Humdakin

Humdakin has its products made in factories across Europe and Asia; exact names of countries or factories are not known. However, Humdakin does say that they have good and long-term relationships with the producers. They also say they have insight into the working conditions of the factories. When selecting partners, Humdakin looks to see if they are actively working toward the UN SDGs or have a strategy to improve their factory both environmentally and labor-wise over the years.

Humdakin also works a lot with GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified suppliers for their cotton products. This certificate verifies not only the organic origin of the material but also the working conditions throughout the production chain. So for the cotton products that come from GOTS-certified suppliers, we are more certain that they are made in fair working conditions than other products. This is because the other suppliers are not audited for this by a third party. 

To do its part, Humdakin donates DKK 5 to the Danish charity ​“Børns Vilkår” or ​“BørneTelefonen” with every sale of children’s products. In this way they want to give children in Denmark better chances for a good life.

Humdakin makes many different types of products and depending on the product category certain materials or ingredients are used.

The cotton items such as aprons, oven gloves, tablecloths, tea towels, towels, cleaning wipes and Christmas tree ornaments are made from GOTS-certified organic cotton. Want to learn more about the benefits of organic cotton? Read this blog. Some products are made from Oeko-tex certified materials, which means that there are no substances in the finished products that can harm your health. 

To clean your eating utensils properly, Humdakin has biodegradable dishwashing brushes in its range. In this, two variants are available, one with a brush made of horsehair and one with a brush made of vegan tampico bristles.

Humdakin also has, among other things, buckets to store your cleaning products made of zinc, soap holders made of brass and steel, and bowls and bathroom accessories made of terrazzo. The wooden products are FSC-certified and thus come from sustainably managed forests.

The candles Humdakin sells are made of stearin, rapeseed oil or kerosene, so depending on the type of candle it is more durable or less durable. Of these three types, rapeseed oil is the most environmentally friendly and healthy option. You can read more about ecological candles here. Humdakin’s candles are allergy-friendly certified by the Nordic Swan eco-label and the wicks for lighting are made of Oeko-tex certified cotton.

Perhaps the products Humdakin is best known for are its cleaning products, hand soap, lotion and natural bath bombs. Humdakin describes its products as allergy-friendly, mild and free of parabens, dyes, essential oils, chemical perfume, endocrine disruptors and carcinogens, and preservatives such as SLS, MI and M1. The products are dermatologically tested. 

In the products you will find lovely Scandinavian scents, such as chamomile and sea buckthorn.

However, these products do not have largely natural or biodegradable formulas, nor are they certified for this. For example, the hand gel and lotion contain triethanolamine, a polluting chemical according to the Clean Beauty app. It is used to adjust the pH of the product for use on the skin. The hand soap also contains some synthetic controversial ingredients according to the Clean Beauty app including phenoxyethanol and polyethylene glycol.

All of Humdakin’s cotton products are recyclable after use because they are 100% single material. In addition, because they consist of natural materials, they are also biodegradable.

The dishwashing brushes consist of 100% biodegradable materials. This is great compared to the many plastic dishwashing brushes on the market! Although wooden dishwashing brushes with a replaceable brush are also very durable.

The packaging of the cleaning products and soaps are made of PET plastic. This is a reusable/​recyclable material. At COSH! we regret that Humdakin did not go for a recycled alternative here.

It is difficult to verify how long the chain of Humdakin’s products is. They indicate that they work with suppliers scattered throughout Europe and Asia, but we do not know which countries or exact suppliers are involved. The path the products take can be longer or shorter for each product. Most products are transported via truck or ship to minimize air transport emissions.

Everything from Humdakin, except the horsehair dishwashing brushes, is vegan. On its website, Humdakin says the horse hair comes from happy and well-groomed horses. Moreover, Humdakin’s cleaning products are animal-free.

Many products are a concentrate, such as the dish soap and fabric softener. This allows you to do longer with one package of the product. Also, many of the liquid products also have large refill packs available.

In terms of transparency, there is still a lot of room for improvement for Humdakin. They profile themselves as a sustainable brand on their website, but they do not communicate openly about their production methods and locations. As a result, COSH! finds little evidence of their ethically and environmentally responsible production. Also, the certificate numbers of their GOTS-certified suppliers are not provided on the website.