Soap Recipe's

Friday, May 06, 2011 Edit This 0 Comments »
Well I was reading one of the posts off a group I'm apart of and thought I'd pass along these soap recipe's.
I have not tried to make soap myself yet..but I know a lot of people are interested in it..
So here ya go.
Oh also there is a natural berry called a Soap Nut that you can purchase that makes natural soap as well.After its done producing you toss it into the compost pile.This is what I personally use.You can get a sample at http://www.thelaundrytree.com 


Ok on to the recipe's...
Copy and Pasted from the posting...


Making Your OwnHerbal Soap
With The HappyPeasant


Makingsoap is a passion of mine. Working with herbs is healing to me. When I put bothof them together it just doesn’t get any better. I’m going to share one of my herbal soaprecipes with you to help you achieve the dream of making your own soap

Manyof you have creatively pondered making your own homemade soap. Some of you havealready made some, either way, this recipe will let you enjoy the fun andcreativeness involved in making, and using, your own herbal soap.

Let mestart out by saying that if you can follow a recipe, you can make soap. The first rule in soap making is safety. Since soap is not soap without lye (inactuality a very strong salt), you will need to protect your eyes and skin. Ifanyone tells you they can make soap without lye, they are ‘lye-ing’. Lye is thecatalyst that turns any oil into soap. Without it, you’ve just got a bar of fator oil, not soap. Don’t worry though,when the oils or fats are mixed with the lye at the proper temperature, the lyeand oil change chemically and become soap. You will no longer have lye. 

Whenwe talk about old-fashioned lye soap, we are referring to how much lye to oilproportionately that was used. The more lye, the stronger (and harsher) thesoap. 

Oldfashioned lye soap had a high percentage of lye to oil. This made it good forcleaning and cleansing clothing and hands that had been plowing and farming allday. In this recipe, we will be usingthe smallest amount of lye to produce a beautifully primitive and useful soapthat is not harsh to the skin.

Suppliesyou will need to assemble ahead of time are:

~1Glass Pyrex bowl 
~1Stainless Steel Pot
~2Cooking Thermometers
~1Wooden Spoon
~Powderedlye (can be purchased at most hardware stores or grocery stores) Do not useDraino or Red-Devildrain cleaner. Use only 100% lye powder/granules.
~Distilledor filtered water (cold)
~ CoconutOil (purchased at any local health food store).
~Driedherb of your choice (for this recipe we will be using Sage, but any dried herbcan be substituted)
~Gogglesto protect your eyes
~Glovesto protect your hands (common yellow dishwashing gloves are fine).
~Cardboardbox lined with clean plastic garbage bag, cut to fit (tape to stay put).

Rulesto Remember:

Do notwash any globs of uncured or untraced soap down the drain. This will clog yourdrain.
Mixthe lye INTO the cold water, not the water into the lye. 
Themixing of the lye into the water will create temporary fumes. Do not breathethe fumes. Instead, work near an open door/window if possible.
If youget lye on your skin or in your eyes, rinse immediately with cold water. Keepcider vinegar handy to dilute the PH of the lye on skin. 
Do notuse aluminum or plastic containers. Use only Pyrex glass or stainless steel.

Herbal Sage Soap Recipe

3 PoundsCoconut Oil 
2 CupsCold Distilled Water or Filtered Water
7Ounces of Lye Powder
3 T ofCrumbled Sage Leaves or Ground Sage 
(ExtraSage for Decorating Top of Soap)
EssentialOil of choice (3-4T) (Lavender is nice)

Placemeasured oil in a stainless steel pot. 
Warmoil slowly on low stove setting to 110 degrees.
Whileoil is warming place goggles and gloves on and measure cold water into Pyrexbowl. 
Slowlyadd measured lye powder into cold water and stir gently with a wooden spoontill fully diluted.
Placelye solution in a cool place to reduce temperature to 110 degrees.
Whenboth lye solution and oil solution have simultaneously reached 110 degrees,carefully pour the lye solution into the oil solution and stir. You can stir voraciously by hand or use astick blender.
Blenduntil the consistency of the mixture begins to feel/look like frosting. (Approximately 10 minutes)
Liftspoon/stick blender and drag the mixture across the surface. If it leaves afirm ‘trail’ it is ready or ‘tracing’. 
Addyour herbs at this time and continue stirring.
Whenthe mixture begins to thicken slightly, add essential oil, mix well and pour soapinto pre-prepared box mold, sprinkle with decorative herbs on top if desired, andplace in an undisturbed spot to harden for 24 hours.
Remove soap from mold, cut and let cure for 3-4 weeks. 
Enjoy!

Check Out This Blog

Wednesday, May 04, 2011 Edit This 0 Comments »
Hello Ladies and Gents!!
I am gonna try and start blogging regular again.I kind of miss it and also I want to again start spreading green awareness around.
So to start that off right I am going to introduce you to my father's blog!
He also has a fan page to go with it so you can keep up to date with everything goin on with his little slice of the Internet!


His blog is called 
Ol'McDonalds Garden Fresh Veggies
http://olmcdonaldsgardenfreshveggies.blogspot.com/


Yep I'm sure you guessed it he's a gardener!
But not just any gardener.He is a very avid organic gardener who has dabbled with it for years, but just last year decided to stop dabbling and truly get rid of all chemical assistance and only do thing's mother natures way.
He has always had an incredible green thumb where as I can kill Ivy.. I know I know its almost impossible to do that but trust me when I tell you it can TOTALLY be done.He just shakes his head to..
Its ok I'm at one with my non green thumbness!


Anyway his blog will be chock full of information.We hope to eventually do product reviews so that you can learn about different organic products and methods of gardening.Plus there will be video how to's!!
So go by and check his blog,subscribe and let us know what you think!
If you have any gardening questions please feel free to ask!
Here are the links!


http://olmcdonaldsgardenfreshveggies.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/olmcdonaldsgardenfreshveggies