Homemade Soaps - An old tradition revitilized!
Homemade Soaps that our grandmothers and great-grandmothers made on a constant basis because there was no such thing as grocery stores, is now making a comeback in the crafting communities. Centuries ago this was not something pretty to give as a gift, but for everyday uses such as laundry, and washing your hands and body. Today, homemade soaps are crafts that are given away as gifts to people. There is a small group of people that are into all natural items making soap to use for everyday purposes, but in most cases these are for decorative and/or cosmetic purposes.
If you want to try your hand at making homemade soaps, there is a lot of information on the Internet. There are also craft stores and natural stores that you can contact for information on how to make homemade soaps. It is not hard to do, but there are some definite things you must do to make successful bars of soap and safety precautions to adhere to!
The main ingredient in homemade soaps is lye. This is a caustic material and dangerous if not handled properly. This material is added to distilled water. This mixture will heat up and then cool down.
The next mixture will be the oils that you want to use. Lard is popular and can be found in many grocery stores. You can also use coconut, and other natural vegetable based oils. This mixture is added to the lye mixture when both are at the same temperature. You can also add fragrances to the oil mixture such as lavender to make it smell nice. Beeswax is another ingredient that can be added to the oil mixture to make for smooth handmade soaps.
When you are adding the two mixtures together, be very careful not to spill anything on your skin! You will now mix this mixture together by hand with a plastic or wooden spoon (never aluminum!) or a hand mixer until you get a trace (which is when you dribble mixture on top and it doesn’t sink in). The homemade soaps mixture is now ready to be put in molds to cool.
Making is a worthwhile craft project to do in your home. When adding ingredients together, make sure you don’t have children close by! These homemade soaps will make great gift ideas and will look pretty in your powder room!