All posts by ruthsoaper

Lye

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Lye is the key ingredient in turning fat and oils into soap.

Lye is actually a common name for two different chemicals, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH). Both of these forms of lye can be used in making soap, however they are not the same chemical, and are not interchangeable in soap recipes. This means they are required in different amounts in a recipe and will produce a different type of soap. While sodium hydroxide will produce a hard bar-type soap, potassium hydroxide is more often used in making a liquid or soft soap. Sodium hydroxide has a PH of 14 while potassium hydroxide is reported to have a PH between 12 and 14.

Sodium hydroxide was once readily available in grocery stores and hardware stores, most commonly packaged as Red Devil Lye, it was used mostly as a drain cleaner. Because of it’s illegal use in the production of methamphetamines, it has become harder to find. While I’ve read that it is illegal to sell in retail stores in the U.S., I have been able to purchase it in a few stores. The easiest way to purchase it is online through soap making suppliers.

Potassium hydroxide is made from wood ash and water. I have not yet made soap using potassium hydroxide, but this is on my to-do list.

Because of it’s high PH lye is a dangerous chemical and must be use with caution. If it comes in contact with bare skin it can cause severe burns. It will erode some metals, but it is safe to use in glass, plastic or stainless steal containers. If mixed improperly or with certain substances it can create dangerous gases.

Once lye has been properly mixed with the liquid and oils and the chemical changes occur lye becomes safe to use on the skin. Soap should have a PH between 7 and 10.

You don’t see lye, sodium hydroxide, or potassium hydroxide listed as ingredients on commercial soap products. Instead you will see thing like sodium cocoate, which would be the combination of coconut oil and sodium hydroxide after the chemical change, known as soaponification, has occurred. Other examples would be or sodium palmate or potassium tallowate.  I, like many handcrafters, list the ingredients as the raw materials put into the soap even though the chemical change does occur before the product is finished.

Olive Oil

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Olive oil is another ingredient I use when making soap and skin care products. Like coconut oil it is readily available at the grocery store and in my kitchen.

The definition of “castile soap” used to be soap that was made with 100% olive oil. Apparently through the years the definition has evolved, first to mean any soap that contained olive oil as an ingredient, and now apparently to mean any soap that contains only vegetable oils. I have seen soap that is made from 100% coconut oil labeled as “castile soap”. So in my opinion the term “castile soap” has absolutely no meaning, and the only way to know what you are getting is to read the ingredients on the label (if you can see them).

In soap making olive oil makes a creamy, conditioning and moisturizing bar.  I have found that olive oil in the right combination with coconut oil makes the perfect soap. The proper ratios of these two oils can make a bar of soap with just the right degree of hardness, it is a cleansing soap that is creamy and lathers like crazy.

In skin care products olive oil offers vitamins A and E and has great moisturizing properties. Olive oil is also a great oil to infuse with herbs that can be beneficial to skin care.

Garlic Scapes

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This post has absolutely nothing to do with soap or skin care products. It is totally the opposite of Don’t Eat It. But keep reading because you might learn something.

I now have garlic scapes for sale.

What are garlic scapes???

They are the seed heads produced by hardneck garlic varieties. They appear in the spring, and if left to grow they will flower and produce dozens of tiny garlic bubils (seeds). Most growers cut the scape off the garlic plant in order to allow the garlic to put more energy into growing a bigger bulb. If cut early the scapes are tender and delicious. They are said to have many of the same health benefits as garlic bulbs, and although they possess a milder flavor when cooked they are a culinary delight. They are great roasted, grilled, stir fried or used raw in dips, salads and pesto. To discover great garlic scape recipes simply do an internet search for garlic scape recipes. They are only available for a short time in the spring but can be preserved by freezing or pickling.

If you are interested in purchasing garlic scapes send me an email a ruth20012001@yahoo.com put “garlic” in the subject line.

Coconut Oil

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Coconut oil: There is a lot to be said for coconut oil and unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years you have probably heard or read something about it. There have been countless stories, on television, the internet, and in health and cooking magazines, all proclaiming the hundreds of uses of coconut oil. So since they have probably said it all, I will simply say, I love coconut oil for many things.  When my husband says that something (usually mechanical in nature) needs lubricating, I will often joke, “get out the coconut oil.” Just in case you have just climbed out from under your rock, and happened to find my website, here is one article from natural news.

http://www.naturalnews.com/036156_Coconut_oil_superfood_healing.html

Most of the articles I have read do not go into detail about types of coconut oil, but here is a link the explains the difference in types of coconut oil.

What Type of Coconut Oil is Best? How to Choose a Coconut Oil

If you are not interested in reading the article for yourself I will summarize it by saying, if the label says “coconut oil” then it is probably a mass produced, mechanically refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD)coconut oil. While not necessary unhealthy it probably has lost a lot of the nutritional benefits during the processing.

“Virgin” coconut oil, on the other hand, has been cold processed and retains the nutrition value.

So if you are eating coconut oil for maximum health benefits you will want the much more expensive “virgin” coconut oil. However, in my opinion, it is not cost effective to use virgin coconut oil in making soap, when the less expensive RBD coconut oil will provide the desired effects while keeping products more affordable. So while I do not use virgin coconut oil in my products, I do use a food grade RDB coconut oil.

In soap making,  Soap-Making-Essentials.Com says:

“Coconut oil probably takes top spot as the most used soap making oil and for good reason.

Not only does it produce a rock hard soap with a fantastic lather but this oil is wonderfully moisturizing and adds a barrier to the skin protecting it from the elements.

It’s cleansing ability is amazing and is one of the few oils that produces a soap that will lather in salt water.”

I have discovered all of this to be true (not sure about lather in salt water, I haven’t had the occasion to test it.) I have experimented with making a soap that has only coconut oil as the only oil. The result is a soap that is so hard that it can not be cut. It will break into funny shapes with jagged edges. It does however provide great lather and cleansing power. I have a customer who uses this in her homemade laundry detergent. I have been testing it as a stain remover/pretreatment for laundry and am having great results.

I also use coconut oil in my balms. It is a wonderful moisturizer and protector for the skin and just feels sooo good.

So to answer two questions about this ingredient in my products:

Is coconut oil natural? Yes.

Can you eat coconut oil? Yes

Thanks for reading 🙂

Bees Wax

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It was not my intention to start with blogging about bees wax as an ingredient in my products, but it seems very appropriate since we harvested honey this week, and I am now cleaning the bees wax so that it can be used for making balms. Up to this point I have been purchasing the bees wax that I use in my balms, but now I am excited to say that I will transition to using our own wax when it is available.

Question: Is bees wax a natural product?

Answer:  Absolutely! It doesn’t get more natural. I would not call it organic because I could not guarantee that my bees have not been foraging in a neighbors field that has been sprayed with round up, unless of course, I owned 3 square miles or more around each hive that I could assure has in no way been treated with chemicals.  I would, however, consider bees wax as natural as the air we breath.

Next question – can you eat bees wax?

Answer: Yes!! It use to be natural to buy honey that was still in the comb and it would be eaten comb and all. Now days honey in the comb is more of a specialty item, but that is certainly one way to assure that you are getting raw honey. Below is a link for just one of many articles out there about eating honey comb.

http://honeycombs.blogspot.com/2010/10/is-honeycomb-edible.html

In making my products I use bees wax as a binding and thickening agent. The higher the percentage of bees wax in a product the more solid the product will be. But for more potential benefits of skincare products with bees wax you can check out this article from natural health.

Beeswax In Skin Care Products

Some people use bees wax as an ingredient in their handcrafted soap to make a harder bar of soap, but after experimenting with this in my recipes I did not find it necessary.

Next time I will write about the one ingredient that is in almost every product I make.

Until then I wish you well 🙂