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halfpint

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About halfpint

  • Birthday July 8

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    http://www.dawndulcimer.com
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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Alabama
  • Interests
    music, church, soapmaking
  1. Please don't let my children see this one. I have enough trouble keeping my stuff in the kitchen as they think of other uses for it already!
  2. I use it in some of my soaps, for cuts, to prevent lice, as a fungicide, and as an insect repellant. Dawn
  3. Quote: I was talking to dh about making soap since when TSHTF it will be a needed item and possibly good for trade. He said that lye comes from wood ashes and since we have a wood stove I'll be all set. Do you make your own lye? If not where do you get it? When I run short on lye, I can get it from Lowes Hardware store and purchase the Roebic brand, and need to make sure it is labeled "100% sodium hydroxide". Due to Lye being used in meth labs, it is no longer labeled "lye" but is drain cleaner, but you need to make sure it is 100% sodium hydroxide and nothing else in it. I do not make my own lye, as there is not an easy way to determine the strength of it. This is why you often hear of 'grandma's' soap being harsh, and why lye soap has a bad reputation among some people. With good recipes and accurate scales, I find home made soap to be very good for my skin. Also, home made lye would be potassium hydroxide, which will make a soft (or liquid) soap, not bar soaps. In the past soapmakers would add salt to make the soap into bars. I do use some purchased potassium hydroxide to make liquid soaps though, but I usually get it from a supplier of my oils. If you're going to want to make soap in an emergency situation, I would suggest you learn now, so that you know how everything should look and feel. You will also need a good scale, tried and true recipies, and stainless steel or glass pots and stirring equipment and most importantly goggles and gloves to protect yourself. There are a lot of good tutorials on the internet to get you started. I can make a large batch of soap to be ready to pour in about 1 hour, however if I didn't have an electric stick blender, it can add another hour or two to my stirring time. After pouring, it sits in the mold for about 18-24 hours, then is taken out and cut, then let to cure for 3-4 weeks. You can make hot process soap which doesn't have to cure, but I find that harder to work with and probably would not be something done in an emergency situation due to the energy consumption required. Dawn
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