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april smol talk

Spring has well and truly sprung here at smol and we love the longer days, buzzing insects, blossoming trees (and easter eggs) and of course we can never say no to a spot of spring cleaning! It's perfect for busting all types of cobwebs but even so, there's always time to hang up the duster and share some smol talk...
   
   
the maiden factor
Maiden first set sail in 1990 skippered by Tracy Edwards MBE who led the first all-female crew to finish the Whitbread Round the World Race. Not only did they have to compete against tough opposition and conditions, but they had to battle huge amounts of sexism. Despite this, they completed the race in second place! Their journey and struggle inspired many, opened up the doors for competitive female sailing and sparked the creation of The Maiden Factor.
   
Worldwide there are roughly 130 million girls without access to education. The Maiden Factor's mission is to sail around the world raising funds and awareness for community-led education programmes that support these girls throughout their early life. At the same time, along their journey, they aim to inspire girls to develop an interest in sailing and maritime or other STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) subjects.
   
The Maiden Factor have now set sail upon their 90,000 nautical mile journey... and along the way they'll visit 60 destinations in 35 countries to inspire girls with their story.
   
In order to keep things looking ship-shape onboard, we've sent them off with their very own smol spray starter kit. Our refillable design is perfect for saving space and weight which is super important on such a mammoth sailing adventure.
   
Click here to read more about The Maiden Factor.
no laundry day
This national laundry day we asked you to take a load off (quite literally) and join us for #nolaundryday.
   
Thanks to everyone who got involved to share our #washwell message... 13,000 people pledged to take a load off on April 15th which means together we saved 65,000 litres of water and 43 tonnes of carbon (just on one day!).
   
We're spreading the word on how you can #washwell at home because if we all did just 1 less wash each month, together we'd save a massive 15.6 billion litres of water and 120,000 tonnes of carbon emissions (that's enough to heat 43,000 homes for a year!).
   
Want to learn more about our #washwell message? Click here
cleaning hacks
   
Have you noticed our all-new bleach-free super stain gel? We've been hearing such amazing feedback from those of you who've given it a try so here's how to achieve spotless results... with absolutely zero bleach!
   
   
1. wet the stain
2. apply a squirt or two of smol stain gel directly onto the stain and give it a gentle rub
3. leave for 1 minute
4. wash as usual with laundry detergent
   
And if you're looking for an all-over laundry lift... simply pop 5 or 6 pumps into the liquid detergent section of your washing machine drawer and ta'dah!!
   
Most big brand stain removers and laundry brighteners contain bleach. It's no shock that using bleach is bad for the environment but did you know it's also bad for your skin and clothes? It can cause extra irritation for those of us with sensitive skin whilst fading the colour of our clothes and damaging fabric fibres.
   
That's why our super smol stain gel gets to work removing grime and brightening your laundry without the bleach... and so far it seems no one misses it!
   
"I recently had a new tattoo done and (stupidly) didn't cover it well when sleeping the first evening. I thought my bedsheets were ruined. I threw them in the wash last night with some of my smol stain gel just to see if they would at least perk up a bit, but didn't have high expectations...I removed them from the machine today to find them spotless! I'm over the moon!"  smol customer
   
smol peeps
The smol spotlight is on... the fabulous Cam from our production warehouse.
   
Cam is our assistant production manager and is always working hard organising the team to ensure production runs smoothly. Thanks to him we're able to keep the smol flowing.
   
what’s your favourite smol product?
   
My favorite product has to be non-bio laundry capsules. Even before starting at smol, myself & my wife were actually customers at smol getting laundry capsules on subscription every few weeks. The capsules were amazing for us then, with the washing smelling incredible every time, and they're still amazing a few years later!
   
what’s your favourite bit about working for smol?
   
I genuinely love working for smol, there's a lot to like working here including the incredible team, the job opportunities, the company culture & morals. It's one thing that we're actively making a difference to the environment by helping our customers reduce their negative impact on the planet, but it's an even bigger thing to be making that difference in person. Even on the shop floor we focus on keeping our waste to a minimum... everything that can be recycled or reused safely will be! It's the little things every day here that make a big difference.
   
what’s your favourite tip for being eco-friendly at home?
   
There are so many ways to be eco-friendly at home, but my main tip would be to focus on what you are purchasing. So much of what people buy everyday uses so much wasted plastic & packaging which is just not needed. Try to avoid any goods which are all individually plastic wrapped when you can easily find a substitute with a lot less plastic. Or even try out a zero waste shop to cut out the waste packaging entirely!
   
what’s your favourite type of weekend?
   
As a bit of an introvert, the ideal weekend for me would be staying inside and playing the weekly Fifa competition on the Playstation... 20 very competitive matches which could be filled with joy or rage all depending on the match results.
That's all from us this time, we're off to finish those once-yearly cleans like washing down the outdoor chairs, cleaning behind the fridge and tackling the dreaded junk drawer.
   
Let us know your favourite yearly clean over on Facebook or Instagram.

We'll be back in a couple of months with your next dose of smol talk. 
   
In the meantime... have you signed up to be part of our smol circle yet? It's the perfect way to tell us what you want from smol and even test out new products. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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