how to make soap
- Thread starter canadianwildman
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Maybe its me being dense but I get the impression that the question may be aimed at making soap in the wild, or simply, what can be used as a substitute for soap.
If im wrong, then i'll keep my big fat nose out in future.
If im wrong, then i'll keep my big fat nose out in future.
Funnily enough my bush medicine book has a section on soap making. It depends on the type of soap you want.
Traditionally it is made from left over fat from cooking which is then rendered with lye, which in turn is made from white wood ash. Medicated soaps had things such as crushed pine needles added or essential oils when the soap was setting. Soap from hard fats comes out a brown colour. Pine tar soap has pine tar added to the end mix.
If you have eczema or a skin condition try 'dead sea' soap. Its made with dead sea salts.
Sandsnakes
See you at the Bushmoot
Traditionally it is made from left over fat from cooking which is then rendered with lye, which in turn is made from white wood ash. Medicated soaps had things such as crushed pine needles added or essential oils when the soap was setting. Soap from hard fats comes out a brown colour. Pine tar soap has pine tar added to the end mix.
If you have eczema or a skin condition try 'dead sea' soap. Its made with dead sea salts.
Sandsnakes
See you at the Bushmoot
buy some vitamin E (300-600 iu`s) and vitamin A capsules. take 5 of each pierce,, squeese contents into soap mix
and /or
use any of the essential oils below
vetiver, sandalwood,mandarine,cedarwood....(masculine smells not perfumey me thinks?)
skydancer
and /or
use any of the essential oils below
vetiver, sandalwood,mandarine,cedarwood....(masculine smells not perfumey me thinks?)
skydancer
Not native and not particularly cheap, but very effective and makes a beautiful soap, add some shea butter to the soap mix if you suffer from dry skin.
Pine tar is really the same stuff as Stockholm tar but I believe that in Canada there is another, milder, version, and it is this one that is used in soapmaking.
Perhaps if you source some you might let us know ?
I make most things but confess that until very recently I had never made good soap truly from scratch. I usually buy the melt and pour and add whatever I want in my soap to that. It's not only very straightforward, it dries quickly and is very, very good.
cheers,
Toddy
Pine tar is really the same stuff as Stockholm tar but I believe that in Canada there is another, milder, version, and it is this one that is used in soapmaking.
Perhaps if you source some you might let us know ?
I make most things but confess that until very recently I had never made good soap truly from scratch. I usually buy the melt and pour and add whatever I want in my soap to that. It's not only very straightforward, it dries quickly and is very, very good.
cheers,
Toddy
Well, I took some old, dry soap and grated it. This makes soap flakes.
It took one medium bar to soak my washing in
But it shows you just how much soap you would need to make if you were responsible for all your soap needs.
I think I would get though at least a pound a month!
It took one medium bar to soak my washing in
But it shows you just how much soap you would need to make if you were responsible for all your soap needs.
I think I would get though at least a pound a month!
I make all my soap myself. I use sunflower/safflower oil and coconut oil for the base, and use olive oil to superfat the soap.
I make a batch of 3-4 liters of oil at a time, and i generally have soap for about a year.
I`ve also found, that it takes alot less soap to get clean myself, and clean other things, than one would think. It`s one of those instances where a little goes a long way.
Also, knowing that the soap you use has no added chemicals is kinda neat.
As for pine tar soap, i`ve not made it myself. But from what i`ve read, when it is added to the oil/fat and lye mix, it makes things set up really fast. So i think you`d want to add it right at the end, when you`re all ready to pour the soap into the molds. It`s like, get everything ready, add the tar, mix, pour, within less than 30 seconds or so.
(To me, this means that you need to wait for the fat/lye mix to be at the trace, so you`d have to pour it right then anyway. Add the tar, (remembering that the tar needs to be 30-40% of the mix, if i didn`t read things wrong.) Mix it quickly, and pour into waiting molds.)
Just what little i`ve figure out from making some bubbles.
I make a batch of 3-4 liters of oil at a time, and i generally have soap for about a year.
I`ve also found, that it takes alot less soap to get clean myself, and clean other things, than one would think. It`s one of those instances where a little goes a long way.
Also, knowing that the soap you use has no added chemicals is kinda neat.
As for pine tar soap, i`ve not made it myself. But from what i`ve read, when it is added to the oil/fat and lye mix, it makes things set up really fast. So i think you`d want to add it right at the end, when you`re all ready to pour the soap into the molds. It`s like, get everything ready, add the tar, mix, pour, within less than 30 seconds or so.
(To me, this means that you need to wait for the fat/lye mix to be at the trace, so you`d have to pour it right then anyway. Add the tar, (remembering that the tar needs to be 30-40% of the mix, if i didn`t read things wrong.) Mix it quickly, and pour into waiting molds.)
Just what little i`ve figure out from making some bubbles.
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