New (and not so new) things at the store

I love Casabella products. Everything they do is so well-designed. Their sponges are attractive, I prefer their microfiber cloths to anyone else's, and I've waxed poetic about their magnet mop in the past (it's the best mop ever, I'm convinced). Anyway, I saw something cool in my local BBB today- a stylish spray bottle with three different types of microfiber cloth in it. And printed on the side of the bottle were formulas for making your own basic cleaning products from simple ingredients. If you happen to need either a spritz bottle, or microfiber products, it's pretty sweet.

I also saw the Method hand soap refill jugs for the first time at BBB- HUGE! If you use their hand soap, this is a pretty good deal. I haven't seen refills this size at Target or Whole Foods. This size doesn't seem to be available anywhere online-apartment therapy only saw it in person at Costco.
It seems like it was much cheaper at CostCo, actually. To my surprise, I like the smell of the Sea Minerals and the Green Tea+Aloe self-foaming hand soap. As a bit of a tangent, the spring limited edition Mrs Meyer's smell- snap pea- smells awesome, really like fresh peas! I'll link to it on drugstore.com, since mrsmeyers.com is no longer selling it.

South of France hand soap

I'm biased against bad packaging. I know... it means I probably bypass good products and spend more on cleaning products overall, but as some of you know, I'm an ex-design professor. So when I told my husband he could pick out our hand soap and he returned with a brand called "South of France" whose label design I wasn't overly fond of, I kind of assumed it couldn't be that great. It looked so "generic drugstore brand"!
The texture though, was totally different from any hand soap I've tried before. It's creamier somehow, and a lot more moisturizing. I really like it! The "green tea" scent doesn't smell like actual green tea to me (as usual), but it's quite fresh and herby.

Apparently this hand soap is "kettle cooked in small batches using a traditional recipe from Marseille". Well, that's kind of cool. The company makes bar soaps too. It contains essential oils and no SLS. Judging from the reviews floating around online, people either love it or hate it.

And, to combat purchasing for aesthetic reasons, I found a great site the other day: debranded home. They encourage you to make your own personal care products, and/or to purchase in larger quantities and refill plain jars. We do this! We have lovely recycled glass soap dispensers that we refill with hand soap. It's a fun site.

Method, Bi-o-kleen, etc.

Hello! My apologies for being absent so long, my fellow green-cleaning fans. School has been a bit crazy. I have made the time to eyeball Method's new products and packaging design though! (Check out their great new website!) They launched kids' products and more bathroom cleaning goodies (I want to try "Le Scrub!) I am curious to know if any of you have tried them, and if so, what you think! This is my favorite new page on their website. What droolworthy design!

I like that they have hand soap refills now (good for me, as I have glass soap dispensers I just pour soap into and that'll be cheaper and more eco-friendly). Alas, the magic self-foaming soap won't work in my dispenser. (Their having hand soap in "eucalyptus mint" now makes up for it... although their soap tends not to be super moisturizing. I'll sneak in here that I like EO's hand soap better than method's, and EO's comes in gallon jug refills!)

Right now I also want to try Biokleen's "Bac-Out" (scroll down on their site a bit). It can be sprayed on surfaces or poured. Apparently you can use it to take odors out of your garbage disposal, kitchen trash, and toilet bowl, among its myriad functions. I have odors in all three consistently despite my rabid cleaning, so I need some anti-stank remover. Biokleen's products have been very effective so far. I have hope for the Bac-Out!

Burts Bees Citrus and Ginger Root Hand Soap

We've finally reached the end of the Method hand soap in our house (except for the recently reviewed Almond Flower.) This past weekend, therefore I was able to nab some of the Burts Bees hand soap that I've been wanting to try. I mean, it's been out for a while now. I was disappointed to sniff the Green Tea Lemongrass, as it ended up having a bit of a generic soapy-detergent aroma. I asked my scent-picky husband to try sniffing both that one and the Citrus and Ginger, and he picked the latter. I wasn't entirely surprised, as he has a slew of Orangey-Ginger products.

The Burts in our master bathroom soap dispenser now, and I really like sniffing my hands after using it. I have also noticed that it's the only hand soap we have in our house that doesn't dry out my hands. I don't rush to moisturize right after using it. Between the smell, and the the better skin reaction, I am happy.

Burts was really the first natural company I got into. Like most people, I was introduced to them when I tried their lip balm. Later on, I nabbed one of their head-to-toe starter kits for a ski trip. I have a great memory of using the lettuce complexion soap in the motel. I loved the way that bar smelled. A while back when I was about to buy the Burts Lavender toothpaste at my Whole Foods, one of the clerks commented that Burts was great, but their quality had gone downhill since Burt and his wife got a divorce and the wife took over the company. Honestly, I haven't noticed much of a difference. I'm glad they have hand soaps, and a new hand sanitizer out. (Of course, now that I'm not teaching, I'm not as paranoid. Well, except for when I ride public transit.)


p.s. if you support the idea of setting a standard for the use of "natural" on personal care products, sign their "bill" here. Their values, as summarized here, are laudable.

Method hand soaps

Ok, I'm going to cover a bunch of Method hand soaps in one post because I've tried several on my own, and at friends' houses. I haven't tried the foaming hand washes at all, actually, but I've got the others covered.

My most recent Method hand soap purchase was the creamy hand wash in "almond flower". I've mentioned my scent junkie status before, so I'll just say that I was hoping this would be kind of a pale marzipan scent. Alas, it smells rather of dryer sheets and/or nondescript flowers. I have really dry skin, so much so that when I wash my hands I almost immediately have to run for the lotion. I was hoping something touted as creamy and moisturizing would end my unlucky streak. Alas, it seems even more drying on my skin than even the regular method hand soaps. I'm confused. I'm also annoyed that I didn't order the "olive leaf" version instead.

The texture of this soap is admittedly really nice. It's almost like a lotion. The little square bottle almost makes me forget my plans to get a soap dispenser for the guest bathroom (the plastic label cover comes off and is recyclable.)

The regular hand washes have been a staple in my home since I bought that holiday three-pack reviewed earlier. I've tried green tea, pink grapefruit, cucumber, and the holiday trilogy. They're just okay... essentially not much better in my experience from a more pleasantly scented SoftSoap (what my family used when I was growing up.) I am curious to try the "Sea Minerals" scent, as it's gotten many good reviews, but most of Method's scents are pale and overly synthetic to this nitpicky nose. "Green Tea" scented products never smell like green tea to me- and if they did most people would probably wrinkle their nose and complain that they'd accidentally bought a "lawn clippings" scented product. Sounds good to me. Anyway, it's nice when companies actually manage to work tea into their products for functional or scent reasons, but the method green tea is just synthetic, and a weird interpretation at that.

(I must try the Burts Bees "Green Tea and Lemongrass" hand soap to see how it compares. That actually contains green tea "oil".)

I might be persuaded to buy one of the foaming hand soaps, or even to give the olive leaf creamy one a try, but for the most part I'm pretty soured on method's hand soaps. Actually, I'm falling out of like with the company in general. I'm just not impressed with the formulas compared to other brands/my own homemade goods.