Common Good founder Sacha Dunn has selected a great list of tools for this spring cleaning round-up. Shears from London’s Labour and Wait? Vintage-feeling laundry bins on wheels? We’re inspired to get down and dirty and clean house – and that’s saying something! It should be no surprise that the maker of Common Good’s simple, delicious-smelling and toxin-free cleaning products has a few stylish ideas about how to get dirty jobs done, but, nonetheless, we’re impressed.

Read through Sacha’s list of cleaning tips and treat yourself to a little shopping for a few house-keeping staples. We recommend upgrading your spring cleaning experience with a bottle of Common Good Dish Soap in lavender and big fresh stack of flour-sack towels.

Here are the ten tools Sacha needs to get the house in good order.

Dustpan and broom

Fall is here. As many a yoga instructor have mentioned this month, fall is a time of transitions and changes. Here at Common Good, it’s a time to curl up by the window and crack open a book. Here’s what we’re burying our noses into instead of looking at those cute French bull dogs on the subway:

East of Eden

I started this novel on my journey back east from Hawaii. A ten hour, non-stop flight requires something truly epic, and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden delivers. The rough and tumble tale of two Salinas Valley families seems particularly prescient in light of the current scarcity of resources in California. While it might be difficult to replicate the experience of flying over the checkered landscape of America’s “Salad Bowl” while reading about it, Steinbeck makes it easy to envision the potential early 20^th century farmers saw in a land full of rich soil, mud and dust. Of course, the book has its problems—racism foremost among them—but I became hooked after reading about the story’s villain, Cathy Ames, I mean Kate Trask, I mean Kate Albey. The woman changes her name so much in the novel it’s hard to keep up! With the face of an angel and a heart of stone, Kate runs Salinas’ most depraved brothel with the business savvy Donald Trump would admire.

-Genevieve

The Vagabond

Honestly, I picked this book up for $1 at a thrift store recently because I thought the illustrations on the cover were very nice. An unexpected twist, it’s a great book! It’s Colette’s semi-autobiographical tale about navigating life as a newly divorced, independent woman in a man’s world (Paris in the early 20^th century). It doesn’t feel dated at all. Her descriptions of an unexpected suitor who poses a threat to her newly, delicately constructed single-lady life are both hilarious and ring all-too-true if you’ve ever teeter-tottered on the cusp of romantic ambivalence towards someone. She also refers to this romantic pursuer as “The Big Noodle,” which is amazing. 

Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali

 A fascinating study of how far off the mark western society was in their understanding of Balinese water technology. The Balinese water irrigation system was intricately tied to their social and cultural systems, going so deep as to influence their perception of time. When Green Revolution notions of increasing agricultural yields were imposed on this pre-existing system, agriculture and water management was effectively decoupled from the religious and social structures. This resulted in decreased yields and increased incidences of pests. This book reinforces the notion that water issues are affected by the specifics of locale and culture, and in turn, how intricately bound societies are to their water supply.

-Tara

Before I go into dryer balls, which have a surprisingly mysterious genesis, I’d like to start with the history of felted wool. Because felted wool is ancient.

Felting came much before weaving and other fiber arts. In order to produce felt, one just has to take some wool and add a little heat, pressure and moisture. It was so easy to make that an early Christian myth posits that Saint Christopher, patron saint of travelers, and his companion Saint Clement created felt by stuffing wool into their sandals as the fled from an angry Roman emperor around 300 AD. After running nervously for miles—so the story goes—the soon-to-be saints discovered that the sheep’s wool had mixed with their sweat and the fibers had fused together after the constant pounding from their anxious footfalls.

A thrilling tale, Saint Christopher’s woolen travels are relatively new compared to felt’s origin as the first fabric known to humankind. Some sources state that felt remnants found in Turkey date back to 6500 BCE.

What did the first makers of felt use this marvelous product for? You named it, armor.

Yes, it was used for shelter, clothing, decoration, and magic, but also armor. This was particularly important for Chinese armies around 1400 BCE, because at that point, their main rivals from Turkey were using felt as large overcoats that acted as armor against Chinese arrows[1].  Lesson: felt is tough.

For fashion, felt was huge. Nomadic cultures in 200 BCE wore bolts of felt wound around their bodies in order to stay warm in the cold and dry in the rain. It’s pliability re: animal skin and its ability to absorb moisture were particularly attractive qualities back in the days of yore. Second lesson: felt is not only strong, it is tough on moisture and protects against cold as well.

The ancient Greeks were also hip to felt fashion, and Xeres’ troops donned felt caps, called tiaras. Their rivals, the Trojans and other non-Greeks, wore slouching felt hats that would become known as the Phrygian Cap, made famous by French revolutionaries and the Smurfs. In the western tradition, these hats became synonymous with liberty and freedom.

Which brings me back to dryer balls. It’s no coincidence that those looking to free themselves of dryer sheets and fabric softener turned to a product composed of an all-natural fabric that was not only strong, but could handle the heat and absorb moisture. And that’s just how felted wool dryer balls work. Toss them in with your laundry and they slowly beat out water while naturally softening your clothes and absorbing excess water in the process. Because of this, they reduce drying time and keep hazardous chemicals out of the drying process.

Now, as the dearth ancient felt artifacts will attest, felted wool dryer balls won’t last forever, but if you aren’t looking for a 1000-year guarantee, a 1000 loads might suffice.

So, the next time you find yourself looking for an all-natural, chemical-free substitute to dryer sheets that saves on time, energy and money, think back to humankind’s roots and go with our all-natural, 100% felted wool dryer balls. Available now!

[1] Laufer, B. (1930). The Early History of Felt. American Anthropologist, 32 (1), 1-18.)