The Soap Suds

There comes a time where the small chips of soap bars are difficult to use and often get thrown away (or stuck to some corner in the shower). These bars can be turned into liquid soap saving you money and allowing you to recycle them.

1. Gather up your old used soap bars into a ziploc bag until you have a bunch.
2. It is best when you mix them according to attractively mixed scents and colors. White and pale yellow bars tend to look a little yucky once turned into liquid soap. To avoid this add soap colorant or a colored bar of soap to the mix.
3. Once you have grouped your soap you can place it in a small pan with about two cups of water. Add a tablespoon of an oil of your choice (I often add vegetable oil, it is cheap and always available).
4. Melt your soap. Stir it often with a wooden spoon.
5. Once the soap is melted you will want to let it cool. After it has cooled check the consistency. If it is too thick add another cup of water and reheat. If it is too thin then boil it for twenty minutes or so to reduce the amount of water in the soap.
6. Remember to keep it liquid soap! If you want you can add soap fragrance or colorant for a different look.
7. Let cool thoroughly and place in a storage bottle (a hand soap refill bottle is perfect!). You can then add it to your soap pumps for new liquid soap from your old leftovers.

This is a good way to have a good smelling house as well. The soap will smell good as it heats up. Plus you save money and make something new.

Vacation was a good thing and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. However we are back now and I am getting to work! If you are interested in finding out more about our great vacation then head on over to Life or Something Like It.

The day is coming to a close. I have worked hard and gotten all my work done. I almost have my family packed and I am very excited for the time ahead of us. Tomorrow morning we will be getting up early and heading out on nine days of crazy adventure and calling it a vacation. I shall be back on September 9th and look forward to continuing at that time. Till Next Time.

No matter what types of products you choose to make, you are indeed a designer who gets to choose your ingredients. You can choose them according to your needs. Many ingredients have properties that will be added to your ingredient. Others are good for the skin. Some have properties that can help with aromatherapy. There are a wide range of options and learning what they are can greatly add to the value of your products.

Included in the ingredients that it is a good idea to learn more about are oils, additives, colorations, and fragrance and essential oils. Learning about these items can make it possible for you to tailor soaps, bath and body products, and household products to meet your needs.

Celtic sea salts are hand harvested from clay ponds and salt marshes leaving them full of lots of great minerals. These salts are processed using natural methods and unrefined. This leaves these exceptional salts free of pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful chemicals. Celtic grey sea salt is a light grey color and available in a naturally course size or a stone ground finer size. Most of these salts are harvested in France. These wonderful salts are naturally moist and perfect for salt scrubs as well as good for bath salts.

These salts are very good for you aiding in balancing the body’s electrolytes, promoting good cellular maintenance, relieving allergies and skin ailments, and help to reduce toxins in the body. With a great blend of minerals this is one of the best salts out there. It is light enough to color well and has a lot to offer a salt blend.

When making a salt product, whether it is a bath salts or a salt scrub the size and texture of the salts you want is really important. Many different kinds of salts come in different sizes (often labeled fine, course, or such) and they lend texture to the final product often according to the materials other then “salt” that they are made up of.

How fast do you want it to dissolve? Often this question isn’t something that is answered easily. However, some people desire that their bath salts be melted into the water quickly. Others like to scrub a little with the moistened salt. If you want a fast dissolving salt then choose something that is fine. You can make the whole blend from fine salts, or form slightly courser salts, but leaving out large chunks or salts of significant size.

Scrubbing-Making scrubs is often different then bath salts. You want to choose a salt that will be abrasive but not painfully so. Often the fine salts will feel like they are digging in to the skin. This means you want something just a bit bigger then that, but nothing real course or you will have a hard time using it.

In the end, your desired results should show through. When creating a recipe you will have to keep these things in mind so that you can choose salts according to your desires.

The Dead Sea is actually a lake that is located between Jordan and Israel. It is called such because no plant life or animal life can live in its waters due to the high concentration of salt water. While this lake’s shores are 1300 feet below sea level and are the lowest place on Earth that you can get to without going underwater, that isn’t what makes this lake remarkable. Instead it is the salt that is found here. These waters are 10 times saltier then those found in the ocean and these salts have many benefits. Long known to be medicinal these salts make wonderful bath salts, additives to bath soaks and foot soaks, and great salts to add to salt scrubs. They are known to soothe and soften the skin, relax the muscles, improve cell metabolism, and contribute to restoration and regeneration of cells. In addition to that studies have shown that it is good for acne, psoriasis, and rheumatism. With 21 trace minerals and a salt composition like none other, these slightly pricey salts are worth the extra money. These salts often run about $2 a pound and are sold in batches from 5 pounds to 55 pounds. They are a great salt to add to your product, which is especially good practice if you are adding expensive salts with inexpensive salts.

Cold process soap is often more popular then hot process soap. However, the big advantage to hot process soap is that you can make it, cook it, and use it much faster because the cooking process causes the lye and oils/fats to turn to soap faster then cold process soap. With this process you don’t have to have a four to six week cure time. However, if you aren’t careful, hot process soap can be very messy.

Hot process soap begins the same way as cold process soap. You measure out your oils and fats and begin to warm and melt them. Then you measure out your lye and add it to your water (slowly and carefully). When both have reached about 110 degrees then you add them together (slowly drizzling the lye water into the fats and oils). Instead of letting the whole batch cool and waiting for trace you will leave the soap on low heat.

There are actually three ways to do this. The first option is to leave it on the stove and slowly cook it. This is the easiest to watch which can often be helpful. Second, you could cook it in a crock pot. This can be done slow, but you need to make sure that it is on low so that it doesn’t boil over. The third way is to bake it in the oven. This should be done with the oven on warm and should be watched carefully. The crock pot makes for a more bubbly soap that is lighter. The oven makes for an even more bubbly soap.

You will want to cook your soap on low for about four hours. You can then add your fragrance and your additives. However, it is sometimes thick at the end of the four hours (depending on your recipe). This can make it easier to add after about an hour of cooking, but your fragrance might be lighter by time it is done cooking.

After four hours of cooking you can mold your soap and let harden. After 24 hours you can remove it from the soap mold. Then you can let it set for 24 hours after which time the soap can be used.

The downside to hot process soap is that it isn’t as smooth as cold process soap. This makes it hard to make small molded soaps. It works best with bars or chunks. You can also make hot process soap cakes and soap balls. But guest soaps or fancy molds are a bad idea with hot process soaps.

Hawaii is certainly filled with good things. It is no different when it comes to salts. Their blessing ceremonies have included Alaea salts which are red in color from the volcanic clay of the area. These salts are often used for food, but they have their benefits in bath salts, soaks, and scrubs as well. This is a great salt for mixing with other salts and can lend a natural color to your bath salts as well. At less then $1 a pound, this makes for a fantastic salt that goes well with other more expensive salts.

Candles are very easy to make and don’t require a lot of money or equipment. You will need wax, wicks, fragrance, and colorant. As for equipment you will need two old pots (one larger then the other), a double boiler you no longer need, or a candle melting pot. You will also want something to stir with, and molds or jars.

You will want to melt your wax in smallest pan by placing it in the larger pan of water. The same is done with a double boiler or the melting pot. You will then add fragrance and colorant. Stir well. Then place the wick into the mold or jar. Hold in place as you carefully pour the wax into the mold. Let the candle harden for 24 hours and then remove from the mold. If you pour it into a jar then you can leave it there.

You can decorate your jar and keep it or give it as gifts. The candles can also be decorated or left plain and given or kept. It is all up to you!