Hi, my name is Chantel. I guess 3 months of lurking is enough and I need to break down and do an intro.
I cannot say I have *always* wanted to make my own soap. I have thought about it before and helped my daughter with a m&p when she was little but it was not some burning desire persay.
I tend to be a fringe thinker, and favor anything off the grid and can be hard headed about doing anything I can myself. Luckily even though I have a very mainstream dh, he loves me and tolerates my ways
I finally got him onboard with a huge diet overhaul which believe it or not kinda led down this path. (Along with huge weight loss across the entire household)
I figured if I was going to be that careful about what went in my body I should be more careful about what went on my body. It led to buying Dr. Bronner's (I still have 1/2 a bottle since I stopped using it after I had my own soap to use) and trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do with all the "soap" bars I had. I decided to try making homemade laundry soap (to use up the fake soap), and found a local place to get washing soda. While I was there the lady told me that they also carry caustic. (I had no idea what she was talking about at the time) The laundry soap was simple and I felt good that I was not wasting anything.
After that I also came into a source for beef fat... pretty much all I can stand. It seems like I kept getting hit in the head with reasons to make soap whether I wanted to or not. So I first decided I should learn how to render tallow, and then started getting books on soapmaking from the library and spent months rendering, and reading, and taking notes.
I am sure my husband thought I had lost my mind, I had probably near 200 pounds of tallow rendered and was scared to make the soap. He is so sweet and supportive, he made my molds for me and gave me the kick in the butt I needed to move forward.
I started out with just plain tallow, unscented, and progressed from there. Believe it or not, I really favor the plain tallow soap, especially now that I have been working with EVOO. It is so hateful by comparison (so sticky and soft out of the mold). I love EO, am learning how to use natural colorants, and make soap nearly every day now.
Its a sickness.
It would not be so bad, but its not like there is not plenty else to do. I am a midwife, mother that homeschools, quilter...and I have a long laundry list of other things I enjoy doing. My husband is worried I am not using enough EO since he cannot smell them anymore. (Trust me, the house reeks to anyone else that even were to just drive by). I am running out of places to cure the soap, but have not run out of ideas for soaps to make, lol.
I have not been brave enough to do shampoo or shave bars yet, but am very excited to add them to my repertoire. I personally went no-poo 6 mo ago. Hubby is scared tho, so I want to make a nice poo bar for him.
I have really enjoyed reading through the forum. There has been so much valuable information. Thanks for having me!
I cannot say I have *always* wanted to make my own soap. I have thought about it before and helped my daughter with a m&p when she was little but it was not some burning desire persay.
I tend to be a fringe thinker, and favor anything off the grid and can be hard headed about doing anything I can myself. Luckily even though I have a very mainstream dh, he loves me and tolerates my ways
I finally got him onboard with a huge diet overhaul which believe it or not kinda led down this path. (Along with huge weight loss across the entire household)I figured if I was going to be that careful about what went in my body I should be more careful about what went on my body. It led to buying Dr. Bronner's (I still have 1/2 a bottle since I stopped using it after I had my own soap to use) and trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do with all the "soap" bars I had. I decided to try making homemade laundry soap (to use up the fake soap), and found a local place to get washing soda. While I was there the lady told me that they also carry caustic. (I had no idea what she was talking about at the time) The laundry soap was simple and I felt good that I was not wasting anything.
After that I also came into a source for beef fat... pretty much all I can stand. It seems like I kept getting hit in the head with reasons to make soap whether I wanted to or not. So I first decided I should learn how to render tallow, and then started getting books on soapmaking from the library and spent months rendering, and reading, and taking notes.
I am sure my husband thought I had lost my mind, I had probably near 200 pounds of tallow rendered and was scared to make the soap. He is so sweet and supportive, he made my molds for me and gave me the kick in the butt I needed to move forward.
I started out with just plain tallow, unscented, and progressed from there. Believe it or not, I really favor the plain tallow soap, especially now that I have been working with EVOO. It is so hateful by comparison (so sticky and soft out of the mold). I love EO, am learning how to use natural colorants, and make soap nearly every day now.
Its a sickness.
It would not be so bad, but its not like there is not plenty else to do. I am a midwife, mother that homeschools, quilter...and I have a long laundry list of other things I enjoy doing. My husband is worried I am not using enough EO since he cannot smell them anymore. (Trust me, the house reeks to anyone else that even were to just drive by). I am running out of places to cure the soap, but have not run out of ideas for soaps to make, lol.
I have not been brave enough to do shampoo or shave bars yet, but am very excited to add them to my repertoire. I personally went no-poo 6 mo ago. Hubby is scared tho, so I want to make a nice poo bar for him.
I have really enjoyed reading through the forum. There has been so much valuable information. Thanks for having me!
