Soapy Hints and Tips
This is a monthly compilation of tips,
knowledge, and just plain old good advice.
Cold Treatments
I swear by steam inhalation when I'm real icky, ; ) Do you
have pine trees
(rosemary if you don't)? peppermint? mullein? a small amount of thyme and lavender in a bowl, pour boiling water over and tent a towel over your head and
the bowl (be careful to test the heat level first so you don't scald your face).
Diffusing a blend of tea tree, pine, eucalyptus and peppermint also will
help with congestion. I just got over the ear thing not too long ago and a
massage oil with lavender and chamomile helped along with Denise's headache
blend.
~ Becky, ListMom
Go soak. Run a moderately warm bath, add epsom salts, rosemary and light amount
of eucalyptus (eo or actual, whichever you have). Take a book and a very large
glass of water with you (I usually push 32 oz - a quart - or more). Soak until
you break a sweat, and then shower off and go directly to bed. This usually
helps immensely.
Or, if tub not available - get a raw ginger root, grate it and make a strong
tea. Add honey to taste, and if you have no objections, a shot of whiskey or
brandy. (It may be an old wives tale that alcohol will help, but my doc in
training says that the alcohol will help break up anything in a chest cold.
Maybe that's why Nyquil and the others have so much?)
Or there's my uncle's cold cure - but you'd need a wood-heating sauna. Any in
the neighborhood?
Baby yourself as much as you can - yea, easier said than done, but if you don't,
you may find yourself with pneumonia or worse. This has not been an easy winter,
or spring... there are a bunch of nasties out there.
~ MaryB, List Co-Moderator
Healing Type Salve
Such combinations one could come up with, but for a general healing
salve,
what about plantain, chickweed, echinacea, lemon balm (freshly dried of
course)?
~ Becky, Listmom
Soy Milk Soap
But back to soy, and all the other vegetable milks. They are fabulous in soap,
and added to the bath right out of the carton, as well.
~ Miriam
Very silky and clean smelling. Really nice soap. : )
I make a base (CP) with soy milk. I had this
woman request a base with soy (bean) oil and I wanted to comply, but I wanted to
do something I could be proud of and not feel uncomfortable about and keeping
with what I feel are very high quality bases (I hate to do anything halfway or
half*ssed...just hate it), so I suggested we use soy milk (along with a few
other suggestions on what the base oils should be) and I have to tell you, out
of all the bases I make, this is the one the older 2 girls like the most and
comment on the most...and I never made them any scented soy milk soap, lol, this
is all the unscented base samples they took off with. It made for a truly lovely
soap, and it ended up being one of her best selling bases, as well.
~ Camille, ListMom2
Special / Limited Editions
I find that the best way to sell a Special Edition is to drop an email to a few
selected customers. These are repeat customers, people I've gotten friendly with
either in person or by email, who have told me,
upon my asking, that they are interested in soap containing especially costly or
luxurious ingredients. It doesn't always work - I once made a soap I loved, with
sheep's milk, and people were not interested. Cow's milk, goat's milk, coconut
milk - all those go over just fine. Sheep's milk just rang nobody's chimes.
Special Editions, at least with me, are results of special occasions, like when
I celebrated my daughter's wedding with a brand-new creation involving whey,
silk, 7 oils and a divine rose fragrance. Or if I make a small batch of decadent
soap for the family and decide that those private customers will like it too;
they usually do, and are willing to
pay a couple of dollars more for the privilege. You have to cut the bars a bit
bigger, wrap them a bit more beautifully, and get the customer's attention by
using all your advertising skills. Make it sound wonderful
to grab their attention, knowing that when they receive their order, they will
be satisfied with your extra-special product. I do this when times are slow, or
if I need a little extra income for some project, or just to cover the cost of
the self-indulgent batch.
I used to offer custom soaps on my website, and one of my very biggest private
orders ever came out of that, but mostly the link just sat there, unused.
Approaching the willing individual works best for me.
~Miriam
How about making a small *custom* batch of
soap for that customer who wants the "don't intend to make it again"
soap? I've done this several times...I use a 3 pound Velveta cheese box; uses
about 22 ounces of oils and makes 8 bars that are around 3 ounces each... When I
offer to do this, the customer buys the entire batch, unlabeled and I charge
them for only 6 bars...so they're getting what they want at a fairly
good price.
~ Denise in PA, List Co-Moderator
Giving More Body to Lotions
If you want to try and heat it up, sometimes, but not always, does it work.
Heat it up to *hot*, not boiling...really scientific here... you basically want
the e-wax/stearic to remelt...and then use the stick blender as it cools.
~ Marian
Not sure if you use preservatives or not, but you would need to adjust
for that. Anything you do to "fix" lotion, changes it...sometimes
good, sometimes not-so-good, lol. I don't know what you have on
hand, but lecithin sometimes does just the right trick (about the ONLY time I
care for lecithin in lotion is as a fixer-upper). Another thing you can do is
make another batch of lotion but increase your hard butters/oils or if that's
not an option, increase the stearic, then combine it with the runny one,
hope something works but if it doesn't, spray lotion can be a good thing too! ;
)
~ Becky, Listmom
Thickening Liquid Soap
If using borax as your emulsifier/thickener, you
add it after sequestering.......
You should always test various dilution rates rather than diluting the entire
batch of paste at once in case you don't like the consistency, but there are
ways to try to fix it if you make a decision you aren't satisfied
with, ; )
I prefer a 30% dilution myself most often.
~ Becky, Listmom
