How can I un-productize life?

December 27, 2015 12:28 PM

What products do I not need? For example, I've found that regular soap works as well as shaving cream when shaving in the shower, and that shampoo can be replaced with water and a small amount of vinegar and baking soda. How do I best live frugally and simply?
posted by xammerboy to Shopping (26 answers total)

You can use the baking soda for toothpaste too, but it does hurt the gums a bit.
posted by aetg at 12:33 PM on December 27, 2015

Cloth napkins instead of disposable. Same with paper towels. I use coconut oil for lotion.
posted by Sassyfras at 12:51 PM on December 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

You can certainly use less laundry detergent than most Americans do. To go a step further, I used to make my own. You can use a good processor or a cheese grater on the bar soap. One bar of soap mixed well with a cup each of borax and washing soda (NOT the same as baking soda). Every couple of loads wash your stuff with 1/2 cup of vinegar and no detergent/soap. Removes residue. Don't bother with dryer sheets. They also add a residue to your clothes and are especially bad do the absorptive properties of towels.

If you're not fully switched over to LED for lighting, do that as your bulbs go.
posted by bilabial at 12:52 PM on December 27, 2015

Laundry detergent and household cleaners can be replaced with vingar and baking soda in various combinations. Body cream and hair product can both be replaced with the least fancy coconut oil available. The Diva cup and/or cloth menstrual pads are reusable and don't add to landfill.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:53 PM on December 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

internet discussions about fashion (clothing) often seem to revolve around brands. i've never been sure if this is a cultural difference between me and others - perhaps brands are really important for some people in a way that i don't understand - but i've found that by thinking about the kind of clothing you want in more abstract terms, you can shop around and save money. effectively buying something more "generic".

for example, a month or so back, i was visiting the local market when i saw a young boy, dressed in a white shirt and jeans. for some reason, he looked really good. that started me thinking; i noticed that very few people here wear white shirts in a casual way during the summer (perhaps because they are so common in formal work wear). so i thought it might be a good, distinctive look i could try. when i went to try on a few shirts it became clear that what i needed was a less formal cut - one not as long, and squarer, with more of a box outline (slightly cuban). i hunted around and found one in a department store. no special make, but it looks great - exactly what i wanted. that's a lot of words, sorry, but i wanted to sketch out the process - that brands don't come into it.
posted by andrewcooke at 12:53 PM on December 27, 2015

Everybody has different routines but generally baking soda and vinegar can replace most of your cleaning supplies. Use tupperware instead of baggies, cloth instead of paper towel.

I'd walk through your daily routine and take note of everything you use. Then, search for diy versions of the products.
posted by eisforcool at 12:54 PM on December 27, 2015

There are reviews on makeupalley.com for a surprising number of "no brand or DIY" items -- worth browsing.

I made antiperspirant out of aluminum I bought on-line, coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch, and pinches of this and that. It works endlessly better than anything I'd ever bought in a store, doesn't glue itself to my pits like the store kind, and it's easy and cheap to make a big batch and not have to worry about it again for a long time. (It easily melts and can be poured into your cleaned-out store-bought deodorant tubes.)

If you have any sort of skin care requirements, look for the active ingredient on-line, buy it, and experiment with adding it to something simple. I add retinyl palmitate to jojoba oil and use that on my face, and have a variety of AHAs to add to body lotion -- usually lotion that was clearanced out from somewhere and sold cheap at a dollar store. Vaseline and olive oil also sort out a lot of skin care needs.
posted by kmennie at 12:57 PM on December 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

Do you use a reusable safety razor? It's so much cheaper in the long run and has far less of the annoyance of disposables.
posted by salvia at 12:57 PM on December 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @salvia : I used a safety razor for about a year and loved it, but - I gave myself two serious cuts on two different occasions when I was in a rush. One of these cuts has left a scar on my face. It's hardly noticeable, but I'm still looking for a more screw-up-proof alternative.
posted by xammerboy at 1:05 PM on December 27, 2015

Be careful about baking soda -- I love the stuff, but if the main cleaning action is gives is abrasive, then it will make things it cleans (plastic, fiberglass, glass, your teeth) wear out faster, and even, if they become less smooth, appear dirty faster, as the "cleaned" things become more and more abraded over time.

I just looked up some info about baking soda and teeth; apparently it's more of a concern at the gum line, where dentin is more exposed - dentin is softer than enamel.
posted by amtho at 1:05 PM on December 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

FYI, hair conditioner is also a good shaving cream, if you happen to have more lying about.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 1:06 PM on December 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Will second the comment about conditioner as shaving cream (although I use it on my legs, not my face). You do want to take some care with baking soda, as it is not good for skin -- very alkaline stuff.
posted by holborne at 1:18 PM on December 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Design your menu around the sales at your local supermarket(s). Saves a ton and you can still eat really well.
posted by kamikazegopher at 1:33 PM on December 27, 2015

In coffee, I just use milk (almond or soy) instead of creamer. I'm not particularly picky so I don't know if I'm missing much, but I guess people will use milk along with a flavored extract like vanilla.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:01 PM on December 27, 2015

I've been slowly eliminating batteries from my life: hand-wound clocks and watches, generator-powered bicycle lights. Maybe a slide-rule will be next? (-:

Also, not owning a car is a pretty big part of it for me: No gas, no insurance, no car maintenance costs, no car taking up space in a garage/driveway.

Also, some potential clarification questions for you: Are you looking to reduce your spending? Reduce waste? Reduce the amount of stuff you own? Avoid commodification (branding/needing-the-latest-thing)? Are you interested in DIY, which tends to go along with many of these ideals?
posted by sibilatorix at 2:01 PM on December 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

no special make, but it looks great - exactly what i wanted. that's a lot of words, sorry, but i wanted to sketch out the process - that brands don't come into it.

Actually, since you invested all that time thinking about exactly the cut that flatters you, a great way to save more time is to go look at more things that brand carries. You will likely find variations of the exact thing you love so much, and also be able to shop more confidently online at a deep discount since you know their product now.
This is especially helpful for pants if finding great ones is difficult, if you find pants you love the fit and quality of, look at the rest that brand offers and try them out. You'll likely find more that flatters you.
Agreed that mindlessly shopping a brand is not worth it.
posted by TenaciousB at 2:06 PM on December 27, 2015

Hints from Heloise has been publishing all sorts of household tips, especially cleaning tips, that might suit you. I haven't followed it lately, but assuming it hasn't changed much over the decades, it is all brand-name free and usually pretty frugal.
posted by metahawk at 2:39 PM on December 27, 2015

Google "green household" or "green cleaning" for lots of tricks and recipes for DIY housecleaning ingredients that are made of simple components. For instance, I use only vinegar and newspaper to clean mirrors, shower doors, and windows, and they look amazing - better than Windex + paper towels. For decades a lot of people have been trying to get away from industrial chemicals and aerosols and they've solved a lot of this for us already.
posted by Miko at 2:46 PM on December 27, 2015

I put some Dr. Bronner's peppermint castile liquid soap into an old foam-pump soap dispenser. (Use about 2 tablespoons to a cup of water.) The resulting foam works well for washing hands, body, or dishes. I also use it to brush my teeth.
posted by belladonna at 3:26 PM on December 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

The mention of Hints from Heloise reminds me that The Complete Tightwad Gazette is an unbelievably good book.
posted by kmennie at 3:55 PM on December 27, 2015 [6 favorites]

Is your goal actually to live frugally, or simply, or both, and if so, in what sense do you use those words?

You can probably clean yourself and your house with any those various recipes for do-it-yourself cleaners that are based on buying several things at the store and mixing them, rather than just buying one thing, but that's not "simpler" in any meaningful sense. If they don't work as well as real cleaning products (and of course they don't) it's not "frugal" if you consider your time to have value. Spraying something on the bathtub and then rinsing it off is a lot nicer than spending half an hour scrubbing it.

As I get older and richer, one of the things that has become more and more clear to me is how much more valuable and limited my time is than anything else. So, for example, now that I have enough money that I don't need to worry about it, I've decided I'm not going to make myself lunches for work. I used to spend a couple hours most weekends making soup to eat for lunch during the week, but now that I'm less constrained by money, I'd much rather spend that time on reading, or any number of other hobbies I can't seem to find time for, or doing something more enjoyable with friends or family, and then spend the money on eating out with my colleagues.

Washing your hair with baking soda is probably fine if you don't care much about how your hair looks; I doubt it saves you any time over shampoo, though, so it's hard for me to see what the point is. I don't think anyone has ever sat on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time scrubbing the grout with baking soda.
posted by mister pointy at 9:48 PM on December 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

You really can accomplish most things with:
-Castile soap (I cycle through Dr. Bronner's lavender, tea tree and peppermint, depending on my mood), good for hair/body/dish/laundry washing, tooth brushing and oh so much...just Google for inspiration, or visit his grandkid's site for lots of—obviously biased but still useful—anecdotes. FWIW, it's been nearly two years since I quit shampoo and my hair hasn't had this much body since it was 12;
-vinegar (e.g., cleaning, hair rinse);
-baking soda (again, cleaning of kinds);
-an oil, like coconut or almond (e.g., moisturizing, conditioning, eating).
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 10:53 PM on December 27, 2015

As to your second question:
-thrift shop for nearly everything
-cut your own hair (granted only simple if you have certain kinds of hair)
-live in a place where you can get around via walking, biking or transit
-drop or reduce expensive habits, like drinking or smoking
-if you eat meat, consider reducing intake...it's expensive.
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 10:57 PM on December 27, 2015

I've learned recently that microfiber cloths and melamine sponges go a long way in eliminating the need for other cleaning supplies. Microfiber cloths are great for dusting without any furniture polish or anything else, and I also use them for light cleaning and picking up small spills in the kitchen. (I still use paper towels for big spills.) Glass can be cleaned with just microfiber cloths and water. The melamine sponges (perhaps best known under the brand name Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but generic ones can be found for much cheaper) plus water are for tougher stains — marks on walls, baked-on stuff on stovetops, etc.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:31 AM on December 28, 2015

Not sure if you are only referring to "products" like personal care, household cleaners, etc., but in case it's broader than that:

If your town has a tool library, you can avoid purchasing many products that clutter other people's basements. You can also rent some things from some big box stores.

If you live near a regular library, you can avoid buying books, DVDs, music, maybe board/video games.

Libraries are frugal and simple - the amount of clutter you can avoid alone is worth the effort.
posted by Frenchy67 at 7:02 PM on December 28, 2015

Dr. Bronner's can be cut - about 50%- with water. It's expensive, but if you double it, not so much.
posted by bendy at 9:59 PM on December 28, 2015