I make Soap

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JanetKent
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Re: I make Soap

Post by JanetKent »

Sorry Ma...forgot to answer your questions about the kind of soaps l make. l've got so many different moulds and perfumes and oils and colourants - the list is almost endless. But l think my favourite has to be the Summer Roses one. l have a really lovely good size rose mould and l use real rose essential oil and rose water in them - horrendously expensive to make of course. Many essential oils just evaporate when added to hot soap liquid but l find rose and lavender oil seem to hold their perfume well. l made some Anti-Viral soap too with various anti-viral oils in it and my friend got really hooked on it.
l wish l could post photos on here to show you but l don't have an account with photobucket - but if you're on Facebook you can see lots of photos in my album on there.
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ma larkin
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Re: I make Soap

Post by ma larkin »

Cinnamon and Orange Brulee sounds fab! I would love to see the photos of what you have made, so I shall go on Facebook )t'

I adore the 'Darling Buds of May' too! I would love to have all the episodes on DVD. Every Christmas I drop a BIG hint to Pa, but he has not picked up on it yet!! I did not realise until a lovely friend accidently told me that everyone thought I was a real 'Ma Larkin' :? We were building our chicken coop and run at the time when she told me, and I was preparing a mountain of bacon sandwiches for the workers! I thought I was more 'Kate Winslet' but never mind... :-D

Ma Larkin
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JanetKent
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Re: I make Soap

Post by JanetKent »

LOL that made me laugh Ma lol
Blimey - it's been a few years since l felt like a Kate Winslett {cry}
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lancashire lass
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Re: I make Soap

Post by lancashire lass »

Just reviving a very old post (though it goes seriously off topic midway down the first page {rofwl} )

Back in the early 2000s, I got into making soaps using raw ingredients (various oils/fats & sodium hydroxide) and added essential oils and other ingredients (some for texture or "medicinal" use, as in, soothing effect on skin conditions) I use to sell the soaps to friends and work colleagues who couldn't wait for the next batch to be ready. However, the process of converting oils & fats to soap takes weeks after the initial reaction with sodium hydroxide and I'd be testing them first on myself before offering them for sale. I was surprised by how much some people were prepared to pay quite a lot for home made soap (but trust me, I never made a profit as the raw materials were expensive) In the current financial climate, I doubt people would want to spend too much.

Anyway, just before the pandemic, I found a great website which sells just about anything and everything to do with soap making and making cosmetics (for personal use or to start your own business selling the products as all their items must meet regulations which they can pass on to their customers) Funny enough, the same website was mentioned at the start of this thread called The Soap Kitchen One of the things I wanted to try out were the ready made soap bases (you just melt the quantity you intend using and then add the fragrances (or essential oils) and colours / glitter / herbal or whatever and when it has cooled down and set, is ready to pop out of the mould and use.

However, I never got round to making the soaps (and some of the other cosmetics I was hoping to try my hand at) because soon after, I ended up working from home and I was too busy to be able to do anything else. I'm rather keen to get on with it now and have just had another spending spree buying some different fragrances that happen to be on special offer. The ones I bought the last time were divine - not just for using in soap making but for things like making your own deodorants. Even a few drops can revitalise an old car air freshener. Fragrance oils are a lot cheaper than essential oils but that doesn't make them smell cheap.
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Mo
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Re: I make Soap

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I thought I didn't recognise the name under the thread.
Interesting to read down the meanderings, lots of names I do remember.
Have fun with the soap. It will be a rush yo get any ready for Christmas gifts.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Spreckly
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Re: I make Soap

Post by Spreckly »

Never ventured down the soap making line. I buy Simple soap, and moisturiser, which suit my sensitive skin.
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lancashire lass
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Re: I make Soap

Post by lancashire lass »

Spreckly wrote: 16 Dec 2022, 08:45 Never ventured down the soap making line. I buy Simple soap, and moisturiser, which suit my sensitive skin.
I was curious to know how soap is made and found the basic method wasn't that difficult. The book I bought had a lot of information about soap making - for example, the properties of different fats of oils in soaps - some (especially when coconut oil is added) lather well but for some people can dry out the skin, whereas some have hardly any lather at all (when made from olive oil) but are best for sensitive skin (especially for those who might suffer from eczema) And then there are the additives (natural products like goats milk, cocoa butter, chocolate (yes, real chocolate - and it makes a lovely soap) or things like vitamin E or essential oil) which again can change how the soap works. Then there are rules about mixing essential oils which is quite a lesson on how we smell things which I found fascinating.
Mo wrote: 15 Dec 2022, 16:09 Have fun with the soap. It will be a rush yo get any ready for Christmas gifts.
I don't intend making soap for Christmas but for personal use. The interest this time round was sparked off in 2018 / 2019 when I was researching climate change and plastic pollution. I bought some reusable fabric bags for when I was at the supermarket purchasing loose fruit & veg, and I also purchased a shampoo bar to try out (the idea of reducing plastic) I was very happy with the bags but disappointed that the shampoo bar when it arrived was wrapped in loads of clingfilm, in a zip lock bag and in a plastic mailing bag (rolls eyes in disbelief) I was happy using the shampoo bar but reluctant to buy it again as it defeated the object of reducing plastic.

So that's when I bought the base soap for making shampoo bars and another type of base soap for making my own soaps - and they'll be packaged in waxed paper during storage. Has anyone else noticed how packaging for soap has switched from waxed paper or card to plastic wrapping? There's no need to use plastic for soap - it's not perishable like food and even if it does dry out a little, it will recover once the soap is being used.
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Mo
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Re: I make Soap

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I don't think I've bought soap for 7 years. I've inherited my husbands hoard of Wrights Coal Tar. And a few tiny B&B mini bars, which presumably they'd throw away once opened. But mostly use a shampoo bottle of watered soap ends. Too small to use, don't want to throw away.
I've had that bottle on the go for some time. The cap came apart from the lid so now fill the nozzle-hole with an old inter-dental brush (mustn't use it on teeth by mistake or I'd be blowing bubbles)
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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