The Mock Turtle

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:10 am**

I use savon noir* to clean surfaces, floors et al. I love the clean smell it leaves

I have an oyster shell in the kettle to prevent limescale build up and rarely have to descale it.

Bicarb and vinegar are my go-to for cleaning the shower and drains.

* savon noir = a mixture of olive oil and lye (potassium hydroxide). I've seen it translated as "soft soap".

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:14 am**

emma_p wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:55 pm
Toast wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:05 pm I'm all out of Mrs Myers now. I'm going to look at Colt and Willow though, I've never heard of them. I like WIlton laundry detergent and I love the smell of the dish soap but I don't think it's very effective.
I love Wilton's eucalyptus dish soap and spray so much! I think it's effective but I do go through the soap quite quickly. The spray lasts ages. I LOVE the Colt and Willow grapefruit scrub and the geranium all purpose spray. Not so bothered about the bathroom cleaner. I get Mrs Meyers occasionally as a treat the multi-purpose concentrate is pretty good value as it goes a long way when you dilute it.

I like to mix the eucalyptus and grapefruit dish soap together sometimes. Wild, I know.

It's the MM multi-purpose concentrate I've just finished up actually. I must have had it for years. Maybe I'll treat myself to some when I move!

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:16 am**

Oh, and I've added some savon noir to my Amazon basket. I like the sound of that.

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 1:22 pm**

So, it's called savon noir in English, then ?

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:13 pm**

Amazon have the French product: "Marius Fabre 'Le Lavoir Olive Oil Lubricant Soap with Black Soap".

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:29 pm**

I am currently using Mrs Meyer's Geranium, and I love the smell.

This thread is timely, as I need to do a huge overhaul of my usual cleaning methods, because now everything has to be septic system friendly at my new place. Vinegar is definitely going to be my friend. I am totally guilty of using bleach toilet cleaner, and bleach in the kitchen sinks so I need to do all that differently.

There is old linoleum in the basement, and it looks like it needs a good bleaching but I'm not sure what else would be effective. It's sooo grimy.

Posted: **Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:35 pm**

An oyster shell in the kettle is a new one to me!

Posted: **Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:50 am**

Morganna wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:36 pm My foray into non-commercial cleaning products started and ended with home-made loo-cleaning tablets. With all the enthusiasm I reserve for new projects, I bought citric acid, bicarb and an ice-cube tray with star-shaped moulds and set to, weighing and mixing, and feeling all virtuous. I pressed the mixture into the moulds and left the little stars to set, waiting impatiently for them to be ready to use, so that I could see them fizz and froth in the manner of the ones in the video I'd seen. The time came, and I forced a reluctant M to come and watch the show.

The first hurdle came when they wouldn't come out of the moulds. The tray was silicone, and in theory all I needed to do was push from the bottom to release the tablets, but no. They were stuck fast. M found this mildly amusing, so I became irritated in equal measure.

In the end, I got a tea knife and hacked them out with that, and dropped the crumbs into the loo. They fell to the bottom, with not a hit of fizz. Nada. M started to snigger, and I muttered threats at him. They sat there, even when I flushed repeatedly, with no fizzing or cleaning taking place. They didn't even dissolve. In the end, I smashed them with the loo brush, threw away the tray of moulds, told a (by now hysterical) M to STFU, and put the ingredients at the back of the pantry, where they still sit, unused.

HTH.

Morgs

I meant to reply to this. You poor sod. I must say I tried some of those loo fizz things and they were pointless, so you didn't miss out on anything by not being able to make them.

Posted: **Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:11 pm**

Epponnee Rae wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:35 pm An oyster shell in the kettle is a new one to me!

And me! I have a tin of oyster shells

so am going to try it.

Posted: **Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:28 pm**

It seems counter-intuitive to me, wth shells being made of calcium, but maybe it bonds with the free calcium?

Posted: **Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:30 pm**

I was puzzling over that too.

Posted: **Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:41 pm**

I googled last night to see if it was a thing and apparently it is. Limescale is attracted to the shell from continual agitation supposedly. I don't really get why it would adhere to the shell over the sides of the kettle but perhaps because the shell is so rough it collects more easily. Thing do stick to rough surfaces more easily.

I'm wondering what a scallop shell would do.

Posted: **Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:50 pm**

Toast wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:13 pm Amazon have the French product: "Marius Fabre 'Le Lavoir Olive Oil Lubricant Soap with Black Soap".

Oooh. Marius Fabre savon noir is made not far from me, in Salon de Provence.

The oyster shell thing really does work. I'm not sure how/why, but it does.

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 12:20 pm**

I've been using the percarbonate for a week or so now and it's really good. I used to use Napisan to keep things white or bring them back if they were looking a bit grey but this works much better. I had a couple of flannels that I'd used to take off make-up while I was away that had just gone through the washing machine and not been pre-soaked that were looking a bit dingy and the percarbonate has brought them right back.

I also used it to clean the hob grates and it pulled a ton of stuff up and it wasn't that long ago I'd deep cleaned them.

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:20 pm**

How does one use the powders / crystals?

I've got bicarb and citric acid in bulk, but can't really work out how to apply them.

Off-topic as it's totally not environmentally friendly, but I had a "D'oh!" moment the other day watching someone clean on YouTube, who used oven cleaner on grease that was not in the oven (hob / splashback etc). My mind was blown, somehow oven cleaner is strictly for the inside of the oven to me

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:24 pm**

It depends on what you're using them for. You can make a paste with bicarb and use that to scrub a sink or a chopping board. I also fill up water bottles or travel mugs with water and then dissolve a little bit of bicarb to clean them.

Citric acid I use on the sink/drain and just follow it with hot water.

Soak or paste really

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:32 pm**

Right, I'll have a go

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:44 pm**

I always use that sarcastic looking smiley, sorry!

I like to add some essential oils to a bicarb paste for a delicious smell. And just because that's how I have fun nowadays

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 2:37 pm**

It's just the normal smiley!

I have some EO that are are bit too much for my diffuser, I'll go wild ;)

Posted: **Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:15 am**

Do you chuck the percarbonate in the washing machine or do you have to pre soak?

The Mock Turtle

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