Any surprisingly good Temu home decor finds?

[lavenderscenteddrawerliners]

I know, it's unethical and the vast majority of Mumsnet would never consider something do cheap and mass produced. Me, on the other hand, needs something cheap and cheerful to decorate my new place. I'm hoping there are a few of you who can tell me you've bought rugs/curtains/throws that were great value for money. Or anything else home related.

IKEA and sostrene green are my go-to shops for cheap but nice home decor. And definitely try Vinted for things like second hand Oliver bonas. TK maxx is good for fun quirky items

I don't think there's any risk of Temu or Shein going bust any time soon because it has been boycotted, conversely so many local businesses are going bust because all of their 'bespoke' stuff can now be bought for a third of the price on Temu. The only things I've bought in the past have been party ware, so themed balloons and decor. I was buying these previously from an independent (online) shop and now that the clientele have realized these are not unique from X shop, they have all started going to Temu instead and paying 99p for a balloon they previously paid £3.99 for.

I was in B&Q yesterday looking at rugs and so many of the cheaper 'velvet' style ones are definitely from Temu. I did not see any safety labels/warnings on them either.

That’s because temu and shein steal designs.

if they are sold in a bricks and mortar shop they will meet the safety requirements for not containing lead, the flammability tests and safe electricals.

without a doubt if we still had proper watchdog every Monday night, no one would be risking this stuff in their home.
I’ve got a tiny budget too, so I get the attraction but it’s just not worth the risk.

Fuck the independents. Fuck local prosperity. Fuck high streets.

Then people moan that high streets are dying.

I went to a garden centre last month and they had pottery for sale with made in china on the bottom. Temu had exactly the same on their website at half the price. And I mean exactly the same pattern. So am I to assume that the garden centre sourced them from a different supplier that was ethical and that Temu sourced theirs from an unethical supplier? I’m confused.

Of course not. Temu will use 100s of suppliers and some will be fine and others won’t. The point is Temu doesn’t care .

Personally I'd rather pay a third myself than pay X3 to support a local business. Most people have this mentality which is why so many local fruit/veg/grocery/hardware shops in the high streets have closed down. People want more £££ to enable them to buy daily coffees and go on holidays abroad annually over having these shops in the town. The party ware business did an Instagram live asking (well, pleading) for clients not to bypass the middleman (her) as she'd have to take her DC out of their schools because she couldn't afford the fees. I don't have much sympathy there I'm afraid, we all would love more money for private schooling but charity begins at home and I need to ensure my own purse is lined before lining others.

And I need to add that I'm not an advocate of Temu or any other known child sweat shop facilitators, but understand why it's so attractive to many.

Sure everything in B&M have been made in the same factories.

The only way to ensure ethical is to buy from cottage shops but you will need to check they having sourced their materials from a chinese sweat shop

If you shop from temu you don’t care about:

• your country’s economy
• your creatives and designers in your own part of the world
• your family’s health
• your family’s safety
• the planet
• all the people who have put in decades of work to make sure our things are respectful of trading standards

Or maybe it's not you don't care, but can't afford it? Do you know how much a custom made pair of curtains from an independent shop is? I'm not sure they are any more concerned about the planet either, unless they are using specific materials that will push the price up even further.

If someone can come up with a solution that will actually work, then I am interested to hear it.

Boycotting is futile.

So how do you tackle it? Not buying anything may keep your conscience clear but it’s not going to stop the exploitation.

The point is that we hear about it, and there are mechanisms in place for products to be pulled off the shelves, recalls to be issued.

If it keeps happening, there are financial consequences to the company so it’s in there interests to stay on the right side of the law.

Lots of products get pulled every year even with regulations. So imagine what happens when there is no incentive to do the right thing. If one raw material is cheaper than another, why would you cut your profit margin by using a costlier one? You might if the risk is your product won’t get sold, or your workers might succeed in a health claim. But if there are no risks, the chances are people will choose profit.

theres a happy medium. I’ve bought seconds, reduced, bought ones that aren’t to my taste. Dunelm and their sales bits are excellent.
yes it is harder than temu, but it’s the right thing to do.
my budget is tiny, add in renting and the issues that brings with home decor. I still don’t resort to the exploitation, design stealing and dangerous temu and shein.

They are also safety tested and made to legislations they get before they get to market so only the occasional bit slips through.

the fact the PP mentioned remembering next having an issue shows how rare it is. There’s so many tv programs that have tested and proved how dangerous this stuff is. We’ve become so complacent in this country thanks to our fantastic regulations.

But I don’t want to boycott Temu, it has good stuff that I can afford, I can’t afford Next John Lewis and Marks’ stuff so how do I use Temu but check if they have sourced their product ethically?

Ikea has some real bargains. Plus you can see if in the flesh. £79 cream rug that would cover all of my living room floor not covered by furniture fir a start. £1 real plants. £1 flower pots, 50p fake flowers.

Okay so morally you are one of the good guys.

If my budget is £30 for clothing,
should I buy one item from the high street or 5 from Temu?

I can't imagine there is anything I want badly enough to think fuck my family's health, this is cheaper than John Lewis 🤔

This is clearly something you feel strongly about. So what is the solution assuming you can’t get the whole world to boycott them?

And what about people not having the budget for the likes of John Lewis? Do they have to opt for manky second hand stuff because they can’t afford new?

There was a thread recently where a poster said she'd received a pair of jeans and the smell was terrible, even after washing. Another poster asked if they were Next, which OP confirmed. A fair amount of posters said it was formaldehyde and it happens a lot with Next stuff. It is ongoing, perhaps it's 'safe amounts' but this thread reminded about it. I knew a girl who worked in Next warehouse and said the chemicals sprayed on clothes was shocking as some of them are expected to sit in warehouses for years.

So I can get 1 thing that is safe, or 5 things but they might contain toxic levels of lead, formaldehyde, PFAS and phthalates that increase mine and my children's risk of cancer and infertility and can disrupt our hormone and immune systems...

That's a really tough one but I think I'll go for loads of cheap stuff plus cancer.
Luckily they're total tat so I'll only wear them a couple of times before they fall apart.
As a bonus they are made by slaves and destroy the environment so it's a win-win.

I think the government needs to clamp down on the import of unsafe products through online market places.

Wow. That’s helpful. Thanks. I don’t know if you are aware but you are coming across quite aggressively.

My cheap clothes last years.

Apart from expecting every government in the world to clamp down (which they won’t) then what do you suggest?

And in my previous example, am I not allowed brand new clothes with that budget? I wear plus size and won’t go into bricks and mortar clothes shops. Where should I shop?

In desperation I can see needing to be blind to where the things you buy are made and under what circumstances - but wanting creature comforts or new clothes (and that's what is being described here) and not taking a moment to think that you are only getting them as a result of enormous human pain and suffering does deserve to be met with judgement. Just because you can't physically see the people suffering doesn't mean they don't exist. It is well publicised and you are making a choice.

Established UK brands have to meet supply chain requirements so you can be confident that though they may be made in Bangladesh/China/Vietnam/wherever even in potentially unpleasant conditions, they are not made by slaves in desperate circumstances.

Of course, no one is perfect. It would be very difficult and expensive in this hyperconnected world to only buy products of perfect provenance - but a decent person would at least try.