Smol Review. Small changes big differences?
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I’m always looking to reduce my plastic footprint and live a more sustainable lifestyle. Smol have us sorted for all of our dishwasher and laundry needs whilst being totally plastic free, and we have also more recently tried out their eco-friendly surface cleaner. Here is our Smol Review!
Why choose Smol
If it’s one thing that comes in plastic packaging that could easily be swapped its dishwasher and laundry tabs and, put simply, Smol have it sorted. A simple subscription platform, with tabs posted through the letter box means you never run out and never see a plastic tub again.
With one child that always gets messy and another who’s 2 months old and loves to throw up, its handy knowing we never run out and use a formula that works every time.
It is one step further on our journey to reduce our eco-impact.
Their claims
Smol claim to make high performance, sustainable swaps effortless, accessible and affordable. They say they cut carbon by 35% whilst keeping prices fair. Big bold claims.
So how does it work?
How does Smol work?
I’ll use laundry tabs as an example, but its a similar process for any of their products.
Click this link, tap ‘get started’ and choose the first product to switch, so for this example we picked laundry.
Take a free trial and then tell them:
- What type of capsule you need? Bio or non-bio
- How many capsules you need in a wash (some cases require two)
- How often you run a wash
And they will then send them at the frequency matching your use. Consequently, you never run out.
But what happens if you do run out?
It’s inevitable your dishwasher or laundry use changes from time to time so sometimes you do need more. You can pop back into your account and adjust your usage or click ‘send now’ to be popped in the next post collection.
How environmentally friendly is Smol?
I originally chose Smol as they are 100% plastic free (for dishwasher and laundry). AlI in sent in a clever cardboard child-proof case too.
A child proof case that albeit is clever it’s very hard to master mind you.
However, it turns out they do a lot more. The packaging is fully recyclable and compostable, they use vegetable based inks so there’s no nasties there and their cardboard is from sustainable managed sources (Forest Stewardship Council approved). They are also cruelty free having never tested on animals and save chemicals, water, animal fat and carbon.
How do they stack up in terms of cost?
Probably the most important question aside ‘do they work?’ is will they cost me more? It’s disappointing that most eco-friendly swaps are not that economical.
To compare, let’s look at the maths for the laundry capsules. 24 laundry capsules come in at £5.30 or 22.1p per wash.
Top leading brands, Ariel, Fairy and Persil rank in at 23.5p, 28.2p and 21.7p (according to Tesco.com on 05 Jan 2023 for similar quantities). So against the top brands they do rank well.
For the more money savvy though, own brand and buying in bulk can save money? However, that comes with the mountain of capsules for bulk buying, the less acceptable performance for own brand and lack of totally plastic free alternative for any shop bought alternative.
Do they work?
If you need any evidence of how well they work I’ll tell you this. I have kids.
Kids who come back from nursery caked in dinner, love jumping in muddy puddles and generally making a total mess.
Kids who like a fresh bowl with every snack and like all children get pasta sauce caked all over the plate and cutlery resulting in many many dishwasher runs.
If they didn’t work, I’d be looking for an alternative.
Surface cleaner
The surface cleaner is a new addition which I thought I’d try the trial to give my thoughts.
This comes as a reusable plastic bottle which you can keep and reuse forever (It’s seems well built but I imagine the odd replacement spray nozzle will have to be ordered resulting in a little plastic waste over time).
It has a simple process. Fill to a the bottom of the coloured grip. Pop in the tablet. Wait to dissolve and then top up with water again. Very simple. (This is a big improvement on others such as Splosh (see our Splosh Review here) as they require a vigorous work out style mixing.
It couldn’t be easier. The tablet quickly dissolves and I appreciate avoiding the shaking. It smells pleasant and cleans perfectly, tackling our kitchen with ease.
It’s so good we’ve subscribed ?
Verdict and those all important stars
Smol have an easy to use subscription platform, handy email updates to check your stock and the simple system to push it back, order more and never ran out process.
They are moderately expensive being only comparable to top brands, however are fully support our eco-conscious lifestyle being 100% plastic free, recyclable and compostable. You never run out and they are effective for our messy family.
For us its worth every penny.
Grab a free trial by clicking here.
Thanks for reading,
Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout
