Home Care And Cleaning Supplies

CLEANING SUPPLIES

• Dr. Bronner The best mop soap. Apparently it is also possible to use Sal Suds in way more ways than the castile soap, which is frankly not that effective as a household cleaner unless you're mopping. Gonna try it.
• Office Depot Assorted cleaning supplies, think hardware like buckets, feather dusters, and spray bottles
• Lilly Brush For getting rid of pet hair from basically everything, including carpets
• Brushtech Assortment of brushes for both annoying jobs like scrubbing out coffee mugs and hidden-importance jobs such as cleaning out dryer vents and refrigerator coils
• Kirby Vacuum cleaners and hard-floor mop and scrub machines. Current price seems to be about $2,200, but I've heard high praise.
• Roomba Because of course.

APPLIANCES

• Best Buy
• LG

PLUMBING SUPPLIES added 1/23/23

• Plumbing Supply Haven't used this yet but I am planning on it. Will let you know how it goes.

HOME OFFICE STUFF

• Say you have a business. These seem to breed little items that balloon into massive messes very quickly. That's not good because everything in a business gets taxed and needs to make a profit so you have to keep track of every little physical and intangible asset. Therefore, organization items can help.
• Artbin Specifically for creative work such as hobbies, hobbies-as-business, home offices, and especially helpful for artists

HOME STUFF

• The Everyday Gourmet Has tableware even I'd like to get, and that isn't somethng I usually care about. Camping gear though.
• Fine Homebuilding A subscription costs around $50-80 a year. You might find it pays for itself. Quality of information and amount of experience here seems to be several yards ahead of This Old House, Bob Vila, and other DIY-type websites and publications. This publisher also makes Taunton books for homebuilding.
• The Container Store It doesn't have free shipping, but unlike Ikea, it does have shipping. Here's what's weird. Most of these items are way overpriced, and some stuff, especially on clearance, is affordable and will last you for decades. Compare prices between what's here and what's at Walmart to help you figure out what is worth what if you get confused, and try not to get snookered.
• LL Bean Their Made In America section (link takes you there) has several surprising items for the home, such as doormats, Adirondack chairs, rocking chairs, and wreaths.
• Heritage Lace Decorations that can be used for years instead of just one season or for one party. High quality and beautiful.
• Rusty's Woodworking An Etsy shop selling handmade furniture, home setup required
• Ikea Surprisingly, making great strides towards being more sustainable. Also seems to be an okay place to work. However, their supply chain in Africa might have serious issues deforestation-wise, so I hope they fix that. Anyway if you need cheap furniture fast, don't make the mistake of trying to get it from Walmart or somewhere like that as it is chipboard, my friend, and will fall apart and generally make your life miserable and will make you poorer after it breaks or is unusable after like a year.
• Bamboo stuff at Ikea Affordable, and a renewable resource. Ikea also sells wickerwork and basketry products, which are also sustainable.
• Office Depot They sell rather expensive furniture and a lot of cheap cleaning products and home care products.
• Grace Rose Farm Roses grown with a minimal amount of fertilizer and chemicals, in the United States, which actually smell like roses and are not too bad for the environment. They ship nationwide
• Bed, Bath, and Beyond Impressive service and speed of delivery. They have eco-friendly home products, camping products, and self-care items. Check out their LED lightbulbs and metal folding clothes dryers. A franchise with curbside pickup.
• Eighth Generation Blankets Wool blankets. Expensive, but they last for generations and nothing else is as warm. Also famous among backpackers and travelers for their travelability. Ahh, wool. The best.
• The Woks of Life Chinese Cooking Tool Recommendations Links out to The Woks of Life's site. They did the hard work of going through the minefield that is Amazon to find good products for equipping a kitchen for making authentic Chinese food. That website hasn't let me down, ever, so I trust the recommendations implicitly. However have not bought any of these products myself yet.
• Cuisinart If you are serious about cooking, it's generally a good idea to have a food processor. This company also produces good slow cooker type machines. It's a good company to buy from, but I don't know what the conditions are in their factories.
• Pyrex Glassware that is relatively shatter-resistant. Food storage containers, baking dishes, bowls, measuring cups, and more. They also make laboratory glassware.
• Finex Cast iron cookware. Because the best thing you can use a Lodge cast iron skillet for is fantasizing about using it as a weapon. Lodge might become a nonstick cast-iron skillet. After you season the fucking thing for ten years. You can certainly use Lodge, treat it with care, constantly smear it with lards and hope the gods are smiling upon your efforts, but it does not warrant the usual mystique cast iron cooking has about it.
• Nordic Ware Bundt pans and similar. Out of experience dealing with aluminum I recommend getting that which has a nonstick coating.
• Laughingnome Unglazed High Fired Pottery Mugs, plates, and other dishware that is not glazed but fired at a high temperature. Supposedly makes all food taste different. As with all unglazed cookware, it's wise to check with the company to ensure they regularly test the clay for heavy metals to ensure it is safe.
• Tiger Corporation They sell rice cookers, hot water heaters for tea, and other related cooking appliances. A very reliable company; they make good stuff. Since I don't really do fancy rice cookers, this simple model is something I'm currently looking at. In case you happen to really like mochi, they also sell a mochi maker
• Gnome and Clayture Pottery Handmade glazed pottery. Fair price, microwave, dishwasher, and food safe.
• Zojirushi A lot of different electric cookware, things like electric griddles, hot pot setups, toaster ovens, and the closest thing they have to a slow cooker/braise pan, this, which is essentially a more efficient (but only slightly safer) version of stewing something on "low" in a regular pot on an electric stovetop.
• Blendtec If you ever work in a restaurant, this will be the brand of blender you use
• Bambu Bamboo spoons, cutting boards, and a bunch of disposable biodegradable tableware. If you plan on having any parties or gatherings sometime in the future, do yourself and the planet a favor and take a look. I've tried one of these bamboo spatula things before. It held up for a good five years.
• Homebrewing Want to brew your own alcohols? Mead, wine, beer? This is the place.
• Ecologic Cleansers They sell One-Step and other cleansers that are likely safer and better for the environment than bleach and Star-San. Interestingly, One-Step works on the principle of using hydrogen peroxide to kill germs instead of bleach. Therefore I think it could potentially be used as a household cleanser like bleach, for instance to scrub off drip irrigation filters instead of bleach, perhaps for cleaning grout, and even possibly mold and mildew. In fact in theory stuff like it could be used instead of chlorine and chloramine in municipal water supplies and public/gymnasium swimming pools and jacuzzis. In theory. I'll look into it some more. I say this cause fibromyalgia (which I have) and bleach, let's just say, don't mix that well. By the way, don't drink peroxide. It'll just bleach your guts and kill your gut flora. Bout as great for your insides as the way peroxide fries your hair when you try to make dark hair more blonde.
• Northern Brewer Another source of One-Step.
• Brother Family favorite brand of sewing machine. They also make a whole lot of other machines, not just for sewing and quilting but also for things like printing, fax machines, and other unexpected stuff
• Brother Printers Just in case you're tired of home printers being well, terrible
• Lehmans Whole bunch of off grid and manual-powered stuff, mostly hand tools.
• Ten Thousand Villages This shop was fair trade before fair trade became a thing.
• Sunbeam Candles They make high quality candles with solar power.
• Nature Craft Beeswax candles and beeswax products
• Aloha Bay Candles They make palm wax candles which - as far as I'm aware - are eco-friendly.
• Milk Paint Company Nontoxic paint
• Lasko air filter This thing helps with asthma, a little bit. You can find it at various retailers.
• Ionic Pro air filter This thing too.
• Bluonics Air Filter This might work. Then again, maybe not. Haven't tried it.
• 2/10/23 GFCI outlets which definitely should be installed by a reputable licensed electrician on wherever you'll be plugging in any outdoor power tools, including a corded electric lawn mower, which by the way never use if the lawn is wet. BTW the Home Depot has a DIY guide to installing this. I don't recommend. Unlike bricklaying or woodworking, if you don't know all the specialist tips, tricks, and understanding of electricity that you can get, it is wayyyy more likely to kill someone if you even slightly screw it up.
• Electric Power Tools from Best Buy On the list? An electric lawn mower for 300-340 dollars or so, taking tax into consideration
• Makita electric rechargeable lawn mower It's 700-800 dollars, give or take a little for taxes. Plus side: never have to refill its gas or start it. Minus side? $$$

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