Farm and Soap Updates — soap making

Let's talk about DIY sunscreen

soap making

Let's talk about DIY sunscreen

As someone who is in the business of making soaps, salves and deodorants, I sometimes get asked if I offer any sunscreen products. I've been on the all natural train for a while and am not afraid of a little chemistry, so many years ago, I did try my hand at homemade sunscreen. Do DIY Sunscreen Recipes Work? In short no, or at least not consistently enough to depend on them for real sun protection. I tried many different sunscreen formulations, mostly recipes that featured zinc oxide as the main SPF-providing ingredient. There are many zinc oxide sunscreens produced commercially...

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The surprisingly modern adoption of soap

history soap making

The surprisingly modern adoption of soap

Soap has existed since before recorded history, though if you read my short history of soap and hand washing, you know that using soap for hygiene practices like hand washing is less than 200 years old. But did you know that using soap for household cleaning like laundry, dishes and mopping is also relatively recent?  For most of that history, soap was far from the ubiquitous cleanser that it is today. Before soap, most households used dry cleaning methods like sweeping and brushing for the majority of tasks. Greasy chores like laundry and dishes were accomplished with wood ash, to make...

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The Practice and History of Hand Washing

history soap making

The Practice and History of Hand Washing

A History of Soap and Hand Washing Who invented soap? Frankly, we will never know because soap has been around for a very long time. As in a 'before recorded history' long time! The first time soap does show up in the historical record is 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia [1]. Historically, soap was first used to clean textiles and dishes rather than people. Some cultures thought it might have medical properties for the skin but at this point we're a long way from any understanding of germ theory. Even the idea of being "clean" was motivated more by religion than...

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How Does Soap Work?

soap making

How Does Soap Work?

I usually find myself answering this question from two perspectives. Either, "Is soap really necessary?" or "Is soap enough?" So let's have a quick look at the chemistry of how soap really works. At its core, what soap really does is to make water a better cleanser. By itself, water does an ok job at removing dirt. Think about trying to get dirt off your hands with a dry paper towel or by rinsing with water. Water does a much better job!  But now think about washing your hands with either a dry soap bar or soap combined with water, the dry...

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Are tallow and lard soaps biodegradable?

soap making

Are tallow and lard soaps biodegradable?

This is a bit of a niche topic today but I do get questions about using my soap in outdoor situations such as camping, outdoor bathing or even just in the backyard. The usual question is whether my soaps are biodegradable. The short answer is yes, they are. However, just because something is biodegradable does not mean that it is environmentally safe in all contexts. What does biodegradable mean? In the context of soap, biodegradable simply means that all of its components can be broken down by bacteria. Many ingredients found in commercial soaps and detergents can be environmentally harmful,...

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