The mass-production of conventional cleaning products and tools involves heavy resource consumption. With water, plastics, and often unknown materials used to produce cleaning products, additional energy and resources are also consumed to transport said products around the world.
For her graduate project at the Iceland Academy of Arts in Reykjavik, Soley Thrainsdottir aimed to solve these problems by finding an alternative, sustainable solution. Investigating Iceland’s forestry and slaughter industries, Thrainsdottir discovered that the industrial wastes produced were not critically assessed for potential uses. Through this project, Thrainsdottir has turned otherwise wasted natural materials into useful cleaning products and tools.
From horse slaughter waste products, Thrainsdottir used horse hair, which has a strong durability and heat resistance, to create brushes. Additionally, Thrainsdottir has produced soap from horse fat.
From forestry waste products, Thrainsdottir turned pine oil, which has disinfectant qualities, into a cleaning spray. Similarly, pine ash was turned into a paste for polishing metal and glass because of its scratch-free and antiseptic properties.
To learn more about Thrainsdottir’s sustainable cleaning project, click the links below.
