Carpet Cleaner Solution dupe stack?
Irritant to eyes. Gloves if you have sensitive skin. Label the jug — this is not drinking water. For a carpet-washer tank: mix 200 ml of 27% SLES into 800 ml of warm water (1:4). That lands near 5% surfactant — the same band as typical UK machine solutions. Pre-treat stains with a damp cloth and a dab of the mix. Extract with clean water afterwards to pull residual surfactant out of the pile. Do not mix with bleach, quat biocides (Zoflora, Patio Magic) or strong acids. Keep foam modest — overdosing leaves sticky residue that re-soils faster. 1 litre of 27% SLES at 1:4 makes 5 litres of working solution — more than three 1.5 L Vax bottles.
DupeStack provides chemical concentration data and educational mixing guides only. Wellness pages compare food supplements, not medicines or prescribed treatments. Always review the supplier Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and comply with UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and COSHH regulations when handling concentrated substances. Mixing and storage are at your own risk. Some links are affiliate advertisements (Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, and Awin when those programmes are live). Commissions do not change listed concentrations or calculator output.
Related guides
Household guide
Carpets and laundry stains: percarbonate vs machine surfactant
Vanish Oxi is sodium percarbonate. Vax Ultra+ is dilute SLES. Pink paste is an abrasive, not an oxygen bleach. Match the stain chemistry before you buy another scented bottle.
Household guide
Household acids and alkalis decoded — limescale, rust and never-mix rules
Citric, sulfamic, lactic, acetic, formic, oxalic and phosphoric for descaling and rust; how they differ from brick acid and caustic drain gel — with DupeStack teardown links.
Household guide
Drain and oven cleaners: sulphuric acid vs caustic soda — never swap blindly
One Shot drain acid, Mr Muscle caustic gel and Oven Pride cold oven cleaner are different hazards. Match the bottle to the pipe or enamel job.
More teardowns
Household cleaning
Vanish Oxi Action Fabric Stain Remover
Vanish
- Retail pack
- £9.001 kg tub
- Raw active
- Sodium percarbonate (food/technical grade)15630-89-4
Sodium percarbonate is a solid hydrogen-peroxide adduct. The pink tub is perfume, dye and a scoop. Technical-grade percarbonate is the same oxidiser used in bulk laundries.
Household cleaning
Domestos Original Thick Bleach
Domestos
- Retail pack
- £2.20750 millilitres
- Raw active
- Household thin bleach (sodium hypochlorite ~5%)7681-52-9
Sodium hypochlorite plus a thickener so it clings to ceramic. Thin household bleach is the same oxidiser without the brand, the dye and the TV campaign. Never mix it with acids or ammonia.
Household cleaning
Cillit Bang Limescale Destroyer
Cillit Bang
- Retail pack
- £3.50750 millilitres
- Raw active
- Citric acid monohydrate (food grade)5949-29-1
Hard-water scale is calcium carbonate. Citric acid dissolves it. The trigger bottle is perfume and a nozzle; a bag of food-grade citric acid is the same attack on the kettle, the head and the pan.
£18.50Save 56% / L
Indicative DIY stack