Laundry Soap

Read a review of my all natural body soap at Raising Mighty Arrows
Check out all the soaps Ioffer Homemade Natural Soaps

What does laundry soap and homemade soap have in common?  Well if you suffer from allergies or skin irritations you know what you wash your clothes in matters.  Most homemade clothes soaps use Fels-Naptha or Ivory.  Both are pretty strong smelling.  You can use homemade soap!  I make a nice one with a lime bar and it is so light and gentle you can use it to wash baby clothes in.  So I share my recipe and you can substitute any homemade soap you find agrees with your skin type.  I make a really gentle Honey N Oats with no added scent too!

In a big pot boil 6 cups of water.  Add 1 whole grated bar of soap of choice here.  Stir until dissolved.

Add 1 cup Borax & 1 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda). Stir until dissolved.

In a big 5 gallon pail add 6 cups boiling water and the soap in the pot.  Add to that 2 1/2 gallons of warm tap water.  Stir and let sit overnight. 

Become a follower and keep up on all soap varieties when they are ready!


Links
A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Like A Bubbling Brook
Strictly Homemade

Review of my soap at Raising Mighty Arrows

Check out the latest review of my soap at Raising Mighty Arrows.

If you have tried my soap please feel free to forward this to your facebook page to share. 
Thanks!

Benefits of Sweet Almond Oil

Sweet almond oil, as the name suggests, is extracted from the seeds of almond trees by cold pressing the kernels. The fact that it contains several essential vitamins such as vitamin A, B1, B2, B6 and E makes it very useful for treating skin conditions. All these vitamins rejuvenate the skin and promote hair growth.

Several skin disorders can also be prevented and treated by using sweet almond oil. It can be used by all except those who have a nut allergy.  It provides a subtle scent as well as cures many skin problems like itching, drying and skin inflammation. Almond oil soap makes a smooth and creamy lather, which is the result of  healthy ingredients present in the almond oil soap that actually cause chains of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids that are very effective for total skin care. There are no harmful chemicals present in the almond oil soap, making it safe for babies and facial skin as well.

The soaps I make that contain ORGANIC Sweet Almond Oil.
Honey N Oats
Cocoa Mint
Orange Cinnamon
Almond & Cocoa Butter
Orange Dreamsicle

Fun Fact

Almond oil is similar in make-up to the oil that babies excrete to keep their skin naturally soft and smelling great.

A Little Bit of Spain In Iowa
day2dayjoys
Raising Homemakers
Like A Bubbling Brook

Almond & Cocoa Butter

Saponified ORGANIC oils of palm, olive & sweet almond.  Cocoa butter and almond FO.

$3.50 a bar

Vanilla Mint

Saponified ORGANIC oils of sunflower, coconut, plam & olive.  Vanilla crytals and 100% pure wintergreen essential oil.

$3.50 a bar

Lime Mint Sorbet

Saponified ORGANIC oils of coconut, sunflower & olive.  100% pure lime and wintergreen essential oils.

$3.50 a bar



Why bother with handmade soap? Is it really better for you?

Have you ever tried a bar of old-fashioned handmade soap? Are you worried you will burn your skin or have scaly itchy dry skin when you hear of lye in handmade soap? Well, let me ease your fears and tell you exactly what real handmade soap is. Soap can not be made without lye. Oils and lye mix in a process called saponification resulting in soap. The soap cures for 24 hours and is ready to cut and there are then no traces of lye left. Soap is cured depending on the soap maker between 3-6 weeks. This lets the soap rest and harden. The longer it sets the harder and milder it becomes.

Now that is the short of it but there are many different oils and additives you can put into your soap. I basically use 5 ORGANIC oils, olive, coconut, sunflower, sweet almond & palm. The basic additives I use are ORGANIC cocoa butter, raw unfiltered Indiana honey, ORGANIC fresh ground oats, poppy seeds, and 100 % pure essential oils. I have made a bar of blueberry that is from a fragrance oil.

There are many differences in handmade soap and store bought soap. Handmade soap has tons of natural glycerin in it. Factory soap makers take the glycerin out to make lotions and skin creams which is why after a shower using store bought soap you have to put on lotion! Handmade soap leaves all the good stuff in it. Handmade soap uses no chemicals or detergents. Factory soap is mostly detergent and adds so many chemicals you would have to put each one into the Environmental Working Group database to find out the danger of each ingredient. Which is what I have done for you.

If you take a stroll down a Wal-Mart isle you will find many selections of bar soap. Dove, Olay, Ivory, Caress, Yardley of London, Camay, Canus Goat’s Milk, Tone, the options keep going. EWG rated all these soaps based on the ingredients in them.  The scale ratings are 0-2 as low hazard, 3-6 moderate hazard and 7-10 high hazard. Now you understand we are rating hazardous to our health people!

Lever rates an 8
Olay rates a 6
Everyone else rates a 5

What are the ingredients that are hazardous? Let’s look at some.
Lever 2000 ingredient list from packaging:
WATER, AMMONIUM LAURYL SULFATE, AMMONIUM LAURETH SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, GLYCERIN, FRAGRANCE, PEG-10 SUNFLOWER GLYCERIDES, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E ACETATE), RETINYL PALMITATE (VITAMIN A PALMITATE), PANTHENOL (PROVITAMIN B5), PANAX GINSENG ROOT EXTRACT (GINSENG), COCAMIDE MEA, PEG-5 COCAMIDE, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, AMMONIUM CHLORIDE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, TETRASODIUM EDTA, ETIDRONIC ACID, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, BLUE 1 (CI 42090), GREEN 3 (CI 42053).

We will look at just a couple of these ingredients. The fragrance used could cause neurotoxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity at a level of 8 on a scale of 0-10.
The synthetic form of Vitamin A which is retinyl palmitate has been shown to cause cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), biochemical or cellular level changes. Again at a risk level of 8 on a scale of 0-10.Now are you going to get cancer from using these products? Maybe we should be asking another question. Are you okay with moderately risking your health ever single time you shower?

I also looked up some soap companies with a rating of 0 and 1. I also listed if they were organic (OG) and the price per bar and ounce.
By Valenti True Castile right near here in Shamburg, IL (Chicago area) rates a 0 at $7 for a 5oz bar/OG
Kiss My Face rates a 0 rates a 0 at $3.99 for an 8 oz bar NOT OG
Trader Joes Oatmeal & Honey
Coastal Creations Oatmeal which is the face bar I use to use rates a 0 and is now $9 per 3.5oz and is NOT OG
Aubrey Organics Evening Primrose rates a 0 at $5.95 for a 4 oz bar and the only OG ingredient is the evening primrose oil!
Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint rates a 1 at $4.49 for a 5oz bar/OG　

We personally test our soaps on ourselves so we know it will be gentle to your skin. We also put in each ingredient at the EWG database and our soap rates a 0. You can also feel good about buying a bar because each recipe is thought out and each oil has different health benefits. Each bar is hand cut, weighed, stamped and wrapped. You are buying the best product we can provide for the best possible price.

May Special
$10 for 3 bars
$13 for 4 bars
$15 for 5 bars

http://likeabubblingbrook.com/2011/05/biblical-womanhood-friday-4th-ed/
http://jasmine-aboverubies.blogspot.com/2011/05/domestically-divine-homemaking-link-up_17.html
http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/homemaking-link-up-30/
http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/2011/05/danger-of-bloggers.html
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2011/05/mondays-homestead-barn-hop-this-weeks-happenings/
http://wholenewmom.com/traditional-tuesday/traditional-tuesday-blog-hop-may-31-2011/

And the winner is...

Random.org generated the winner.  That number is 18 ~ Bobbie Jo Wilkinson!  Congratulations! 

Please contact me with your mailing address and I will mail your bars of Peppermint Patty & Orange Creamsicle. 

Thanks to all those who participated and supported my new business endeavour.  Truly you will never know how I appreciate your support.

Love,
Angela Czepinski

Honey N Oats

Saponified ORGANIC oils of coconut, palm, sunflower & sweet almond oil.

Raw unfiltered Indiana honey, naturally sourced beeswax, organic fresh ground oats.

Average weight 5 oz

$3.50 a bar

This is the first soap recipe I made.  My children and I were tested for allergies and found out that we are all sensitive to milk (yes, even raw) and wheat.  I began trying to eliminate these things from our diet.  I also began to research alternative things to use for our body care regimen to help our immune systems get a break to repair themselves.  At this same time I started menopause and I started having breakouts on my chin and neck.  I had been a faithful user of Dove sensitive soap for many years and I began to notice it just wasn't helping with my acne.  I was told by a friend about a company who made a face soap with a 0 on the EWG scale.  I tried them and loved their soaps.  I started buying them and had my teenage son start using them and he noticed a difference.  At the time I was paying $6 for a 3.5 oz bar but over the next few months they increased the price to $8 a bar.  Plus I was paying $10 for shipping from California.  We were also hooked on Dr. Bronner's Peppermint bar for the bath.  So we were spending alot on soap and shipping.  I am always trying to figure out how to do the things we do better or for less money so I began to read about soap making.  Would you believe with our recent move God placed in my life a friend I knew from a while back who made soap!  We talked and talked and I read more and read more.  Made my first order of essential oils, bought oils, made it to Menard's to buy lye, round up my spare pots and measuring cups, watched a few videos and made my first batch of soap.  I went by the ingredient list of the face soap I was using.  It wasn't as creamy but when I washed my face, nothing happened.  No break outs, no burning just fresh soft clean skin.  I was hooked from that first bar of soap. 

I have since made a batch of Cocoa Mint to replace Dr. Bronner's and several other favorites like Lavender Castile and Cocoa Butter & Almond.

I hope you will try my handmade soap and fall in love with the quality and love that goes into each batch. 

Blueberry Soap

Saponified ORGANIC oils of coconut, sunflower & olive.

Cocoa butter & blueberry fragrance oil.

Average weight 5.1 oz

$3.50 a bar