Ok, i am on a mission to try and stop the use of single use plastics in my household. So far i have stopped buying washing stuff for clothes in capsules and plastic containers. I now buy washing power in a cardboard box, such as Bold, Persil or Surf. Of these i find the Bold the best for nice smelling, getting rid of stains and good value. A cardboard box with over 90 washes works out at about €16.99... good value. I also have my scoop measured for the minimum allowed as we use way too much washing power in our clothes..
I have also stopped using the so called bio bags for my compose bin in the house. I have a bigger compose bin up the yard that i empty my small house hold one into. I have often gotten some nice compose from it. But lately i have noticed that even though it says biodegradable on the bags i put into the mini compose bin i am finding bits of the bags in my compose. So i picked up a nice Addis mini compose bin with an inner liner that can be removed to take up to big compose and washed. It easily fits under the sink and its the business. See image on left. I picked it up in Aldi for about €6.99.
Next i am going to reduce my cream hand washing soap. Pity we can't go to a retail store and fill our own glass bottles from a big glass gallon from the store. So I looked on line to see if i can purchase a bar of soap grater. As i can go through a single use 500 ml plastic squirt bottle within a week or two. I found the item in the photo below, this feature is a very cool retro-modern gadget called Soap Flakes, created by Swiss artist/designer/inventor Nathalie Stämpfli. See picture below...pretty cool huh? I do believe we have something like it on our trains toilets !! but the soap hidden of course.
I have also stopped using the so called bio bags for my compose bin in the house. I have a bigger compose bin up the yard that i empty my small house hold one into. I have often gotten some nice compose from it. But lately i have noticed that even though it says biodegradable on the bags i put into the mini compose bin i am finding bits of the bags in my compose. So i picked up a nice Addis mini compose bin with an inner liner that can be removed to take up to big compose and washed. It easily fits under the sink and its the business. See image on left. I picked it up in Aldi for about €6.99.
Next i am going to reduce my cream hand washing soap. Pity we can't go to a retail store and fill our own glass bottles from a big glass gallon from the store. So I looked on line to see if i can purchase a bar of soap grater. As i can go through a single use 500 ml plastic squirt bottle within a week or two. I found the item in the photo below, this feature is a very cool retro-modern gadget called Soap Flakes, created by Swiss artist/designer/inventor Nathalie Stämpfli. See picture below...pretty cool huh? I do believe we have something like it on our trains toilets !! but the soap hidden of course.
Now the problem is I can't find it to purchase!! honest to God....Unfortunately, it seems it was a prototype she launched which means it may or may have not been funded to production. Still, if more and more people request this item, it's possible it could find itself on shelves! There was also another hand held one she had designed, the picture is below: Also non available of course....
Now i don't know about you but that looks very like a cheese grater that i have seen selling on ebay!! humm.. See the image below which i found on ebay for €6...
This is described as "Cheese Mill Grinder Grater Slicer Shredder Fine Coarse Hand Kitchen Tool +Blades". Looks pretty close to the soap grater to me!! It also come with different attachments, so there is sure to be one grater that will but suitable.....hopefully!. So looked for it a bit closer to home, but again no sign and the only one that showed up is from China. Now nothing wrong with ordering from China but it can take months to arrive!!! Anyway i have ordered one so I can let you know whats it like when i get it.....
Meanwhile i still have loads of single use plastic bottles I much rather not use.. So once again while i am waiting for the turn up of the cheese grater...errr..soap grater. So then i made the discovery of : How to Turn Bar Soap into Liquid Soap. Hello hello, this looks interesting. Apparently all you need is 8 oz bar soap, some glycerin, and water – super easy! Here in Ireland we had the glycerin in the cooking area of the shops to stop icing sugar getting too hard. The author did say "The glycerin is mostly for moisturizing purposes and can be omitted if you want. I’ve made the soap without it and it was totally fine." So after reading the article I am going and try and melt up a batch and put them in to a container and then transfer it to my glass soap dispenser. In case the article did not open for you here are the list of "ingredients".
8 oz. bar of soap (could be 1, 2, or even 3 bars, depending on the kind)
2 T. glycerin
1 gallon (16 cups) water
Large pot
Container(s) to hold the soap
What To Do:
Put water in a large pot.
Grate the soap bar(s) and add to the water. (If you don’t have a grater, just chunk it up very small)
Add the glycerin.
Heat the soap mixture on medium heat until all the soap is dissolved, about 15 minutes. (Longer if your soap is chunked, instead of grated)
Once dissolved, take off the heat and let it rest for 12-24 hours.
Beat with a hand mixer, adding more water to achieve desired consistency. (Mine was pretty runny as is, so I just skipped adding the water). This is also where you’d add any essential oils if you want.
Once you’ve mixed it well, just pour it into your container(s) using a funnel.
That’s it! I turned 2 bars of Dove soap (€2 in Deals) into 1 gallon of body wash/hand soap.
I will give an account on how "that" worked out.. Please let me know how anyone else got on with their own home made cream soaps...And what you did to "improve" it...
i still thing the "cheese/ soap grater" would be less time consuming but at least its another option of reducing my single use of plastic.
Meanwhile i still have loads of single use plastic bottles I much rather not use.. So once again while i am waiting for the turn up of the cheese grater...errr..soap grater. So then i made the discovery of : How to Turn Bar Soap into Liquid Soap. Hello hello, this looks interesting. Apparently all you need is 8 oz bar soap, some glycerin, and water – super easy! Here in Ireland we had the glycerin in the cooking area of the shops to stop icing sugar getting too hard. The author did say "The glycerin is mostly for moisturizing purposes and can be omitted if you want. I’ve made the soap without it and it was totally fine." So after reading the article I am going and try and melt up a batch and put them in to a container and then transfer it to my glass soap dispenser. In case the article did not open for you here are the list of "ingredients".
8 oz. bar of soap (could be 1, 2, or even 3 bars, depending on the kind)
2 T. glycerin
1 gallon (16 cups) water
Large pot
Container(s) to hold the soap
What To Do:
Put water in a large pot.
Grate the soap bar(s) and add to the water. (If you don’t have a grater, just chunk it up very small)
Add the glycerin.
Heat the soap mixture on medium heat until all the soap is dissolved, about 15 minutes. (Longer if your soap is chunked, instead of grated)
Once dissolved, take off the heat and let it rest for 12-24 hours.
Beat with a hand mixer, adding more water to achieve desired consistency. (Mine was pretty runny as is, so I just skipped adding the water). This is also where you’d add any essential oils if you want.
Once you’ve mixed it well, just pour it into your container(s) using a funnel.
That’s it! I turned 2 bars of Dove soap (€2 in Deals) into 1 gallon of body wash/hand soap.
I will give an account on how "that" worked out.. Please let me know how anyone else got on with their own home made cream soaps...And what you did to "improve" it...
i still thing the "cheese/ soap grater" would be less time consuming but at least its another option of reducing my single use of plastic.