Forums

Search with Wattson
Forums
Sustainable Living
Your Home
Avoiding the superm...
 
Notifications
Clear all

Joining the Renewable Heating Hub forums is completely free and only takes a minute. By registering you’ll be able to ask questions, join discussions, follow topics you’re interested in, bookmark useful threads and receive notifications when someone replies. Non-registered members also do not have access to our AI features. When choosing your username, please note that it cannot be changed later, so we recommend avoiding brand or product names. Before registering, please take a moment to read the Forum Rules & Terms of Use so we can keep the community helpful, respectful and informative for everyone. Thanks for joining!

Avoiding the supermarkets

 
Your Home
3 Posts
2 Users
6 Reactions
2,383 Views
RSS
Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
Famed Member Moderator
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 1759
Topic starter 17/03/2022 11:29 am   [#367]

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"


   
👍
2
Quote
 mjr
(@mjr)
Reputable Member Member
Joined: 4 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!



   
ReplyQuote
Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
Famed Member Moderator
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 1759
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"


   
👍
4
ReplyQuote



Forum Jump:
  Previous Topic
Next Topic  



Share:

Join Us!

Worth Watching

Latest Posts

Members Online

Click to access the login or register cheese
x Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security PRO
This Site Is Protected By
Shield Security PRO →