New Spring/Summer Scents

My new scents for this season are:

Tuscan Melon and Apricot
Lavender Cucumber and Sage
Green Tea and Lemongrass


Coming soon to www.avalonsoapworks.com and www.krafterz.com!!

The winner of my soap giveaway.

The winner of my soap giveaway is Anisa Redmond. Thanks for playing :)

Pick My New Spring Soap Scents and Get a Bar of Soap for Free

It is that time of year. My favorite pthalate free fragrance supplier,Candlescience, is having its spring scent sale. I have to place the order for my spring scents today. I have some shows to do and would like your input on what scents should be added to my line this spring. Here are the choices. I will take all the people who comment and randomly draw a name from a hat. That person will get a free bar of soap. They get to pick the scent :)

1)Basil and Herb
2)Beach Linen
3)Black Raspberry Vanilla
4)Coconut
5)Coconut Lime
6)Coconut Lime Verbena
7)Citrus Basil
8)Cucumber Melon
9)Day at the Spa
10)Dreamsicle
11)English Garden
12)Fruit Slices
13)Gardenia
14)Golden Rose
15)Green Tea and Lemongrass
16)Bamboo
17)Jamaica Me Crazy
18)Lavender Cucumber Sage
19)Lavender Vanilla
20)Mango Tangerine
21)Love Spell
22)Peach
23)Peppermint Eucalyptus
24)Pineapple Coconut
25)Pineapple Sage
26)Pink Sugar
27)Plumberry
28)Plumeria
29)Sweet Pea and vanilla
30)Tuscan Melon and Vanilla
31)White Tea and Berries
32)Strawberry

Let me know what sounds good to you. I need at least 5 new scents:) If something sounds like it would be awesome in a candle, but maybe not in soap, I would like to know that too. Thanks.

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted in quite a while.  We have a new addition to our family.  Rachel Elaine Marie Smith was born Oct 23.  I am once again feeling up to making soap and posting about it. 

Our website avalonsoapoworks.com is not up and running right now, so please check out our etsy story for some great Christmas gift ideas.  I will be listing more soaps, lotions, candles, and some great new crocheted items as well. Check back often :)

Coloring Soap Naturally Using Common Ingredients

I am a purist at heart.  I make soap because I do not like all the chemicals, dyes, and preservatives that are in store bought soap.  So, why I ask myself would I consider using chemicals to dye my soap? Well, the easy answer is its pretty. I do not usually use any colors at all, but I do get tired of the tans, creams, and browns that occur naturally. They are beautiful but sometimes the girl in me would like a bit more color in my life.  So I set out to find natural colors.  I found that many of the natural colorants were hard to find and expensive.  So I did a lot of research and experimentation and found that the stuff I had in my kitchen would work just fine.  Some things you might not have around, but it is easy to find and cheap.  Here is the list I put together.

Greens

Alfalfa Powder

Cucumber (Blend it including peel)

Parsley

Peppermint

Sage

Spinach

Stevia Powder

Yellows

Annatto Seed

Calendula Petals

Carrot  Juice

Curry Powder

Gound Mustard

Tumeric

Oranges

Cayenne

Orange Peel

Paprika

Tomato Puree

Browns

Cinnamon

Coffee

Cocoa

Chocolate

Purple/Blue

Alkanet

Blackberries

Red/Pink

Rose Hip Powder

Soapmaking Classes

    Soap making can be pretty intimidating when you are first starting out. All the measuring of ingredients and the scary warnings on the bottle of lye can be really terrifying.  I recommend that you start out taking a beginning class somewhere.


Online Classes

1).Soap Making 101
Learn the foundations of soap making online with this class.  Good for those of you who feel comfortable learning online.  Its affordable too.

2) Nature's Garden Candles offers a soap making class for free.  Maybe not as comprehensive as some of the more formal classes, but it is pretty good.  A great beginner class for those of you who would like to try it out for free.  They also offer a large selection of classes on other similar subjects, such as. candle making, bath bombs, and shampoo.

Spokane, Wa soapmaking classes

1) Greencastle Soap Company is owned by a very nice lady here in Spokane. She teaches classes on soapmaking. The cost is $55. She also sells soapmaking supplies.

Top 5 places to find Sodium Hyroxide (Lye) for Soap Making

   When I first started making soap it was easy to find lye.  The little Red Devil can was sitting next to all the other drain cleaners in the grocery store.  Twelve years later it isn't quite as easy to find. Stores no longer carry it and buying it from the internet often requires confusing hazmat fees.  So here are a few places I have found Sodium Hydroxide (lye) at decent prices.

1) Lowe's carries Roebic Drain Cleaner it is 2lb and costs $13.60 at my local Lowe's in Spokane, Wa

2) The General Store in Spokane, Wa carries  1lb containers for around $5.00, but that is only good if you live near me.  Check out your local feed, automotive, or general type stores, just make sure it is 100% sodium hydroxide.

3)The Chemistry Store carries sodium hydroxide in 2lb ($10.00), 25lb ($72.00), and 55lb ($105.40) containers.  The shipping is pretty high depending on where you live.  Shipping to me would cost around $15 for the 2lb container, and $60 for the 55lb container.

4)The Essential Depot sells lye 8lbs for $12.49. This lye is food grade and one of the best prices I have seen. Where I live the shipping would be $ 13.04.


5.Amazon.com offers the best prices I have found online. They have a wide variety of lye including Red Devil and Essential Depot. They have food grade as well. The prices range from $4 for one lb to $95 for 50lb.

Grandma's Lye Soap

I think that maybe I should have called this soap Not Grandma's Lye Soap.  This soap is definitely an improvement over the lye heavy soap that Grandma used to make.  In the past making soap was a kind of guessing game.  It was almost impossible to know what your lye concentration was, so the soaps often turned out with a bit too much.  Everyone has heard the stories about how Grandma's homemade soap took your skin off.  Today we have modern scientific methods of measuring lye, so our soaps are very accurate.  This soap is made with 100% lard.  I hesitated for a long time to try animal fats in my soaps, but I love it.  It makes a very hard, white bar of soap that lathers very well. This soap also lasts a long time because it is so hard.

So give a bar of gentle and creamy Grandma's Lye Soap a try today.

The Easiest Cold Processed Soap I Ever Made

    The first soap that anyone should attempt to create should be simple.  It should have very few ingredients, and those ingredients should be as inexpensive as possible.  Soap making is a science, measuring accurately and following a recipe is foolproof.  Well, not really foolproof.  Soap making may be a science, but it is also an art.  It took me a few tries to perfect even this simple recipe.  So if you are interested in soap making try this recipe.  It is the first soap I ever made.

Basic Soap
48oz Crisco or other vegetable shortening
6oz Food Grade Sodium Hydroxide Lye Micro Beads, 2 Lbs. (Buy 5 get 5 off)
15oz  distilled water

Create using standard cold process procedure.
1) Melt the shortening and cool to 100 degrees
2) Mix the lye into the cold water then cool to 100 degrees
3) Mix the lye solution into the oil and mix with stick blender until "trace", it will look similar to pudding.
4) Pour into mold and cover. Wait 24 hours.
5) You should be able to unmold and cut your soap at this point.

** You could use fragrance oil in this soap at the rate of 1/2 oz per pound.
***This recipe makes great laundry soap bars. Just follow my instructions on making laundry soap.

5 Basic Soap Making Tools

     One of the questions that people ask me about soap making the most often is, "What do I need to get started?". So I though I would put together a list of items that are both easily found and affordable.

     I have read many articles and books on soap making in the many years I have been making soap. Most of the time there is a exhaustive list of hard to find,  not to mention expensive equipment to purchase. This list is not meant to provide all the equipment you would need to start a soap making business. It is just a very basic list for those of you who would like to try soap making without a big initial investment.

1)A Stick Blender: Also called an immersion blender, this tool is absolutely necessary for soap making.  When I started out in the soap making business I didn't know about stick blenders, as a result I spent many hours stirring a pot of soap waiting for the elusive "trace"  I had read so much about.  What all those articles and books never told me about "trace" was that it would happen 2 hours faster if I used a stick blender.  Seriously, you can reach  "trace" (the point when the soap looks similar to pudding and is ready for the mold) in a mere 5 minutes, as opposed to the 2 hours it might take with a spoon or wisk. Getting a good stick blender is important.  I had a Braun stick blender that I used for many many years, until one day it up and died on me.  I went and bought a new one, it wasn't a really expensive one, and it didn't work at all.  I could have stirred faster.  I then I broke down and bought a much more expensive one that is similar to my Braun the KitchenAid KHB100WH Immersion Hand Blender, White.  It is a bit pricey but it works great.  The other great option for finding a decent stick blender is to check out thrift stores. Stick blenders are one of those items that are really valuable to soap makers, but not so valuable to everyone else.

2) An Instant Read Thermometer:   A good waterproof instant read thermometer is essential.  You need to be able to make sure your lye solution and your oil is at the same temperature.  The ideal thermometer should be able to read up to at least 250 degrees,  be easily cleaned, and easy to read. I started out with the dial kind instead of the digital, but I am too old now to see those small numbers. I recommend that you have two of these instant read digital thermometers.  It is possible to make soap with one thermometer, but it sure is easier with two.  The one I use is the Taylor 9842 Commercial Waterproof Digital Thermometer.  It is easy to use, waterproof, and inexpensive.

3)A Good Digital Scale:  The most important thing in soap making is measuring accurately.  Get a good scale you will not regret it.  Once again digital is way easier to read for these old eyes, but if you can read those little lines then the other kind of scale is fine.  I think the best digital scale for the money is Digiweigh 600 x 0.1 Gram/g Digital Pocket Scale for home Candle/Soap Making Lab Set.  Once again, you might  find a great deal at a garage sale or a thrift store.

4)A Stainless Steel Stock Pot  It is really important that this pot is staineless steal, aluminum will not workout. The pot also needs to be large enough to hold your water and oils combined. I have used many different pots for making soap.  Most of the time I use my big stock pot from my kitchen, it works, and yes you can still use it for food.  Just wash your pot really well before using it for food again.  You can look for old pots at garage sales, just make sure they are not aluminum.

5)A Mold:  When you are done making your soap you will need a mold to put it in.  I have used everything from Pringles cans and pvc, to shoeboxes.  I have also used candy molds, individual soap molds made out of plastic, and wooden loaf soap molds.  I use a large wooden soap mold now, but to start out you might want something less expensive.  I have found that the new silicon bakeware works pretty well.  This one Smartware Silicone Loaf Pan Includes Storage Lid, Terracotta is pretty good, and even comes with a cover.

Except for a few items that you should already have around your kitchen, and of course the lye and oils, these five items are all you need to start you soap making adventure.  I hope you enjoy it s much as I do.  Happy Soaping.

Birthdays, Holidays, Soap, Sick Kids, and Homeschooling

  I just realized I have not posted to this blog in a very long time.  It seems that I lost track of time. I don't know how I could have manged that.  I spent most of the weeks leading up to Christmas desperately trying to fill orders, plan birthday parties, buy presents, cook food, prepare for a week long trip to visit my family on the other side of the state, and take care of whole bunch of sick kids.  Murphy's Law is always lurking in our house.  I survived December, but succumbed to illness myself while visiting my family (sorry for the unintended present).  We finally drug our exhausted, sick, and fed up with the holidays selves through our door, and collapsed.  We only got to collapse for about 10 hours, then the kids had to be at school.  Back into the swing of things, full tilt. Homeschool, school, work, clean, cook, and repeat.  Needless to say the two little ones are both sick again.  I did manage to make some soap and will post pictures soon.  Someday I will have time to make more, I think.

20% Off Handmade Soap Holiday Sale

Get all Handmade Soaps Olive Oil, Lard, and Goats Milk,20% off our already low  prices.  Handmade soap for under $2.00 a bar.  Use code MERRY CHRISTMAS at checkout.

www.avalonsoapworks.blogspot.com

How to make (or How to not make) Goatsmilk Soap

I made my first batch of goat milk soap the other night.  I figured after 11 years of soap making I cold handle it .  I froze my goats milk into a slush and then added the lye slowly. I got a great creamy color, not orange or burned. I thought, success! I did it.  I couldn't wait to run down the stairs the next morning and find out how awesome my soap had turned out. Much to my surprise I was not greeted with beautiful creamy hard soap logs.  I was instead staring at a log of soap that had a great tan color but was covered in a thick film of oil.  The last thing a soap maker wants to see is a puddle of oil on top of the soap they so lovingly put to bed the night before.  It could have been many things, it might have taken too long to trace and lost too much heat (when I went to mix my lye and oil I discovered that my stick blender had quit working) sometimes hand stirring will do that, especially with olive oil.  It could have been my scale (it is really really old and may not be working so well).  The soap could have gotten too hot, or maybe not hot enough while in the mold.  It is so hard to figure out sometimes.  So I decided to rebatch, if i have to do this I would much rather do it with "young" soap.  So I got out the crock pot and unmolded the spongy oily mess into it.  I reran my recipe and decided to add .25 oz of lye, so I mixed the lye with a little cold water.  Using a potato masher I mashed the soap with the lye. It is heating now.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I will let you know how it turns out and post pictures tomorrow.
The Complete Guide to Creating Oils, Soaps, Creams, and Herbal Gels for Your Mind and Body: 101 Natural Body Care Recipes (Back-To-Basics)

Food Grade Sodium Hydroxide Lye Micro Beads, 2 Lbs. (Buy 5 get $15 off)

Soaper's Delight Organic Coconut Oil, 2 Gallon

The Essential Guide To Soap Making For Beginners

Genco Pomace Olive Oil - 1 Gallon

Making Natural Liquid Soaps: Herbal Shower Gels / Conditioning Shampoos / Moisturizing Hand Soaps

Coming Soon: New All Natural Products!

    I have become increasingly aware of how much I don't want my own family to use products containing artificial fragrances or preservatives. These artificial fragrances and preservatives can be incredibly dangerous to our health.
    So from now on we will be making all of our products 100% natural.  I will be expanding my products to include milk soaps, such as goat milk and coconut milk soaps, as well as a number of new soapy creations.  I am looking forward to creating some new items!  Look for them soon, and don't forget to follow our progress on the blog.

How to make votive candles using metal molds and wick pins

Making your own votive candles is great fun.  It can however become quite frustrating if you do not know what you are doing.  Many people think it is as easy as just melting the wax and pouring it into the mold, letting it harden and there you go.  It is not that easy at all, unless you do not care what the finished product looks like.  Most of us want our finished product to be as beautiful as it smells.

The easiest way to make votives of any sort is to use a metal mold and wick pin.  The wick pin eliminates the need for setting a wick and keeping it in place while the candle hardens.

1)   Set out your molds on a sheet of aluminum foil.  The aluminum foil makes clean up simple.

2)   Place your wick pins inside the mold.

3)   Place small pieces of wax into an old double boiler, a melting pot, or a coffee can.  You will need approximately 2 oz of wax per votive.

4)   Place the container you are using to melt your wax into a larger pot that contains water.  Heat on the stove until the wax melts and reaches about 200 degrees for paraffin wax, and about 160 degrees for soy wax.

5)   Remove the wax from the heat and add color and fragrance.  You should add about 1oz of fragrance per pound of wax. Stir this thoroughly.

6)   Use a hair dryer to heat your molds. Heating your molds will help your wax to cool more evenly.

7)   Pour wax into mold until it is about 1/4 inch from the top.

8)   Allow the wax to harden for about 30 minutes.

9)   Reheat your remaining wax. You should have some left over from your first pour. This wax should once again reach 200 degrees.

10)   Pour the remaining wax onto the tops of the candles. Be careful to get out the air bubbles by taping the sides carefully.  This step will create a smooth top with no dip near the wick.

11)   Allow to harden until completely cool.

12)    Remove from mold by tapping gently and pulling on the wick pin.

13)    Remove wick pin and insert pre-tabbed wick into hole.

14)    Candles should cure for at least 24 hours before you burn them.

15)     Burn and enjoy the beautiful and great smelling candles you made all by yourself.

Soy Candle Making Kit: Learn how easy and fun it is to make soy container candles.

How to make Body Frosting

Body Frosting is an exceptional moisturizer.  It is made with nothing but a great natural butter, such as  Shea Butter, mixed with a light vegetable oil like sweet almond oil.  Body Frosting got its name because it looks much like a fresh batch of fluffy white frosting. You probably shouldn't eat it, but it definitely looks like you could.

The butters in the Body Frosting melt on contact with your skin and absorb almost instantly. Leaving your skin feeling moisturized, but never greasy.  It is great for use on very dry areas like knees, elbows, cracked hands, and feet. It is also great for people with conditions like eczema and psoriasis.  It is great for stretch marks and has been used for diaper rash.  Some people with very dry skin even like it on there face. This is definitely a versatile moisturizer.

The easiest recipe I have found is simply 60% Shea Butter and 40% Sweet Almond oil, a vitamin E capsule, and a pinch of cornstarch.  These ingredients all have antioxidant properties that will heal and repair even the driest cracked skin.  The cornstarch serves to make sure that the feel is not greasy at all.  Simply weigh out your Shea Butter in a deep microwave safe container.  To make 10oz of frosting you will use 6oz of Shea Butter and 4 oz of sweet almond oil.Melt the Shea Butter in the microwave just until it starts to get soft, do not melt completely.  If the Shea Butter gets too hot it can feel grainy. Add 4oz of Sweet almond oil, the vitamin E and cornstarch to the warmed Shea Butter.  Mix on high speed with hand mixer until it becomes light and fluffy. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes. You can use a stand mixer if you prefer.

After Body Frosting is fluffy add a small amount  fragrance or essential oil if you want the Frosting scented.  It is sometimes fun to use buttercream or chocolate fudge, because it smells like frosting.

Place Body Frosting in an air tight container, and tore in a cool place.  If it melts because it gets too warm you can simply whip it up again. Body Frosting is so easy, and a great alternative to the expensive chemical laden products that are available commercially.  You should try making some today. It would make a great Christmas gift.

Why should I make my own handmade soap?

There are so many reasons for making your own soap.  Making your own soap is a fun and rewarding experience. It is an experience that also allows you to control the quality of the ingredients you put on your skin.
Commercially produced soaps, the ones you buy in the grocery or drug store, are for the most part detergents and not really soap. Detergents strip all of the good oils from your skin, and leave a film that makes your skin feel dry.  These soaps are also full of chemical preservatives, such as parabens, that are dangerous to your health.  These soaps are often made with the cheapest of fats, and have all of there natural glycerine removed.  Glycerine is an important humectant, and without it soap is drying.  Commercial soap makers try to make up for this drying effect by adding cheap petroleum based moisturizers to the soaps.  These petroleum based moisturizers can be dangerous.  Commercial soaps are also highly fragranced with fragrance oils that  often contain pthalates, which are a type of plastic that is known to cause hormone disruption.
When you make your own soaps the old fashioned way it is possible to add only the best moisturizing oils and butters.  These soaps retain all of the natural glycerine and cleanse and moisturize your skin naturally without dangerous chemicals.
Making your own soap is easy.  The simplest soap can be made with olive oil from the grocery store and lye from the hardware store.  Easy Soap Making Directions
Watching your own specifically designed combination of oils and herbs turn into a luxurious bar of soap is an amazing sight. It allows you to be creative and create soaps that meet your skins needs.  Making handmade soap is fun and addictive. If you start making your own soap you will never go back to store bought again.

25% off of Body Frosting Sale

All of our body frostings and butters are on sale for 25% off until the end of the month.  We have also extended our $2 soap sale until the end of the month, and as always order over $15 include free shipping.

$2.00 Soap Sale

Only 2 more days to get your $2 soaps.  All of our soaps are on sale for $2. Don't forget Free Shipping on all orders over $15.  Stock up now.  Our handmade Shea Butter Soaps make great Christmas Gifts too!

www.avalonsoapworks.com
www.avalonsoapworks.artfire.com

Big Sale !

To celebrate the Grand Opening of our New Website and much improved shopping cart, we have a very special offer for you:

$5.00 OFF any order over $25!

Plus we offer Free Priority Shipping for orders of $50!

Offer expires 8/1/2010, so hurry and use your $5.00 and fall in love with our extremely high quality, natural, handcrafted products!

Thank You & God Bless!
Rebecca & Brian Smith, Owners
Avalon Soapworks

You can redeem this coupon during checkout. Just enter the code in the box provided, and click on the redeem button.

The coupon code is 9928500f69
The coupon is valid between 07/08/2010 and 08/01/2010

My New Soaps- Lavender Soap, Peppermint Soap, and Chamomile Calendula Baby Soap

    I try to create at least a couple new soaps every week, (not always an easy thing with 5 kids).  This last week I created Lavender Soap, Peppermint Soap, and Chamomile Calendula Baby Soap.

Lavender Soap - This soap was made with my basic soap recipe. I added Lavender fragrance and Ground Lavender Buds. It smells so good, and the bits of lavender give it a very natural looking appearance.











Peppermint Soap- The Peppermint Soap is made with my Basic Soap Recipe, except I replaced the water with peppermint tea and added dried peppermint and peppermint essential oil at trace.  This soap turned out a beautiful tea color with specks of brown and orange.  I think its beautiful, and it smells very strongly of peppermint , almost like a good strong cup of peppermint tea.  Great for waking you up in the morning!  I can't wait to give it a try.  This soap is 100% natural.




 


Calendula & Chamomile Baby Soap-  My Calendula & Chamomile Baby soap is made with mostly olive oil.  I used Chamomile tea as the liquid , and added Calendula infused olive oil, dried Calendula petals, and dried Chamomile at trace.  Took a little longer to trace due to the olive oil and longer to get really solid in the mold, but it turned out great.  It is unscented except for the Chamomile tea and Calendula oil.  I love the little pieces of yellow calendula in the soap. It is very mild. Great for babies or for you face.  This soap is 100% natural.

How to Make Cold Processed Soap

     Making your own homemade soap is not only providing your family with a great natural product, but it is also really addictive.  I love making soap. The only thing I love more is teaching other people how to make soap for themselves.  So I am going to try and teach you how to make a very basic soap. It is really simple.

**Always wear disposable gloves to protect your hands, sodium hydroxide is dangerous.
**Keep vinegar around to neutralize the sodium hydroxide (lye)


Step 1
              Measure your water and lye accurately.

Step 2    Mix the lye into the water, carefully.  This solution will get very hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.  Use the vinegar if you spill on yourself..

Step 3     Measure you solid oils, (coconut oil, shortening, palm oil, shea butter, etc.) and melt in stainless steel pan over low heat.  Remove from heat when barely melted.

Step 4     Measure liquid oils, (olive, sweet almond, castor, apricot kernal, etc. ) and mix with melted solid oils.

Step 5     Allow all oils and sodium hydroxide (lye) solution to reach the same (100 degrees) temperature.

Step 6     Mix the lye solution into the oils.  Stir with stainless steel wisk or stick blender until soap reaches trace, (trace is when the soap becomes a pudding like consistency)  You will know that it has traced when a drizzle over the surface will set on top of the soap and not sink down inside.  Add any additives ( fragrance, herbs, etc.)

Step 7     Pour soap into a prepared mold ( anything will do, I have used pvc, a new kitty litter box, disposable rubbermade containers, soap molds, wooden molds).  If you use a plastic type mold make sure you spray it with Pam. If you use wood make sure you line it with waxed paper, a white garbage bag, or butcher paper.

Step 8     Place a cover over the soap and insulate with a warm blanket. If you use wood it usually does not need to be insulated.

Step 9     You can unmold in 24 hours.

Step 10    Cut into bars and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks.

Step 11    Enjoy great natural soap that you made yourself.

High Grade Sodium Hydroxide Lye Micro Beads, 2 Lbs. (Buy 5 get $15 off)
GARDEN BUG SOAP BARS Animal Soap Mold

LARGE LOAF Miscellaneous Candy Mold Chocolate

How to Make Laundry Soap

   Making laundry soap is something I have always wanted to try. Making your our own laundry soap saves me money and doesn't have all those bad chemicals that are in the commercial detergents.

    I figured that laundry soap doesn't need any great oils or moisturizing properties so I chose to just use something cheap. Crisco is cheap.  I used generic Crisco to make it even cheaper. Just make sure that you get all-vegetable.


Laundry Soap Recipe
48 oz of Crisco
12 oz water
6oz lye
fragrance of your choice

   I mixed this  recipe up using basic soapmaking procedure and used 2oz of Clean Linen Fragrance to make it smell good.  Poured it in a mold and let it solidify.  You can use laundry soap as soon as it is hard because it doesn't need to cure. Just be sure not to use it on your skin and wear gloves when you grate it.  I prefer to wait until it gets a bit harder to grate it up.
Cut this into approximately 8 bars.

Grate 1 bar and place in saucepan.
Cover with 5 cups of water
Heat gently, without too much stirring, until completely melted
Add 1 cup Borax and 1 cup Washing Soda
Place in large bucket or container and add 2 gallons of water , stir
Pour into containers, old laundry soap containers, or juice containers.
This will thicken as it stands, but will also separate.  You will need to shake before pouring.
Use 1/2- 1 cup per load.  Works well in HE machines too.

UPDATE- I have started doing this with half the water. It makes it more concentrated, and in my opinion easier to use. I use half the amount 1/4 - 1/2 cup in my laundry. If it looks separated after it cools you can use a stick blender to kind of blend it back together.

This soap cost me  .53/bar

I purchased my Borax at Alice.com for $4.29 that is only .06/oz. .  4oz is   $0.24



I also purchased my Washing Soda at Alice.com for $2.99, that is only $.05/oz.  4oz is $0.20



That is a total of $0.97 for approximately  64 loads of laundry
With 5 kids we do about 3 loads a day.   A batch of soap will last about 21 days.  My regular laundry detergent cost $6.35 for 32 loads.  That is $12.70 every 21 days.  A savings of $11.73.  Over the course of a year that is $203.87.  Amazing!

By popular demand I now sell the soap bars, shredded soap, and soapmaking kits that I use to make my own laundry soap
http://avalonsoapworks.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13

Check out Alice.com too.  They are awesome!


Saving Money at Home: How to Live Better on Less
The Unemployed Mom
Energy Savers Booklet - Tips on Saving Energy & Money at Home

Vanilla Swirl Handmade Soap

I was so inspired by my cucumber soap experience that I decided to try swirling my next batch of vanilla.  I used the same recipe as the cucumber melon soap.  I replaced the cucumber melon fragrance with vanilla and omitted the cucumber puree. I removed half of the soap at light trace and added the vanilla fragrance (which turns dark brown in cold process soap) to the remaining  half of the soap.  I poured the fragranced soap in the mold and then drizzled the unfragranced soap over it in a zigzag.  Then I just left it alone to set up.

I think it turned out beautiful, and the vanilla is awesome!


Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (Basics)
High Grade Sodium Hydroxide Lye Micro Beads, 2 Lbs.
Soaper's Delight Organic Coconut Oil, 1 Gallon buckets

My Green Cucumber Melon Handmade Soap Turned Out Awesome!

     I am very grateful that my green Cucumber Melon Handmade Soap didn't turn out quite as bright as it was when I made it.

After 24 hours I unmolded it.  It is a nice pale green, and smells yummy too.

  I can't wait for it to get done curing. 

Food Grade Sodium Hydroxide Lye Micro Beads, 2 Lbs. (Buy 5 get $15 off) 

Soaper's Delight Organic Coconut Oil, 2 Gallon 

My Weigh KD 8000 Digital Weighing Scale 

How to Make Natural Handmade Cucumber Soap Green

When I received my brand new batch of soap making supplies in the mail the other day it felt like Christmas.  I have been making natural handmade soap for over 10 years now and their is still nothing like the feeling of tearing into a brand new box of supplies. Every batch of handmade soap is an adventure.
Most of the time I make soaps that are very natural colored, they turn out off white or brown of some sort.    I thought maybe I would try to put some color in this batch of handmade soap.  I wanted to keep it natural so I decided to make Cucumber Melon soap and add some cucumber puree to make it green.

I made a small batch just to see how it went.

Cucumber Melon Cold Processed Soap

6oz Vegetable Shortening (I use generic, make sure it is soybean and cottonseed oil. If it has palm in it you will need to run it through the soapmaking calculator again)
6oz Coconut Oil
4oz Shea Butter
5oz Palm Oil
2oz Castor Oil
1oz Sweet Almond Oil
8oz Cucumber puree and water
3.4 oz lye
Use basic soapmaking procedure.


I cut up the cucumber and blended it in my blender until it was liquified, then added enough water to make 8 oz.  I could not believe how green the puree was.  I was expecting it to be pale green, but it was very bright.

When I added the lye to the cucumber puree it didnt change color at all.  It stayed bright green, and smelled horrible. Thankfully the odor didn't last long.

After melting the oils and getting them to the proper temperature ( I like to mix around 100 degrees),  I mixed the lye and cucumber mixture into my oils.

  Unfortunately, my trusty stick blender failed me..  I havn't stirred soap in like 9 years, but wasnt so bad, the soap traced in like 5 minutes.






To my suprise the soap remained a very bright green.

  I added 1 once of Cucumber Melon fragrance oil and  poured it all into a mold.

  I cant wait to unmold it tomorrow and see if that bright green color has remained.


  Making handmade soap is so much fun!


          I wonder what other things I have in my kitchen that I can use to color soap. Maybe baby food would work, strained carrots? 
Any ideas?