In the event you stay in France for any size of time, you’ll discover immediately that there are completely different merchandise, costs, and methods of doing issues. In the case of merchandise, transferring to France opened up an entire new world. To that finish, let me get into an inventory of six family merchandise you want in the event you stay in France.
French family merchandise
Whether or not you’ve lived in France awhile, are planning on transferring quickly, or are simply curious, let’s get into my high picks for French family merchandise. Some should do with cleansing and others are simply, effectively, mandatory.
1. Anti-limescale laundry tablets
Laborious water is dangerous to your pores and skin, hair, home equipment, and your garments. To guard your load of laundry from the damaging results of exhausting water in France, get your self a field of those laundry lifesavers.
Situated within the laundry detergent aisle of your native grocery store, these little anti-calcaire tablets get popped into the wash along with your detergent and won’t solely defend your garments, however will defend your washer from odor and dirt as effectively. I by no means do laundry with out considered one of these anti-limescale tablets.
2. Anti-limescale lavatory spray
I’m embarrassed to say I simply discovered this miracle product final yr. It is likely to be my favourite French cleansing product! Earlier than then, I used to be elbow greasing all of the taps with my very own vinegar concoction after ones from the grocery store left loads to be desired.
However then I noticed there was a greater means! Enter Antikal.
This Antikal spray truly smells nice and will get the job carried out. It severely takes white limescale buildup proper off your lavatory fixtures. Simply spray, wait 5 minutes, and rinse. Voilà. It’s actually that straightforward. NO loopy scrubbing required.
You could have to deal with closely calcified areas just a few occasions or for an extended time period to get picture-perfect outcomes, however when you begin utilizing it frequently, you’ll see what a lifesaver it’s. Want I had found it sooner!
How my procuring habits have modified since transferring to France >>
3. Laborious water hair packets
I informed you in regards to the prevalence of exhausting water in France and wanting putting in a water softener for the entire home, there’s not a ton you are able to do about it. I’ve tried bathe attachments, however they don’t appear to work. FYI, you will get take a look at strips to verify your water and I take advantage of them frequently once I journey. Hey, it’s not definitely worth the injury to my hair!
So sure, I nonetheless wash my hair with filtered water by hand like I discussed in that put up. It’s a small value to pay when you contemplate the choice.
In the event you frequently shampoo with exhausting water, I’ve discovered these Malibu exhausting water hair packets to be nice at getting all of the ick and discoloration out that’s left behind by the minerals in exhausting water. Use them frequently. One therapy will go away your hair softer and shinier. They’re additionally 100% vegan. Whereas they aren’t a French product per se, they’re very mandatory in the event you stay in France.
4. Skinny radiator duster brush
Many properties in France have radiators in lieu of central heating. Even new properties with fashionable radiators can profit from considered one of these radiator dusters as a result of they’re nonetheless exhausting to mud behind even when they don’t have a number of nooks and crannies.
In our case, our house has a handful of old skool radiators, stuffed with nooks and crannies which simply accumulate mud. That is the goat hair duster brush I’ve that works wonders in between and behind all my conventional column tubes.
French vs. U.S. house variations >>
5. Dishwasher salt
In France and different areas of Europe, it’s normal for dishwashers to require salt. There’s a particular reservoir for it on the underside of your dishwasher and the explanation pertains to — yup, you guessed it — exhausting water.
Dishwashers in France include a built-in water softener that eliminates calcium and magnesium within the water, however for it to work, it requires a particular salt product. I’m speaking a few product utterly separate from the precise detergent that you simply use with each load.
Wikpedia explains that “dishwasher salt, which is coarse-grained sodium chloride (desk salt), is used to regenerate the resin within the built-in ion-exchange system.”
Each couple of months (is determined by how usually you employ your dishwasher), our salt indicator gentle lets us realize it’s time to refill the salt compartment. All you do is unscrew the cap and refill the compartment with a field of coarse dishwasher salt like this one which you can purchase on the grocery store. It’s straightforward to seek out.
Dishwashers within the U.S. don’t typically require salt so this entire idea was new to me once I moved to France. Now it’s second nature, however in case you have a dishwasher in France, you’ll discover it is advisable to replenish on particular salt.
6. Bug zapper racquet
This electrical bug racquet is my greatest pal in the summertime months. I’m not a fan of mosquitos within the least, so each time there are uninvited bugs flying round — which is commonly, let’s be actual — I zap ’em like loopy. It’s efficient and inexpensive.
For the document, I don’t get pleasure from killing bugs. But when they arrive in… be careful! We relocate spiders as a substitute of killing them, however I draw a line in the case of hard-to-relocate mosquitoes. When it’s me towards them, my pores and skin is at all times going to win. Mosquitos and flies can stay exterior or take their probabilities. 😉
***
Do you employ any of those family merchandise in France? What French merchandise are must-haves for you?
Disclosure: This put up incorporates affiliate hyperlinks however is not sponsored. I personal and love every little thing I speak about.
PIN my favourite family merchandise in France put up: