Flax-a-bed by Belvoir

[SJ]

Has anyone tried this? Does it really compost down as quickly as the company claims? Is it economical? It seems rather expensive but if it's allergy free, easier to do than shavings and composts down quicker than straw. I'd consider it.

Sara Jane

[KarlR]

Yes - we use it and find it very good. We used Aubiose for a while but didn't like it as much - and it worked out much more expensive.

The Flax is more absorbent and pleasant to use, but is very light so some people find it blows around in very windy conditions (although we've had no problems of this type)

Belvoir do sell a number of different types (from different sources). We had some pretty awful stuff (Egyptian I think) but I don't think he stocks it any more. It didn't fluff up and was very slippery. They are a good company to deal with too - invoices sent out about a month after delivery! :)

The batch that we have at present is pretty typical stuff. Fine and soft. Easy to handle. Like most things it takes time to get used to, but it's the best that we have found. (Apart from straw of course, but not many of us have 1 hour free each day to much out! :))

[SJ]

Thanks KarlR

Have just discovered its £9.50 a bale around us which is putting me off. How well does it compost down?

Our local merchants are now recommending I use something called Aquamax, have you any experience of it? We use straw at the mo but somehow I've just got to speed up mucking out and can't get rid of shavings.

[KarlR]

SJ!

That's just ridiculous!:eek:

I pay £4.50+VAT+Delivery. All in, that's still less than £6 per bale at my distance (about 40 miles away) although they only sell it in reasonable quantities (16-30 bales).

Is that direct from Belvoir or through a middle man? Belvoir's number is 01476 585888. £9.50 a bale is just unbelievable - someone is ripping you off there!!

I've never heard of Aquamax, sorry. We can't use shavings either - impossible to get rid of because they never rot, so no-one will take them.

I don't know about rotting time because we've only been using it about 6 months and I've not dug out the muck pile yet. It is apparently very quick at rotting: faster than straw and much faster than hemp (Aubiose). My feeling is that it would rot quite quickly because it is so fine.


Karl R