Hello again everyone. Well, I think we have the website back up and running like it is supposed to. Today I want to talk about being frugal and going green at the same time. I know, the two usually don't go together. This time they do though. Have you been to the store lately and looked at the prices of the things that we use every day? I have and one of the things that got to me the most is how expensive soap has become. Yep, good old every day soap. It is soon going to be too expensive to take a shower, wash clothes or do the dishes. Worse than that, have you looked at some of the ingredients? Almost makes you feel like a lab rat. Well, today I am going to tell you about a way to change all that.

Today I am going to talk about making your own soap. I know, the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear homemade soap is some old pioneer lady in her long dress and bonnet, standing outside the log cabin with the big black kettle on the fire. You see her with the big wooden paddle standing out in the smoke and stink, stirring the mixture all day to make some chunky looking white bars of soap. Let me tell you a secret, it isn't like that any more. Some of the ingredients may still be the same depending on what type of finished product you want, but the process has changed a bit. There are enough different processes and recipes and such that I will probably turn this into several parts since it is going to be way too long for a single post.

First, lets talk about the hard milled type of soap since that is what we are all thinking about. The kind where you cook up the lye and oil and such. Yes, you still use lye. In its raw state, lye is a caustic compound commonly used as a drain cleaner. When you cook the lye and add such wonderful things as lard, there is a chemical reaction that takes place that changes the lye and lard into...you guessed it, soap. Note: you can use other oils in place of the lard, the chemical reaction takes place between the fat in the oil and the sodium hydroxide of the lye. Once the chemical reaction, called saponification occurs, the soap is usually precipitated from the mixture by adding some salt. The excess liquid is drained off and the soft soap can be spooned into molds to cool and dry. Homemade soaps are usually a lot more creamy and luxurious than commercial soaps because more of the glycerol, a product of the chemical reaction, is left in the homemade soap.

Well, there you have the 'hot process' of soap making  in a nutshell. If you want more information about soap making before my next installment, check out this Squidoo lens by clicking here. There are also several books and packages that will give you instruction and recipes such as the one you can purchase by Clicking Here. If you are someone that learns better by watching a step by step video, there are several of those also available such as the one you can purchase by Clicking Here.

One of the things I like best about making my own soap is that I can control what ingredients go into it and use natural substances instead of synthetic chemical ones.  Over the next several installments I plan to cover more processes, give you some recipes for making your own soap, tell you about a way to keep the kids busy and entertained in the process, and give you some tips on how you can turn making your own soap into work from home business that will put some money in your pockets. Until next time, keep clean.

© 2009, joerickman. All rights reserved.

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