does anyone know how to make soap using natural stuff rather than lye? Has anyone tried making it with saponaria leaves? Is caustic soda good for the skin?
errrr...caustic soda is sodium hydroxide, or LYE. Lye is nullified in saponification. Have you seen these makers? www.soapmakingforum.com
I love making soap! I use all kinds: goats milk, help oil, Shea butter bases,also aloe . You can Putin a variety of oil, herbs and ground seeds for abrasion
Hey thanks for the link. I have never tried making soap before but I am intrigued. I would have never thought of it until I clicked this thread.:afro:
I love Bramble Berrys site! check them out! I use them and they are great!! http://www.brambleberry.com/Bramble-Berry-Bases-C11.aspx
Thanks to the bump, I started thinking about cleansers, not necessarily soap. Yucca (the succulent, not yuca) root will foam, and was traditionally used to clean. Soapwort also has saponins. (So does cilantro, but in really low levels. That's the taste some people don't like. Silly people. Cilantro is great, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9rijazd_jA&sns=em"]muy famoso to boot.) So a plant with high enough saponins will cleanse with froth. Making that into a shelf stable bar? Not likely. See, when lye and fat combine, they saponify, which changes the lye chemically. It becomes much less harsh. So using lye isn't the problem. Using it incorrectly and not curing the soap is a problem.
When I was growin' up in Dublin Texas, there was an old fella and his wife would come round in a horse & wagon to collect the bacon etc grease and ashes from the bar-b-q pit to make soap.
Try using vegetable glycerin and adding some ingredients. I use lavender, tea tree oil and ground oatmeal.
