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Avoiding the supermarkets

 
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Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
Noble Member Moderator
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 881
Topic starter 17/03/2022 11:29 am  

I happen to have a deep distrust of the scruples and tactics undertaken by the various supermarket chains, so try to avoid giving them money wherever possible. Apart from the obvious steps - growing as much of our own produce as we can, using a local butcher that sources locally and ethically, tending to cook from raw ingredients rather than buy pre-packaged food - I've been looking into reducing our reliance on supermarkets further. One area I've been making inroads on is cleaning products. I've found it's REALLY easy (and, in fact, cheaper) to get the basic ingredients for liquid soap and make up batches; it reuses the squirty bottles too, so less waste as well. However, detergents are more of an issue.

I've tried Splosh and really like the basic business model, but whilst their bathroom and kitchen cleaners are great I'm not convinced on their dishwasher tablets or washing detergents. I'm about to try Smol's similar offering to see how they perform, but I was wondering if anyone else has any recommendations. I'm not necessarily looking for cleaning products that outperform the best of the well-known brands; just stuff that does the job, is good enough to justify its price and is better ethically and for the environment. I'm happy to try making my own if anyone has any tips or just happy to buy from alternative sources.

105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
18 x 360W solar panels
1 x 6 kW GroWatt battery and SPH5000 inverter
1 x Myenergi Zappi
1 x VW ID3
Raised beds for home-grown veg and chickens for eggs

"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"


   
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 mjr
(@mjr)
Prominent Member Member
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 301
05/04/2022 3:58 pm  

Where are you getting the liquid soap ingredients from and what recipe are you using, please?

I'm currently using the little cif dilute-at-home refills for kitchen and bathroom cleaners. I'd happily switch to an eco brand (method seems to work well, to name a widely-available brand), but they still all seem to ship only in ready-mixed which means lots of extra fuel is used moving them to shops, as well as being more a nuisance to move home on my bike!


   
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Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
Noble Member Moderator
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 881
Topic starter 05/04/2022 4:37 pm  

I get the castile soap base and essential oils from https://www.thesoapery.co.uk/.

They recommend 10ml essential oil to 1L liquid soap and I find that about right. 5ml each of lime and elderflower has worked well as has just thyme on its own. Other recipes are just a matter of experimentation and there are loads of suggestions around.

I’ve also noticed they’ve started doing body wash, shampoo and conditioner bases so my eldest (vegan), my youngest (vegetarian) and my wife (choosy) should all be a bit happier.

105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
18 x 360W solar panels
1 x 6 kW GroWatt battery and SPH5000 inverter
1 x Myenergi Zappi
1 x VW ID3
Raised beds for home-grown veg and chickens for eggs

"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"


   
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