Published 16 Jan 2025

Shortlisted for Gift of the Year!

I just wanted to let you know that we’ve been shortlisted for the Gift of the Year Awards in THREE categories! 


The terracotta microgreen grower is made to our own unique design. The lid presses the seeds into the growing medium – felt – then is flipped to create a dark space for them to germinate in. Then the lid slides underneath to create a base for the microgreen grower. If I say so myself it looks quite good on the table, and you can snip bits off it as they grow as a DIY garnish. It’s a gift that keeps on giving, and it’s the sort of present that is gender and age neutral, pretty much anyone would be happy to receive one of these. Unless they don’t like wool I suppose. We can make these with jute instead of wool for our vegan friends and family. The wool works better as a growing medium but jute will do the job. 

Contents of the microgreen grower kit with seeds and garden wool felt on a white background
The second product is our innovative roll-up dog bed. This range of dog beds are made of organic fabric filled with felted Herdwick wool, so they are warm, comfortable and bouncy. The roll-up dog bed is kind of like a yoga mat I suppose. You unroll it and put it in the boot or the back seat to keep your dog comfortable. Then if you’re visiting somewhere, you roll it up, take it to where you’re visiting, and ta-dah! unroll it again and your dog will instantly recognise that as it's safe place to lie down and be at home in unfamiliar surroundings. The fabric is water-repellent and wipeable. A super-power of wool is that it is self-cleaning (to a point, obviously!) so if it starts to get a bit pongy you can air it outside and the smell will dissipate. The cover is removable and washable, too. 

Two border collies, one black and white and the other tricolour sit upon a blue Chimney Sheep woollen flat rollup travel dog bed in the boot of a car

Product number three is another pet product: our much admired Pet Snugs. These are made of a robust engineered wool felt that make a comforting bed with a soft wool-filled pillow, also made of water repellent wipable organic canvas. They combine style and functionality. These are handmade by our talented crew in Workington, and we are very proud for these products to have been nominated. 

A white cat with yellow eyes, sitting inside a Chimney Sheep PteSnug wool felt cat bed. The bed is sitting on a wooden floor. There is a yellow wool filled cushion inside the bed. There is a black and white cat walking next to the cat inside the bed

 

Sally Phillips

Inventor of Chimney Sheep

sustainable gifts
PlanetCare Microfibre Filter Starter Kit

PlanetCare Microfibre Filter Starter Kit

44.00 GBP

How does it work?

This ingenious washing machine microfibre filter kit uses cartridges to physically catch and retain the fibres that come loose when you wash your laundry. Each cartridge will last around 15-20 loads of laundry and is easily replaceable in just a couple of minutes.

Fibre retention is based solely on physical retention with the help of clever patent-pending technology.

You can also send the used cartridges back to us and we'll forward them on to PlanetCare. They will ensure that they are reused or recycled.  This ‘closed loop’ system ensures that there is minimum wastage throughout the whole process.

Something to think about:

Doing the laundry can have a huge environmental impact, whether that be using tonnes of energy running the washing machine and tumble drier - or the pollutants that are released from the products you use. Using a microfiber filter is just one way of reducing that impact. Why not make a few more changes - we've tonnes of handy tips in our blog.

 

What's in the box?

You'll get everything you need to fit your PlanetCare washing machine filter with these handy starter kits, meaning you can get it in place and start catching microfibers straight away.

The Mini Starter Kit includes:

  • 1 housing top with a cup, 1 holder, 4 screws, 1 tube (1.5m), 1 silicone lubricant, 1 counter, and 3 filter replacement cartridges.
  •  3 cartridges. These can last up to 60 washes.

The XL Starter Kit includes:

  • 1 housing top with a cup, 1 holder, 4 screws, 1 tube (1.5m), 1 silicone lubricant, 1 counter, and 3 filter replacement cartridges.
  • 13 cartridges. These can last up to 260 washes.

    Note: All the filter cartridges are 100% recycled and refurbished for use again and again via a closed-loop service.

       

      Is it easy to install?

      The microfiber filter is very easy to install. In fact, for most washing machines this process takes less than 10 minutes. The filters are compatible with all types of washing machines.

      There's actually a handy how-to video and a useful installation guide  you can take a peek at if you need a little bit more guidance.

      It’s a good idea to position it high enough above the floor/surface so the cover can be removed to change the filter and position the device so that it is easy to screw the cover back after each filter change.

      Please note: you will need 13 cm on the side of the washing machine and approx. 60 cm in height clearance so that you will be able to easily unscrew the housing and change the filter comfortably.

      The filter must be placed outside the washing machine on the drain hose. It should not be raised above the height of the drain hose exiting the washing machine. The hose length should be held to a minimum. Raising the filter and a long drain hose will both reduce the efficiency of pumping and filtering and should be avoided.

       

      What are the dimensions of the filter housing?

      The filter housing alone, without any attachments, measures the following:

      • height 325 mm, width (hose attachment direction) 122 mm, and depth 130 mm.

       

      Is the microfiber filter easy to use?

      For the first load, just make sure the filter cover is replaced correctly and screwed tight before using the washing machine. Try a short wash and make sure all connections and covers are fixed and watertight.

      It’s also a good idea to hold the top of the device when replacing the filter cover to avoid putting pressure on the bracket fixings when unscrewing the cover.

      After that, you do not need to do anything until the cartridge is full.

      >Easy!

       

      How does the closed-loop system work?

      When your cartridge is full you can send it back to us directly, simply go onto the delivery website Parcel2Go and produce a label to send the cartridges to us, don't forget to include your order details as we'll refund you the postage cost. We then send these off to PlanetCare who disassemble the cartridge and remove the fibres and filtering medium.  This is done in a controlled environment, ensuring that caught fibres do not pollute water or the environment.

       

      What does Planetcare do with the fibres?

      >At the moment PlanetCare is safely storing the used filtered materials. Once they have sufficient quantity, they will reuse/recycle it all. At the moment they are planning to reuse the materials by converting them into insulation mats. But, they're always on the lookout for viable solutions and will choose the best available option to reuse/ recycle the fibres.

      The waste will never be burned or sent to a landfill!

      The remainder of the cartridge is cleaned, and fitted with a new filtering medium ready to be used again.

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