From what we’ve gathered, many of our younger shoppers love to clean. They usually bypass the books and toys we have out and go straight to the brushes and cleaning tools we sell, very intent on cleaning our shop! This got us thinking that we should have some good cleaning tools that fit their little hands and stature, making it easier to help around the house.

Introducing beautiful brooms, hand brushes and dust pans from Germany. Just like the adult versions we carry, they are made from sturdy natural materials (wood, metal, rice straw and horse hair) that are meant to last. These could be something they pass down to their own children one day.

The other day, our friend A. stopped by to play with our new tools. You can better see the scale of the products in these shots. We wish we could hire her!

A natural and plastic-free way to purify your water!

Made from Kishu (Holm oak) in a small town in Wakayama, Japan, Binchotan is the best quality charcoal for purifying water. It’s porous yet dense structure (1 gram of charcoal has nearly as much surface area as a tennis court) allows it to absorb chlorine and other contaminants in water. And if that isn’t magical enough, it also releases natural minerals like calcium, iron and magnesium back into the same water. And the water tastes great! Sold in 3 sizes.

Binchotan sticks are not only natural and biodegradable. At the end of their useful life as a water filter, they can be broken up into smaller pieces and mixed into soil in the garden or pots. The porous structure makes for good air flow and water drainage. The charcoal helps increase microbial activities and alkalizes the soil to reinforce the trace minerals in it.

Stop by and taste the difference!

Large Binchotan

Small & Medium Binchotan

Summer is not only a good time to shed layers of clothing. We look and feel better shedding dead skin cells too! Exfoliating helps unclog pores, keeps skin clean & soft and reduces acne breakouts. And by exposing the hair follicles, you get a better shave on you face and legs too.

We now stock a variety of new brushes, salts, sugar and natural materials to aid in exfoliating (the list is below). All are refillable!

Use in the shower, bath or try dry brushing:

Salts (Epsom Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt, Dead Sea Salt, Regular Sea Salt
Orange Peel Powder
Bamboo Charcoal Powder
Sugar Scrubs from Fable Natural
Woven Cactus Cloth & Mitt
Wooden Face, Nail and Bath Brushes made with soft pig hair bristles
Turkish Pumice Stones
Wooden Brushes made with Corn Fibres
Honey & Oat Exfoliating & Moisturising Soap Bars

Tabletop and stovetop coffee siphons are here and ready to be the centre of attention!

You can read up more on them and get great tips here.

We are bringing in two styles of Yama brand coffee siphons this month:
tabletop with burner (alcohol or butane) and stovetop.
Here’s a photo of the tabletop siphon and below are videos of each.

Meditative video of the tabletop siphon in action

Stove-top coffee siphon video with a good explanation of how it works

Handy notebook with a mini accordion file holder. Great for filing receipts, tickets and notes for shopping or travelling. Comes with a complimentary You Are Not Dead golf pencil!

The plain black woven cover is great for customizing to your own taste

Using the right tools can help get the cleaning done a lot easier. And if they are made from natural materials, they look better in your home, they feel better in your hands and in many cases, they clean better and last longer (in use) but break down faster in landfills.

The above display includes Twist sponges; tawashi (Japanese style scrubbers made from coconut or palm fiber;) dish brushes made from wood and corn; jar brush made from coconut or palm fiber; bottle brush made with pig hair and wool; floor scrub brush made from wood and corn; counter brush made with wood and tampico (agave fiber); and metal dust pan in enamel.

Twist Sponges are dye-free and plant-based.

From top to bottom:

loofah sponge (loofah and cellulose), ravioli scrubby (hemp), scour pad (plant,) naked sponge (cellulose), sponge blossoms (mini cellulose that grow when wet), dish dumpling (braided agave fiber.)

Metal mesh scrubbers in stainless steel, copper and brass. Great for heavy duties cleaning.

We have an updated photo of our glass amber bottles, complete with all the pumps, sprayers and atomizers we finally have sourced to adapt them to serve your everyday needs. They also provide a uniform, label-less, vintage-look to add character to any home.

Though we often fill them with our soaps, because they are amber and protect their contents from sunlight damage, our customers are also using them to make tinctures, bitters, infusions, syrups, oils, body care products and more.

And they are just beautiful!

New to The Soap Dispensary, Carina is a wonderful body & hair care line made in North Vancouver. Carina has been making products free of chemical and synthetic ingredients since 1972! That makes it 40 years this year!

The products are hypo-allergenic, biodegradable, not tested on animal and contain no animal by-products (though the Conditioner and Skin Cream contain beeswax.) They also do not contain harmful ingredients found in many products such as paraben and SLS.

For customers who are celiac or have strong allergies to soy or gluten, we are thrilled to finally bring in a line that is completely soy & gluten-free.

We stock and refill:

Daily Moisturising Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash and Skin Cream (comes scented in sweet pea essence and also unscented)

Dandruff Removal Shampoo (unscented only)

Peppermint Dual Shampoo & Body Wash

Baby Shampoo & Body Wash (tear-free and unscented only)

Natural Liquid Deodorant (unscented only)

Hair Spray (unscented only)

The most beautiful and smartest dishcloth we’ve found on the market. Made with 70% cellulose and 30% cotton, these beauties are super absorbent and hard-working. And they can be thrown in the washing machine over and over. And printed with water-based ink, they are also compostable at the end of their life cycle. 11 bold patterns to accent your kitchen or give as a gift!