Another soap entry...

I've been researching soap making... The more I find out, the more I think I'll like it. I just have to get the blasted supplies... That'll come... In the meantime, I've been looking at ingredients.

I think I definitely want to avoid tallow for the simple reason that rendering animal fat will not be an option. So all vegetable oils/butters. I will use milk, beeswax and other animal products in some soaps though. I hear using tallow is "out of fashion" in the soapmaking community or some such nonsense for "philosophical reasons" (and let me just say that those who object for these kinds of reasons and yet have no problem eating steak are hypocrits). Whatever... I have no philosophical objection to using tallow. The part of me that likes to use every part of something and not be wasteful actually really likes the idea of tallow. I'm not a - to quote a very good friend - "crazy vegan" after all, I just don't want the mess and smell of rendering to deal with. So I think Castile and Vegetable soaps will become my speciality! ;D

I don't want to use fragrance oils... The ingredients are just too ambiguous. So if it needs to be scented, it'll be scented with essential oils. I've also heard that sandalwood is endangered now... (Why do people still use it if it's endangered?) So I guess I'm going to need to not use that. I will not go so far as to use recycled paper wrappers and natural inks in the labels... I would if it were convenient, but I think packaging is going to be hard enough without getting picky...

Got a good idea for wrapping though... Butcher paper, tied with twine (and of course, plastic wrap to preserve scented stuff until it's shipped)... Labels are going to be an issue though... Maybe Susan will think of something... She did have those nifty price stickers and tie-on labels for her stuff at Golden Girls Antiques. hmmm....

I need to get my work room organized before I start this... Must employ Joe with this as he is a master organizer. Can't do that until after the spring planting though. (I really must get my head on straight by Saturday, cause I've got major agricultural work to do this weekend!) I have to get my yarn stash organized and in a home, as well as all my needles and sewing supplies. Then I need to get storage bins for all this soap stuff. Pots, utensils, and oil storage as well as organizers for all the additives... This will be fun! Joe will enjoy it, at least...

I got the idea for this post from the "What Type of Soaper Are you?" page at http://www.millersoap.com/soapertypes.html . My favorite answer to this question is "THE UNSUNG SOAPERS: These girls (no self-respecting man would do it) are easily recognized by their inability to stand up straight. They stand for hours, in period costumes, hunched over cast iron pots hung from cast iron tripods, stirring endlessly, at the multitude of Historic Society gatherings throughout the land, in order to promote respect for soap's humble beginnings in this great US of A. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor hail, nor 90-degree temperatures, nor poorly organized shows, will stop them from preserving and carrying on one of America's greatest traditions - the art of SoapMaking."

Now, I'm going to bed...