Review and #Contest - Purex Crystals Aromatherapy

As a Purex Insider, I am often given the opportunity to test out products for free. The products are provided to me by Purex but I am under no obligation to do anything, as far as I'm concerned - I don't have to say nice things and I don't have to write a review at all if I don't feel like it.

This time around, I jumped at the chance to try Purex Crystals Aromatherapy - because I misunderstood what the product was. Wait, stop. I'm not saying I didn't like the product (I did, you'll see), but I am saying I didn't realize that this was not Purex Crystals fabric softener. The fabric softener aspect of the Crystals seems to have been removed completely and all that remains is dryer sheets under the "Crystals" label. And I am very, very disappointed at this - I liked the fabric softener crystals because they smelled nice, had reasonable ingredients, and actually worked - even on my workout clothes. But now it's just a fragrance booster, which is...whoopdedoo?

Purex Crystals Aromatherapy - not to be confused with fabric softener

 I mean, I've noted this before here in reviews - I do like pleasantly scented things, but I don't necessarily want my everyday clothing to smell like anything. I gravitate toward free and clear detergents in part because of this. I like to wear BPAL fragrance oils, for example, and I don't want them competing with my clothing. To me, "scent" doesn't equal "clean."

HOWEVER, on the other hand, I do like my towels to have a light scent - and sometimes my sheets too. So when I get a scented product like this to try, I use it on my towels and I judge it just on how well it works on my towels.

Purex Crystals Aromatherapy works just fine. I was sent the "Energy" scent, which is citrusy (more orange than lemon, I'd say), and it made my towels smell nice. I can't really say much more than that - they weren't softer and they weren't cleaner. They just smelled nice. It wasn't overpowering and it has lasted a few days (which also makes my linen closet smell nice, a little bonus). It's not a product I'd necessarily seek out in the future, but I am curious about the other scents. (I think I'd prefer "Serenity," which supposedly is calming and smells like water lilies, to "Energy.")

I was also sent two coupons to give away to two readers of A Place to Write Things who might like to try Purex Crystals Aromatherapy. Judge for yourself. If you like to add scent to your clothes, this will do that. Also it's absolutely fun to try new things. So check out the Rafflecopter widget, do the tasks honestly (I'll disqualify you if you cheat), and enter. US residents only. Contest runs from October 15, 2014, to October 22, 2014.

Thanks for reading!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thing Review: Clearly Fresh Bags - February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Day!

Clearly Fresh Bags approached me out of the blue and offered to send me a sample of their product to try. I received no additional compensation for the following post and all opinions are (pretty obviously) my own.

Clearly Fresh Bags are large (12" x 14"/one gallon) plastic bags that are intended to keep fruits and vegetables fresh longer. They have a little membrane thingie on the side - the broccoli slaw I buy has the same thing, actually - that the company calls the "BreatheWay membrane." It helps with the flow of air and moisture. You can clip it out and put the bags in the recycle bin, which is nice. I've been reusing the bags when I can for things like bananas and apples - things that don't get the membrane wet - one or two extra times.

What I liked:

• The large size meant I could fit a full head of broccoli or two bags of broccoli slaw or a giant bunch of bananas.
• They did seem to keep things fresh.
• They only cost $3.99 for a pack of ten, which seems reasonable and appears to include shipping.

What I didn't like:

• The bags have a single zippery bit. It's a pain to reclose, it's a pain to open. I wish they instead had a multi-level zippery bit (I'm so technical! But this is just so thin and hard to match up and close that it always gaps open and I gave up after a while.) or an actual zipper with an outside plastic piece. Or some other solution. As they are now...giant pain.
• The bags fill with condensation. I know this is a feature, not a bug, but I didn't like it.
• You have to squish the air out of the bag each time.
• I don't know that these keep things fresher for a longer enough time than regular, less expensive bags to make them worthwhile for me.

Basically, these would be good for things you bought at the grocery store that you wanted to store once. They're not as good, in my opinion, for things you want to access over and over. I put apples in there and after opening/closing twice, I gave up. I put bananas in there. Same thing. But I put my opened bag of broccoli slaw in there and I think that worked well - kept the slaw fresher longer in the original bag that isn't resealable and I didn't have to open/close that often or it wasn't a big deal because I'd pulled the entire bag out of the fridge to use in a recipe.

Would I buy these again? I don't think so. If you're concerned about keeping your fruits and vegetables fresh, if you buy in bulk, or if you tend to not go through your fruits and vegetables as quickly as you'd like, then these might be worth checking out. 

Tadaaaaah.

First Impressions of the Ekobrew - Another reusable K-cup alternative - July 9, 2011

I received my Ekobrew, which is another reusable K-cup alternative for the Keurig single-serve coffee system (much like the Solofill) about a week ago and have had the chance to use it twice. My verdict? It's great. It is possibly better than the Solofill, actually, and at minimum it works just as well.

Since the Solofill doesn't stand on its own, it is hard to see, but the Ekobrew is very similar in size/shape. 

What stands out to me about the Ekobrew:

• Flat bottom! This makes it much easier to fill.
• A different flow system for the water. For lack of more scientific language, it uses little holes around a cone rather than little slits around a flatter-bottomed bit. This seems to give me a richer cup of coffee than the Solofill does, although I have told you before and I'll tell you again that I'm no coffee snob. But it does seem to produce a darker cup, and the stream coming out of the Keurig looks darker to me toward the end of the brew.
• Nicer packaging. I know, I know, but I'm a sucker for pretty. This comes in a lovely cardboard cylinder that is likely recyclable - nicer than the plastic that seals the Solofill, although the plastic does let you see the product more immediately, which has its pros as well. It looks nice on my counter and gives me a place in which I could store the Ekobrew if I wanted. And it also comes with DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS. Love that. Especially the part about how to clean it. I knew that already, but it was nice to have that in print.
• A tiny bit easier to clean. The Solofill has a little indentation at the bottom that always gets clogged with grounds - I have to use my fingernails to pry that bit out. Not a huge deal, but since the Ekobrew is flat, that isn't an issue.

On the con side (and there aren't many), I am always worried that I'm going to somehow misalign the Ekobrew's flat bottom and mess up the puncturing spears inside my Keurig. There are openings at the bottom of the Ekobrew that I'm assuming make this impossible, but the Solofill's shape is more reassuring. It's a tradeoff for sure. Also it's not red. Go ahead and laugh. The brown says "THIS IS EARTH FRIENDLY," sure, but fun colors say "THIS IS FUN TIMES IN THE MORNING HOORAY!" Right? Right? No? OK, maybe not.

As with the Solofill, the Ekobrew takes seconds to use. Dump in the coffee, put in the brewer, dump out the grounds when done. As with my Solofill/Keurig combo, the Ekobrew finished the brewing cycle with water on the top and a bit dripping out. A minor annoyance.

I chose the Keurig system in huge part because I liked that I'd be able to use some sort of reusable K-cup, whether it be the My K-Cup, a rinsed-and-covered-with-foil K-cup, or some other system. I like that now I have TWO options from which to choose, and I love that neither the Solofill nor Ekobrew requires me to do anything to my Keurig machine that I wouldn't already do with a regular old K-cup.

So in a nutshell? I like the Ekobrew too. If you want immediate satisfaction, I've seen the Solofill at Bed, Bath and Beyond and you can use one of your handy-dandy coupons on it to bring the price down. If you can wait a bit (particularly if you have Prime and can get free shipping without having to buy extra stuff), or if you don't have a BB&B coupon/a store nearby, the Ekobrew is a few bucks cheaper on Amazon.

ETA: I've now seen the Ekobrew for sale at Cost Plus World Market and Whole Foods, plus it is available through Drugstore.com, so it's pretty accessible now.

Now if I could just get my prize that I won from the Barista Prima Facebook page, I'd be able to review my new milk frother for you too...ahem.

NOTE/DISCLOSURE: I asked for and received an Ekobrew from the company for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed are mine - if I didn't like it, I would absolutely tell you.

Update on February 11, 2012: My husband LOST my precious Ekobrew and I am going to be buying another to replace it. (Yup, I got my first for free for review purposes and I'll gladly pay to replace it.) I use it almost every single day - it has surpassed my usage of the Solofill and FAR surpassed my usage of K-cups, which are now almost too expensive to bother with. If you have a Keurig, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you buy yourself an Ekobrew or two to go along with it. [We bought our second Ekobrew at Whole Foods.]

Update on January 9, 2013: This post remains my most popular by far. It's old now, but yes, I still use my Ekobrews (I now have two) all the time, still love them, and still recommend them. The links in this post are my referral links to Amazon, so if you buy your Ekobrew through one of them, I make about 2 cents. Thank you!

As of March 2013 this post is no longer accepting new comments.

May 2013 update: I've upgraded to the Keurig Vue! Check out my new post for more details and a code for 40% off this fabulous new brewer!

(This is my referral link. I get a small kickback if you click through and sign up for Amazon Prime.

Thing Review: Solofill reusable, refillable K-cup alternative - December 22, 2010

When I wrote this review, the Solofill was out of stock both on the main Solofill website and on Amazon (where I got mine because I have free Amazon Prime through the Amazon mom program). However, it is now back in stock or will be soon. And now, my review of the Solofill "Reusable Single Coffee Filter for Keurig Brewers."

It's awesome. Really.

It's red, which is nice, because red kitchen utensils are always fabulous. My Vitamix is red. My microwave oven is red. I like that. I'm superficial that way - but I would've bought this thing if it had been black or blue or purple.

Part of the reason I coveted a Keurig was that I knew that somehow I'd be able to use it with my own coffee, whether with a K Kap or a My K Cup or an EZ Cup or reusing the K Cups with foil or press-and-seal or...something. Obsessive Googling and researching led me to the Solofill, which is still a newcomer on the market for reusable K Cups, but it looked impressive. The only true competition is the My K Cup, which is made by Keurig itself, but I've read many bad reviews of it and the coffee it produces. Plus you have to remove parts and pieces from the brewer to use it. Do you know what happens when I have to remove parts and pieces from something to use something? I break that something or lose the parts and/or pieces. The Solofill doesn't make you do that. (The EZ Cup seems like another valid choice, but it requires you to also buy and use proprietary paper filters, where the Solofill is the filter so there's nothing more to buy.)

Really, I see some people saying that it's hard to use. I don't understand. I take the red plastic cup thingie. I dump in coffee to the fill line. I stick it in the machine. I push the button. Coffee comes out. Yes, when I open the machine back up, there's a puddle of water on top of the Solofill. So I carefully pull it out and pour off that water. Yes, it's hot when I take it out of the machine - so I wait a few minutes or I deal with it. K Cups are hot when I take them out too. Big whoop.

Now that I have a Solofill, I'm hoping to cut back on my purchases of K Cups. And yet...K Cups are so much fun, so easy to use, come in so many flavors...so, yeah, I suppose it probably it won't change all that much. But at least now I can use my Dunkin Donuts pumpkin spice coffee in my Keurig and I can take advantage of the amazing coupon + sale prices on coffee that show up every so often. And yesterday I got a free sample of Starbucks Natural Fusions vanilla coffee, which - you guessed it - I plan to use with the Solofill. (Yep, I could also drag out the French Press for these, but I'm all about the convenience factor and the ease of making just one cup at a time!) And I'm thinking I can add a bit of extra coffee to make it stronger so I have my own version of the "Brew Over Ice" coffee K-cups. And I may try even more tricks with it - brewing pods in it, brewing tea in it, and so on, just for fun.

If you need a reusable and refillable K-cup alternative for your Keurig single-cup home coffee maker, I recommend the Solofill.

Note: A competitor to the Solofill, the Ekobrew, has appeared on the market. Check out my new (July 2011) review of it. 

As of March 2013, this post is no longer accepting new comments.

May 2013 update: I'm now playing around with the Keurig Vue V500 thanks to House Party. Check out my first impressions and learn how you can get your own for 40% off!

(This is my referral link. I get a small kickback if you click through and sign up for Amazon Prime.