How is it April already? Spring is always a welcome sight, so hands up who’s taken advantage of the fresh, warm spring air to help blow the dust and musty air out of their homes after winter? Not only that, who’s started a DIY project? There’s something about this time of the year that has us reaching for the paintbrushes… but just be sure in between the cleaning and the painting, to make a little time for some smoltalk.
Planet vs Plastics.
Earth Day falls on 22 April this year with a commitment towards a 60% reduction in the production of ALL plastics by 2040, with the end goal being to build a plastic-free future for generations to come.
This global movement wants to rapidly phase out all single-use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and call for an end to fast fashion.
As their president Kathleen Rogers says:
“The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of every living being upon our planet.”
As many of us now have learned, as plastics break down into microplastics, they release toxic chemicals into our food and water sources and circulate through the air we breathe. Plastic production has now reached over 380 million tons per year; in fact more plastic has been produced in the last ten years than in the entire 20th century, and the industry plans to grow explosively for the indefinite future.
Reassuring then, to know that not only do smol laundry and dishwash require NO plastic packaging, but all our liquid products come in bottles-for-life that are already made from 100% recycled plastic. Keep them and refill them forever. It’s such a simple way to cut our future reliance on plastic.
Find out more about Earth Day here.
Anybody about to do some tiling? Modern day tile spacers are usually made from plastic and they’re a single-use item which can’t be recycled. So how about this hack from a lovely smol customer:
“I was replacing tiles which had come off the wall in a farmhouse I manage. They don’t make spacers as big as the grout gap I was matching…so, I got creative with your dishwasher tablet packaging as I’d just filled up the container in the farmhouse! Perfect springiness so the tiles didn’t slip! Thought you may be happy to see not all packaging gets recycled directly! Haha! So I took some photos for you!
We love your products, we use them in all the accommodations we Airbnb and we have smol info on our guest blurb and online as we are a biodiverse, organic farm!”
Thank you so much for sharing this Su, we think the tiling looks brilliant and to not have generated extra plastic waste from your DIY is genius! Like we always say, smol things make a big difference.
If you’ve ever emailed in, you may have bumped into Paula. She is one of our lovely customer service agents (we call them angels) and we’re keen to pop her under the smol spotlight and get to know her better.
can you give a brief description of your job?
I work for smol as a customer service agent so I answer questions about the company, products or services and resolve customer complaints.
what’s your favourite smol product and why?
My favourite smol product is the anti perspirant because I’ve never seen an anti perspirant in cardboard before and it made me realise just how much plastic I was using before when buying other brands. Also it’s very efficient.
what’s the best bit about your job and working for smol?
I love working for a company that helps the environment and constantly launches new great products.
what’s a handy eco-friendly tip you can share for household cleaning?
Don’t use kitchen towels. Kitchen roll cannot be recycled and is basically single-use wiping. A large amount is made from recycled paper which means the fibres are too short to be recycled again. smol cloths are better to use as they are reusable/washable, super absorbent and last for many weeks. They are also made from plants so there's no plastic to go to landfill.
it’s the weekend... where will we find you and what are you doing?
I usually spend my weekends at the gym and with my family.
When you can’t access clean clothes, life gets more difficult.
- If you need work but can’t go to an interview looking clean… you may not get the job. With no salary, your situation worsens.
- Being around others but feeling ashamed by your dirty clothes, you’ll probably keep to yourself. Your mental health suffers; you’re now even less likely to engage with people.
- School kids are bullied and excluded because their uniform isn’t clean. School is a living hell so they don’t turn up. Their education suffers, they don’t pass exams… it’s harder to get a job.
SO MANY vicious cycles that are hard to break. All for the want of clean clothes. It’s amazing what clean clothes can do…
That’s why we ran our Clean Clothes Can campaign through March with the target of raising 250,000 washes for The Hygiene Bank Charity.
So to all you amazing lot that helped THANK YOU!!
Whether by activating the donate a wash option on your smol plan, sharing our campaign on your socials, donating directly to The Hygiene Bank or by taking a free trial of laundry or dishwash (which saw us donate on your behalf); you’ve been TOTAL STARS!
Thank you for making a difference.
Over half of us use a dishwasher at home, but how many of us are keeping it clean? We may think they don’t need it, but it's actually important to regularly give them some TLC.
So here’s our smol guide to keeping your dishwasher as clean as your dishes.
- Remove food daily from the filter. Keeping on top of this prevents bad smells or food residue covering your clean plates. Remember to scrape your leftovers into the bin before placing plates in the dishwasher, this will also help keep the filter clear.
- Remove the filter for a clean weekly. Running it under hot water is usually sufficient but you can use an old toothbrush to clean the mesh with a little washing up liquid if needed.
- Wipe the door weekly to remove grease and spills. Remember to wipe around the bottom of the door, along its rubber seal edges and over the controls. smol multi purpose spray is perfect for the job with its powerful degreasing action.
- Deep clean your dishwasher monthly. Put 1 cup of distilled clear vinegar in a dishwasher-safe bowl on the top rack of your machine and run an empty hot cycle without detergent. For an extra fresh feel, once the cycle ends sprinkle a cup of bicarbonate of soda over the base and run another quick cycle.
If you’re a regular multi purpose spray user you’ll be enjoying an upgrade to your next refill pack of tablets. And if you’ve yet to take out a multi purpose plan… now’s the time!
Our concentrated formula now includes a powerful degreasing action that means your spray will deliver a clean to match the leading surface spray brands.
Here’s what we think you’ll love:
🧼 powerful new degreasing action
✨ shiny surfaces to match the big brands
🧴 bottle-for-life for refill revolution
♻️ tiny refill tablets that cut carbon
🪴 vegan & cruelty-free formula
🍊 sweet orange scent to make you smile
What more do you need from a surface spray cleaner? The ability to clean just about anything? No problem… it does that just fine.
Grab your multi purpose starter kit today (or reactivate if you’ve taken a break) and you too can join the spray refill revolution.
GET MULTI PURPOSE SPRAY
That's all for this smoltalk but if you want to share any sensational smol spring cleaning photos or clever sustainable DIY hacks then head to our socials, we love to see a good before and after shot! You can find us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and don’t forget to join our private Facebook community group of smollers: smol hacks: tips and tricks. We’ll see you there!
