10 years, no “soap”

It’s been about 10 years since I’ve bought a bar of soap and boy am I glad  I mean, really, have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a bar of soap that you buy at the grocery or drug store?  The only thing those “beauty bars” do is create beautiful wads of cash for the big commercial companies that make them.  If you can read, or pronounce, the mumbo jumbo written on the back of the label, do you actually know what they are?  Most are chemicals, surfactants, detergents and in some cases carcinogens.  Do we really need more of that stuff in our lives.

I took a look at the ingredient list for one of the beauty bars that says it “rinses cleaner”  and just ONE of the ingredients is Tetrasodium EDTA.  According to this article Tetrasodium EDTA is a preservative that’s made from the known carcinogen, formaldehyde and sodium cyanide.  It is also a penetration enhancer, meaning it breaks down the skin’s protective barrier, going right into your bloodstream.

Now I had no idea about this stuff anymore than the next person.  But, my husband Brian and I took a trip to visit my Dad.  During our stay he took us sight seeing and doing the touristy thing.  One of the places he took us was to a soap shop that did soap making demonstrations.  We sat there mesmerized watching as luxurious oils miraculously started changing into soap by the addition of lye water.  I was even given the chance to stir it  At one point Brian leaned towards me and said “We should start making soap”.  Well, we get back home and I start researching, and researching, and researching some more.  I learned the history of soap making, the properties of the different oils used etc, and so on as well as what I don’t want on my skin.   And that’s how I became a soap maker!!

Originally this post was just going to be a short one to tell you what I’ve got on the curing rack this week, but as you can see, I got side tracked.  So without further ado, here’s what’s on the curing rack

Lavender.  This is my fastest selling bar!

ingredients:  Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Shea Butter, Water, Lye Lavender Essential Oil 40/42, Lavender Buds and Iron Oxide Colour.

Available around April 1st.  No Joke

Mandarine Green Tea.

ingredients:  Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Shea Butter, Water, Lye, Fragrance and Iron Oxide Colour.

Available around April 1st.

This is another batch of Mandarine Green Tea.  You can see how the colouring is different in this batch but it still smells the same as the one above  One of these batches is already sold as soon as it has cured.

This is a custom blend of 3 different essential oils.  This batch, once cured is also sold.

I also have two other batches of custom blended soap that I haven’t photographed as they are also sold once the curing process is completed.

This is what my dining room table, come “curing rack” looks like right now.  There’s not much room left on it so I’ll have to come up with a better system.

For my birthday, my step dad, Dennis gave me a tiered green house that I think will be pressed into service.  I expect it will do the trick beautifully

My soap can be purchased as individual bars, or whole loaves.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a message.

TTFN,

Sherry

Squeeee! I got a stick blender!!

Ok, so it’s been forever since I last posted.  Christmas was crazy as usual, then January came and like always I need a break so I closed up shop for 2 weeks for some R&R.  And when I’m away from the store I’m AWAY from the store.  I don’t read my emails, facebook, nothing.  It’s like for 2 weeks the store doesn’t exist, and it just so happens that during that time off I have a birthday.  Funny how that works eh?  I know that’s no excuse but I need the break.  Anyway now I have some big news… well I think it’s big news anyway.

Some of you may know that I am a soaper, my soap line is called Parson House Soap & Candle Co. (I make Soy Wax Candles too)  I make Goat’s Milk M&P soap and Cold Processed Olive Oil soap.  Now my Goat’s Milk Soap is fairly quick and simple to make, but the Cold Process soap took me FOREVER to make.  You see, I’m a make do kinda girl.  I make do with what I have and if I don’t have it I do without and just suck it up.  Anyway for me to make a batch of Cold Process soap, it would take a minimum of 3 hours of just stirring (any of you who make soap already know this) and that didn’t include the time assembling, measuring and weighting the oils etc.  Well this year I told my husband Brian that all I’d like for Christmas and or my birthday was a laser thermometer and a stick blender.  Well our anniversary is the 1st of December and Brian gave me a Kobo Vox E-reader and a Laser Thermometer!   This thing is fantastic!!  Before I’d use candy thermometers to measure the temp of my lye and oils.  They took a while to get an accurate reading, they have to be cleaned and they break way too easily and too often.  Don’t get me wrong, they work but…

For my Birthday I got a beautiful Sterling Silver Bracelet and a Stick Blender!!!  

So while my mom was here for a visit during my staycation we went down to my lab (mwuahahaha) and made a batch of Castile soap.  I figured if my regular Olive Oil soap took at least 3 hours of stirring to reach trace, then I knew that Castile soap would take even longer to hand stir with 80% Olive Oil, so lets test this puppy out.

Here are the results.  I’m armed with my brand new tools of the trade and my mom is armed with my camera.

I’ve already donned my rubber gloves and goggles and weighed out all my water, lye and oils.  Here we go!

Lye Solution:  lye mixed with water creates a lot of heat, almost to the boiling point, so here it is all mixed and cooling in the jug.

Oils:Here are the oils.  I used 80% Olive Oil and add a small amount of Coconut and Palm Oils to give the bars hardness and a stable lather.

Adding the Lye:Both the Lye and the Oils have reached about the same temperature, around 100 degrees.  The laser thermometer makes this part soooooo much easier, just point and click! So now it’s time to add the lye to the oils, you can already see the transformation to soap, but we’ve got a ways to go yet.

Stick Blending:The stick blender is like buttah!!!  I just love this thing!!!  I know all you other soapers out there are saying “Duh” but who knew!?!

Light Trace:Look how quickly this is going!!!  Woo hoo!

Trace Lines:Here’s a better picture of the trace lines.  This means we are starting to get soap!!  With this spatula, I would have been standing at the pot for about three hours or so a this point.

Thick Trace:Here we are at a thick trace, you can see the colour change before your eyes using this wonderful gadget!  Time to pour!

Lined Mold:My husband made me these wooden log molds and it’s ready to go, lined with freezer paper.

Pouring the Soap:

Scraping the last bits:We gotta get every last bit of the soap out of the pot, it’s just too good to waste and it makes the clean up go much easier later

Now at this point I would smooth it all out, cover the top with plastic wrap then wrap it up in towels to let the soap go through a gell stage.  I much prefer the look of a textured top, so I don’t do that anymore.

Texturizing the Top:I use the back of a spoon and add some texture to the top making it lumpy  With other soaps I’ve added a bit of glitter to the top just for a bit of fun, but since this is Castile soap, I didn’t want to add anything else, you’ll notice that I didn’t and any fragrance to this soap either.

All Done:Here it is!  From start to finish, and I mean the very beginning, where I first put on my rubber gloves to this point, taking this picture it was less than one hour!!!  Oh how I LOVE my stick blender!!!!!

24 Hours Later:Here’s our Castile soap 24 hours later!  Time to take it out of the mold and cut it

All Unwrapped:Isn’t that a pretty sight

Time to Cut:Here’s the first cut.  These end cuts are for Brian and I to use.  I always, always use the first bar of soap before I sell it.  The first use is on my hands.  If that is good then it’s into the shower I go and I use it head to toe.  I want to be sure that I’m putting a fantastic product on my shelves.  I’m my worst critic so if it doesn’t get past me, it won’t get to you.

Cutting the first Bar:Here’s our first full size bar.  I sell my soap as 100 gm bars, but since I hand cut them, they usually run anywhere from 110 – 130 gms.  They are always over, never under weight.

14 Bars Curing:And here they all are, beautifully creamy bars of Castile soap!  You may notice that the cut edges are a little rough.  In hindsight I should have left the log another 24 hours before cutting it.  At this point the soap was firm but soft and since I use a blade soap cutter the soap slices kinda stuck to the blade.  You know what it’s like cutting a soft cheese that sticks, well, kinda like that.  It doesn’t affect the soap, it’s just not quite as aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

After curing for 4 to 6 weeks these Castile soap bars can be used, but so that they will be at their best and mildest they will be curing for 4 to 6 months!

On Sunday I made a batch of my Olive Oil and Shea Butter soap with a Rose Garden Fragrance.  I’ll be cutting it tomorrow and it should be ready for sale around March 2nd.  I’ll be cutting it tonight and I’ll post pictures tomorrow.

This is the soap I made at the end of November before I was given my wonderful new gadgets.  It’s Lavender Olive and Shea.  Just for fun I stamped on some butterflies.  They are available in the store now!Well this has been a long drawn out post, but I’m just so excited I couldn’t make it any shorter.  I have so many great ideas swirling through my head with what I can do now and so much quicker too.  So I’ll stop babbling now and let you get on with your lives.  See ya tomorrow!

Sherry

 

Soap Scents & Sensibility

I’ve been busy making some old favorite and new soap fragrance combinations.  I have 2 lines of Parson House Soaps that I make, Goats Milk and Cold Process Olive Oil Soap.

Soap Window Display

Window Display Close-up

There are tons of benefits to using handmade soap over store brands, first and foremost is the brands you find on your grocers’ shelves ARE NOT SOAP.  Yes, you read that right, they are not soap, they are detergents such as Sodium laureth sulfate or Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and are used as surfactant as a cleansing agents.  These soaps tend to leave the skin feeling tight, dry and itchy.  A natural by-product of soap making is Glycerine.  The large soap companies refine out, via chemical treatment, the glycerine as it is a valuable and expensive industrial material used in various other products.

If that isn’t a good enough reason to use handmade REAL soap, the here are a few benefits of Goat’s Milk & Olive Oil Soaps you may not have known before.

Benefits of Goat’s Milk.

• Goat milk contains alpha-hydroxy acids such as lactic acid which help remove dead skin cells from your skin’s surface. This leaves new cells on the surface of your skin that are smoother and younger looking. The alpha-hydroxy acids are so effective because they break down the bonds that hold the dead skin cells together. Removing dead skin cells will help many skin conditions by removing irritation.
• Goat milk contains many vitamins, but is particularly high in Vitamin A, which is necessary to repair damaged skin tissue, and maintain healthy skin. There have been several medical studies showing that creams made with Vitamin A reduce lines and wrinkles, control acne, and provide some psoriasis relief.
• Fat molecules are an important part of making good soap. The cream that is present in goat milk helps boost the moisturizing quality of goat milk soaps. Since many people suffer from dry skin, particularly in the winter months, this is an important quality for soap. Goat milk soap will not dry your skin out like many other soaps. This is important because keeping skin naturally moisturized helps keep skin healthy.
• Goat milk contains important minerals for the skin such as selenium. Selenium is believed by scientists to have an important role in preventing skin cancer. Selenium can also help prevent damage to the skin from excessive time in the sun.

Benefits of Olive Oil Soap

• Olive oil soap softens and smooths your skin and is great for dry and sensitive skin because olive oil is a fantastic emollient (an agent that softens or soothes the skin).
• Olive oil is great for relieving the symptoms of skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis.
• Olive oil will not clog your pores because it is non-greasy making it great for people who suffer from Acne.
• Olive oil contains squalene and squalane. Squalene is naturally produced by the sebum glands in the skin. The squalene and squalane work together to help prevent the skin’s natural oils from oxidizing which could lead to cell deterioration.
• Hydroxytyrosol gives olive oil anti-inflammatory properties which research shows is good for healing skin abrasions, rashes and sunburn. The hydroxytyrosol also has antimicrobial properties.

So with that said, here are some of my new Scents and old favorites.  All our soaps are hand cut and price per 100 gram bar but are generously sized at well over 100 grams each.

Vanilla Goat’s Milk Soap:

Vanilla

Smooth and creamy this bar is scented with the rich warm bakery scent of vanilla.  A swirl of clear soap plays through the bar.

Rose Garden Goat’s Milk Soap:

Rose Garden

Bathing with this soap is like holding up a bouquet of roses to your nose, very soft & pretty.  Chunks of clear soap mingle throughout the rose pink bar.

Cucumber Melon Goat’s Milk Soap:

Cucumber Melon

A wonderful blend of crisp cucumber and fresh ripe honeydew melon creates a clean fragrance enjoyed by both men and women.  Swirls of green and melon coloured soap dance within the white bar.

Blueberry Swirl Goat’s Milk Soap:

Blueberry Swirl

You may just want to take a quick trip up north to pick some blueberries after bathing with this tart blueberry scented bar!  This one is a real winner with the men folk.

Mandarine Green Tea Goat’s Milk Soap:

Mandarine Green Tea

I blended two unusual suspects in the bar and came up with a truly unique fragrance.  The soft green leafy scent of the green tea sits on the surface then the sweet citrusy smell of the mandarine jumps out to play.  My husband really likes this one

True Lilac Goat’s Milk Soap:

True Lilac

You’ll be bringing the scent of spring indoors when you use this bar.  CAUTION, you may never want to get out of the tub on a cold winter night!  Using this bar just brings a smile to your face.

Splashes of white play in the lilac colour of this bar.

Lavender Shea Olive Oil Soap:

Lavender Shea

Lavender essential oil scents this soap bar with its soothing & relaxing fragrance.  The addition of Shea Butter makes this bar extra moisturizing.

Citrus Calendula Olive Oil Soap:

Citrus Calendula

I’ve used 5 different essential oils in this bar, bitter orange, lemon, lime, lemongrass & sweet orange, then added calendula petals for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory properties as well as its astringent and antiseptic benefits.  This combination make this bar very emotionally uplifting and great for any skin problems.

So there you have it, my soap