There is a bit of a running joke in the shop that we have a brush for everything. We like to joke about it but the truth is, we do! We have brushes for cleaning dishes and exfoliating your face. We have brushes for cooking and brushes for making you calm. We have brushes for heavy duty scrubbing and light dusting. We even have a brush to help keep the soles of your sneakers white. In total we have 48 brushes in our inventory. Oh wait...I forgot the children's paint brush...49! That is a lot of brushes. Today on the blog I am going to share a little more about these brushes, where they come from, who makes them, the materials used to make them, and why we love having a lot of brushes.
We carry three main brands of brushes: Redecker, Iris Hantverk, and Sunhouse Craft. Each chosen for different reasons but all chosen because they make a high quality product made in an ethical way with sustainability in mind. Let me share a little about each brand with you!
Burstenhaus Redecker has been making brushes by hand since 1935. Since then some things have changed, but what remains the same is that Redecker stands for successful merging of natural materials with optimal function and design. Their unique inventive perspective, solid workmanship, and creativity gives life to the Redecker name. The quality and beauty of the their products speak for themselves.
Redecker brushes are made of domestic (to Germany) woods, bristles, hair, or plant fibres, as they have been for decades. Completely different natural materials are used to suit various purposes. Regardless of the material Redecker takes great care in selecting natural raw materials. They aren't doing it because of popular trends but rather because it is their deeply rooted philosophy.
Their love is dedicated to quality down to the last detail! These products are not only practical but also beautiful and, most importantly, a low waste home essential for us all. They have by far the largest catalog of brushes available and our collection only scratches the surface. See our entire Bürstenhaus Redecker Collection here.
At the end of the 19th century a small brush manufacturer started out in Stockholm with a mission to give "hand-made" a new meaning. It was a successful movement so successful that it remains today. At Iris Hantverk now, as then, every brush is made by hand by visually impaired craftspeople. It brings new dimensions to the concept of sensitively made by hand.
The vision that drives Iris Hantverk is to revive the traditional brush binding profession by making functional products with good design combined with the quality of natural materials and the craftsperson's solid technique.
All Iris Hantverk brushes are of exclusive design and made mostly (the toilet brush is one exception for instance) from natural materials. They believe that many people appreciate the feeling and quality of a hand drawn brush made of natural materials and will find value in the survival of the brush binding industry. Find all Iris Hantverk products in our inventory here!
Last but not least we are proud to carry a small collection of brushes and brooms from Sunhouse Craft, located in Berea, Kentucky. I love to share that when I first started my shop I reached out to Sunhouse Craft and they were so busy with their current wholesale partners that they did not have room to add Pink Moon Goods. After about a year I reached out again and Cynthia welcomed me gladly. It shows that sometimes patience pays off.
This is a favorite Rumi quote shared by Cynthia on the Sunhouse craft:
"I’ve said before that every craftsman searches for what’s not there to practice his craft. A builder looks for the rotten hole where the roof caved in. A water carrier picks the empty pot. A carpenter stops at the house with no door. Workers rush toward some hint of emptiness, which they then start to fill." —Rumi
Motivated by the words of Rumi, Sunhouse Craft was started by designer/maker Cynthia Main as a place to combine her background as a fabricator with a strong desire to find sustainable and harmonious ways of working. Joined later by Doug Stubbs, they craft each piece by hand in their Kentucky studio. Each work weaves together crafting traditions of Appalachia, natural materials, and timeless design. The end result are tools that bring back a sense of everyday magic into our daily work and chores.
Sunhouse Craft cares about sourcing. Working directly with local forests and farms, tanneries, sustainable wood suppliers, and raw goods manufactures for sustainable raw materials to make their work is a priority. When they can't source locally, they purchase the raw materials, and use some of the proceeds from their sales to help fund farmers to raise needed crops and work towards a craft with a strong sense of place. They are working to help regenerate a thriving, local economy.
Sunhouse Craft believes people deserve to be part of a tradition of land connected manufacturing and businesses like theirs are helping to recreate a thriving rural economy. Next time you find yourself near Berea be sure to visit their studio. Check out our small but mighty collection of Sunhouse Craft goods here!
By now you might have noticed a theme. We love carrying brushes that are made from natural materials that promote a healthy relationships with the planet. We love brushes that are handmade and those made with time honored traditions in mind. We love supporting businesses that are committed to creating a product that lasts and serves its purpose well.
The reason we like to have a lot of brushes in the shop is simple. Think about your daily practice and how often you use a brush. Most people probably use at least two different brushes a day. A dish brush and a hair brush. But when you look at other things we do in our daily lives like remove lint from clothes, marinade food, scrub toilets, or massage our newborns heads you can really start to see that we really do use brushes a lot. Since we pride ourselves on carrying both practical and beautiful goods it makes perfect since that 49 of those things would be brushes.
A few of our brushes came into the shop because of a customer request so always keep that in mind. We love trying out new brushes and sometimes find a brush that we all need that we never knew we needed.
What will your next favorite brush be?