You may have heard that Millennials are killing lots of things. Like homeownership. And the doorbell industry. And this whole list of things, which includes napkins. Apparently Millennials prefer paper towels, which have a myriad of uses beyond just wiping one's mouth.
I think those rascally Millennials are on to something. Maybe it's a rejection of the consumer-industrial complex that rushes to fill every inconvenience in our lives with a hyper-specific, single-use product, thereby creating even more inconvenience when we inevitably run out of that product and have to use our precious brain space to seek out more. In that spirit, here is a list of redundant products that the Millennials might want to target next:
Hand soap at the kitchen sink. Just use dish soap! It's already there! And it comes in lavender scent!
Stain pre-treatment. Use your handy dish soap to remove laundry stains too! This one is extra great.
Kleenex. Here's a secret: toilet paper has exactly the same molecular structure as Kleenex, it's just formed into a different shape.
Dry shampoo. Here's where we get into serious life-hacking territory. Dry shampoo is a necessity for those days between hair washing, but it can get pricy and can also leave your hair feeling a bit... schmutsy. Baby powder is excellent for soaking up oily roots. Rub some in between your hands and then comb your fingers through your hair at the roots (you may need to do this a few times). Blast it with a hair dryer to get rid of any spots where it was applied too liberally. A giant tub costs a few dollars and will last for a year. I like this scent, which doesn't smell too much like babies.
Eye makeup remover. Any type of oil will break down and remove eye makeup. I keep a little dish of coconut oil in the bathroom for this purpose, but baby oil or castor oil works too, or this lovely rose-scented face oil.
Toddler sippy cups. Using real dishes for toddlers is the Montessori way, and makes sense for a number of reasons, but my real reason was a deep hatred of scrubbing, locating and assembling the thousands of tiny plastic straws, lids, gears and gaskets that constitute a toddler sippy cup. Coffee mugs make great toddler cups. They have a handle, are hard to tip over, and kids feel very grown-up drinking their "coffee" alongside mom and dad. Bonus: most people have a plethora of mismatched coffee mugs and won't mind if a few get broken.
Bath mats. Each and every one of my children's baths results in a flooded bathroom that is dripping from ceiling to floor. The bathmat absorbs the brunt of their aquatic enthusiasm, and becomes a 20lb., soaking-wet armful that I have to shlep to the laundry room. We got rid of the bathmat until the children are 40 and can bathe properly, and now just throw an old towel on the floor when they have a bath.
All the cleaning products. Go Clean Co, a cleaning company based on Canada that has almost 2 million Instagram followers, recommends using old-fashioned powdered Tide for almost every housecleaning task.
Follow @gocleanco, won't you?
Here are three more:
A whole host of redundant products can be replaced with baby oil (use it to scrub your shower curtain and untangle necklaces! And make moon sand!)
Almost extinct in the U.S., powdered detergent thrives in other parts of the world where it is beloved for its whitening power