27 other uses for handmade soap, by Patricia Mills, The Soap Guru

I found this very useful infomation by The Soapguru, here is a link to her site

All natural handmade soap is not just great for washing your body. Here are 27 other uses for your wonderful bar. I have tried many myself, but not all. Feel free to share other uses you have come across.

1. Prevent soot build-up on your cast iron camping pots/pans. Rub a bar of soap over the bottom before cooking over open fire.

2. Use as a fabric marker when sewing. It will wash right out.

3. Deoderize your car, luggage and drawers. Just put peices of soap in a mesh bag and store/hang to keep things smelling fresh.

4. Get stuck zippers moving again. Rub a bar of soap over the offending zipper to lubricate it.

5. Detect leaks. Make a spray be melting 1 cup shredded soap into 1 cup of water. Spray the solution onto gas pipes, tires, air beds, etc…if you see bubbles form, you found your leak.

6. Remove a broken light bulb. Shove the corner of your soap into the base and twist.

7. As a plant spray to get rid of or ward off insects: 1 cup shredded soap melted into 2 cups of water. Spray all over and let dry.

8. To remove wall paper and/or it’s glue make a solution soap 1 cup shredded soap in 1 cup water. Sponge over the area.

9. To get old drawers moving, rub over the metal runners.

10. To make metal move through wood easier, lubricate screws by driving them into a bar of soap first, or rub a saw blade with soap.

11. Easy pun cushion. Cover a bar of soap in fabric. The pins will be lubricated by the soap as well, preventing snags.

12. Clean dirty window sills by running the wet edge of a bar along them and wipe with damp cloth.

13. Snap siding into place easier by lubricating the zip tool with soap solution.

14. Repell rabbits and deer from garden. Make sachets with strong smelling soap: like peppermint, place around garden.

15. Pre-treat stains. Wet area and rub soap into it before laundering.

16. Keep your finger nails clean when gardening. Scrape your nails over a bar of soap before digging in the dirt. It will keep the dirt out and make washing up after easier.

17. Relieve the itch of a bug bite. Rub a wet bar of soap over the bite and let dry.

18. Use as a shave lotion. Make a solution of 1 part grated soap melted into 1 part water.

19. Rid your house of fleas. Put a solution of 2 parts shredded soap melted into 1 part water into a dish. Place the dish under a lamp over night. The light will attract the fleas and they will drown in the soap.

20. Make your own foaming sponges. Shove soap slivers into the holes.

21. Use as a handwash for your delicates.

22. Make a great all natural pet shampoo. Melt 1 cup shredded soap into 1 cup of water.

23. Make your own fruit and veggie wash. Melt 1/4 cup shredded soap into 2 cups water and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Wash and rinse well.

24. For a great window cleaner use the above solution in a spray bottle.

25. Clean your jewelry by soaking in a solution of 1/2 cup shredded soap melted into 1 cup water. Gently scrub with an old tooth brush and rinse.

26. As a mild antisceptic wash: wash scrapes with soap. As an antisceptic paste, make a gel by soaking 1/4 cup shredded soap in 1 tablespoon water until gel-like. Add enough white sugar to make a paste. Put a little on a splinter or boil, cover with gauze.

27. To ward off poison ivy rash make a solution of 1 cup shredded soap in 1/2 cup water. Apply over exposed skin that may come into contact with the plants. It will act as a barrier to the rash causing oils.

By: Patricia Mills, The Soap Guru

Animal Soaps

A preview of the Animal Soaps. These are made with our Natural Glycerin Soap and have fun foam animals inside. They will debut at the "Spring Time in the Garden Festival" at Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, Saturday March 21st, 9:00-4:00

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Girl Scouts making soap update.

There soap poured and firming over-night.

Here is the finished product, slightly used.

Displayed by Miss Emily LaFrance.

All had fun. Thanks to Patricia for doing the class :)

HP Soap 9 ... The Finishing

A couple of images. You can see the stuff that looks like chunks, well it is...but it was the dried out soap on the surface in the slow cooker. After mixing I let it set for about 10 minutes and just stirred it all in. Magnolia Soap, wanted white this time (had a green top last year), but not just a plain white bar. So the texture was added. The rough sides make it stand out.
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HP Soap 8...The Second day

Just unmolded and paper pulled. Very grainy. I was going for texture this time instead of coloring the soap.
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HP Soap 7

All squashed into mold. This is a 1 loaf, about 6lb. Show in a couple days.
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HP Soap 6

Spoon it in your mold. I line mine with freezer paper. Why? Its easy to work with, inexpensive, does not leave that weird haze on your soap. It will be thick like mashed potatoes, but not sticky. Push it all down into the mold. Level off the best you can.
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HP Soap 5

Mixing in fragrance oil (FO). Scrape sides to get all mixed. Its stubborn so take a little time.
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HP Soap 4

After about 2 1/2 hours... tongue test was good, crunch down with masher mixing well.
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HP Soap 3

Almost two hours. Wants to come out.
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HP Soap 2

ITS ALIVE! About 30 minutes in. Folding over in pot, bubbling around edges.
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Hot Process Soap 1

Here is the process for Hot Process Soapmaking. I use a little water discount, but not as much as for Cold Process. Mixed all oils to heavy trace in Slow Cooker. Now time to cook on high for...we will see.
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New Fragrance Time

This spring we are bringing back some favorites... Sweet Magnolia, Mom's Gardenias, Honeysuckle and Coconut. Pink Grapefruit is a new one for soap. It has the exotic warmth of grapefruit with a touch of sweetness. I will use essential oil, so the scent will be true.
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When good soap goes bad - Update

After the last Vanilla Soap, I got some ideas. I liked the white topping. So I kept that and cut some of the last batch into chunks and dropped them on after it set-up for a little. They will get darker. Vanilla Soap is a light color when fresh but darkens during curing. You can see how the edges are already darker than the center. That looks wild. I like vanilla, it is a warm and relaxing scent. It's a strange one in the store. I'll sell a bunch over a week, then it will set there in it's bin for a couple weeks. Then it starts out the door again. Beside it are some logs of Cucumber Melon made the same day. The Cucumber Melon has some Oatmeal Soap slivers in it that adds a nice texture. A little scrubby on the skin, but not abrasive.
Everything comes around in the end. ;)

When good soap goes bad

This slab look unique, a dark vanilla with a white icing? But something was not quite right. It just didn't look "right".

It had set there for a day in its mold, warm and insulated. Nice and safe. After taking it out....looked, well OK. But did not "feel" just right. So I cut 'em into logs. That's when I found out... It all started with making some Vanilla soap. Vanilla is a wee bit tricky. It sets up quick. Gets thick fast. Not time to doddle. Mix it to trace and get it in the mold. Well at the very end I decided to get creative. HHmmm maybe I will add a swirl. So I poured out some soap, added some white...mixed it well... then poured my vanilla in the mold. (which I did not mix well enough) Started to add the white and was not happy with the color. So I add some more... eating up valuable time... poured the white on and tried to swirl. Well the vanilla had changed to a concrete paste. I tried to fight it. Well you CAN NOT fight soap. It will do as it will. Just like a cat. Now I have this ....vanilla leaking, cratered up soap. Not an attractive site. But it looks pretty cool.

Bath Bombs

It has been a busy day. Updated the books, ordered supplys, cleaned, and put my candles on sale. Made a batch of Emmie's Soap and a batch for hand milling. Hand milling or re-batching is when you grate up a soap, melt in a slow cooker and add extra oils, herbs and such to make yourself a custom luxurious soap. It is not hard to do. That would be a good addition here. Will get that out soon. Started making Bath Bombs or Fizzies again. It has been a loooong time. It gets tricky adding the correct amount of liquid to make then stick together without setting off the reaction. I recently found a good mold, so I started experimenting again. They turned out pretty well. They will be offered in the shop and web store soon. These test ones are Lavender and Cucumber-Melon. They are about 3" long and weigh about 8.7 ounces. You toss one in the tub and they begin to fizz and dissolve. They make the water nice and release a nice fragrance for a relaxing bath. That sounds good for tonight.

Well I finished my bathroom project, got the wiring finished. All works fine.
Christina now has modern electricity setup in bath. She is happy.
Getting ready for the Iris Festival this weekend. Should be a good show.
Made a new soap Saturday that totally trashed. First time that has happened in a very long time.
It turned out to be a very big caustic mess. Solid but, yuck. Always fun trying something new. Never quite sure how it will turn out. Tried the new "swirling technique" I learned from Lori Nova. http://www.thenovastudio.com/ A very nice girl. She is a Pro at swirling soap. Well it turned out pretty good. Will be adding it to the collection soon. Have lots of new things to work on; new fragrances and blends, techniques and products.
I miss the creative part of soapmaking. Do not get enough time to do "Play" I am starting to make time to play. Only way new things can come to life. Pull them out of the cracks in my brain - See if they are something nice or something you "poke with a pointed stick" see if it bites.

Got this today, pic of me receiving certificate from Marie Gale, President of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild. Taken in Vermont, April 30.