Goodies I like: Krya

I've never written a post promoting a non-craft product before, so that should give you an idea of how fascinated I am by Krya. A few months ago I met Preethi and Srinivas, partners at Krya and committed to environmentally sustainable living. Both have business degrees with years of experience marketing consumer goods with Johnson & Johnson (relevant information because their years of experience reaching out to a mainstream consumer audience will help them market their environmentally sustainable products to a wider base).

Preethi and Srinivas gave me a pack of Krya, a natural detergent made from organic soapberries, to use on Brass Tacks fabric. Now when I say "made from", I don't meant hat soapberries are one of the main ingredients. Krya is literally 100% crushed, dried, soapberries packaged nicely and sold with a pouch for easy use in our urban lives. I did a few loads of laundry with Krya at home, hand-washed some indigo-dyed fabric with it, and when I figured that it did a fantastic job of deodorizing fabric I washed some old silk fabric that was starting to smell of old cupboards. I love this product, and what I love even more is that Preethi and Srinivas have taken the time to think how soapberries can be used by an urban population (unlike many environmentally sustainable goods that are actually hard to sustain if you're working and don't have the luxury of full-time domestic help).

In the past I've always recommended this liquid soap called Genteel to my customers at Brass Tacks for washing handwoven and hand-dyed or hand-printed clothes. At home I'd sometimes use shampoo on silk clothes instead of dry-cleaning them because.... well, what's good for your hair should be pretty good for your clothes, right? Krya is a better alternative because it's even more gentle than any shampoo, and something about its properties ensure that fabrics retain their colour and lustre.

Dry soapberries. There's a large organic farm full of soapberry trees from which Krya sources its ingredient.

Here's how to use Krya, and you should if you're interested in preserving the life of any garment/ fabric/ sari that is handwoven or handblock-printed or vegetable-dyed.

1. Empty the contents into a bottle so that moisture doesn't get to it easily.
2. The powdered soapberries come with 2 cloth pouches, and I recommend that you use a rubberband to keep the pouches with the bottle (rubberband around the waist of the bottle, pouch tucked into the rubberband).
3. When washing your clothes, take a tablespoon of the powder and put it into a cloth pouch. Tie the pouch so that the powder can't come out easily.
4. If you're washing the clothes in your machine, put the pouch in the detergent drawer. If you're washing it by hand, put the pouch in your bucket.
5. When your laundry is done, empty the contents of the pouch out (preferably into your potted plants) and dry the pouch before tucking it back into the rubberband on the bottle.

I think what fascinated me about Krya the most is that the crushed soapberries (which to the unacquainted eye looks like a brown potpourri mixed with mud) actually lather in water. Not everyone likes the smell of Kyra, but I absolutely loved that fruity smell (sadly, the clothes don't really retain the smell) and it's amazing to see how that brown matter can clean white clothes.

 Crushed, dry soapberries. The stuff that Krya is made of.

You can buy Krya online here.

Get Going with 2012

In Groundhog Day style, every few months I find myself in the same situation. I'd like to think I'm getting better at detaching myself from the situation; looking at it as a blessing in disguise and a chance to learn and improve. There are also those rare moments when I'm detached enough to find it amusing. The situation I'm referring to is staff turnover at the store, at a time when things are chaotic at the production unit or at a time when I'm working on a big project.

In 2009 it was right before my wedding, then in 2010 during a weekend anniversary getaway (we shortened it to a day trip). In 2010 it was right before my Bangalore exhibition and a couple of weeks ago it was right when I was shifting to a new workshop and launching the Winter collection at the store. Rain doesn't pour for nothing, right?

Last week on the 30th, I woke up to read an email from my new store manager saying she wanted to resign.  I spent the better part of that day just calling up recruitment agencies, friends, and contacting people who had mailed me their resumes before. That afternoon I found my new store manager. It was a total Booyah moment, and it put me into a temporary deluded state that I could solve any problem that came my way. (Keep it humble, Anaka, those delusions always get you into trouble). I came crashing down a few days later when another sales associate who was supposed to join on Saturday called to say she won't be able to join after all. Back to hunting, calling, interviewing....

Strangely, this situation is a bit different this year. Maybe I've finally accepted that this is a big part of running a business (holding onto tailors and holding onto sales staff are both hard), or maybe I'm just naively hopeful in the way that most people are at the beginning of the year! So many awesome things are in the pipeline for this year, and that excitement is carrying me through this phase of staff turnover. Besides, I had forgotten how fun it is to spend the whole day at the store, meeting my wonderful customers and helping them find cool clothes to wear. 

Anyway, enough about me. We've got a new line of knitwear coming up, a Spring collection on the way, an inspiring Brass Tacks woman in mind for a creative shoot, and the much awaited online store. Let the year begin already!