Noelie Harmon now crafts non-toxic cleaning products and mosquito repellant

While Jaime Leonard stands behind a bar mixing together ingredients for a natural hand soap, Noelie Harmon owner Amy Strother is explaining why they’ve set aside a whole corner of the 1010 Nic store to craft their own non-toxic cleaning products.

“Even though it’s somewhat of a simple formula to make, people just don’t always take the time to do it,” Strother says. “We had been asked for years. People were really interested in using something non-toxic and I had already been making it at home for myself.”

When Strother’s sustainable gift shop Noelie Harmon moved under the 1010 Nic roof last year, she decided it was time to give the venture a shot in the new space with what her team dubbed the Sustainable Apothecary.

Now, they offer liquid hand and body soap, general-purpose cleaner, laundry detergent and a mosquito repellant and have plans to roll out a sunscreen and body scrub soon. Each item comes in refillable bottles in two sizes with a variety of oils to choose from, like juniper, clove, tea tree, rosemary, lavender, grapefruit and more.

The mosquito repellant in particular has been popular with customers, who appreciate its non-greasy formula and blend of oils like eucalyptus.

“A lot of people freak out about putting [standard repellant] on their kids, and it’s just really hard to find a natural one that works. I’m so allergic, and I’m so paranoid about toxicity, that I decided I was going to try to figure this out,” Strother says. “So I just sort of gave a whole bunch of people different versions of it and tweaked it to figure out what worked best. We’ve used it in so many scenarios, and it still stays on. It’s really been a hit.”

The inventory:

Liquid hand and body soap
General purpose cleaner
Laundry detergent
Mosquito repellant
Sunscreen and body scrub in the works