Self-sufficient households; help!

[Acre of Blessings]

Quote:
The allergic reactions is the reason why I started making my own laundry detergent.

ninjapoodles--I to would like to try some of your soap.

 

[chickymama25]

I really am interested in trying the detergent, but does anyone know if it is safe to use with baby clothes? I figure it can't be any worse than store bought stuff, but I like to be sure.

 

[morelcabin]

It would be much safer to use with baby clothes than the store bought stuff for sure. Store bought detergents have alot of chemicals in them that are really bad for you. For one it has phytoestrogens, which wreak havok on a womans hormonal balance, and who knows what it does for a mans....
Borax is great for diaper pails...says so right on the box...you might want to cut back on the colour safe bleach a little...washing soda is fine...I might find an alternative for the fels naptha...someone on here said it can be toxic...I don't know I have never used it, I use the sunlight bars instead.

 

[ninjapoodles]

chickenbaby, chickencrew...I may have some pure castille baby bars around, if you'd like to try on sensitive skin. I also used to make some carrot facial soap that I never really got to sell because two women would buy all I had every time! PM me or email my username at gmail.com. I have a some stock sitting around since the last time I sold. The scented bars may have lost fragrance, but otherwise, the older it is, the more mellow it is. The Castille bars are unscented to begin with. Email me, and I'll see what I've got. Hubby gets tense if I start soaping when there's already a few boxes on the soap racks! But I have lots of new stuff I want to try.

Belinda

 

[morelcabin]

Ninjapoodles,
Just a question...not meaning this sarcasticly at all, but what is wrong with animal fat in soap? I personally find Ivory the mildest soap I can find, including home made soaps that I can buy at the health food store. I think many of them around here are made with lye though because I find them very hard on my skin.
I am assuming you make yours with glycerine, which I actually DO like on my skin, I just don't like all the fragrance they seem to add. Ivory has just been my #1 for so many years because it causes no skin irritation or dreaded yeast infections!:>)

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Personally, I don't think anything's wrong with animal fats in soap, and I'm in awe of people who can render their own lard and get it clear and clean for soapmaking. I was just making the point that the "99% pure" slogan drives me nuts, because the ingredients are nothing special at ALL. I wasn't saying the ingredients were in any way "bad." Sorry if it came across that way. I'm not sure what the silica is for--probably appearance of the bar, to make it shiny?

ALL soap, even Ivory, is made with lye, in one form or another. The FDA defines "soap" as "an alkali salt of fatty acids," which is to say, lye (sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium carbonate,) plus fat. Any fat. Personally, I only use vegetable and nut/seed oils in my soaps, but that's mainly due to the fact that I don't have a ready source of, or place to store, animal fat. I go through LOTS of oils and butters! Animal products I do use in soap include beeswax, honey, goat's milk, cow's milk, buttermilk, yogurt, egg yolks...and probably more that I'm not thinking of right now. I also make some vegan varieties for people who want those, but personally, I like using milks and bee products.

Handcrafting soapers don't add glycerin *to* our soap--the companies who make the commercial detergent bars REMOVE the natural glycerin from their bars, because it's more profitable to sell as a by-product than it is when left in the primary product. I think that's why people perceive handmade soap as "moisturizing." In actuality, our soap isn't "moisturizing" in that it's adding moisture to your skin (that's a common claim that bothers me, because a cleansing product that you rinse off can't really impart moisture INTO your skin), but by virtue of it still containing its natural glycerin, thereby NOT stripping your skin of its own moisture.

Geez, that was a run-on sentence. Did that even make sense? Anyway, there's nothing wrong with Ivory--if I had to use a large-scale commercially produced bar, that's probably the one I'd choose. And if something works, especially in regard to skin, I'd hesitate to change it. I have terribly tricky skin; I know whereof I speak! The Ivory is probably mild to your skin more for what is NOT in it than from what is. Not that it matters, cuz if it works, it works!

You CAN buy "glycerin soap." Soapmaking suppliers sell blocks of just clear (or white, or colored) glycerin soap, to which crafters may add colorants, fragrances, etc. Some people can do some really neat stuff with "melt & pour" soap. That's how almost every soapmaker I know got started...it's addictive, like chicken-keeping!

 

[ninjapoodles]

I should add, even though lye is required to saponify the fats that make soap, there is NO LYE in the finished product. It undergoes a total chemical change. That's why some people, in listing ingredients, will say "saponified coconut oil," for example, instead of listing "sodium hydroxide."

 

[2dream]

ninjapoodles - I would personally like to thank you for that education this morning. I was totally rivited to your post. I have read it three times and was totally amazed at what goes into a bar of soap. I know it was time consuming for you but very well written and educational.

I have never made soap, and have never given it a lot of thought until I started reading this thread.
I made my own laundry detergent with the borax, fals, and washing soda yesterday afternoon. I have not tried it yet but today is wash day.

Now I have to go back and find that furniture cleaning recipe.

Thanks to all. Keep posting and they will come.

 

[morelcabin]

Thanks Ninjapoodles, your post really helped me understand alot about soap that I didn't before! I am so happy you didn't take that question the wrong way:>) I have seen the clear glycerine, actually bought a bottle of the liquid glycerine once to try as shampoo, it was great for skin but not so great pure for shampoo.
Do you happen to know a simple recipe for shampoo? Or maybe a good alternative? I would love to get away from the commercial stuff...but I find that the 'natural shampoos at the health food stores are just so expensive, and everyone in this house seems to think you need a handful for every wash!
Anyway thanks again for your very informative post! I think you might have even convinced me to look further into the 'melt and pour' method of making soap! I might get away from the Ivory eventually after all:>)

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

After reading this thread and researching making my own soap, I gladly paid three dollars for a bar of plain sheep's milk soap at the farmer's market this morning.

Maybe I'll get a relationship going with her to swap eggs for soap.