Off The Grid Living: Low Cost Ways To Make Your Own All-Natural Soap

Greetings,

Low Cost Ways To Make Your Own All-Natural Soap

Written by: Tricia Drevets How-To

Save Bundles And Make Your Own All-Natural Soap
Image source: Lovinsoap.com
As you simplify your lifestyle, it is natural to consider making or growing many of the items you use every day. Not only do you save money, but you often can end up with a superior product. A great example is homemade soap. With some practice, you c

an make your own soap that is a gentle and natural alternative to commercial soap. Plus, soap making helps you nurture your crafty side as well.
You wash your face, hands and body with it, but, first, let’s define what soap really is. Soap is the result of a basic chemical reaction between natural oils or fats with sodium hydroxide (lye) that often has perfumes or coloring added to it.
Soap was part of early civilizations. In fact, archaeologists credit the Babylonians with inventing soap around 2800 B.C. The earliest known soap recipe was a mixture of animal fats and wood ash and was used for cleaning textiles. According to ancient historian Pliny the Elder, Phoenicians used goat’s tallow and wood ashes to make soap in 600 BC. Records reveal that soap, called “sapo” in Latin, was widely used during the time of the Roman Empire. The Celts called the product they created from animal fat and plant ashes “saippo.”

From the founding of our country up to the early years of the 20th century, only the rich bought their soap; it was common to make soap at home. Today, most people purchase their soap and those who do make it themselves often do so for the purpose of gift giving. While homemade soap does make a lovely gift, once you use homemade soap, you’ll want to keep having some for your own family’s daily use.
DVD series shows how to make your own soap quickly and easily
Basically, there are four ways of making soap:
melt and pour method — melting pre-made blocks of soap and adding your own fragrance.
re-batching — grinding up pieces of soap or bars of soap, adding milk or water and re-blending them.
cold process — making soap from scratch with oils and lye.
hot process — a variation of the popular cold process in which the soap is actually cooked in an oven.
Many cold process recipes use lye (sodium hydroxide), and since lye is a caustic and dangerous substance that requires caution, many people shy away from using it. Lye can indeed strip paint, ruin clothing and burn skin and eyes. Even its fumes can be harmful.
By protecting your work surface and your clothing, by wearing goggles and gloves, and by using caution, you can work with lye without incident, however.
There are many basic soap recipes. As with many recipes, it’s important to start with a basic one and then modify it according to your own needs and preferences.
The following recipe, which yields 51 ounces of unscented soap or 12 to 14 bars, depending on the size of your mold, provides a good starting point. You can supplement it with essential oils, such as lavender oil, for fragrance.
Ingredients you need:
18.5 oz. olive oil (non-virgin oil works well)
12 oz. coconut oil
9 oz. palm oil
1 oz. Shea butter
5.8 oz. lye
13.5 oz. purified water…….MORE HERE

Source: www.offthegridnews.com 

Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2014 Hiram's 1555 Blog