HERB - soap answers

Gaylin Walli gwalli at infoengine.com
Mon Dec 13 10:41:38 PST 1999


>i.e. is tallow (beef) better/worse than lard (pork),

There really isn't a better or worse. In my experience, however,
soaps made from lard require another kind of oil like palm to
make it harder. That's not to say you can't make a good basic
bar of lye soap, but I've found that after an average curing/dry
time of about 6 weeks prior to use, a bar of beef tallow soap
and a similar bar of lard soap, both made with olive oil as the
only addition, have distinct differences. The beef bar is harder
to the touch in and out of water. Now, you can fuss with this
a bit by adding other oils and substances like castor or wax,
so don't immediately dismiss lard soaps out of hand. My fav
bar of soap I make is made with lard. :)

>does combining them work, or just stick to one type of animal per batch?

Combining them works very well, but the math gets trickier
the more types of fats and oils you use. Of course, using an online
calculator for your soaps is probably the best answer, but as
I mentioned in another e-mail, I'm horrible about planning to make
soap and can't always get an online connection, so I learned to do
the math myself.

>Also, what type of herbs do you like to use in soaps?

I don't think the list is short enough to present here. :)

>So far, i have just used lavender, calendula, mugwort.

Good choices. What did you use the mugwort for? Color?
Effect? Something else?

> How finely should you grind oatmeal to use it?  Same question for cinnamon.

I've tried rough cuts and fine grinds of oatmeal with different
intentions. Think about how you'd like the bar to feel on your
skin. Do you want just the moisturizing effect? Then grind it
into a more powdery form. Hoping for a little rougher scrub?
Then leave some of the chunky bits in. Cinnamon in my soaps is
always added directly in powder form, so I can't comment. I
use the same cinnamon for baking that I use for my soap.

Lesson: never use coffee grounds unless you want to create sandpaper
soap that will scrub your skin off. I didn't believe the person who told
me this either, so when you make yours with regular coffee grounds,
have some skin cream on hand. :)

>Also, has anyone ever added beeswax to their soap, and what problems 
>should I look out for?

In my experience, beeswax has been used to do two think in
soapmaking: harden soap and make soap smell like honey. Some people
also like to use beeswax for it's purported health benefits, but personally
I think they're confusing the benefits of beeswax with the benefits of
honey used on the skin. I could be wrong, however, so someone else speak
up before I misspeak myself too much.

For whatever purpose, too much wax will make your bar too hard, undisolvable
in water, and very un-soap-like. I've chosen not to use beeswax in my
soap mostly because I've never found a reason to harden my bars. I can't
give you any amounts on what is too much and what is not much, regretably.

Hope this helps,

jasmine
iasmin de cordoba, gwalli at infoengine.com

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