Natural soap recipes?

[raweater]

I bought some lye/sodium hydroxide to make my own soap both to give as Christmas gifts and for my own use as I suspect it will end up costing less than buying natural soaps.

I want a recipe for liquid soap, not soap bars, does anyone know of any and are they pretty fool proof or can I ruin it? Should I start with a small batch?

Thanks

[raweater]

I just read one site that says I need potassium (not sodium) hydroxide for liquid soap, is there no way to make it with the sodium hydroxide I bought?

[kaybee]

i dont know...what i just read says you need the potassium hydroxide cos it has bigger molecules which enable it to stay in the liquid state or something to that effect.
:/

[klomasius]

Just be aware, if you are making it now for christmas presents, it may not be ready in time for christmas.

Solid soaps take 6-8 weeks to 'cure', liquid soaps are less but still need a little time for most recipes.

My mother makes solid soaps, and I used to barter these for things like lemons, mineral clays and my salt and oil scrub, but I no longer use soap (except very occasionally some Dr Bronners liquid soap).

[Revvell]

Easier to make salt and sugar scrubs. Less time; less money.

[seagle]

How do you make salt or sugar scrubs?

[joliepolie]

How do you make salt or sugar scrubs?


Large grain sugar or salt crystals,essential oils for scent,base oil such as almond or macadamia. Google salt scrub recipes and you will get tons of hits.I have done this many times for gifts.

[Revvell]

I use small grain... jojoba oil and essential oils.

[klomasius]

I use medium grained salt, and a mixture of macadamia, jojoba and rosehip oils. No essential oils, but you can add them in if you like. I prefer to keep my scents apart from my skincare but that's a personal choice. :)

Salt/sugar scrubs have multiple functions, they act as exfoliants: removing dead skin, they clean impurities from the pores, they moisturise the skin (fantasically!) and they also enliven the skin: stimulating blood flow and oxygenation to the skin's surface.

Between scrubs, bicarb soda, and just plain warm water and a wash cloth, I don't need to use soap. I know it's a foreign concept for some who think we MUST use soap, but believe me, we don't, and I've been researching and experimenting for years and used to make soaps with my mother.

[raweater]

OK I tried to find salt for a scrub but the least expensive one I thought was too coarse. it was about like gravel, is that too coarse? The one ground like I wanted was double the price. I've never used these sort of things before so I don't know.

So would the "gravel grind" be too coarse?

I coarse suagr that's just perfect, could I mix the "gravel grind" salt with the sugar?

I also got lemon and spearmint oils as I think they make a great mix (I had a lemon-spearmint tea that was awesome).

Thanks

[k8sl8]

Just curious... do you use sea salt exclusively or can others be used with no detrimental effects?

[raweater]

Well I got the lye and was able to make 100% coconut oil soap that's ready in 24 hours. I made some with lemon and wintergreen essential oil to give as gifts for Christmas so I was able to make some in time!

I used some in the shower tonight and it's the best soap I ever used!

I'm going to save so much by making my own soap, I used to hate paying $20 for a liter of natural soap. And I can make some even cheaper with olive oil but that one takes weeks to cure.

[klomasius]

Hey that's great you were able to make some in time for Chrissy!

Homemade soap IS the best. Once I started using my mums soap, I never bought soap from the shop again, or if I did it would only be a soft soap from the healthfood store with no nasty additives.

It's amazing to me that people still use soap from the supermarket, its awful, awful stuff! I used to think it was fine, but I guess it's like tasting Belgian chocolate for the first time then trying to go back to a cheap block of chocolate. :)

[kaybee]

hey--i hate to be the bearer of bad news...but be super-careful with the wintergreen oil...it smells great but its actually toxic--and can actually be fatal toxic if too much is used :( ...its one of the essential oils that comes with an extra warning, so just use extra vigilance

glad you were able to find a quick-soap recipe. im about to embark on making pure olive oil (bar) soap because i cant get coconut oil...and you have to wait up to SIX months to use it!

[raweater]

I didn't know that, I actually had an herbal tea that was lemon-wintergreen flavor which is where I got the idea as I thought it was a great mix. The tea actually had oil of wintergreen in the ingredients and is still being sold:

http://www.republicoftea.com/product.aspx?p=V02048

I doubt it's any problem in soap though.

I just read:
"...in small amounts as a flavoring agent at no more than 0.04%"

And a deadly dose is about a teaspoon (equal to twenty three 300mg aspirins), while not much, no one knowing what they are doing would consume a teaspoon of any essential oil, plus this data seems to be with synthetic wintergreen oil (not that I doubt the natural one can also be deadly).