All posts filed under: Things for Cleaning

Yarok Hair Care Products

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As soon as I check into a hotel room, one of the first things I do is check out what hair- and body-care products are stocked in the bathroom. The good stuff, like Aveda, Bath & Body Works, and (Malin+Goetz), gets tucked into my suitcase with the hope that more will appear the next day (it doesn’t always – which can be disappointing and a bit embarrassing). Visitors of The Thief Hotel, which opened earlier this month in Oslo, will most likely be stashing the Yarok organic hair care products that are exclusive to the hotel. Founded by Israeli hair stylist Mordechai Alvow, Yarok produces formulas that are a blend of organic and all-natural botanicals that are consciously sourced and sustainably harvested. I like the slightly medicinal look to the packaging that conveys idea that these shampoos, conditioners, and treatments are good for your hair, like vitamins. The company donates 3% of its annual profits to the Pachamama Alliance, a non-profit that protects over 10 million acres of rainforest in the Amazon. That might help convince …

BirdProject Soap

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I love it when a quiet little object is able to convey an entire story— it’s like product poetry. This is the tale of BirdProject Soap: One day, as it’s foraging for food, a seabird is caught up in a terrible man-made disaster. When it tries to fly out of the sea again, it is coated with oil and is clinging to life. The next day it is found by rescue workers, who gently wash off the black oil and release it back into the wild. The concept for BirdProject began in 2010, when designer and entrepreneur Tippy Tippens moved from Brooklyn to New Orleans to help contribute to the relief efforts after the BP Oil Spill. Intended to be a powerful representation of all of the creatures affected by the disaster, BirdProject is a black, bird-shaped soap that contains a white ceramic bird keepsake—handmade from Louisiana Clay by New Orleans-based artist Brooke Cassady—that will slowly reveal itself over time as the soap washes away. The soaps are made by Emily Manger Davis of Sweet Olive Soaps—a …

Dish Bunny Drying Rack

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You had a bad day. The faster you needed to work, the slower the internet wanted to go. The dog destroyed another pillow and you came home to find her sitting in the middle of a pile of fluff. You turn on the kitchen light and realize you forgot your lunch leftovers in the work fridge. It was pasta bolognese, and it would have been amazing right about now. You are about to scream when you see something that makes everything a little better. It’s a dish rack. A white, wire dish rack that is in the form of a cute little bunny. Aww, that’s better now, isn’t it? Measuring 19.7” wide by 9” deep, the Dish Bunny was designed by Chris Koens. It is available for £27.95 via Pretty Dandy.

Omnioutil bucket

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I usually like to focus on products that are brand new to the market, but these colorful multifunctional buckets from the Japanese housewares company Hachiman Kasai, introduced nearly 20 years ago, just stopped me in my tracks at the last New York Gift Fair. Made of polypropylene with a corrugated texture, the buckets come with a handle and lid that make it easy to be used for storage as well as for a small stool for children to sit on or for short moms to get down the pasta from the top shelf. The buckets are also great for washing up or general outdoor work — there is a small hole in the handle designed specifically to hold a hose so you can easily fill it up. They come in five colors and three sizes (8, 10, or 20 liters), so you can find the right bucket for the job. There is a reason they still sell these after nearly two decades.

WC Line by Josh Owen

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Instead of just hiding the toilet plunger in his new collection of bathroom accessories for Kontextür, designer Josh Owen intentionally mimics the traditional wooden handle and rubber base shape. Available in April, the WC Line includes a covered waste bin, toilet plunger with a storage dish, and a toilet brush with a storage vessel, in white, red, or black. The locally sourced wooden handles and the full silicone rubber parts are washable; a handy feature if it takes you a few moments too long to figure out which piece is the plunger. $121.50.

Toddy Gear Cleaning Cloths

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It strikes me as a bit odd that people spend hundreds of dollars on phones, tablets, and other touchscreen devices, then walk around with them smudged up all the time. It’s hard not to – the glossy surfaces show every fingerprint and oily cheek mark. What’s worse, when they do get wiped clean, it’s typically with a shirt sleeve or other fabric that can scratch the surface. With the Toddy Gear line of designer cleaning cloths, there are dozens of options to keep devices smudge-free, while expressing your personal style. The Toddy is a dual-sided microfiber antimicrobial cloth that cleans and polishes your grimy goods, with designs ranging from drawings of vintage photographic equipment to preppy plaids and punchy botanicals. Machine washable, the cloths come in a 5″ x 7″ and 9″ x9″ size. $9.99 to $14.00.