Orange Clove Thyme dish bar

Made in honor of my Grandma Del, who got a single orange for Christmas as a little kid. And we love the smell of orange + cloves + thyme, especially in the cooler fall and winter months, so we make these for ourselves and make enough to share for the season. These dish soap bars are made with orange peels that we grate and dry ourselves plus ground cloves and some orange essential oil to round out the scent. They make doing dishes a joy some days, and at least like less of a chore and more of a relaxing, self-care ritual all days. Plus, using them means removing yet another plastic container from our daily lives. Yay! These are seasonal. Available in the autumn and winter seasons until they're gone.

How to use. For a few seconds, hold the bar under warm tap water over a sink that's full of dirty dishes. Then clean dishes as normal using a dishcloth, loofah, or other dish scrubby thing. The bars aren't as bubbly as commercial dish liquids, so you'll need to adjust your expectations about that. They do, however, smell great and clean really well. I use them to hand wash a few dishes every day--all those cups and plates and flatware that magically didn't make it into the dishwasher, which we are currently fortunate enough to have.  

Grandma Del approved. These bars live in our Connection & Belonging family because of my family connection to oranges, cloves and the thyme we grow in our garden. These bars are also a waste-reducing product—we turn orange peels once destined for the garbage bin into these bars, among other things. All grandmas here would approve of that. They honor my Grandma Del, who told us stories of her childhood and about the pure joy of receiving a single orange for Christmas in rural South Dakota when she was a child in a poor family. Oranges are--and always will be for me--a special treat. Thank you, Grandma Del!

Storage and life of the bar: To extend the life of the bar, store it where it can dry quickly after use and where it doesn't receive regular spray from the faucet. We store ours on a draining dish beside the sink. My own trick is storing the new bar standing on one of its narrow ends at first. This makes it easier to get off the dish where it lives after it dries.

Size: These bars are roughly 4 ounces. These are made by hand in small batches and individually hand cut by cool women, not machines. This means bars can vary a tiny bit in size (3.9 - 4.4 oz). We weigh them all and keep anything smaller than 3.9 oz for ourselves and our families, to give away at our makers markets and as free samples to people who order from us, and to give as gifts to neighbors in need. We're not machines, people, nor do we want to be.
:-) 

Ingredients: Organic coconut oil, Whidbey-grown thyme (at Ritual Mischief) infused in organic olive oil, hand grated and dried orange peel, ground cloves, sodium hydroxide, and orange essential oil.

Gratitude: Deep bow to orange trees, and sunshine, and mother earth, and every single human who loves, grows, picks, selects, and moves oranges from California to Washington state so we can enjoy and use these in season here. I've tried and failed--three times--to grow my own little citrus trees here in western Washington. Some day we may have a wee green house where I may be able to create the right environment and will get my own tree to thrive and grow! :-) Until then, we use oranges in season, and sparingly, because they and everyone they touch are precious to us. 

Packaging: See the Packaging page for details. If you would prefer no packaging at all, just put that in the Comments field when you order, and you'll receive them bare naked!