Natural Color Infusions for Salt Bar Soap

A salt bar has about 50 percent of it’s oil weight as salt. Sea salt works great and you can also add color infusions that look natural. With natural ingredients like Turmeric, Alkanet Root, Ratan Jot, Paprika you can infuse amazing color into your soap bar. By filling up jars with coconut oil and placing these ingredients on top. You can let them sit in a warm place until the color naturally combines. You can also boil for fast infusion.

Key Takeaways:

  • Some good powders to use for coloring include turmeric, paprika, alkanet root and ratan jot.
  • You will either need a cold or warm infusion in order to get the soap to turn the specific color you’re looking for.
  • Your results will vary depending on how long you allow the oil and colorants to infuse with each other, so mess around with the timing until you get results you love.

“Simply place the jars of coconut oil and herb powder in a warm place. Your coconut oil needs to be melted in order for the infusion to work. Place in a warm sunny window or outside if it is warm where you live. You can infuse for a couple of days or even weeks! If your coconut oil will not stay melted…it will not infuse. Try a warm infusion.”

Read more: https://www.lovinsoap.com/2020/01/natural-color-infusions-for-salt-bar-soap/

Oodles of Oils

Trying to sell oils can be a tough business. First it’s important that you figure out what kind of oil you will be selling. There are a lot of different oils for various purposes such as skin care or for food products. Figure out what price point you are trying to target. Maybe you want to be a luxury brand or maybe you want to have a business that focuses on being natural. Make sure you know how long you oils can stay good before getting rancid.

Key Takeaways:

  • Butter usually deals with plant based lipids whereas fats deal with animal based lipids.
  • Oils are usually compromised of fatty acids and vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. All oils, butters and fats are lipids except mineral oil.
  • When it comes to oils you should always consider things like the shelf life, the price and how available it is.

“Oil is the term makers usually assign to lipids that are liquid at room temperature. While most of them are plant-based, exceptions exist. Mineral oil is one as it is derived from processed, purified petroleum. Emu oil is another as it is liquid, but animal based.”

Read more: https://makingsoapmagazine.com/2020/01/06/oodles-of-oils/

The coronavirus is no match for plain, old soap — here’s the science behind it

Plain old soap is one of the best ways to protect yourself from the coronavirus. This is because soap dissolves the fat membrane which is what essentially kills the virus. The most ideal surface for a virus is the skin because the virus is able to for a hydrogen bond with the skin. It’s also organic and has dead cells and fatty acids which viruses are attracted to. Soap essentially destroys a virus by changing the structure of the virus. Alcohol can help with the coronavirus as well, but plain old hand soap is the best way to combat it.

Key Takeaways:

  • Soap is showing to be more effective than disinfectants for protecting against the Covid virus.
  • Because the virus is held together by hydrogen bonds, skin is the most ideal surface for a virus to live on.
  • Soap dissolves the virus structure so getting the virus off the skin is the most effective defense against Covid.

“Disinfectants, or liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol (and soap) have a similar effect but are not as good as regular soap. Apart from alcohol and soap, antibacterial agents in those products don’t affect the virus structure much.”

Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/deadly-viruses-are-no-match-for-plain-old-soap-heres-the-science-behind-it-2020-03-08

Why Make Milk Soap? Because It’s Amazing!

Making milk soap takes some time to get the hang of, if you are just starting out with making soap, then you will want to view additional blog posts to get a better idea of what to do during the creation process. Milk soap is very delicate and soft, and everybody loves the blend of milk with oats and honey. You can also make a design on top by dragging some of your extra mixture across the top into the shape you desire.

Key Takeaways:

  • Using goat milk in soap makes for a very smooth bar that is very healthy on your skin.
  • It’s important to use safety precautions when making milk soap. If you’ve never made soap before you may want to start on an easier project.
  • This milk soap makes a nice yin-yang pattern which is similar to the designs in popular coffees.

“I mixed the milk and lye using fluid milk this time, and I had the measuring cup sitting in cold water. After I got it all mixed, I left it sitting in the water bath for about 2 hours. When I came back to it, the lye solution was 72 degrees F.”

Read more: https://blog.thesage.com/2020/01/09/why-make-milk-soap-because-its-amazing/

Soap company helps seniors stay squeaky clean

Cleanliness is one of the top priorities when it comes to staving off the virus, especially for seniors. When the owner of the soap company had an incident of her own that lead to pneumonia, it caused her to think in terms of all of those seniors that would need help with getting their necessities. That’s when she got the idea that she would give the soap, made with high quality ingredients, to seniors who could use them to keep clean and to pamper themselves.

Key Takeaways:

  • With the Covid epidemic, it’s more important than ever to wash our hands; McGillicuddy SoapCo. is one company offering natural soap products with fragrants.
  • They’re giving discount cards to Seniors so people can feel loved in these hard times.
  • This project started out by looking for bath bomb tutorials and turned into a serious soap making business.

“Seniors receiving the soaps will also get a discount card with a buy one, get one free offer. The card will contain a code to redeem the deal on the McGillicuddy SoapCo. Facebook page. A website is being developed, but may not be up-and-running until the coronavirus crisis is over.”

Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com:443/ramona-sentinel/business/story/2020-04-09/soap-company-helps-seniors-stay-squeaky-clean

Tips for Making and Cutting Salt Bars in Loaf Molds

The amount of salt you need to use for these salt bars makes them very firm pretty quickly, so you will want to find the perfect window to cut the soap into pieces. If you wait too long to cut the loaf soap, then you will just end up with bars that crumble instead of staying together. You will want the loaves to be warm and semi firm to the touch to get them to be perfectly cut without crumbling.

Key Takeaways:

  • Making salt soap in loaf molds is tricky and the bars might come out crumbly. You can try to avoid this by cutting while they are still warm.
  • You can use a spatula after pouring your mold to create a bit of texture and uniqueness to your soap.
  • You can also use freezer paper to have slits in the mold pour. This way the bars are split up from each other.

“Cut the loaf into bars when the is still setup but still warm! There is a short window after you pour your soap from when it changes from fluid to setup enough to cut, without being crumbly. It will still usually be warm to the touch. I’ve had this window occur anywhere from 20 minutes after pouring up to 1 hour.”

Read more: https://www.lovinsoap.com/2020/01/tips-for-making-and-cutting-salt-bars-in-loaf-molds/

Does Handmade Soap Clean as Well as Commercial Soap?

During the outbreak of Coronavirus people who make soap at home may wonder about the efficacy of their product when it comes to reducing likelihood of infection. Making Soap Mag examined common commercial soaps versus homemade to answer this question. Soap is a mixture of oil and lye. Water will dissolve the lye or alkaline component. Washing hands with soap uses the properties of the soap compound to remove oils and so foreign particles from hands. Homemade soaps although different in composition from commercial brands still contain the basic properties of soaps and will effectively remove the virus from hands with enough washing.

Key Takeaways:

  • Soap and water is more effective at combating illness than hand sanitizer is, as long as you use it for twenty to thirty seconds.
  • In order to make soap, you need the exact same ingredients as commercial soap, the only difference are the type of fragrances added.
  • Homemade soap is made with natural ingredients, and is superior to commercial soap, therefore it costs more, but for good reason.

“Real soap is the result of the combination of alkaline (lye) and oils. Any plant or animal oil will saponify, or make soap, when combined with lye and the water required to dissolve the lye.”

Read more: https://makingsoapmagazine.com/2020/04/01/does-handmade-soap-clean-as-well-as-commercial-soap/

How to Make Your Camera Settings Work for You

Purchasing your first DSLR camera is perhaps the most monumental milestone in becoming a professional photographer, but familiarizing yourself with the settings can seem like quite the hassle. For instance, determining what shutter speed you can use may be a bit tricky considering it differs from subject to subject. Slower shutter speeds are not always ideal when shooting human subjects since the human body cannot always stay completely still for a total of sixty seconds.

Key Takeaways:

  • When your f-stop is a low number, that means the lens is open wide and letting in lots of the available light. In contrast, the higher the number, the smaller the opening.
  • The amount of light and movement of your subject determines the shutter speed you should use.
  • In underexposed images, the shadows are too dark and details in those areas are lost. Overexposed images will have highlight areas that are too bright where detail is lost.

“Your ISO setting should be chosen based on available light. Remember taking photos on film twenty years ago? Images taken in low light would sometimes look really grainy and icky. That’s because the ISO was set too high for the amount of light that was available.”

Read more: https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/how-to-use-camera-settings/

What Should I Do?

Many people are facing heightened amounts of anxiety when trying to fill their day with productive happenings while following stay-at-home orders. Fortunately, Making Soap Magazine has created a list of several productive endeavors that you can engage in to pass the time while maintaining order in your home. At the top of their list is taking inventory and ordering necessary supplies. During this time, you can also take the opportunity to find items that you no longer need, and donate to those who are struggling.

Key Takeaways:

  • If your business is not currently deemed essential, now might be a time to accomplish done in depth cleaning and inventory work.
  • Audit your own books and prepare for taxes. See if any of your promotional products could do with a revamping.
  • Bake, cook, or take in one of those famous home projects you are always saying you would do if you had extra time.

“You know all that time you always complain about not having? If you have it now; it’s just a matter of making the most of it. Rather than practicing those couch potato skills, think of constructive things to do!”

Read more: https://makingsoapmagazine.com/2020/03/25/what-should-i-do/

Product Testing: Five Tips to do it Better

When on a quest to develop a product that you can proudly stand behind, product testing will always be an integral part of the production process. Your first step in product testing should be researching the specific product you want to learn about. Instead of just clicking on the first link that you’re met with, take the time to really delve into extensive information so that you can jot down important notes such as the product’s final goal, as well as its sources and ingredients.

Key Takeaways:

  • Testing is unavoidable. Take the time to create a product you are proud of and can stand behind.
  • Be smart about the testing to reduce the time and resources necessary to create that ideal product.
  • Keep copious notes. If you are not a note keeper by personality, it is a valuable skill to develop.

“To test scents in product, make a larger batch and separate smaller parts off by weight. Add scent and package. This works to test multiple scents and their effects on the product. It also works to test the intensity.”

Read more: https://makingsoapmagazine.com/2020/02/07/product-testing-five-tips-to-do-it-better/