I am getting ready to clean out my bathroom cupboards/drawers?

Question

I have a lot of hair, personal hygiene, etc, type items that I buy and don't end up using. Some are old and I'm sure aren't good anymore. Any suggestions on what to do with them? I will recycle all the containers but wonder if I should flush, throw away or put the contents in the sink???

Answer 1

Good on you for not wanting to just dump them in landfill. I wouldn't flush them or put them down the drain. I certainly wouldn't use them on my pets, as they are not used to the petro-chemicals many of our hair and skin care products are based on and could have a really nasty reaction to them. I've cleaned out my bathroom cupboards recently too, and will see if the local women's shelter would like them. Alternatively, I'll give them to a goodwill shop.

Answer 2

Post it on Freecycle, I'm sure someone would be willing to pick up many of the items and use them.

Answer 3

see if homeless shelters might take them

Answer 4

The soap recycle answer was a good one.  For shampoo "mistakes", Flylady has a couple good suggestions.  One is to make a shampoo solution for your toilet brush, or to use for quick bathroom wipedowns.  

Also, diluted shampoo makes a good bodywash, if it is not something you are allergic to.

Another option for old shampoos is to use as a spreader/wetting agent for water-based garden sprays, such as vinegar and orange oil for weed killing, or orange oil, molasses and compost tea for fire ants, or seaweed and molasses for foliar feeding and mite control.

Answer 5

Best to throw away as otherwise high amounts of products will enter water system  course without effective treatment / damage effluent treatment if on provate scheme.  Land fill has proper treatment of run off water.  the producst are not designed for flushing down drains at one go

Answer 6

Just toss it in the can and don't loose any sleep over it.

Answer 7

Shampoo works better on cleaning greasy hands than most soaps.  Apparently not only does it remove the oil from you hair but it also removes oil from hands.  Perhaps your husband or handyman could use your unwanted shampoo in his shop.

Answer 8

Two years ago, CNN or 60 Minutes did a program regarding antibiotics from WWII.  The phenomenal result was that 85% or higher were still effective.  Hello...anyone watch that one?

I used some from 1998 in Feb. this year for an infection and it worked.  I give certain unused meds (some treatments are changed in mid-stream) to people I know who use the same exact ones, but do not have enough money due to no affordable health plan coverage.  But I digress, you wanted to know about personal hygiene products.

As for shampoos, conditioners and lotions...if not too old and you are just bored with them or at the tail end...add them to your bath water to clean/moisten your skin.   If half or near full, give them to shelters or offer on www.freecycle.org.   Then again, there are our soldiers over in Iraq.  I have a dozen or more thank you letters over the past year from them.

I put all the small pieces of leftover soap in a container and once a year, boil them in a pot with enough water to make  softsoap and pour into several softsoap bottles.

Putting them back into the sinks and garbage only speeds up the problems we are having with our planet.  Try buying eco-friendly products in the future and only buy what you will definitely use up so that you won't have to throw away unused products in the future.   Now there's a concept you don't see every day.  But thank you, because if it weren't for people like you, I would be spending far more than $60 a year on my personal products, and that includes my Crest Whitestrips.

Answer 9

Use them on your pets.

Answer 10

throw away

Answer 11

I know we should all recycle, but in this case I would throw everything away in it's original container. Some products can cause toxic fumes and such when mixed. I would NOT flush or put the products down the drain because they could compromise your septic system. Good Luck.