Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Puttering in the Kitchen

I have been puttering in the kitchen.  Not baking, unfortunately.  A non-functioning stove has made that impossible and the lack of baked goods in the house has become noticeable.  So no cookies.  But I have been mixing up some concoctions.  I guess it all began about 10 years ago when I thought it would be fun to make my own lip balm.  It was.  A lot of fun.  I then moved onto facial scrubs and masks.  Still fun but the experimentation stopped there.  As much as I was intrigued by the idea of making my own lotions and soap, I was intimidated by the ingredient lists.  And lye.  For some reason, lye scared the, well, it scared me.  Along came full-time employment, then children and I didn't have quite so much time to play in the kitchen.

Fast forward to about 2 months ago.  Having not used regular commercial brand deodorants in about 10 years, I decided to try making my own.  And it works.  It's actually really good.  And yes, I know that by declaring this, I am declaring my hippy-dippiness but as my parents and husband will tell you, I've never been afraid to embrace my hippy-dippiness.  Following on the footsteps of the deodorant, I made an oatmeal facial cleanser.

Now here comes the big leap.  My oldest son has always had dry skin.  So dry that he scratches it raw.  This winter seems to have been particularly harsh on his skin.  This past weekend, I whipped up a batch of lanolin lotion.


It's thick, smooth and creamy.  Very moisturizing.  And perhaps best of all?  The boys will actually use it.

So I've made lotion.  Can I make soap?  Heck yes, I can.  Encouraged by Renee's awesome video tutorial, I gathered my supplies a couple of weeks ago, waiting for the opportune afternoon.  Monday afternoon arrived.  Weighing out the lye on my scale, I was taken back to life B.C. (before children) when I studied chemistry and biology at university and then worked in an aquatic toxicology lab.  The end result of a couple of hours of puttering?


28 bars of olive oil soap.  No scent this time because I wanted to keep my financial investment to a minimum until i knew I could do this soap making thing.  I do predict scented soap in my future.  And the lye thing?  Not such a big deal.  I kept the back door opened during the process.  It was cold and a few snowflakes may have come in but a small price to pay for handmade soap.  Perhaps I shouldn't have told Mike I had the kitchen door open.  He gets a little fidgety at the thought of open doors and windows when the furnace is running.  I have to remember to keep him in a blissfully ignorant state.

Now I just have to wait 4 weeks while the soap cures.  It's going to be a long wait.  During that time, I'll be planning my next round of kitchen puttering.

10 comments:

  1. Awesome! Love the picture of all the bars lined up. I hope I can get the courage to make my own soap but for some reason I'm super nervous about making it myself!

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  2. Hippy-dippiness! Love it:) My daughter has made bath salts. . . and that's as far as any homemade body products have gone in this house. I can't wait to hear about the soap. There are so many good reasons to make your own products. With the sensitive skin in our family, it'd be good to give it a try.

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  3. Cool! I love the photo of all the soaps...very neat looking!! I love olive oil soap and it's very soothing to your skin.
    p.s. It must be men and the open window/door thing. I love having the heat on and the windows open...drives Chad nuts! ;-)

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  4. oh, I love this! good job : )

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  5. I've wanted to make my own soap since I was a little girl. My grandma always had handmade soap but it was the only thing she wouldn't willingly teach me. I remember her talking about how dangerous lye was; it's scared me ever since. Still, Renee's soap looks so amazing (and I won a bar of her peppermint soap in a giveaway she had, and can atest to it's incredibleness) and I really want to give it a go. Thanks for a little more encouragement. I love making homemade products.

    Oh - And I haven't worn commercial deodorant in a million years. Just the "crystal" for me. :) And that's only in the summer. I'm comfortable in my hippy-dippiness too. xo w

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  6. How wonderful for your whole family to have such fantastic homemade products. I have always wanted to try making my own soap & cream.

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  7. OOooh, handmade, homemade products are just delish. How on earth do you make your own deoderant? Your soap and lanolin lotion look so lovely and nourishing...will you be posting how to's?

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  8. I admire your bravery here! And, I did not know that soap needs to "cure." If I made soap I would want to use lavender or citrus scents.

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  9. Tara. Oh, I'm so happy you made your own soap! It looks great. It's so much fun isn't it?

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  10. Let me know next time and I can spare some lavender from the garden for you. You could also add fresh ground cinnamon for scent and exfoliating bits. Not too expensive. I am impressed.

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