Sunday, December 16, 2007

Politics. Filthy, ain't it? All that mudslinging and whatnot. Enter Scrubya, a soap company that brings a new twist to partisan dirt: Under the tag line "Lather Liberally," it donates 75 percent of its proceeds to nonprofit groups dedicated to "cleaning up the mess" it blames on Dubya & Co. The venture is the brainchild of Kavita Pillay, a documentary filmmaker who took up soapmaking in January 2005 as a crafty way to distract herself from -- what else? -- the results of the 2004 presidential election.

Pillay, 32, temporarily sidelined the idea while studying in India on a Fulbright scholarship but returned in fall 2006 to Boston to officially launch her product. The soap is handmade, using coconut, palm and olive oils -- and, unlike many mass-produced soaps, glycerin, which helps moisturize the skin. It comes in three varieties: Smell the Damn Coffee!, Cameliza Rice and Neo-Con Coriander. (And, you know, they're all totally nonpartisan. Not.)

Scrubya proceeds benefit Physicians for Human Rights, which puts the money toward its Campaign Against Torture. Donations to other groups will follow, but there are only 401 days until the Bush administration departs. Which makes us wonder what's next in the politics-cleansing industry: Soapbama? Hillarinse? John McClean?

Because no matter who's in office, it's still politics -- there's plenty of dirt to go around.

-- Julia Feldmeier

$18 for three bars at http://www.scrubya.com; $5.95 each or $17.50 for three at Vertigo Books (7346 Baltimore Ave., College Park, 301-779-9300).