If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you saw my first homemaking soap fail and finally, soap success. Several people asked me how I liked it, but I wanted to use my bar soap for a full week before I gave you a report.
Well, here’s my verdict – this stuff is awesome. My primary reason for wanting to make my own soap was because my skin is so fickle and sensitive to pretty much any type of soap except Bath and Body Works, and that stuff runs about $10 a bottle. Anything else will not only dry my skin out but make me itchy too. My homemade soap is very gentle, moisturizing and produces a lather that I would argue is just as good, if not better, than Bath and Body Works. I don’t have to cover myself in a blanket of body lotion to make up for the dryness from commercial soaps after a shower any longer either. That reason alone has me sold on using homemade soap as long as possible.
So there you have it! If you’re still tempted to try it yourself, see my soap success post for directions. It’s a long process, but not too difficult.
I forgot to add the cost breakdown of making the soap in my original post, so here it is:
Sunflower oil, 2 bottles: $7.16 (I only used about a bottle and a half)
Beeswax: Free, because I already had some.
Distilled water, 1 gallon: $0.83 (plenty left over)
Lye, 1 pound: $8.99, but there’s plenty left since I only need 6 oz. at a time
Coconut milk, 1 can: $1.50
Almond fragrance oil, half-ounce: $2, with plenty left because I only used about a quarter of the bottle
My next project will be hot water bath canning homemade apple butter and spaghetti sauce. This is my first time canning, so if anyone has any tips, leave them in the comments! I can use all the help I can get.
~ Julie
August 29, 2011 at 7:31 am
Good for you. Learning these skills will never be a waste of time. Not just the soap is better, but you’ll love homemade apple butter (something I’ve never tried but buy at every county fair) and spaghetti sauce, something I have made from scratch but not canned. I still have all my equipment, and one thing I’ve noticed lately are the new lids that you don’t have to use paraffin to seal. In the old days we poured paraffin right on the food in the jar so that there was no air between the seal and the food, even with the use of those rubber-edged expandable lids. That kept spoilage down considerably. Good luck with this project. You should try strawberry jam – my favorite and one of the easiest things to make and “put up.” And small jars of jam make wonderful homemade gifts at Christmas. Hum, you’ve got me thinking again.
August 29, 2011 at 9:30 pm
I’ve wanted to make strawberry jam for a long time. I planted the strawberries this year in prep for it, but my strawberries didn’t grow worth a hoot. There’s always next year.
August 31, 2011 at 3:33 pm
I have soap envy. I’ve been using Dove since my dermatologist told me to…in elementary school! I use body washes now and then, but can only use them a couple of times a week or I get rashy! I’ll have to try out the soap making myself so I can see how my skin likes it!
August 31, 2011 at 8:11 pm
I’ll send you a bar in my upcoming goodie package! It’s not the prettiest stuff, but I love it!
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