Because I make my own soap and teach soapmaking classes, I clear up a lot of misconceptions about soap. Through the years, there are three ideas that keep coming back again and again. Can you teach me to make soap without lye? In a word -- no! No one can. You cannot make soap without lye. Soap is by definition saponified oils, and the way to saponify oils is by using lye in … [Read more...]
Learning to Make Soap
There are lots of reasons to make your own soap. You can create a safer product than what's available commercially, and you can save money when compared to products with similar, natural ingredients. It can also be fun! Anne-Marie Faiola has always taken the fun part to a whole new level, as her soaps look like works of art. In her latest book, Pure Soapmaking: How to Create … [Read more...]
Why I’m still making soap after 14 years
Shortly after moving to the country I was complaining to a friend about my allergy to commercial soaps. I used to be a major fragrance junky! I was one of those people who now make me miserable. I had more than half a dozen different colognes, and I had matching soap, lotion, and powder for at least four or five of them. And then one by one, they all made me start itching and … [Read more...]
The homemade laundry detergent debate
When I wrote EcoThrifty it seemed that there were dozens of people around the web who were talking about making your own laundry detergent at home. I quickly realized all of them were using pretty much the same recipe: borax, washing soda, and a grated bar of soap. I wanted to include homemade laundry detergent in my book, but I had a few problems with that popular recipe … [Read more...]
6 reasons homesteaders need a kitchen scale
When I started reading about how to make soap, I noticed that everyone said I needed to have a digital kitchen scale. Why do I need a scale to make soap when people have been making soap for thousands of years? Eventually I learned that when people made soap historically, they used whatever oil was available locally, which usually meant lard or tallow in the U.S., coconut or … [Read more...]
Mother Earth News Fair:
Natural Home Dairy presentation
Last weekend I was in Pennsylvania at the third Mother Earth News Fair to be held at Seven Springs. On Sunday morning, when temperatures were in the 40s, a brave group of souls came out to listen to my talk on the Natural Home Dairy. This is the PowerPoint that accompanied that talk, and it includes a recipe for queso blanco cheese and milk soap. … [Read more...]
Thoughts on soap making
When writing the soap making section of Homegrown and Handmade, I decided to look at some articles and do some online searches and see what others have written about making soap. To be completely honest, I was a little nervous about writing on the subject because lye can be pretty dangerous stuff. On the other hand, I didn't want to scare people so badly that they would be too … [Read more...]