Calendula and Vervain - the perfect marriage!

Calendula (also knows as marigold) has been used world wide for it's herbal healing properties -- the petals are anti-bacterial and can heal skin infections and wounds. Hindus use these flowers as necklaces and to adorn temples due to their holy attributes to promote health.

Vervain is an ancient herb which was used in the Mediterranean region by Druids, Romans and Greeks, and on through the ages. You can order an "infusion de vervain" from any French cafe. Vervain "is recommended in upwards of thirty complaints, being astringent, diaphoretic, antispasmodic, etc. It is said to be useful in intermittent fevers, ulcers, ophthalmia, pleurisy, etc., and to be a good galactogogue." (Botanicals.com)

When these two herbs are combined they add up to super healing properties for the skin, as well as having calming and soothing effects. My new soap will incorporate these two herbs, along with rosemary and lemon oils, olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, and sodium hydroxide to bind the fats with the water. The chemical process that makes soap means the moisture in the fats will stay on the skin, even as the water pulls away any impurities or dirt. Manufactured soap uses detergents which dry the skin, this soap just uses the natural chemical process so you don't even need moisturiser afterwards, your skin will love you!

 Coming to my Etsy shop in November.

Coming soon - Calendula/Vervain soap!

NEW THIS YEAR -- I grew Calendula flowers in my garden this summer, and the fragrant and healing petals will make a lovely addition to the vervain in my soap.

Calendula is another ancient healing herbal - this from Wikipedia:

"Calendula species have been used traditionally as culinary and medicinal herbs. The petals are edible and can be used fresh in salads or dried and used to color cheese or as a replacement for saffron. A yellow dye has been extracted from the flowers.

"Romans and Greeks used the golden calendula in many rituals and ceremonies, sometimes wearing crowns or garlands made from the flowers. One of its nicknames is 'Mary's Gold,' referring to the flowers' use in early Catholic events in some countries. Calendula flowers are sacred flowers in India and have been used to decorate the statues of Hindu deities since early times. The oil of C. officinalis is used as an anti-inflammatory, an anti-tumor agent, and a remedy for healing wounds."

My new batch of healing soap is under way, come back soon to see progress.

Mushroom, soap, and healing the planet

I just watched this amazing talk:
http://youtu.be/DAw_Zzge49c

Paul Stamets is a world famous mycologist, and he has discovered that the fungal properties of mushrooms lead to bee health.
So more mushrooms = more bees = saving the planet.

I had a revelation that mushroom spores could go in my soap, adding anti-bacterial properties.
So look for a new batch in Winter of anti-bacterial soap, with mushroom spores and honey.

Why this soap is better

I was recently dragged to a very post products store in Boulder called Lush.  

"You will love everything there, it's all hand made and totally natural," my daughter promised.

I had a long conversation with the manager after examining all their soap ingredients.  Only ONE of the product lines was sodium hydroxide based, the rest all had detergents in them.

This is not natural soap.

She had a long explanation about phasing out this and that, blah blah blah, but the truth is, almost no one makes commercially manufactured soap the old fashioned way from lye saponified with fats.  It simply costs ten times more than cheaper detergent processes.

Go look at your shampoo bottle, it will be all sodium laurel sulphates and other detergent chemicals. These are made with alcohols and acids, and they dry, dry, dry your skin.

The only widely available lye based soap on the market is Dr. Bronner's - and it uses potassium hydroxide so the soap will stay liquid.

I actually do love Dr. Bronner's, so if you need liquid soap, it's a great choice.

The truth is, once you try truly saponified soap, you will never want to use detergent based soap again.

Getting ready for the holiday season!

How soap works

It almost is magic that humans figured out thousands of years ago to mix ash from their fires with oils from their animals to get an agent that could clean so well.

Although the idea of lye in soap gives some people pause, the lye is completely nutrilized in properly made soap, leaving the fat the moisturize your skin.

In my experience, the most ancient of chemical combinations (lye with solid and liquid fats) create the most cleansing soaps.  The current glycerine based chemical soaps do not have the same properties of bonding with the oil based particles.  This explains it pretty well:

How does Soap Work?

Nearly all compounds fall into one of two categories: hydrophilic ('water-loving') and hydrophobic ('water-hating'). Water and anything that will mix with water are hydrophilic. Oil and anything that will mix with oil are hydrophobic. When water and oil are mixed they separate. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds just don't mix.

The cleansing action of soap is determined by its polar and non-polar structures in conjunction with an application of solubility principles. The long hydrocarbon chain is non-polar and hydrophobic (repelled by water). The "salt" end of the soap molecule is ionic and hydrophilic (water soluble).

When grease or oil (non-polar hydrocarbons) are mixed with a soap-water solution, the soap molecules work as a bridge between polar water molecules and non-polar oil molecules. Since soap molecules have both properties of non-polar and polar molecules the soap can act as an emulsifier. An emulsifier is capable of dispersing one liquid into another immiscible liquid. This means that while oil (which attracts dirt) doesn't naturally mix with water, soap can suspend oil/dirt in such a way that it can be removed. The soap will form micelles (see below) and trap the fats within the micelle. Since the micelle is soluble in water, it can easily be washed away.

from the website: Edinformatics.com

Soap making is full swing

After combining all the ingredients (I use an electronic scale to measure everything to make sure the proportions are exact), stirring until trace is achieved (a soft pudding consistency) I pour the soap into a mold.  It cures for two days, then this happens:

I am peeling the paper lining to the mold off of the soft soap.
Then slicing the bar.  I love this stage, the soap is still soft enough to mold just a bit.

After two months (!) of curing, all the water is removed, and the hard bar is ready to use.  Since our climate is so very dry here, the cured soap is magically hard -- and therefore it lasts such a long time.
If you keep it well drained after every use, it can last 6 months or more.

These batches will be in my Etsy shop starting November 1st.