Bar life on the Granite Belt – (soap bar that is).

Just thought I would write about one of the best tips for making camping bathroom life easier and for reducing plastic use. It is the simplest thing to do and that is to switch to using a bar soap. When you combine the bar soap with a soap saver scrubbie bag it is even simpler. The soap stays in the bag, it is easy to hang up to dry and you can gather odd bits of small soap together to get maximum usage. The bag is easy to hang over a tap or slip over your wrist, portable, convenient and practical. No more shower gel containers.

My journey to live a more environmentally responsible life has been about trial and error, gradually refining the things I do and the products I use. I have to say switching back to bar soap was the easiest thing to do. The next thing was switching to shampoo and conditioner bars rather than bottles of hair products. The decision to switch to these products was guided by my desire to be more environmentally responsible but I have to say there have been other benefits as well. Convenience is a big plus! These products are great for camping, they are space saving and easily transportable. A shampoo bar or a conditioner bar is much smaller than a bottle and yet each of those little bars tends to last at least three times as long as a bottle of a similar product and unlike bottle products they generally come in environmentally friendly packaging, usually compostable or recyclable paper wrapping.

I have tried a few different products over the last few years and for a long time I didn’t think I would find a shampoo bar I liked as much as the lush seanik bar but recently I found a local company, literally in my own back yard that make some fantastic eco products, including a shampoo bar that has become my new favourite. The company is Washpool Skin wellness and they have a range of fantastic products. On a recent camping trip to the Granite belt we stopped off at their lovely store at Ballandean and I bought a handful of products to try out.

In need of a new shampoo bar, I thought I would give their rosemary and mint conditioning shampoo bar a go. And wow, I love this bar. It is has been fantastic to use, lathers well which is sometimes an issue with some bars. It also feels gentle to use and smells great. I still need to condition after shampooing but this is a fantastic product. I should say that I have fairly short hair which is best suited to using shampoo bars but it has not always been easy to find a product that meets my needs. This is now my preferred shampoo. Aside from the quality of the product, I love that it is made locally. Another reason to find an excuse for a camping weekend in Stanthorpe.

I had seen some comments on the Washpool dog bar and was keen to give that ago as well. Ada is prone to sensitive skin and even the mildest dog shampoo seems to trigger irritation. After using the Washpool unscented bar on Ada, I will never use anything else! It was a fantastic product, no irritation, lathered great and even though the bar is unscented, she smelt great. She certainly smelt a lot better after her bath anyway. We also used the bar on Cassie and both dogs have fantastic glistening coats since using it.

I also bought a sample size of the activated charcoal and clay facial cleanser bar for Bronte to try and the feedback from Bron is that this is also a fantastic product, will be picking up more of this bar on the next visit. I would not normally write about a soaperie but I have to say Washpool products were genuinely fantastic and I will try more of their products on our next visit as well as stocking up on my new favourites. They also make some all rounder 3 in 1 bars for shower, shave and shampoo which I thought might suit G, so going to try those next time as well. If you are sensitive and need to avoid strong fragrance I notice they do a range of gentle unfragranced soaps as well, which might be of interest. I can’t say anything about the human unscented range but the dog bar is definitely great for the canine member of the family.

If you are travelling on the New England highway and passing through Ballandean I can highly recommend stopping for a look at the Washpool farm soaperie store. The lovely staff are happy to talk to you about the products and your needs. They also stock a range of other eco products. The Granite Belt, Stanthorpe region is one of our favourite places to visit on weekend camping trips and the Washpool farm soaperie is now on my list of must visit businesses to stock up. We will definitely be visiting again and trying even more products.