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3 Surprising Facts About Soap

10.02.2017 by thriftyhomesteader // 6 Comments

about soap

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...]

Categories // soap making

Learning to Make Soap

09.07.2017 by thriftyhomesteader // 21 Comments

soapmaking

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...]

Categories // soap making

Why I’m still making soap after all these years

06.29.2017 by thriftyhomesteader // 5 Comments

make soap

Shortly after moving to the country in 2002, 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 … [Read more...]

Categories // soap making

The homemade laundry detergent debate

11.14.2016 by thriftyhomesteader // 90 Comments

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...]

Categories // EcoThrifty, soap making

6 reasons homesteaders need a kitchen scale

10.26.2015 by thriftyhomesteader // 3 Comments

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...]

Categories // canning, cheese, eggs, food, home dairy, homesteading, soap making, Uncategorized

Mother Earth News Fair:
Natural Home Dairy presentation

09.27.2012 by thriftyhomesteader // 1 Comment

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...]

Categories // cheese, cows, goats, home dairy, sheep, soap making, Uncategorized

Thoughts on soap making

09.22.2011 by thriftyhomesteader // 7 Comments

  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 … [Read more...]

Categories // soap making

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