Breaking Through, Travelling On

edinburgher

KC, I'm trying to green our home care products and toiletries, thought you'd be the woman to ask for suggestions

So far we've replaced household cleaners with white vinegar. I've just ordered a bulk bottle of F@ith In Nature laundry detergent, so that should be us good for clothes over the next few months (don't use fabric softener any more, not needed with the A++ tumble dryer (justify justify ))

Toiletries wise, I use a B0dy shop ginger shampoo, but it's getting too expensive, I'm also using their lovely satsuma? shower gel, that I buy in ridiculous quantities at an outlet mall for big discounts. I'm also trying a crystal deodorant stick, which I'm loving. In terms of shaving, I have moved over to using a traditional safety razor and was able to buy enough blades for 14 years for £43

How about: destinkifying drains, replacing bleach if possible and toothpaste that doesn't have ingredients that Dr Frankenstein created?

ZTD

Karmacat wrote: »

Hello all - what nice messages to come back to thank you. As you can all probably guess, I was away so long because she died - while I was travelling up to see her, actually.

So sorry to hear that. :grouphug:

Karmacat wrote: »

We had all the officialdom that everyone suffers through after a death, with some added twists - registering (the computer was down, oh joy),

Hmmm...that's not very good - hopefully they had a manual fallback rather than a "come back later."

Karmacat wrote: »

finding a funeral date (the crematorium we use for family is partially closed, we were desperate to hold the funeral before Christmas and *not* on family birthdays). A power-mad solicitor demanding copies of all sorts of things before they'd give us the Will.

Well that just means nobody will use them again.

Karmacat wrote: »

A funeral director who misspelt the word "funeral".

Jaw.

Floor.

It's sore.

Karmacat wrote: »

That sort of thing.

The icing on the cake, of particular relevance on the MSE forum, was the policy of the Halifax Bank Bereavement Unit. The staff were fine - but the policy! Omigod, I nearly had a heart attack. They were the only ones who wanted to know where the Executor lived (me, in this case) and then they wanted to do a multiple choice quiz about my credit file, supplied to them by Experian. I'm not kidding, either.

What on Earth did they want all that for?

Karmacat wrote: »

I was nearly scuppered by my change of utilities supplier last month, and it's sheer luck that I "passed". I moved away from the Halifax years ago, and this experience made me remember why.

It's a reminder not to get involved with them.

Karmacat wrote: »

Anyway, it all went as well as these things ever go, in the end. And now, since my dad died a while ago, the household needs to be dismantled ... it's very odd, and very sad. 95% of that is still to be done.

:grouphug:

Hope it goes smoothly.

elantan

Hey KC how's trix?

Reading with nodding head approval of Ed''s post ... if there's someone that can help here it's deff KC

I'm using soap nuts just now for my washing, it can be made into soap/ shampoo/ cleaning stuff etc, my brother informs me it is similar to the conker tree we have in the UK

Knit_Witch

bicarb and vinegar for the sink drain (declogs and freshens in one! oh and a rather impressive "fizz" at the same time )

For shaving OH has moved to a brush and soap bowl arrangement (and yes safety razor with bulk buy of blades)

ZTD

edinburgher wrote: »

How about: destinkifying drains, replacing bleach if possible

What's wrong with bleach? It degrades into salt (NaCl) and water when it's used (actually will do that in the bottle if left for long enough - always have fresh).

edinburgher wrote: »

and toothpaste that doesn't have ingredients that Dr Frankenstein created?

You can use the traditional powder which is Sodium BiCarbonate - the big toothpaste manufactures went through a phase a couple of years ago of adding to everything. Or you can go for something like this: http://www.biggreensmile.com/tags/dr-bronners-liquid-castile-soaps.aspx

Though be aware - you are literally washing your mouth out with soap at that point...

Knit_Witch

How about this?

http://www.mommypotamus.com/tooth-powder-recipe/

edinburgher

What's wrong with bleach? It degrades into salt (NaCl) and water when it's used (actually will do that in the bottle if left for long enough - always have fresh).

Isn't there still an accepted link chemical use in the home and respiratory conditions in children etc.?

ZTD

edinburgher wrote: »

Isn't there still an accepted link chemical use in the home and respiratory conditions in children etc.?

If you've read that, then you've been reading a green fluff piece and you should ignore it. "Chemical" is an extemely broad term. Water is a chemical for example. Vinegar (and non-brewed condiment) is a 8% solution of acetic acid for example.

You can replace the word "chemical" with the word "stuff" and with minor trimming of singular/plural clauses for grammar nazi purposes, it means the same thing.

edinburgher

It was the NHS

ZTD

edinburgher wrote: »

It was the NHS

That would be about right. Fluffy emotive spin words like "chemical", "HCAI" and "excess deaths" abound there.