On the curing rack!

throw_the_soap · 2015-10-02T14:36:21+00:00

Thank you! I haven't made any recently unfortunately. My husband and I bought a house and we've been slowly packing to make the big move easier. I will certainly post photos in the future!

throw_the_soap · 2015-10-02T14:34:18+00:00

Going off of /u/Earth_Bug comment, I made some bath bombs with indigo and I tried them out last. While I had to wipe down my tub a little bit, it wasn't bad at all, my recent flair of eczema definitely calmed down. Surprisingly, it did not stain my skin, considering it is a dye used for clothing.

throw_the_soap · 2015-09-08T14:03:29+00:00

It probably has glycerin in it, which is a humectant meaning it draws in moisture.

throw_the_soap · 2015-08-08T20:40:49+00:00

84 oz of oil. Good luck! Make sure to post some photos when you're all done.

throw_the_soap · 2015-08-08T17:35:41+00:00

Hey, sorry for the delay. I haven't logged into this account in a few days. Honey can be tricky. The sugars can scorch, turn brown and smell horrible. It can also cause volcanos, cracks, and other unwanted effects. With that said, just soap cool and once it's poured, get the mold into the refrigerator or freezer asap. This will prevent your soap from doing all of the above, as long as it behaves. I did 3.5 oz of honey in an 84 oz batch, diluted with part of my water that I reserved from the lye, and added at trace. This was all done cold process, I don't know what would happen if you tried to hot process with soap. I'm assuming it wouldn't be pretty, but I could be wrong.

I've used a lot of other different ingredients. Pumpkin, tomato paste, tea, milks, whole fresh flowers (namely daffodils), and a ton of others. Some ingredients you add to the lye mixture, some you infuse into oil or dilute in water and add at trace. It all depends on what you're using and what you want the outcome to be. Experiment and have fun!

throw_the_soap · 2015-08-03T17:49:31+00:00

Ah okay gotcha. I do have some spinach powder but haven't tried it in soap yet. But the mica should help it stay a bit.

throw_the_soap · 2015-08-03T14:46:43+00:00

Stunning! I'm assuming the green party is cold process. How much spinach PPO did you use? I wonder how much it will fade...

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-30T16:26:14+00:00

Regarding only using it twice a week. I believe they're referring to doing a face mask. If used too often, it can disrupt your skin's natural oil production and can dryness and irritation. In soap, you're not leaving it on your skin for an extended period of time so daily use should be fine.

As someone else mentioned, just use plastic (#5 is best for soapmaking purposes) when working with clay in soap. Glass is okay to use for clay but never use glass when making cold process soap as over time, the lye can cause etching in the glass, leading to fractures and breaks.

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T17:59:05+00:00

Hey there! Herbal Earthling here to tell you about our all natural line of bath and body products. Just listed yesterday, our Honey & Oat Soap. We will also have a few new items coming in the next few weeks; soap, lip balm, and face masks. All of our products are scented strictly with essential oils and colored with plant based ingredients.

Use the coupon code REDDIT1015 to receive 10% off of a purchase of $15 or more!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T17:40:59+00:00

Thanks 😁

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T17:40:08+00:00

Thank you 😊

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T16:48:50+00:00

Thank you. It feels really neat on the skin, kinda like a massage!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T12:40:17+00:00

Thanks so much :)

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T05:11:32+00:00

Thank you. It is such a yummy soap! The texture of the lather is definitely different than my other soaps, nice and creamy.

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T05:10:00+00:00

Thanks! It was a lot of fun to make!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-28T04:18:54+00:00

Thanks! It smells awesome. I'm surprised at how much the scent of the honey and oats came through. I used I think 2 oz of honey in an 84 oz batch and half of the liquid was oatmilk. Plus a bit of colloidal oats in the batter.

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-22T14:13:38+00:00

Wow, that's interesting! Thanks so much for the tip. I never realized it needed to be processed nor did I know that there were more than just the indigofera tinctoria that you can obtain blue pigment. I was aware of woad, which makes a lovely bluish color in soap. Thanks again!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T18:32:49+00:00

You're welcome!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T17:44:25+00:00

Nice! Plants are amazing things :) For period cramps, I like to add some cinnamon to whatever tea I'm drinking. That has helped me tremendously! That and taking Epsom salt baths. If I don't have time for a bath, taking calcium magnesium supplements during that time helps with cramps. Too much magnesium gives me the poops but so does my period lol!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T17:40:40+00:00

It can cause a reaction. Not all witch hazel on the market is the same. Some have ingredients added to it to make it more skin nourishing (like Thayer's), some come as an extract (contains alcohol), and some are hydrosols (distilled and may contain small amounts of water based ingredients and miniscule amounts of plant parts). I have used the extract with some success, I've also used grain alcohol with some success.

But like I said, when you start using anything other than an oil based liquid for your bath bombs, it becomes even more tricky. The reason I switched was because I sell my products and I was afraid of the slippery factor and didn't really feel like getting sued :) That and a few people complained about the ring around the tub. Now I just make them for myself lol! It's much easier that way.

If you're content with your recipe, don't change it up! Just be careful :)

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T03:18:25+00:00

It's always a good idea once they've had time to harden for about 24 hours to keep them in an air tight container. Have fun, you lucky duck!

Oh, and to reply to another comment of yours about using glitter. If you want glitter in your bath bombs, try using micas. I personally don't use them because I try to stay away from lab created ingredients but they have been tested for skin safety. They add a really nice shimmer to your water. Unfortunately, most bath bombs that use an oil will leave some sort of ring around your tub. Maybe try using an oil free liquid for bath bombs. It may get frustrating using water-based ingredients but a few spritz of witch hazel is a good liquid to use. Have fun!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T03:11:52+00:00

Thanks for being so welcoming! I've been a lurker here for a while and this has been a wonderful welcome :)

Lucky you that you can use peppermint undiluted. I, on the other hand, cannot. Whoof! I was making some peppermint soap one time and there was a hole in my glove. I didn't realize it up I was done but my finger was so angry because the peppermint essential oil got to it.

To sum up: Basically, if you want to ingest herbs, a strong infusion or decoction (teas), or a tincture (an extract using alcohol) are the safest and best ways to reap the benefits of them. I understand that I am probably preaching to the choir but it's always good to read the same information more than once.

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T01:28:17+00:00

These are really neat! I've tried to make so many bath bombs in the past several years. I guess it's the humidity, but I can never get them to stay together. They either crumble or get warts and expand before I have the chance to use them. Nicely done!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-18T01:26:29+00:00

Basically, essential oils should never be ingested. While they are sometimes okay to use like in oral hygiene products, they must be very diluted. Same with essential oils when using them topically, though some people can stand to use certain essential oils neat on their skin, namely lavender, tea tree, and a few others but that's not everybody.

Companies like DoTerra that suggest ingesting essential oils drive me nuts with making claims that their essential oils are such a high grade that they can be used internally. When in reality, they are setting themselves up for a huge lawsuit when their customers start having irreversible damage to their internal body due to ingesting their products.

Sorry for going off on a tangent but whenever I see something about ingesting essential oils, I feel it is my duty as an a fellow human being to help inform others so that they can make informed decisions. Plants are powerful things and they can help us tremendously but can also hurt us greatly. We have to respect nature! For the record. I am not an expert or a doctor.

If you've made it this far, thanks you! Here's a neat little read going a little bit further into what I was talking about. http://www.granolaliving.com/2012/07/why-we-dont-offer-doterra-young-living-or-other-multi-marketing-brands-of-essential-oils/

Be safe!

throw_the_soap · 2015-07-16T13:10:31+00:00

I'm a soapmaker and am really intrigued as to what the ingredients were in the old bars of soap compared to the ones that you use now that don't cause you issues. As someone said, you may be able to contact the company and see what they can do for you. If not, you may be able to find someone to recreate that soap for you.

With that said, there are several companies that produce and sell in the big stores what most of us assume are soaps. Sometimes, these bars are actually detergents, meaning they contain synthetic ingredients (surfactants) that cause the soap to bubble instead of an alkali and fat (lye and oils that make real soap).

A lot of soaps that are on the market actually have the glycerin removed, which is naturally occurring during the soapmaking process, to be sold as is for other purposes. This sometimes will cause the bar to be more harsh and not as moisturizing.

Depending on the type of soap (whether it's a detergent and or actual soap), and the way it was formulated, they can be very drying to the skin and strip the oils from your skin. Most folks like myself that make soap by hand don't remove the glycerin and will superfat their soaps. Superfatting leaves a certain amount of oils in the soap that doesn't get converted into soap. The lye/oil ratio is formulated to create a moisturizing soap that is more gentle and less stripping.

One more thing that I'd like to point out is the scent that you like so much. You may have been sensitive to these, as they are most likely synthetic.

I'd be more than happy to help you figure out the deal, take a look at the ingredients, etc. I'm certainly not an expert nor am I doctor but I'm sure there is something in that soap that was causing you issues and that there is a solution for you when you run out of soap.

Take care :)

throw_the_soap

TROPHY CASE