Tuesday 3 April 2018

Not EuroSceptic, But EuroScrubby

How do you clean your pans when food gets burned on? My Mum was fond of Brillo Pads. But being very thrifty, she kept on using them long after the soap in them had all washed out, and they often sat rusting on the kitchen window sill. I try to use wire wool only in the most severe cases- but for a number of years have used green nylon scourers[with or without a yellow sponge on one side]
But these seem to shred and disintegrate. I suspect they harbour more bacteria than I want to think about. People assure me that a daily 30 second blast in the microwave will kill 99% of the germs. But [a] I am not organised enough to do that, and [b] if that 1% which is not killed off doubles every hour, then the sponge will still be teeming with microbes by lunchtime...
Furthermore, these sponges are non biodegradable, and add to the the waste which is cluttering landfill sites, and polluting our oceans.
Then I heard about the Kilo EuroScrubby, which seemed a possible solution.
These pads are about 16cm x 12cm, and made of a dense loopy cotton fabric. The fabric has been treated to make the surface stiff, hard and rough. It is 100% cotton, it's biodegradable and has no plastic in it. So I bought one.
It cost me £2.99 from the Salamander Cookshop in Wimborne. Whoa! I hear you shout, I pay £1 for a pack of TEN in Poundland/Lidl/Wherever... You paid THREE TIMES that for just ONE?
Yes reader, I did!
On their helpful website, the company explains that these pads should last from 6 months - 2 years. I purchased mine last Easter and it is as good as new. 
It gets dropped in the dishwasher cutlery basket and comes out fresh as a daisy [and it is easy to remember to do that task]
Unfortunately I cannot find them as cheaply online at the moment most seem to cost around £3.70 now. But over a year, that is still less than 1p a day - and as I say, mine is still proving very efficient at dealing with dried on porridge and those sticky brown bits round the edge of the rice pudding dish. 
The scrubby is also good for cleaning up jacket potatoes and other veg. It does not scratch stainless steel, glass shower doors, or ceramic tiles. I am not sure I'd want to follow the suggestion of using it as a body exfoliator though! [especially not at the kitchen sink]
There's an informative US/Canadian website, and another which appears to be British based. The UK one has an American voiceover, with a guy telling me to use "just hot water and presto!" I have yet to find out who first made these things. 
This review is not sponsored in any way - and I have waited a full year to post it, just so that I could be sure of the efficacy of the product. I have even suggested to Lakeland that they might consider stocking them. There is a huge range of colours and prints to choose from, so I'm sure at least one of them will match your kitchen.
Efficient, economical and eco friendly - what's not to like? 

7 comments:

  1. I burnt the roasting tin yesterday. I had to put it back in the oven filled it with water and some soap powder and hey presto good as new. Those sponges look good I think I will invest in some.
    Thanks for posting about them. x

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  2. Lakeland are usually good at following up new trends.

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  3. Donna, I agree, sometimes just a good soak with detergent will do the job perfectly. Elizabeth, Lakeland have replied to my email saying that my suggestion has been passed on to the relevant department. We will wait and see...

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  4. These seem like an excellent idea. The other thing about those pan scourers is that they moult - we found strands of one in a meal when we went to Wagamamas one time. The restaurant were very apologetic, but it goes to show...

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  5. I like the idea of these! I've been considering some scouring pads by Safix that are made out if coconut husk/hair which look good so I might try those too as they can go in the compost once used. I would much prefer to use an eco-friendly item for more money than buy something cheaper and it to cost more to the environment.x

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  6. Soap powder is good, or oxy bleach powder and a squirt of washing up liquid, with boiling water. One of my pans has suffered three or four episodes of internet distraction and looks cleaner than ever now!

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  7. Had a quick look on Ebay, and they do seem to have the euroscrubby at a 'reasonable' price.

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