Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a shrub that is native to North America, but it is now grown in Europe and Asia as well. This shrub can get up to 20 feet tall and produced lovely flowers that are yellow to red in color. The bark and leaves are used to produce the oil. Continue reading
When choosing a name for your business, take the time to really think about it. Throw some names out to your friends and family or ask their advise.
Ask your customers, your barber or hairdresser. My hairdresser named my business. We tossed a few names around that I had chosen and she took one and changed it a bit…. and there we were.
These are some of the ways you can pick and choose a business name.
Try to be as creative and original as you can, there is nothing worse than having a business a town or two away or in your own town with the same name.
Once you have come up with the name for your business then it’s time to decide if this is still a craft or “do I want to register my business?” If you want to register your business in Canada you will first want to do a name search. Continue reading
Lye Heavy Soap – adding too much lye to your recipe will leave you with a bar that can irritate the skin and should not be sold. Lye heavy soap will feel dry and can be crumbly. Checking your soaps ph will let you know for sure if it is heavy in Lye. Continue reading
Neem Oil UsesAs a rule of thumb when using Neem Oil on your skin your dilution should be between 2 and 5 %.
Some of the recipes below are more than 5%…..just keep an eye out for skin irritation Continue reading
I have a couple Craft Fair to do lists – the first one is for what I need to do the weeks leading up to an events. Not all craft fairs and festivals are the same so the lists can vary a bit.
Continue reading
When it comes to bathing your baby using a soap that is pure and free of chemicals is important to most parents. This recipe is formulated with a baby’s sensitive skin in mind.
Using soap recipe #2 below you will fill a 3-pound mold and you should get approximately 15 bars of soap
850 grams of Olive Oil
250 grams of Coconut Oil
200 grams Palm Oil
90 grams of Calendula Oil
110 grams of Almond Oil
25 grams of Grapeseed Oil
215 grams lye
2 – 2.25 cups of water
Unscented or add 3 tablespoons of lavender for a moderate scent
Follow the instruction Step by Step instructions for cold process soap making
Talk to your doctor before introducing essential oils to your baby. There are no guidelines for using essential oils on babies, but many practitioners do not believe in using essential oils on babies before three months of age.
At 3 months of age, the recommended safe essential oils would be:
At 6 months of age and older the list is longer, be sure to do your homework before introducing essential oils to your baby.
Here is a recipe for Non-Petroleum Jelly
When making soap the Hot Process way you are adding external heat after the oils and lye solution have been mixed and come to trace. Continue reading
Soap Making oils have their own characteristics the differences are in the lather, hardness and
properties of the oils. It is important in soap making to get the right combination of oils in order to produce a great bar of soap. Continue reading
Really there is no true lye free soap, because at some point or another lye has been used to create the saponification process. For those who don’t want to work with this potentially dangerous chemical there are alternative ways to make a beautiful bar of soap. Continue reading
It’s relatively easy to test the ph levels of your soap.
Testing the ph level of your homemade soap is important to make sure it is safe to use.
Soap and Ph – the most important aspect about your handmade natural soap is to get the chemistry right.
If you don’t have enough lye your soap will be to soft and may take a long time to cure or never cure.
Too much lye causes a caustic bar, which if used would remove any of the natural oils in your skin and possibly cause red skin due to the little pockets of lye water.
There are different ways to test the PH level of you soap, but the most common method is testing with ph strips.
They are easy to use and give you immediate readings.
To use them you simply wet the soap and produce some bubbles and then place the strip on the soap to get the reading.
The Zap test is another method to test the PH levels of your soap. The Zap Test – named for the zap you will get from lye heavy soap when you place the tip of your tongue on the soap.
This is the way our grandmothers tested their soap in the old days.
Remember though if you are testing your soap right out of the mold, they may test high. Often fresh soap will test a little high, but if you wait until the soap is cured 4 – 5 weeks you will probably find its okay. So test it after it has cured.
I have not tried the cabbage method, but have read about it. Red cabbage is an effective ph 
tester. The juice of the cabbage is placed on the soap and if changes color which indicates the ph level.
To use this method cabbage leaves need to be chopped and placed in a bowl with distilled water.
It must be distilled water because tap water can have minerals etc that can give you inaccurate readings.
3 or 4 cabbage leaves chopped added to a cup of distilled water and then juiced. Strain the cabbage leaves out and the juice can be used for testing.
With this test, if the soap is lye heavy the cabbage juice will turn from purple to yellow or green.
If the soap has a balanced ph the cabbage juice will turn blue.
The ph level of your soap should fall in the normal range of between 7 and 10. Lye has a ph of 14 and water has a ph of 7, if your soap is above 10 that would indicate that free lye is in your soap.
Free lye is caustic and can cause burns, so it is very important to make sure your soap has been made well and is free of any lye.
A Ph reading of above 10 would mean your soaps are harsh and it is an indication that the lye did not mix properly with the oils.
When making cold process soap, it is extremely important that the lye and oils are measured precisely. If not, you can end up with a lye heavy soap that is not safe for the skin.
Coloring soap with Herbs and Spices
Terms and Abbreviations used in soap making
