Product Review: Smol Fabric Conditioner

Back in June last year I reviewed the Smol laundry pods. It seems an odd thing to write about, given most of my stuff is about food and drink. But its an everyday part of life, and as I try and make our home more sustainable, it fits.

When I reviewed them, we’d been using them for about 12 months, and now, a couple of years on, we’re still using them, and are still happy with them. They last, they’re not expensive, they do both bio and non-bio options, and as someone who has quite sensitive skin (there are a lot of perfumed products, including laundry soaps and conditioners that I can’t use) they suit my skin too.

And in a world where we’ve all experienced limitations on our access to supermarkets, getting pods delivered to your door, literally through the letterbox, has been one less thing to worry about.

A little while ago, they (finally) announced they were doing fabric conditioner. Of course, we leapt at the chance to subscribe. Over the last few weeks we’ve been using it consistently, so thought I’d do a bit of an update, and pop my thoughts about it on screen.

So, let’s start at the beginning.

You can order here. It’s also a vegan fabric conditioners – you know that creamy unctuousness that comes when you pour it into the drawer? Bingo.

This product doesn’t come in a pod, it comes in a bottle. As it’s Smol, they use recycled cardboard and a recycled plastic bottle that you can either return to them, or put in your own recycling.

When you order you get two bottles, about 6 months worth (yes 6 months) in one go. Ours works out, as there are just two of us, to more like 9 months. So that’s £10 every 6 months or so depending on how much you use your washer. And like the pods, you can pause it, increase it, change it however you want at any time.

The two bottles arrive, and you pop the pump in one. Four squirts in the drawer, and that’s your conditioner. Yep, that’s it. It’s more liquid than other conditioners, but now to the crunch. Smell, lasting finish, feel.

Scent – it’s quite an old fashioned scent, a bit nostalgic. We have a laundrette close by and it reminds me of that. For me one of the best smells is fresh laundry, and that smell wafting out of the laundrette is heaven. How well does it last? Well I’ve literally just run to the chest of drawers in the hall, and opened my ‘tops’ drawer – the one filled with tshirts and vests – opened it and stuck my nose in. I can still smell it on clothes washed earlier this week, and those washed last week. Fresh and clean.

So yep, about the same as your usual fabric conditioner.

Feel – yeah, I also gave them a feel too! Just the same as any other conditioner, I’ve not noticed any difference in anything. Even the cotton tshirts I wear at the gym that get washed, and washed, and washed.

And my skin? Nope, it’s fine. No irritation, no rashes, we’re good. (Annoyingly, I’m allergic to the soap I just bought, but that’s a whole different thing, and I’ll make the husband use it up for me!)

Overall? I’m impressed. I love the fact that I won’t run out, and I don’t even have to think about it. I love the sustainability element. And whilst I’m a meat eater, I am trying to reduce the amount we consume, so it being vegan is a bonus.

Oh and just to confirm, this isn’t an ad, and we’ve not had anything gifted from Smol. Turns out, we just kinda love them.