The Fat Ewe Farm and Bed and Breakfast
The Fat Ewe Farm and Moose Hills Inn
Organic Permaculture Farmin' for
the Lazy Ewes
  • The Fat Ewe Farm
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • The Fat Ewe Farm Store
  • Livestock Breeds (click here to see all the breeds)
    • Angora goats
    • Icelandic Sheep
    • Jacob sheep
    • Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep >
      • Babydoll Sheep on the Fat Ewe Farm
  • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery (click here for some awesome photos or watch the slideshow) >
      • Video Slide Show
    • Phone Number
    • Map
  • Sale Barn
  • Recipes From the Fat Ewe
    • Old Stuff
  • How Much Meat Do You Get?
  • Ukrainian Easter Eggs
  • Moose Hills Inn

Washing Soap

10/28/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
freshly unmolded soap. The other side has cacao batter in it. When it is cut, some of the chocolate will transfer to the white.
What? You mean washing with soap? or soap for washing? 

No! Washing soap is what I mean. 

When soap is made and then cut, there are tiny fragments and colour bleeds on the cut surfaces. There are also rough edges and sharp edges. Some soap makers bevel the edges with a potato peeler of a special soap beveler. I know a smooth edge is softer and more pleasurable in the hand, and the experience of using hand made soap can be wonderful, so I do understand the concept. But, most of my soap is rustic and plain unscented, the way I believe soap was meant to be. I am not one for all the fancy swirls and colours, things embedded in the soap, glitters and glitz, and stinky smells. None of those things are healthy, most be derived from chemicals which are not necessary. 

Soap was meant to be a cleanser, however; it can also be moisturizing and treat the skin to some wonderful qualities from the unique properties of the oils used, and the herbal and botanical ingredients can contribute as well. There is no hard and true research indicating just how much is unaffected by the lye, but most of the ingredients are not saponifiable, meaning are not used to make the soap in the chemical reaction between the lye and the fats, so they are left behind to be part of an exquisite bar of soap. 

But, back to the washing. Rather than bevel the edges and then spritz each soap with alcohol to polish it, I just wash each bar. The timing is crucial. The soap cannot be too hard, nor too soft. If it is too hard, the edges do not soften enough and if it is too soft, washing it washes the soap away. For cleaning two colours from one another, washing is ideal though. The soap I just made is a pumpkin seed oil goat's milk bar. Pumpkin seed oil is fantastic for sensitive and mature skin, so soothing and moisturizing. This soap also has the benefit of alphahydroxy acid from the milk, which naturally exfoliates on a minuscule level without harsh grit to irritate the skin. The skin is left supple and smooth with an imperceptible coating of the oils as a moisturizing quality, but not enough to feel greasy. 

Soap and water also create a synergistic relationship. The first time soap goes to water, magic happens. The soap glistens and smoothes and readily lathers. That first lather is rinsed off and then the soap sits and dries and cures for weeks to months to years, depending on the type it is. This soap will cure for approximately 6 weeks, until the moisture content remains constant. Then it is at its optimum for longevity and usage. 

So, yes, I wash the soap. It saves bevelling and smoothing, and polishing with alcohol and leaves the soap pristine and lovely. Which bar would you like to try?
Picture
The chocolate bits and cut bits are on the newly cut soap bars
Picture
After washing, the soap is nice and smooth and there are no chocolate bits or rough edges on the nice bars.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Airstream Land Yacht 1964
    Alpacas
    Alpine Goats
    Ameraucana Chickens
    American Buff Geese
    Ancona Ducks
    Angora Goats
    Angora Goats
    Angora Rabbits.
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Bed And Breakfast
    Berkshire Pigs
    Blue Faced Leicester Sheep
    Blue Swedish Ducks
    Boer Goats
    Border Collie
    Border Collie
    Bronze Turkey Standard
    Bronze Turkey (Standard)
    Canadian Horses
    Canadian Horses
    Cats
    Chickens
    Cotswold Sheep
    Crafts And Hobbies
    Cream Legbar Chickens
    Dorset Sheep
    Ducks
    Embden Geese
    E'st A Laine Merino Sheep
    Farm Life
    Farm Life
    Farm Store
    Finnsheep
    Flemish Giant Rabbit
    Flowers
    French Lop Rabbit
    Galloway Cattles
    Gardening
    Gotland Sheep
    Guinea Fowl
    Herbs
    Holstein Steer
    Icelandic Sheep
    Jacob Sheep
    Japanese Bantam Chickens
    Jersey Cow
    Kahaki Campbell Ducks
    Karakul Sheep
    Kiko Goats
    Kilo Highland Cows
    Light Sussex Chicken
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Meishan Pigs
    Miniature Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    Moose Hills Inn
    Muscovy Ducks
    Norwegian Red Dairy Cow
    Nubian Goats
    Nygora Goat
    Ossabaw Hogs
    Partidge Chantecler Chickens
    Pekin Ducks
    Permaculture
    Pied Guinea Fowl
    Polish/Ameraucana Bantam Cross Chickens
    Polled Dorset Sheep
    Potbelly Pigs
    Pygmy Goats
    Recipes
    Rigit Galloway Cows.
    Romanov Sheep
    Romney Sheep
    Rouen Ducks
    Saddleback Pomeranican Geese
    Saxony Ducks
    Sebastopol Geese
    Sheep And Goats
    Shetland Sheep
    Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken
    Soap And Hand Made Cosmetics
    Standard Jack Donkey
    Sustainability
    Swiss Blackneck Goats
    The Llamas
    The Llamas
    Toulouse Geese
    Tunis Sheep
    White Chantecler Chickens
    White Danish Geese
    Wool

    Author

    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    view old blog site

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Home

The Fat Ewe Farm 

All text and photos are the sole property of The Fat Ewe Farm  and may not be used without written permission.