Coming Clean

I got to use some of my soap this morning in the shower. It was the hot process chamomile, oatmeal, lemon soap I made last week. I was a little apprehensive at first thinking I might break out in some horrible rash and have to attend Easter service looking freakish. My ph strips were wildly inaccurate so I was not even sure it was ok to use. Turns out it was great and my skin felt nice and soft and not as dry afterward. Feeling encouraged by my showering experience, I'm contemplating taking some to a friend this afternoon. Are there legal ramifications if you make soap and it causes someones skin to peel off? Now that would be a cleanliness I could live without.

I was daydreaming about soap in the shower so strong is my current obsession. Thinking about all the potential and possibilities. It is like buying a new piece of fabric. It has so much potential and yet could just be a plain solid colored linen. Soap can be a plain solid colored linen too. It can be useful and beautiful even without fragrance and fancy additives. Now I see my friends and think of what soap I could give them that would make them smile. My pastor would definitely appreciate a coffee soap. My friend Jodie would love a savory blend of rosemary and lemon. My husband and my dad would both appreciate some soap with sand to clean off grimy gardening hands. My girls are thrilled with the thoughts of different scents.

Today I am thinking I need to make some cocoa coffee soap in celebration of all those chocolate Easter bunnies. I think I shall make soap today, in celebration of the clean start Jesus gave us all when he died and rose again. Soapmaking has almost become therapeutic for me. Sometimes we are driven to do things and reasons are not so clear. I am not even sure what started this latest obsession but my passion does not seem to be diminishing, only growing. I have a tendency to start things and enjoy them for a few days and then tire of them. The only exception is sewing which I have never stopped enjoying. I don't know where this new hobby will take me, but so far I am enjoying the ride.

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed.

Chamomile

I got a few things in the mail yesterday that got me ready to make a couple new batches. First I got a tub of coconut oil. It's much cheaper to order it online in larger quantities than to buy the little jar in the organic section. I like this soapmaking website. http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/ They have everything you would ever need for soapmaking and also lotion making. It's a dangerous place to visit if you are excited about making soap or lotion. They also have a lye calculator which is useful for checking recipes. To top it all off, they have recipes too.

Mr. Fedex man also brought some ph strips. My one batch is still questionable but the other ones are in the acceptable range for now and will continue to get milder over the next couple weeks. Today Mr. Fedex man should be bringing some shea butter and palm oil. I did not think I could get local palm oil but turns out I had some in my pantry. It is also known as organic shortening or vegan shortening sold in organic sections. I get mine at Whole Foods. Again it is cheaper to order a tub of it, than to buy organic shortening. Same product but marketed for consumption makes for expensive soap.

It is spring break in most of Atlanta schools. Since my kids are homeschooled, they still have school but at least all their activities are cancelled. I have been free to play with soap this week. Monday I made a batch of coffee soap. It has among other lesser oils, goat milk, hazelnut oil, cocoa butter, and coffee grounds. It smells fabulous and I'm sure has just enough caffeine to get you going in the morning.

On the to-do list today...chamomile soap. The chamomile is brewing. I picked up a cheap crock pot at Wal-Mart last night and want to experiment with hot-process soap. The steps are basically the same as cold-process but you cook it to neutrality in the crock pot. The added benefit of hot process is that it is useable much quicker than cold process. Technically it can be used as soon as it cools but in practice, it is allowed to cure for about a week to harden. A week is much less waiting than 4 weeks and I am impatient.

Soap Everywhere

My dining room is being overrun with soap. It's a beautiful sight. I experimented a little and mixed up a batch of rosemary soap that smells divine. You can smell it when you come in the house. I hope it turns out. I made up the recipe and checked it with an online lye calculator based on my limited knowledge of oils. If it turns out to be a good batch, I will gladly post the recipe.

I have decided that soapmaking is much like cooking. The only difference is the goggles and not being able to lick your fingers. I figured I would like soapmaking as I love to cook, especially dessert. Cooking is definitely immediate gratification of a job well done. Soapmaking is a trial in patience and perseverance.
At left are my trial bars of rosemary soap. I love rosemary and have it growing in my yard. I steeped some in the water for the recipe and strained it. It turned a brownish green color when I added the lye. I actually thought it was a pretty, natural looking color. When I poured it in the mold (shoe box lined with parchment) I noticed it had taken on a more greenish color because of the olive oil. I added some rosemary essential oil and some finely ground dried rosemary. It looks quite sophisticated with the flecks. When I checked on it this morning it had turned a pretty cream color. I do hope this batch is good. Guess it is all part of the experimentation.

In celebration of my soapmaking fun, I'm going to post my TNT Tomato Sauce Recipe. It is what we had for dinner tonight. It is the result of some experimenting and no two batches are the same. I don't measure anything, just dump it in the pot.

TNT Tomato Sauce
2 cans 14.5 oz fire roasted tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/4-1/3 C dry red wine
2 tbsp. brown sugar
pinch red cayenne pepper
olive oil

1. In saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil (about a tablespoon oil).
2. Pour tomatoes into a food processor and whirl a couple times. More if you like smoother, less if you like chunky. I use my mini-chop-chop and do one can at a time.
3. Add tomatoes, paste, wine, brown sugar, cayenne and Italian Seasoning to saucepan.
4. Stir together and let simmer for 10 min. uncovered, stirring occasionally.
   

Honesty

I unmolded my soap this morning and chopped it into bars. Cut beautifully and looks quite spectacular if you ask me. Then I began looking at it in morning sunlight and I'm not sure but I think it might still have some lye crystals in it. I won't know for sure until I get some ph test strips but this might be a failed batch.

I guess that would be why milk soapmaking is so tricky. You cannot tell whether the crystals have completely dissolved or not. The book says to take its temperature and when the temp starts falling, the lye is dissolved. I thought the temperature was falling but maybe I was impatient.

I will not be discouraged. I am going to get some more coconut oil today and try again. This time I think I'll used powdered goat milk so I can see that the lye is completely dissolved in the water.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again!

A Peak Into my Fridge

When I was a little girl, the anticipation of Christmas morning always kept me awake until the wee hours of the morning. Would I get the Barbie styling head? Would some Cabbage Patch Dolls find their way under my tree? Could Santa possibly fit a new bike in that bag of his? All the things that mattered to me most when I was 8 are so silly now that I am mid-30's, a wife, and mother. What would I want Santa to bring me today...fabric, a new cooktop, a toilet for the basement, nothing an 8 year old would think very exciting.

I often think of our first refrigerator in our first house. It was a housewarming gift from my in-laws. It is not particularly fabulous. It has no ice/water dispenser in the door. It's not a fancy french door, stainless steel model. It's basic white with an ice maker. I was so excited about that refrigerator because it was something we did not have to buy when money was tight after we had purchased our first house. It was something we so desperately needed and my in-laws had been so wonderful to provide. That refrigerator has moved with us and resided happily in 3 kitchens. The door is dented from one of the moves and the moulding piece on the bottom tends to pop off when bumped. The ice tray is often filled with a solid rock of ice topped with a few new ice cubes. It is covered from top to bottom with homemade magnets, pictures, artwork, memos, and dental reminders. It is in one word, utilitarian.

Utilitarian, that is my view of soapmaking. I do not want to run a business. I do not want to make fancy soaps. I want to make soap because quite simply, I want to use it. Plain soap with no fancy perfumes, synthetic detergents, and petroleum based products are expensive. My youngest has extremely sensitive skin and has been known to break out in a head to toe rash from sunscreen. At $4/bar for Dr. Bronners it may be eco-friendly but not economically friendly.

So when the lye arrived today, I was as giddy as an 8 year old on Christmas morning. I had frozen some goat milk earlier in the day so I was ready to go. I used the basic recipe from Milk Soapmaking by Anne Watson. Not having an ice cube tray, thanks in part to my beloved ice maker, I used several small gladware containers. I suppose all went as planned and after some stirring and glamorous moments in rubber gloves and goggles, my first batch of soap made it safely to the fridge. It may not be pretty but here's hoping it turns out to be useful.

Oh Mr. Fedex Man...

My lye should be here tomorrow! Hopefully tomorrow, I'll get to post some pics of soap in the making.

Hemp vs. Cotton

I have tried repeatedly to find time to get this post typed up and now the sun is setting and the girls are trying to suck jello up a straw (great April Fool's day prank), so I best get typing before the day is gone. I have been tossing around this post all day and intermittently poking around the internet doing a bit of research. I was all set to expound on the benefits of hemp. I was looking for information to back up my suspicions but unwilling to further unsubstantiated propaganda.

I have heard that hemp is the wonder crop. Growable in all 50 states, organic by nature in that it doesn't require herbicides or insecticides, and wholly held at bay by the cotton lobbyists. I have heard that hemp fabric would cost $1/yard if produced locally whereas now hemp fabric is between $9-$20/yard or more. I have heard that it is it's use as marijuana that keeps it from becoming a US crop. A weedy plant that has proven useful in various industries, as food supplements, body care products, and animal feed, hemp remains forbidden in our country. It is grown in Europe, China, France, and Canada.

From all that I have heard, this is what I have found to be true. Industrially used cannabis plants have very little if any medicinal value. Meaning the level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is so low that it is worthless as a drug. The United States imports more hemp than any other country. Hemp does not require the pesticides and herbicides needed for cotton crops however it does have some fungi and insect pests that can damage the plants, however they typically do not do enough damage to require pesticides. Because of this, it is naturally more suited to organic products. Every part of the hemp plant is useful either as food or in industrial applications. Hemp can be grown in all 50 states however poor soil would yield a poor crop. It does require the use of some fertilizer when grown industrially.

Cotton is a staple of the US economy however it has been used for thousands of years around the world. It is native to the US but needs a long growing season with ample rainfall. It has been genetically altered to resist Round Up and some pests but is still insecticide dependent. About 25% of the worlds insecticides and 10% of the world's pesticides. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton) The cotton industry is also heavily reliant on herbicides and fertilizers which contaminate our water and land. While cottonseed is useful as a food product it does not have equal benefits as hemp seed.

That all said, you would think that we should whole heartedly support hemp farming in the US. If we import so much of this product would it not be cheaper to farm it locally? I read an article that made me think about the implications of this statement. Purdue From 1935 - 1950's the government encouraged farmers to plant kudzu to control erosion and thus was born the great vine that ate the south. Where something is encouraged with enthusiasm without considering the cost, disaster generally ensues. The US is not equipped to process hemp as are the countries that have been doing so for years. Hemp is not native to the US, but has been previously farmed, most notably for sail cloth and rope.

Hemp could be a profitable crop for the US with some restrictions. This plant is misunderstood in this country. Hemp used to be synonymous with rope but now is synonymous with the war on drugs. Before this plant could be successful in this country, the reputation would have to be changed. I see hemp showing up in sportswear and organic, eco friendly textiles. I have used it personally in cloth diapers and for a t-shirt that has become my favorite. I have made children's play cloths, dresses, and pants. They have all survived repeated washings and abuse. Hemp fiber is durable and beautiful when combined with other fibers like cotton and silk. Used in soaps and bodycare products it provides moisturization, essential fatty acids, and has anti-inflammatory properties useful for eczema and dermatitis.

Someday, I would love to see industrial hemp in the United States. I don't know if the $1/yard fabric is just a dream but I do know that the cost would definitely drop because there would be no import fees. I am excited that Canada is growing hemp and hope that it brings some renewed interest in it as a viable agricultural product. Even my favorite Dr. Bronner's uses hemp oil. I cannot wait to add some to my soaps, assuming the lye ever arrives!