Wednesday 19 March 2014

Soapnuts, a gentle option!

When dealing with naturally dyed fabrics, it's important to use a gentle detergent that is kind to delicate fabrics. Even if the fabrics could withstand strong alkaline soaps, the natural dyes won't. Along with some of the branded gentle soaps, we have always recommended the use of soapnuts as a great option for both your naturally dyed clothing and the environment.

 Coming very soon to Sorazora are these cotton pouches filled with 100 grams of soapnut shell. 'Sapindas mukorossi' also known as Indian Soapberry are rather tall trees found in Northern India east to the Himalayas. The drupes (soapnuts) have been used for washing for thousands of years and are both organic and environmentally friendly. Used soapnut shells can easily be disposed of on a compost heap.

HOW TO USE
Load approximately 15 to 20 grams of shells into the pouch and tie firmly. For warm or hot washes, simply toss the pouch into your machine with your washing.
For cool washes, first soak the pouch in hot water for a few minutes to activate the saponin in the soapnut, then toss into your machine.
It's fine to leave the pouch in the machine whilst on spin. After use, simply dry and it's ready for reuse for upto three washes or until the soapnuts loose their soapy feel when wet.


For any information about this or any of our products, please feel free to contact us.

Mini Loom Frame

We are now back in the UK after an exhausting production period in Kathmandu and looking forward to introducing our new products through our online store and market stall.

COMING SOON TO SORAZORA

The first product I wish to introduce is our handmade mini loom frame that we designed to be as compact as possible and work in conjunction with our popular mini rigid heddle. The frame works equally well for tablet weaving.

 The loom frame has been constructed from a beautiful dark hardwood called 'Saz', a large sub-tropical tree found in the Himalayan foothills upto altitudes of 1200m. Full instructions on assembly and use are included and presented with the mini loom in a box constructed from handmade Nepalese lokta paper.

The image above shows our loom frame in its box and also the mini rigid heddle which is sold seperately.
The main advantage of using the mini loom is that all the warp threads are neatly stored on a beam and also that the warp threads are held equally spaced out from start to finish (allowing for a wider strap to be woven). These advantages are absent if pegging out all your warp threads between to single points.

During the next few weeks we plan to make this product available online along with all our other new items. If you have any questions regarding this or any of our products, enquiries are welcome as always.