Posts Tagged cleanser
Nikwax Products for Washing and Waterproofing
I reviewed a variety of Nikwax products on the old version of this blog in years past, like wool wash and sandal wash. They made other formulations that are specially meant for washing base layers, down, or technical waterproof gear. After all, you can’t just toss all this apparel in the washing machine and hope for the best, plus on the road you’re often doing sink washing. So these solutions keep your gear clean and fresh.
Something else handy I’ve used a lot is their waterproofing wax for leather, which will turn a plain pair of leather shoes or boots into waterproof ones, usually without altering the color. There’s a nice applicator sponge on the end so you can do a good job without getting messy.
You would think that stuff like this would be a big mess of toxic chemicals, but the Nikwax products have been getting more and more environmentally friendly all the time. Water-based, no flourocarbons, no propellants, not tested on animals, and put out by a company that strives hard to reduce it’s impact. (Nikwax recently earned the ISO 14001 certificate for 
environmental awareness.) And of course by extending the life of existing shoes and apparel, Nikwax cuts down on churn and tossing of old stuff into landfills.
Another big improvement is one the way. At the Outdoor Retailers show I attended Nikwax was showing off some handy 1.7-ounce sizes coming out later this year. That puts them below the TSA liquids ban cut-off, so you will be able to take something in your carry-on to spruce up your hiking boots mid-trek or your sandals mid-vacation.
I’ve used a variety of these washes and waterproofing solutions before and during my travels and they have helped me keep my older gear looking good and working longer. Considering most of these solutions retail for somewhere between six and nine dollars, they’re an easy investment to justify.
You can easily find Nikwax products at your local independent retailer or you can order them online from REI, Backcountry, or Rock Creek.
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear on February 18th, 2010
Camper’s Soap-to-Go from Angie’s Suds N’ Such
Here’s a handmade product that’s ideal for fans of sleeping in the outdoors: Camper’s Soap-To-Go. Made by crafty mom Angie, this solid product comes in its own push-up plastic tube. The twist on/off cap ensures it won’t make a mess of your toiletry bag or backpack. It’s more sanitary, more convenient and less messy than a bar of soap in a plastic container or Ziploc bag. The solid soap is also a bonus if you’re flying with only carry-on luggage and have little room in your quart-size bag of liquid toiletries.
I used this tube o’ soap while bathing in the lake during a houseboating trip to Lake Powell this summer, as well as while showering in a campground bathhouse. Honestly, in both places (makeshift natural bathtub and shower) the soap is hard to get sudsy. With a bar of soap, you can rub it around in your hands to make suds, whereas with Camper’s Soap-to-Go and the small amount of solid product that sticks out from the tube, it’s just difficult to get those suds going. I found it a bit easier to make suds when I scraped some of the soap off with my fingernail and had a small bit to rub around in my hands.
Ingredients include coconut oil, safflower oil and palm oil, so it does feel very moisturizing on my skin. Essential oils of citronella, lavender and black pepper are also present, and I definitely smell the citronella the most — all the better, I suppose, to blend in with the typical scents of a campsite.
Each push tube retails for $3.75, and you can buy refills for $2. Angie also sells Soap-To-Go in 50 (!) other scents — from bubble gum to key lime pie to root beer — as well as super-cute novelty items for kids, such a soap shaped and colored to look just like pizza, popcorn and cupcakes. I think any of these soaps would make great stocking stuffers. View all of the products on Angie’s Suds N’ Such online.
Posted by Kara in Travel Light on October 9th, 2009
5 Things I Always Pack – Julie Blakley
Editor’s note: Today’s post is from guest blogger Julie Blakley, who runs TravelGearBlog.com. It’s part of the BootsnAll network—long one of my favorite travel destinations on the web.
flickr photo from jazzylolo
So often I see people trying to fit every traveler into a certain “type of traveler” mold. Either you are a budget traveler or luxury traveler. Either you roll your minimal gear into a backpack or you fold your clothes in a rolling suitcase. And, the most debated, if not ridiculous one, either you are a traveler or you are a tourist. However, I always found myself having problems with these compartmentalized ideas of what kind of traveler you are, because at least for me, I am a different kind of traveler on different trips. Sometimes it depends on the length of the trip, sometimes the destination, sometimes the budget, but I very rarely find myself always traveling exactly the same way. Sometimes I backpack, but sometimes I also roll my suitcase. And that’s the way it should be: traveling and adapting to your environment, your budget and the kind of trip you want to have.
All of that being said, there still a few items I always pack-whether I’m spending a month backpacking through the jungles of Panama or 2 weeks hanging out in Paris. Here are 5 items I make sure are always in my bag-whether it be a backpack or a rolling suitcase.
1. Water Bottle
A sturdy, reusable water bottle is a travel essential, and having one that is both BPA-free and plastic-free is both good for you and good for the environment. Skip buying individual bottled water on the road (unless you are in a place without safe drinking water of course) and stick to filling your water bottle instead.
Sure, you can’t bring these bottles full through security at the airport, but you can bring it empty and fill it up on the other side.
I have also found a variety of handy uses for my water bottle on the road-from carrying the last half bottle of wine with you for a picnic on the Champ de Mars in Paris, or filling it with the amazing fresh squeezed tropical juice from the guy with a cart on the streets of Santo Domingo (therefore saving one more Styrofoam cup from entering the landfill).
While I used to be a Nalgene girl, I recently have switched to the Klean Canteen stainless steel water bottle and love it. It’s light, it’s the perfect size and it always seems to keep your beverages extra cold (or hot).
2. A reusable, compact tote or bag
I always like to have an extra bag in my luggage that’s small, compact, and can be crammed into even the smallest space in your bag or purse. Having an extra re-usable nylon tote along with your gear is perfect for throwing your stuff in the bag and heading to the beach or bringing it along for shopping trip to one of the great outdoor markets in Paris.
No matter where you are traveling, you will always find some sort of use for these lightweight little bags. They are also a whole lot better for the environment than using plastic bags.
I am personally a fan of these nylon sacks, which come in a variety of great looking patterns and colors and cost about $15 for a pack of three.
3. Campsuds Biodegradable soap
Even though this was originally designed for camping trips, I have found a million and one uses for this biodegradable, vegetable derived soap while on the road. From washing out your bottle when backpacking to washing your undies in the sink in the hotel, I always find it nice to have this concentrated and environmentally friendly container of Campsuds in my bag.
Campsuds comes in a handy 2 oz. container (meaning you can even carry it on the plane with you) and is concentrated enough you usually only need a few drops for whatever job needs to be done.
4. Pair of flip-flops
It doesn’t matter if I’m going to the Caribbean or to Europe in the winter, I almost always have a pair of flip flops in my bag. As a budget traveler I often find myself staying in hostels and budget hotels where the bathroom is down the hall. Having a pair of flip-flops to quickly slip on for a late night bathroom run or to wear when showering in a shared facility is a travel essential for me. Sorry, but I am just not willing to go barefoot in any shared or public bathroom situation.
In general, I love travel items that can serve double duty and serve many functions. Flip-flops in sunny locales are great for jaunts to the beach and in colder ones can serve as shower shoes. Sticking a pair of sandals in your bag also takes up almost no room, and you’ll be eternally grateful you have a pair with you when staying in one of the party hostels in Paris, where you never know what possibly could have happened in those shower stalls the night before.
Plus, if you bring a cheap-o rubber pair of flip-flops and need every ounce of extra space on the way home, you can always toss them worry-free.
5. A lightweight towel
Again, this is mostly a travel essential for me because I’m a budget traveler who often finds myself in hostels, budget hotels, and friend’s couches. Since hostels sometimes do not provide linens, or only do so at an extra cost, having your own bath towel can not only save you some dollars but can also come in handy.
Since I also find myself often begging on the hospitality of my young, poor friends, I have found having your own towel can often endear you to your hosts who don’t always have an extra set of guest towels in their home.
Obviously, having a towel to take to the beach or pool in warmer locales and beach destinations is also nice. If you do get a single towel at the hostel, it also means you won’t have to make it work as both a shower towel and beach towel.
A towel can also function as a make-shift table cloth for picnics (when clean of course) or a blanket to sit on wet grass in parks. I’ve even used a towel to cover up with when I didn’t have quite warm enough of a blanket.
My friends may laugh at me, but my favorite travel towel is actually a Little Mermaid towel from my childhood. Not because I am still enthralled with the Disney movie, but because time and use has worn this towel thin-making it super lightweight, compact to pack and quick-drying. If you don’t have a lightweight childhood towel, something like these lightload towels can also work just great while on the road.
Related reviews:
LUSH solid shampoos
Flip & Tumble shopping bag/ball
Ultra Sil shopping bag
Discovery Trekking Towels
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Travel Light on September 24th, 2009
LUSH “It’s a Wrap” Travel Case, Plus Solid Shampoos, Body Butters & Massage Bars
I fell in love with LUSH fresh handmade cosmetics when one of its brick-and-mortar stores opened about a half hour from my home town. Not only is the shop stocked like a farmer’s market — spherical “bath bombs” stacked like apples, wedges of “bubble bars” displayed like cheese, and signs written on traditional chalkboards — but the the products themselves are made with natural ingredients and minimal preservatives. Each item is fresh and made by hand — each has a sticker showing a cartoon image of its maker, as well as his or her name and the date it was created.
While LUSH sells everything from dusting powders, facial creams and skin cleansers to body scrubs, lip balm and henna hair dyes, there are a few items that are particularly good for travel, namely solid products that you can carry with ease in your through airport security checkpoints — leaving more room for liquid toiletries in your quart-size bag. If you pack them in your checked luggage, you don’t need to worry about liquid spills.
For example, I just sampled the Godiva solid shampoo ($9.25)for the first time. I was totally skeptical at first, but this little bar suds up plenty when you rub it in your hands under water. It has the most magnificent scent, too, and my hair literally felt squeaky clean (yes, it squeaked as I rinsed it). It’s chock full of moisturizing goodness, like shea butter and macadamia nut oil, but absolutely doesn’t leave your hair greasy.
The Godiva solid shampoo is also filled with little bits of flowers and leaves (not unlike many of the LUSH products), and as my daughter pointed out, “Why would they put twigs in the shampoo; aren’t you trying to clean your hair?” But, frankly if any little bits of natural goodness ended up in my tresses, they’d likely fly out in the drying process anyway. (More likely, they got washed out in the shower.)
Another favorite solid product from LUSH is the massage bar — instead of pouring oil into your hands before you rub a loved one down, you let the bar melt a bit in your hand to release the cocoa and coconut butters the comprise the bulk of each bar’s ingredients. My husband and I have tried quite a few of these out over the years. Our least favorites include glitter that gets all over the bedsheets and is hard to remove in the shower (sending your husband to work in the morning with glitter on the back of his neck is not cool). Then there’s the Wiccy Magic Muscles Massage Bar that is meant too soothe away aches, but contains little aduki beans that, as the bar melts, end up all over the bed, too. I’d recommend the straightforward, no-frills Business Time ($8.95; pictured right) or Each Peach (and Two’s a Pair) Massage Bars.
Finally, the solid body butters are meant to be used in the shower to moisturize, and some of them have exfoliants in them as well. They aren’t really cleansers — no sudsing involved — so I’d still use some sort of soap to get clean 
before using a body butter like Buffy Body Butter ($10.75), which smells oh-so-good (I think the lavender scent should be a LUSH solid perfume). The body butter also has ground rice, almonds and aduki beans that work as a gentle scrub.
If you purchase a solid shampoo, body butter and massage bar, and want to travel with them, check out the It’s a Wrap organic-fair-trade-cotton carrier that comes with tins to hold each of the three products. It costs $12.95 and can be purchased at the LUSH website. While you’re there, click around to all the different irreverently named products, and check out the very active forum. LUSH has some very loyal fans, and they don’t hesitate to share what they like and “luv” about different LUSH items.
Posted by Kara in Travel Light on September 4th, 2009
MomSpit No-Rinse Cleanser for Hands and Face
When I first heard about the product called “MomSpit,” it simultaneously intrigued me and grossed me out. For a company to use a variation of “saliva” in its name… well it shows a lot of moxie.
Indeed, MomSpit has personality. The cleanser was designed — by moms, naturally — to remove milk moustaches, ketchup smears and dirt smudges from face and hands (and arms and legs and just about any other body part else your kids might spill food on or get dirty). In marketing materials, the company says the no-rinse foaming cleanser is “inspired by the original.” What mom hasn’t wiped her own spit on her kid’s face to get rid of maple syrup before sending the child off to school?
I’ve used MomSpit on my own kids’ mugs, and it works — just like spit or a swipe of water. Besides being about 100 times more hygienic than saliva, MomSpit was created for instances when you’re not around a sink with soap and water. Say, in the car or strapped in a plane.
MomSpit seems to best dissolve food and drink smears when they aren’t, um, too chunky. A dollop of caked-on spaghetti sauce requires using something with a bit more grit, like a paper towel or baby wipe. But I’ve seen chocolate, ketchup and Kool-aid smudges disappear quickly with MomSpit.
The best part? The fig and green tea scent is heavenly — so good I think the company should start selling the fragrance in body lotion (for moms). MomSpit isn’t drying like alcohol-based hand sanitizers or wet wipes (note that it’s not a sanitizer and doesn’t profess to kill germs). The product comes in 7 oz. and 2 oz. sizes, so the smaller one is carry-on approved.
Buy a pack of the three different scents — fig and green tea, lemon and white tea and unscented — in the 2 oz size for $20 at Amazon.com. Also see the list of other online vendors and brick-and-mortar stores selling the product at the MomSpit website.
Posted by Kara in Kids and Family on May 8th, 2009
