All posts filed under: Things for Cleaning

Designy Things Holiday Gift Guide

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Here are some designy gift ideas for your holiday season, from a snowflake you can cuddle to pencils you can plant in the garden. Jellycat Holiday Soft Toys Jellycat arguably makes some of the most adorable plushies in the world, combining the softest materials with a small smiling face that brings personality to all types of everyday objects and animals. Designed in London, this snowflake ($30.00), Christmas Tree ($40.00), or potted Poinsettia ($48.00) can adorn a mantle or work as a festive table centerpiece. Available through the MoMA Design Store. Embroidered Holiday Ornaments Designed in London and handmade in India by a team of master embroiderers, these ethically sourced fabric holiday ornaments are made through the traditional technique of “zardosi” (sewing with gold), historically used to decorate the most luxurious of courtly finery. Ornaments in the collection include Claude Monet, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Frida Kahlo, and Vincent van Gogh. $16.95- $18.95. Available through the MoMA Design Store. Taste Collection by Paola Navone The Glass House design store offers an exclusive design collaboration …

Toff & Zürpel Beeswax Wraps

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Toff & Zürpel, a Dresden-based brand that designs natural, and reusable beeswax wraps, is now available in North America through AMEICO. An alternative to wasteful one-use products such as cling wrap and aluminum foil, Toff & Zürpel beeswax cloths bring a colorful touch to covering salads, cheeses, cut fruit, veggies and more. Toff & Zürpel beeswax cloths are made of bio-cotton, regional organic beeswax, traditional pine resin, and fair trade organic coconut oil. The wraps are water repellant and are available through AMEICO in four sizes and three color schemes. The wraps come with a natural beeswax soap bar which can be used to clean the wraps after use and as a general kitchen or hand soap. A starter kit including four different sized wraps sells for $40.00 and the soap sells for $13.00. All images courtesy of AMEICO.

Kickstarter Things: RE.BIN Recycling Bin

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Paper bags are so versatile. They can either be the arts and crafts project or the thing you put under the arts and crafts project. They can be reused several times before ripping, are easily recycled, and when folded up properly don’t take up that much space. Unless you go shopping every week, which people tend to do. Then they start accumulating in an unmanageable pile, (which is particularly troublesome in small apartments) and you just want to switch to plastic (but you really don’t). So isn’t it brilliant when someone develops a new way to use up those paper bags while also recycling other garbage as well? Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, RE.BIN is a paper grocery bag shaped bin designed to hold your paper bag as a liner so that you can easily carry out the trash when it’s full. Made in the U.S.A. of 100% recycled plastic, RE.BIN is designed specifically to help save space in smaller, urban apartments. Recycling garbage in recycled bags supported by a bin made of recycled garbage – kind of the ideal sustainable product. Images …

Inception Dish Rack/Desk Organizer by Luca Nichetto

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Launched last month during the Wanted Design exhibition during NYCxDesign, Inception is a dish rack/desk organizer designed by Luca Nichetto for the Italian brand Seletti. Named after the mind-bending 2010 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and inspired by the folding cities in the movie, Inception’s silicone buildings slightly bend with the weight of the objects. The organizer comes in pink, blue, or gray (shown below).

Meet the Food Cycler: The First Residential Composting Appliance

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Most food waste can be turned into healthy compost for your garden or potted plants, but urban dwellers don’t have an easy way to compost their own waste into a nutrient-rich soil supplement without an outdoor composting container. Or, perhaps they do have the outdoor space, but other issues prevent them from composting outside (attracting hungry bears or violating local ordinances, for example). Food Cycle Science, the Canadian producers of organic food waste recycling solutions for the foodservice industry, offers an interesting new solution with the launch of the Food Cycler:Home, the first residential composting appliance. The 1 cubic meter size unit is able to operate anywhere there is an electrical outlet, and can be incorporated into the home from as early as the design phase. Food Cycle Science hopes the Food Cycler will help reduce the 475 pounds of food waste each person creates every year. The Food Cycler eliminates the use of drains, venting, or additives used in traditional composting process and is claimed to be completely odorless, noiseless, and cost-effective. Through a simple four step process, food (cooked or …

Trays, Tea Towels, Rulers & More from kukka

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The design brand kukka was established in 2010 by Israeli and British designer Rona Meyuchas K. The products include lamps, trays, tea towels, and accessories for the home or office. I like the colorful Robots and Tubes collection of trays and tea towels designed by British illustrator Will Haywood. The dishwasher-safe trays are individually handcrafted in Sweden from a single sheet of sustainable birchwood (Robot is 12” in diameter and Tube is 15”). The matching British-made tea towels, part of kukka’s illustrated range, are screen printed on 100% cotton. Other great gifts in the collection include Balata, an 8” ruler made from reclaimed high-quality Caesarstone, and My Homes, a set of three house-shaped clothes hangers that are traditionally crafted from maple wood with no glue and finished with linseed oil. Kukka’s designs are available at design shops worldwide. All images courtesy of Kukka.