As I've told you 20 times already, I was an avid cp soaper 16 years ago. I moved from the States to Canada and there was simply no room to do soaping anymore, or at least at the level I was doing soap before. Except for the few people begging me to make a batch of patchouli soap, I just put soaping out of my head.
I don't know what happened, but lately I've had the urge to start again. The first batch to be made will, of course, be patchouli! I'm still waiting for a phone call from my local coop to tell me my ingredients have arrived.
So I went to my stash of soap making things and started to go through it. I could not get over how much stuff I had in those plastic bins. I've already told you about some of the stuff, but today I went through a couple more bins. It was disheartening. It seems I have 5 stick blenders. (I have no idea why!) They all work. Then I have dozens of plastic bowls and pitchers from Rubber Maid. What did I put in those? My soap recipes are all very simple. Enough beeswax to last a life time.
Then I opened two more really heavy bins and found around 40 bottles of essential oils and some fragrances. Many of them still had the shrinkwrap bands around the caps. Most of the bottles were 500 mls. A few were bigger. I had 5 bottles of wintergreen, and I don't really like that scent. There were also a dozen 250 mls bottles of eucalyptus. I opened some of the bottles and none of them smelled rancid. In fact, when I came back in the house, my partner wanted to know what scent I was wearing. He said I smelled like baby powder. Judging from all those bottles, apparently I was a regular customer of Snow Drift Farms and A Garden Eastward. It seems both of them are gone now. (Maybe my departure was more than they could absorb. )
I'm not going to throw out all that essential oil. I can't imagine what I must have spent on all that. I'm going to try little soaping experiments with them and see how they react. I'll let you know!
I have to laugh a little now that I am in this forum. Times have changed. Apparently fragrance oils have been vindicated. Maybe it was just the forum I belonged to back then, but they considered themselves as purists. Fragrances were no-nos! A self-respecting purist would never pollute their soap with something artificial. That went for most colorants too. I was surprised to find a number of fragrances in my stash today. Guess I couldn't resist the attraction of some of those scents - but I'm sure I never mentioned it to my group!
Well, there's still no room in the house for a soaping area. Guess I am going to have to do it in the kitchen. 16 years ago, I built myself a roomy soap area in the basement. Plenty of space. What luxury!
I don't know what happened, but lately I've had the urge to start again. The first batch to be made will, of course, be patchouli! I'm still waiting for a phone call from my local coop to tell me my ingredients have arrived.
So I went to my stash of soap making things and started to go through it. I could not get over how much stuff I had in those plastic bins. I've already told you about some of the stuff, but today I went through a couple more bins. It was disheartening. It seems I have 5 stick blenders. (I have no idea why!) They all work. Then I have dozens of plastic bowls and pitchers from Rubber Maid. What did I put in those? My soap recipes are all very simple. Enough beeswax to last a life time.
Then I opened two more really heavy bins and found around 40 bottles of essential oils and some fragrances. Many of them still had the shrinkwrap bands around the caps. Most of the bottles were 500 mls. A few were bigger. I had 5 bottles of wintergreen, and I don't really like that scent. There were also a dozen 250 mls bottles of eucalyptus. I opened some of the bottles and none of them smelled rancid. In fact, when I came back in the house, my partner wanted to know what scent I was wearing. He said I smelled like baby powder. Judging from all those bottles, apparently I was a regular customer of Snow Drift Farms and A Garden Eastward. It seems both of them are gone now. (Maybe my departure was more than they could absorb. )
I'm not going to throw out all that essential oil. I can't imagine what I must have spent on all that. I'm going to try little soaping experiments with them and see how they react. I'll let you know!
I have to laugh a little now that I am in this forum. Times have changed. Apparently fragrance oils have been vindicated. Maybe it was just the forum I belonged to back then, but they considered themselves as purists. Fragrances were no-nos! A self-respecting purist would never pollute their soap with something artificial. That went for most colorants too. I was surprised to find a number of fragrances in my stash today. Guess I couldn't resist the attraction of some of those scents - but I'm sure I never mentioned it to my group!
Well, there's still no room in the house for a soaping area. Guess I am going to have to do it in the kitchen. 16 years ago, I built myself a roomy soap area in the basement. Plenty of space. What luxury!