Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles !

[judymoody]

I participated in that swap! Mine were the coconut milk (liquid and powder). The liquid was pretty much a dud in the lather department (by my calculations, BTW, the SF went from 8% to 16% using canned coconut milk as liquid.

The participants had widely disparate lather results depending on how hard their water was.

The big bubble winners in that swap, if I remember correctly, were rosin, liquid goat's milk beer, and sodium citrate. These seemed to do pretty well for everybody.

Just as a guess, I think SF begins to depress lather somewhere around 8-10% but that's an idiosyncratic guess.

 

[paillo]

Moodyglenn, thanks so much for your insightful look at the human side of a soaping expert, loved your post about her, a wonderful tribute.

DeeAnna, aka Mary Poppins, you're amazing, thank you for giving so much scientific insight into topics that many of us little understand. I, for one, am learning a ton from your posts. Can I liken you just a little bit to our very own and much appreciated Swifty? Of course you're not 'ours,' but I love it that you give so much to this forum.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oooh, Judy, thanks for the insights. The gal from Amathia Soapworks (Kenna?) who posted the pictures of the lather test didn't include the results from other testers, just her own findings. It's great to hear your point of view. I really appreciate the extra info!!!!

 

[grayceworks]

Hello! Years ago while learning about soapmaking I purchased a wonderful, self-published soapmaking "booklet" from a soapmaker by the name of Rita Coursey-Scheu. A few of you may remember her. She had a small business called Tender Loving Care Soaps. Her very detailed book was filled with recipes and reasons to add certain oils, fats and other ingredients. It was called "Simply Natural Soapmaking With Tender Loving Care". In her very detailed 125 page handbook her favorite formulation for making loads of bubbles consisted of three ingredients: coconut oil, pko (palm kernel oil) and castor oil. She called them the 'holy trinity' of bubble making. No matter what percentage you use of each if you used all three together (along with other oils and ingredients) you would get lots and lots of bubbles; big bubbles as well as creamy bubbles. I stuck with her insight and yes, you do get lots of great bubbles. I use this 'trinity' (in part) for my main soap recipe. I guess it is the synergy with the oils that helps make more bubbles.

Sadly, Rita passed away a few years ago from breast cancer. In fact, she had made some soap and lotion recipes to help with the sensitivity with radiation and chemotherapy treatments. I have no idea how may copies of her booklet and additional specific bath and body methods (beauty product recipes like lotions, salves, etc.) she produced and sold but I really treasure my copy. I remember I had sent her a few emails thanking her for her generosity in publishing her knowledge and giving her moral support in her battle with cancer (my mother developed it three times). Her responses were absolutely delightful! I wish I had the chance to meet her in person. She is sadly missed. :cry:

Do you know if her family is still maintaining the site? The book appears to still be for sale, but it may be that they've just not taken it down. It would be wonderful if it was still available to continue to benefit those with health issues needing such types of recipes. http://www.tlcsoaps.com/book.htm

I wish I had known more about natural body care stuff when my dad was ill. His skin was nearly transparent and the cleansers were so irritating and the commercial lotions never seemed to keep the dryness at bay.

 

[boyago]

Do you know if her family is still maintaining the site? The book appears to still be for sale, but it may be that they've just not taken it down. It would be wonderful if it was still available to continue to benefit those with health issues needing such types of recipes. http://www.tlcsoaps.com/book.htm

The site appears to be up but all the links are broken. I was thinking it would be super great if the family let someone republish the book and let a large portion of the proceeds get back to the cancer society.