Monkey Doodlez WipeCubes Review (with discount code)

Hello all, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We certainly did. Jem's all worn out and cranky, adjusting to our humdrum life back at home after a weekend at Grandma's house. Thankfully Monday is just one day!

You may remember my glowing review of The Laundry Tarts cloth diaper detergent. Sadly, I'm almost out of my first bag and having some trouble getting my hands on another one (shipping for a 4 lb bag from Canada isn't cheap), but I've had the pleasure recently of trying a product from the Tarts' partner company, Monkey Doodlez.

These little wipe cubes are much less costly to ship, and a small bag of them goes a long way! I was starting to have trouble justifying all those plastic bottles of alcohol-free witch hazel I was buying to make my own wipes solution. Monkey Doodlez WipeCubes are a great alternative! One of these tiny little cubes mixed with water makes a whole bottle full of solution. Jem has had no problem with them, even though they are scented (lavender and tea tree). They smell great and clean beautifully! Just mix one cube in 2 cups of warm water and either fill a spray bottle or pour over your cloth wipes in a container. (I personally prefer the spray bottle method...just makes it easier!)

My one caution, for those who prefer to use an oil based solution, is that these wipes are meant to be mixed with water, not oil. With the right wipes, however, you can still get a good glide! I find that microfleece wipes work great with these cubes. Monkey Doodlez does not recommend using oil-based products with cloth diapers.

The ingredients are as follows: Ingredients: 100% Vegetable Base Glycerine (Aqua, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate and Sodium Oleate, Sorbitol, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Sodium Laurate, Sodium Myristate, Pentasodium Penteate, Tetrasodium Etidronate), 100% Pure Aloe Vera Gel, Steam Distilled Lavender Essential Oil, Tea Tree Oil. CONTAINS NO SURFACTANTS OR PROPYLENE GLYLCOL, SODIUM LAURYL SULPHATE OR SODIUM LAURETH SULPHATE.


The best part is that MonkeyDoodlez is offering my readers 15% off any size container of Wipe Cubes for the next seven days with the code JEMS15. So if you're disappointed that Cyber Monday sales are about to end, you can make the savings last just a little longer! :-) Also, Kelly at Monkey Doodlez has told me that their shopping cart is quoting some strange prices for shipping, so just disregard those prices and they'll be properly adjusted on your final invoice.


Happy Holidays to all of you!

An Eco-Friendly Halloween Part II: Greener Treats

Thank you all for your patience with me! I promised you another Green Halloween post weeks ago. Now it's October, and hopefully as the day approaches you'll find some of these ideas helpful!

Every year, millions of Americans hand out plastic-sheathed, corn-syrupy treats with pesticide-riddled ingredients to costumed tots at their doorsteps. Don't get me wrong, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have always been a weakness of mine, and I'm sure as Jem gets older he'll be allowed an occasional nibble as well. However, with obesity rates and health problems related to processed foods on the rise, you might be one of the parents who chooses to go a different way this year.

I'm not suggesting you should try slipping carrot sticks and celery into the kids' buckets...we all remember that random box of raisins the neighborhood cat lady sneaked into our bags when we were little, that just floated around, ignored, till all the good stuff was gone. There are, however, alternatives to the big name candy brands that might help to put your eco-conscience at ease. The one you pick might boil down to how much time you have, how much traffic you expect to get going by your door, and how close-knit your community is.

If you live in a small, close-knit, kid-friendly community, you might consider making your own treats. Cookies baked with organic, unrefined sugar and flour, cut into Halloween shapes and wrapped in decorated foil or chemical-free parchment paper could be a great treat in such neighborhoods. Pesticide-free candy apples dipped in organic, fair trade chocolate would be extra special!  If you don't have time for homemade goodies or don't live in such a trusting neighborhood, websites like NaturalCandyStore.com and YummyEarth sell organic, vegan and allergen-free candy in bulk (though the prices are, admittedly, quite a bit more than you'd pay for that mixed bag of brand name candy at Wal-Mart).

If you live in a high-traffic area with lots of kids you don't know dropping by, you might think about opting out of the edible treats altogether and going for something fun instead. How about non-toxic crayons (you can even recycle old used crayons), or coloring pages printed on recycled paper? Marbles are fun and fairly cheap and can be divided up into little paper baggies (though remember they are a choking hazard for kids under age 3). Here's a neat idea: rather than giving the kids more treats, how about giving them a fun way to recycle all of those candy wrappers when they're done with them? Starburst and Tootsie Rolls are very popular Halloween candies, and this tutorial shows how to make chains out of those wrappers that can be used to make jewelry, hairpieces, keychains or decorations for the Christmas tree (I used to make these with gum wrappers when I was a kid). Slipping a little copy of these instructions in a child's bag might help to keep some of those non-recyclable wrappers out of the landfill for awhile longer!

So which of these ideas will I be using this year?  I honestly have no idea. I'm thinking coloring pages and the candy chain tutorial might be the way to go for us...though I do hope to at least bake enough organic sugar cookies to give to the kids in the neighborhood whose parents we've already met!

I have bought some felt to make the bottom half of Jem's Halloween costume, and I have a friend with an awesome WAHM-made crocheted hat business, Happy Hats by the Girls, working on the top part (which he can keep using as a winter hat after Halloween is over). So what will he be? Well, I'll give you a hint: we're going to be dorks and we're all going with Harry Potter costumes this year. Hubby and I are planning to be Lupin and Tonks (I'm hoping I can find a natural way to temporarily dye my hair purple...blueberries, maybe?) Jem will be...something in keeping with the theme. :-)

Hope you all have a blast with your Green Halloween preparations! I know I plan to!

The Laundry Tarts Giveaway Winner

Hi all, sorry I haven't been posting much recently, we've been so swamped with cleaning, unpacking and organizing! We're also still busy clearing out the old apartment thoroughly so we can get our security deposit back. Oy, craziness! Hopefully things will settle down soon and I can get back into the swing of things!

We have a winner for The Laundry Tarts giveaway! She is Olivia L! Congratulations Olivia! I will be contacting you via email and you'll have until next Tuesday to claim your prize.

Thank you all once again for following Jem's Room, and have a very restful weekend!

Olivia L said...

Following you on Networked Blogs
olivia.lasting at gmail dot com

September 4, 2011 4:48 PM 

We're On Our Way!

Moving day is Monday, and we're frantically trying to get stuff done before then! Pulled up some very old wallpaper in a bedroom that will eventually be Jem's, now I have to strip off the glue and apply zero-VOC primer and paint (Olympic brand). We'll use the same cream-colored paint ("crescent moon") that we're using for the half-wall my hubby and uncle built in the living room so that we don't waste any, and a little sample can of a pretty deep blue for the window trim.

Turns out some of the Freecycled furniture we picked up will need some steam cleaning, and one of them will probably need de-mildewing...ugh. I'm hoping  it isn't so bad that we need to get rid of it...it's a sofa bed and was a pain to transport! We'll definitely be getting a new mattress for it, but hopefully the musty smell is just coming from the upholstery and not the fill!

Hubby started a compost pile in the backyard with grass clippings (bought himself an electric mower), in some kind of chicken wire pen the previous owners left behind (for all I know they used it for the same thing). I'm wondering if it can be used for vermicomposting... I have to read up on it, but I'm afraid the worms would escape. Hubby thinks they'd stick around for the steady food supply. Anybody have any insight? We used to use a Rubbermaid bin to keep the worms in and the sunlight out, which we'll probably still have to do during the winter!

Back here in our apartment, I have discovered you can clean an oven fairly effectively with baking soda and vinegar, then a second scrub with blue Dawn. It's not perfect, but it should keep the management happy when we move out. :-) Cleaning out the closets has produced a plethora of items for our Freecycle bin. It feels good getting rid of some of the clutter!

Very excited to move into our new home! Once we're all moved in, we'll be hitting the consignment shops for the last few pieces of furniture we need (mostly shelving). And I can't wait for the new washing machine to arrive!

All in all, I am one happy little homemaker. :-) Hope everyone had a happy Tuesday!