[Ken in Minn]

Hello All
How many people on these b.b. make home- made soap?
How many that make home-made soap, have ask their doctors, what there thoughts were on this soap? I did and it got real ineresting. He would not even answer me. After the third time of asking him. he said he guessed it was ok.
Me thinks the doctors have too much money involved in the chemical co.s that make all the commerical soaps that are on the market. My thoughts:: I would not ever use commerical soap again.
I was in the hosiptal for 8 days here while back. When they were going to give me a bed bath, using their soap, I said NO-WAY. Use my soap. After a few words they used my soap on me. before I got out of the hosiptal had orders for 350.00 dollars worth of soap. And we are still getting orders from the nurses. About every week and order comes in 60.00 to some over 100.00 orders.
I just want to get the word out about home-made soap. as long as it is good soap. and there is a lot of good home-made soap out there. Try it you will like it.

Ken in Minn
www.soycandleworks.com

 

[BamaSuzy]

I am just about to learn to make homemade goat milk soap. I have the equipment I need and most of the supplies but have just not set aside the time to do it yet...

I have really really severe allergies and if I wash with ANY kind of store bought soap I am one big itchy mess. I literally claw my skin off I itch so badly. But even my doctor notices the difference when I'm using goat milk soap!

So he even said it was a good idea for me to get goats to raise them to drink their milk AND to make soap! So I also have two young goats I am raising to be dairy goats.

Since I've just really started selling eggs from our homestead (instead of just to a few relatives and friends) the soap would be something else I could sell from right here!

 

[BamaSuzy]

when making your soap do you use the cold method or do you heat the fats on the stove???? Do you have a simple recipe you will share with us?????

 

[perennial]

I make glycerin soaps. Lye soaps tend to irritate my skin. We only use home-made soap here also. Did you know that a unscented store soap has to add even more chemicals so it won't smell like anything. I watched a show on PBS once on it and was horrified.

brural

 

[Cyngbaeld]

I make lye soap and it is so much better on our skin than store bought. I use homemade for shampoo, bathing, and all my cleaning and laundry. Any of the store bought makes me itch and burn and triggers an asthma attack and/or a migraine.

 

[vonettrich]

I also make my own soap using lye and all vegetable oils (coconut, palm kernel oil, olive oil, vegetable oil). I usually scent mine with either lavender or peppermint essential oil and add a few lavender or peppermint leaves for texture. Now that I've started making my own, I will never buy commercial soap again. I also make my own laundry soap, fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner, and cleaning supplies. Not only do I save money, I also enjoy using homemade products that are better than what I used to buy at the store.

 

[JoAnne in CA]

I, too, have been making my own soap for a few years now and would never go back to commercial soap. My husband's eczema cleared up after using it. I make unscented goat milk and oatmeal goat milk for a niece with severe eczema. She can't use anything else. My teenage daughter has resisted using it, in favor of the fancy scented liquid soaps. Just a few days ago, she was complaining about itchy skin for the first time. She is now using my cucumber soap and beginning to see the value of home made soap! Our oldest three kids and their families use it exclusively. The younger two are slowly coming around. The older of the two is having a baby this month, and I'm trying to talk her into using the lavender for the baby. I have considered giving my Doctor a gift of my soaps. Think I'll just do it now!

 

[januaries]

I, too, make my own soap using lye and vegetable oils. I scent them with essential oils (many different kinds) and sometimes add other things like milk, oatmeal, or honey. I love making and using them! I'd like to explore the possibilities of selling them.

 

[Nomad]

We make our own melt and pour soap. As I've gotten older my skin seems to have become more sensitive, so I only use Goat MIlk soap now.


Nomad

 

[BCR]

Never had a cause to talk to the doctor about what soap I use. I use my own the majority of the time, and occ. buy someone elses quality product.

I'm confused about glycerin soap having no lye at all--my understanding is that oils must have lye to saponify. You can certainly have high glycerin bars, but don't you need lye for saponification? My soap books are with a friend and so I can't check on it now.

Or maybe you buy the glycerin base and don't start from scratch thereby minimizing your contact with lye.

 

[Tater'sPa]

Never had a cause to talk to the doctor about what soap I use. I use my own the majority of the time, and occ. buy someone elses quality product.

I'm confused about glycerin soap having no lye at all--my understanding is that oils must have lye to saponify. You can certainly have high glycerin bars, but don't you need lye for saponification? My soap books are with a friend and so I can't check on it now.

Or maybe you buy the glycerin base and don't start from scratch thereby minimizing your contact with lye.

You understand correctly, The melt & pour soap base also known as glycerin soap has been saponified with lye, all soap that is soap is made with lye.
To me, soapmaking itself is the traditional way using oils and lye. Where as melt & pour bases are more of a "soap craft" your just remelting, adding your choice of additives and remolding and yes minimizing the contact with lye itself.
We sell a number of glycerin soaps but our specialty is the real thing from scratch.

 

[lynpea]

Another soaper here, I LOVE my soap and won't use store bought again. It has helped my skin so much. Mine is all veggie oils, essential oils and sometimes herbs. I'm making a batch today, Lemon Zinger, yesterday it was Lavender Patch.

 

[michelleIL]

How do you make shampoo out of it, and also, I heard that you can somehow get lye from wood burning or something to that effect. Someone want to explain, as I am really stretched on dollars and don't want to spend money if I don't have to. Thanks
HH!!!
Michellle

 

[Cyngbaeld]

Here are a few of the very many soap sites out there. One tells how to make lye from ashes. I use red devil lye, reasonably cheap and makes a hard soap. Ashes are more work and make a soft soap.

http://addy.com/brinkley/
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_ashlye.html
http://www.teachsoap.com/
http://www.naturesapprentice.com/makesoap.htm

 

[Maura]

I looked into the melt and pour and the ingredients are not what I want to put on my skin. I'll stick with my made-from-scratch olive oil bars.

For a shampoo, choose a superfat recipe and use 12 oz of castor oil for part of the oils. I always use a base of olive oil and play around with coconut, almond, palm, and some butters. I will never use store bought again.

 

[Mrs_stuart]

We make all our own lye soaps here...son has sensitive skin and can have no dyes or fragrance and dd can only use a few commercial products. I started making my own laundry soap too because of this and thing here are much better. When my kids dr. diogonosed ds with the egisma (sp) he told me to use dove for him and i laughed and told him i would use mine, it was better than dove. He was very open and he asked questions and wanted to know about it. We gave him a quick education and he was happy with the answers and said to continue using it. Bravo to dr.'s like that!!!!!

Belinda

 

[BCR]

Buying lye insures that you get a consistent product and the expense is well worth it, as one regular small can of Red Devil can go far. The time and energy it takes to gether and strain and check the water through the ashes from scratch is not worth it to me. I like knowing I will get consistent success when I am not experimenting.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Most (and I'm talking 99%) of the melt-and-pour glycerin "soaps" are not soap at all but glycerin and detergents.

I make my own cold process soaps using lye and a variety of oils including lard. After experimenting with many, many, many recipes over the past 5 years and comparing the fatty acid make-up of so many different oils (animal and vegetable), I have come to the conclusion that lard is an essential piece of a wonderfully mild and lathering soap.

I've made exclusive cream & milk soaps for the past 4 years and use cream and milk from our own Jersey cow for the past two years. I have a web page about soapmaking (and making your own lotions, salves and natual colorants for soap making) complete with some of my recipes on my website.

http://wwwmullerslanefarm.com/soapmaking.html
http://wwwmullerslanefarm.com/lotionmaking.html
http://wwwmullerslanefarm.com/salvemaking.html
http://wwwmullerslanefarm.com/soapmaking.html
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapcolors.html

 

[Tinker]

Cindy, your site is one of the ones I have bookmarked, and have referred to over the past. So glad you "rescued" Miss Mary Mac's info--There is so much useful info there, and I know for a while I could not find it. Thanks for reviving it for us!

 

[southerngurl]

What about making shampoos and conditioners?