Anyway, on the weekend I decided to try making soap from scratch. I bought a cold processed soap kit from http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/ and followed the directions.
Well, believe it or not I made some beautiful soap - Vanilla and Hemp & Lime. It is hard to believe that you can melt some oil and put it with a caustic soda/water mix and in 24 hours you have made soap - AMAZING.
It is more expensive to make than purchasing cheap soap from the supermarket - however, there are no foreign ingredients and no animals have been harmed in the making of the soap (eg animal testing) AND if is fun to make. I also think that it makes a lot more than what you get at the supermarket and if you let it dry for 4-6 weeks then it will last a LOT longer than the cheap stuff. It is also much better for your skin too (non drying).
I put mine in washed out 1L milk cartons and we cut it with a knife and mitre box. I broke a bit off and tried it - it lathered beautifully, smells devine and my skin felt great after (not dry).
Have a look at aussie soap supplies and see what you think :-)
Here is a picture of the soap I made (the green is the hemp and lime & the brown is the vanilla)
Great blog Rachel - the soap looks fantastic! Soap making is one of those things on my to do list, but I'm a bit scared, still don't know enough about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks too for the pastry recipe, I tried homemade in my pie maker (I love mine too hehe) but it wasn't a huge success, will definitely try that one out though!
soap looks cool! i dont know if mine would turn out that good thou :)
ReplyDeleteI remember Mum making soap and the smell was probably caustic soda perhaps...it was very strong!
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