Welcome - Look at the soaps I make, read the FAQ, learn more about me, or contact me with any questions. Thanks for stopping by.
What's In It (and NOT In It)
All of my soap is cold-processed, and made from scratch with pure all-vegetable ingredients. My soap contains no animal fats, chemical preservatives / hardeners, or added scents / perfumes to irritate your skin. My soap contains only what results from the old-fashioned soapmaking process, which is 75% pure, natural soap and 25% pure, natural glycerine (your skin's best friend). Most everything available in the store reads something like "bath bar" instead of "soap" because technically they are not soap, but are actually "detergents" for your skin. Commercial bath bars also have most, if not all, of the naturally-occurring glycerine removed in order to make other products you need to moisturize the skin that their "bath bar" dried out in the first place.
I do not shave off or sculpt the edges after cutting my soap, thus my slogan, "I Don't Cut Corners." This gives you more soap for your money and also adds to the authentic look of real, handmade soap. Each bar is exactly as it appears after being cast in one of my handmade wooden molds, individually hand-cut, and naturally cured for at least four weeks. I make a generous-sized bar of good, quality handmade soap at a very reasonable price. The only texture, scent, or color my soap has is what naturally occurs from the ingredients and the process, nothing more.
Some Benefits of Handmade Soap
Some of the possible benefits of using old-fashioned handmade soap can include the relief of: dry / itchy skin, sunburn, insect bites, acne, eczema, psoriasis, rashes, poison oak / ivy / sumac, etc. My itchy, dry skin is now a thing of the past since I stopped using commercial bath bars. I also have friends and family that have had great results with many of these skin problems by using my handmade soap. I will many times leave some of the lather on when I rinse, then spread the thin lather over my forearms / hands / wherever, leaving it to dry and feel like I have lotion on. For many skin problems where there is a localized area affected, like eczema, psoriasis, rashes, or insect bites, you can of course bathe or shower with it. But you can also run your moistened fingers across the bar to create a film/balm which you smear over the affected area and let dry. Doing this even once a day makes my oldest daughter's occasional eczema spots disappear by the third day, and seems to be most effective when using the soaps containing olive oil. By the way, I use this soap all-over in the shower (not just for the face or hands), even in my hair, and I have fine blonde hair, with no greasy feel or appearance. My daughter, who had dreadlocks for a few months, said that with dreadlocks she was only supposed to use all-natural products to wash her hair - so if you have dreadlocks or are thinking about having them, this would work well for you also. Handmade soap is also better for the environment, as there are no phosphates or harmful chemical residues in it ... it is a "green" soap.
Other Uses For Handmade Soap
You can also use handmade soap to spot treat stains and wash your clothes. For instance, I make homemade laundry detergent by grating up 8oz of "Plain Jane" homemade soap and dissolving it in boiling water along with 1 cup of borax (like 20 Mule Team) and 1 cup of washing (not baking) soda, also known as ph increaser in Wal-Mart (sodium carbonate.) I then pour this mix into a 5 gallon bucket and dilute until I have 4 gallons of detergent - using one cup per load. Here is an example of how well it works. One of my daughters had an ink spot on her comforter where her puppy chewed a pen. This comforter is purple and suede-like in texture on the side where the ink was. I used this homemade laundry detergent to spot treat the stain, rinsed all of the ink I could out of the stain, then left a small puddle of detergent sitting on the stain. I went back several times throughout the day and would find that as the fluid part of the detergent would seep down into the material, the ink was "migrating" up out of the material and into the film of detergent left sitting there. I was able to skim that ink/detergent film off, rinse the spot thoroughly until no ink washed out, then reapply another small puddle of detergent. Each time I went back an hour or two later, there would be more ink "migrated" out of her comforter and I started over. After doing this about 8 times, the stain was gone completely, and we are talking about black ink.
You can also bathe your pets with this soap (we use "Plain Jane"). My daughters have bathed their dogs in it with very good results. If there are any fleas on them it kills them. Supposedly, (because I have not personally tried this one yet) it kills lice in the same fashion. My soap is not harsh, but I guess with the amount of glycerine in it, it must clog the spiracles (in their exoskeleton/shell) that insects breathe through and kill them, the same way wasp spray kills wasps. Natural soap is a bit more alkali than traditional "bath bars" so that probably helps kill those insects too. You can even use a bar of "Plain Jane" to perform little odd jobs around the house, like to lubricate drawer slides and hinges with a rub.
My handmade soap also lasts longer than a normal bar of soap and doesn't break into pieces in your hand when it gets small. When it is used down to a small sliver you can't easily hold onto, just wet the sliver and wet a new bar, press them together, and when you next get in the shower they will be completely fused together for good.
Psalm 51:7 - "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." NIV
Home - Products - Contact - About - FAQ's - Links