Making Quality Soaps & Sundries in Connecticut Since 1998
email: diane@naturalhealthandwellness.info
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SOAPMAKING INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
(Our sale policy explained, too)
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is a very common base oil among soapmakers. It comes from the seeds of Cocos Nucifera and is primarily cultivated from Southeast Asia and the Philippines. This is a light and penetrating oil that when used in soaps, makes rich, creamy lather. Coconut oil will produce a bar that will lather in the hardest water and even in seawater.
Olive oil
Olive oil is a good oil for skin care, especially mature, inflamed, or dry skin, as it is reputed to provide disinfectant, antiwrinkle, and wound healing properties. This oil creates a long lasting, non-drying mild soap with creamy lather, and no other soapmaking oil contributes its unique set of characteristics. It retains moisture to the skin by forming a breathable layer & doesn't block the skin’s natural functions while performing its own.
Palm Kernel Oil
Palm kernel oil makes a nice hard bar when used in combination with other oils such as coconut and olive oil, and smooth creamy bubbles to soap.
It's FUN to make soap, though it's an exacting and time consuming process. It is my position that for a soapmaker to go through the details involved in quality soapmaking, it then follows to put one's efforts forward while maintaining the highest quality product. The three base oils that I use (olive, coconut and palm), make THE hardest bar of soap, because of their iodine levels. They are the only three vegetable oils with the low levels of iodine they have. It is that, which determines the hardness of the soap. Less is more in this case. Soaps that contain multiple oils or other additives, are not necessary, and don't add to the hardness of the soap. Our skin protects our body and it's the largest organ we have. It absorbs whatever goes upon it, and soap goes on all parts of it. I care about what you put on your skin, so I use my efforts in soapmaking to bring you the best product, free from synthetics in almost all of my soaps. The Toward that end, most of Grandma's soaps are completely natural. I only use natural ingredients for coloring my soaps, or adding a gentle texture; tiny fruit seeds, lots of herbs, loofah, clays, grains and spices for colorants; no synthetic colorants to absorb into your skin ! One of my popular soaps contains real kerosene, historically used as a powerful grease cutter after working on cars, or when painting or gardening.
Mango Butter
is high is oleic and stearic acids, and offer many skin care benefits with regular use. Added to soap, mango butter helps provide skin softening, soothing, moisturizing and protective properties and to restore flexibility and reduce degeneration of skin cells. It has a protective effect against UV radiation. The claims to mango butter benefits, as with many of the specialty butters used in soaps, offer a wide variety of skin benefits; people with eczema usually tolerate it well, it's helpful in healing skin reactions after poison ivy, treats small cracks in very rough, dry skin, and promotes health, rejuvenated skin.
Shea Butter
Shea is also known as karite or African butter and is a wonderful superfatting agent. Use with cocoa butter to counteract shea's tendency to stickiness in soapmaking formulations. It is extracted from the nuts of the Shea-Karite tree which begins to bear fruit after about 15 years; and can take up to 30 years to bear a quality crop of nuts with a high content of irremovable fatty acid. Shea butter has been used for over a thousand years as treatment for dry, aging skin.
Shea Butter nourishes the skin with Vitamins A, E and F, which are good for skin; especially sun damaged skin. They help prevent premature wrinkles and facial lines. Vitamin F acts as a skin protector and rejuvenator. It soothes rough, dry or chapped skin and helps soften dry or damaged hair. Shea Butter easily penetrates the skin allowing the skin to breathe without clogging pores. Shea Butter has a high level of cinnamic acid, a natural sun screen. So, it provides some degree of protection from the sun. Grandma's uses shea butter is all of its soaps except its White Chocolate soap which contains a large amount of cocoa butter, instead. Read on about that.
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is the fat extracted from the seed of the Theobroma cacao tree. Cocoa was named Theobroma and means 'food of the gods'. Cocoa Butter is popular in the natural bodycare industries for good reason. It has been used for centuries in Africa for its moisturizing and healing properties, where it has been used to protect and condition skin which has been damaged by the sun and wind. Cocoa Butter contains natural antioxidants. It is naturally rich in Vitamin E as well as a number of other vitamins and minerals. Vitamin E helps to soothe, hydrate, and balance the skin and also provides the skin collagen which assists with wrinkles and other signs of ageing. Cocoa Butter also contains cocoa mass polyphenol (CMP), a substance that inhibits the production of the immuno globulin IgE. IgE is known to aggravate symptoms of both dermatitis and asthma. For centuries pregnant women have used Cocoa Butter formulations to prevent and treat stretch marks. Grandma's makes one variety of soap that is heavy laden with cocoa butter, called White Chocolate soap. It's a wonderful, extremely rich and creamy soap, unscented, but containing a hint of chocolate scent that is warm and pleasing. It's the perfect soap for those with sensitive and/or very dry skin. I use it myself and it's one of my favorites.
Fresh, Raw Goatsmilk
is a common ingredient among soapmakers. I have customers who enjoy my quality soapmaking, that have requested goatsmilk soap. For them I do carry a few varieties of quality goatsmilk soaps. They also have the shea butter added for a luxurious soap rich in two types of emollients ! I buy the milk from a nearby farm, a few hours after the goats have been milked ! Goatsmilk soaps offer a special level of skin softening properties due to the type of fats in the milk. It's a very creamy soap.
Additional Ingredients
Additional ingredients in Grandma's soap may include one or more of the following: herbs, grains, pumice (ground volcanic ash), fruit seeds, witch hazel or vegetable loofah. Those ingredients are all natural. Grandma's also uses kerosene in a strongly effective, but gentle cleansing soap that rinses well.
WHAT IS HOMEMADE SOAP, MADE FROM SCRATCH ? IT’S A SALT !
Let's take a moment to read about what soap is, and the chemical reaction that makes soap. What is real soap? Bar soap is simply the sodium salt of a fatty acid.
What is a salt?
The inorganic table salt that we are typically used to isn't the only type of salt there is. Many salts exist as the end result of a reaction between an acid and a base. This is how soap is made, also.
A side note: speaking of salt, organic salt such as sea salt is in my opinion, is a simple and healthier choice for ingesting than inorganic table salt. It is available in the natural food section of grocery or health food stores, and is quite inexpensive.
What is an acid or an alkali?
On the pH scale, acids are closer to the 0-7 range, and alkaline is from 7 - 14. 7 is neutral, but those are the directions on the scale, of acids and alkali. Acids burn; alkali corrodes. A strong alkali such as sodium hydroxide is the main ingredient in certain drain cleaners. It is this strong alkali that catalyzes the saponification reaction, pulling the oils apart and reforming with the alkali into fatty acids and glycerol; good stuff !
What is a fatty acid?
Fatty acids are found in fats and oils.
Saponification
is the chemical reaction process that occurs when a fatty acid (oil) meets an alkali (sodium hydroxide). When the two meet, the alkali splits the fats or oils into two parts; fatty acids and glycerin. After this splitting of the fats or oils, the sodium part of the alkali joins with the fatty acid part of the oils. This combination is then the sodium salt of the fatty acid. This combination is real, old-fashioned natural soap!
Today's Commercial "Soap"
Most products on the market today are not soap in the truest understanding of what soap is, and how it was made. Instead they are modified, creating detergents which have had chemical processes (and/or ingredients) used in their production, and many remove the glycerin that naturally forms during saponification. In a way, we could say that handcrafted soaps are all really glycerin soaps, since they contain the natural glycerin formed from the saponification process.
Grandma's Soapdish & Sundries - Policies
Our goal is to have happy customers. So far, in 10-plus years, we have had just that, which our customer testimonials attest to. Now, as we continue to expand, we want to share what we've already said to others, about our views.
If you receive a product from Grandma's that is not what it's represented to be, you may request an exchange or refund of your money. It's never happened and I'm sure it can't. I'm that confident of my product quality.
I thoroughly enjoy what I do, and I want to share it with others who are like-minded and can benefit from what I offer. While this website, and the blog information I offer, contains information, opinions and research data, about natural health and wellness, the use of herbs, homeopathy, natural living, craft, and other medical and related information, it is for YOU to be further educated and informed. Any of us can choose to research data, look for facts, look for empirical evidence, hear or read testimonials, and make INFORMED CHOICES about our family and ourselves.
As of 2009, Grandma's is discontinuing use of all fragrance oils. They have been a very small part of what scents have been offered in the past. Granted, there are some synthetic scents that are appealing and they're not available as pure essential oils. However, as a moral and ethical choice, resolving my own desire to be a soapmaker able to offer a superior product, I'm proud to be making this decision. I have developed some fantastic essential oil scents given my 11 years of experience and am confident that they will stand on their own merit ! For the discriminating and informed soap customer, we're here for YOU.
1/1/2009: On a personal note: A little "About Me" - Grandma isn't a grandma, yet, though our first grandbaby is due in February 2009 (a girl). Our second grandbaby is due on August 4, 2009 !!! Grandma's Soapdish & Sundries has a real life name and face. My name is Diane, and I am the happily addicted soapstress. My husband and I are the proud parents of ten children (5 boys; 5 girls, so far). Our children range in age from three years old to adult. Academically, I've earned Associate and Bachelor's Degrees in the sciences, from CT colleges. I've been studying All Things Soap for almost eleven years. I'm also a Natural Health and Wellness Consultant, Biofeedback Consultant, with a degree of Doctor of Natural Health, with a Specialization in Homeopathy. I have a private practice in central Connecticut, and see clients by appointment.
(c) Copyright 2009 Grandma's Soapdish & Sundries, LLC; all rights reserved.