Shampoo Bar

Well I always wanted to learn how to make soap. For my first attempt, I made a lemongrass-scented shampoo bar with a recipe from skincarenaturals.com. Also pictured is my latest design for the soap tote, designed with thicker, larger soap bars in mind.

My goals for soapmaking are twofold. One is to have soap to sell along with my soap totes. I think that would make a neat, all-in-one gift. Just add a bow! Plus the "packaging" is reusable after the soap is used up. 

Another goal is to learn how to make soap and shampoo bars suitable for use on the guaifenesin protocol. I was bored with the soap options available to me and decided to learn how to make soap. Standard soapmaking oils like coconut and olive oil have to be changed to ones that don't have salicylates, as they are absorbed through the skin, blocking the effectiveness of the guaifenesin.   For those who are interested, the allowable oils are corn, rice, rye, oat, wheat, and soy. Not allowed are common soapmaking oils like olive, castor and coconut oils.  The protocol works for me  -- I've been on it and benefitting from it for 4 1/2 years now -- and I'd like to keep it working by using only the allowable oils.  But if you put forth that question on a soap making forum, you get more than a few dissenting opinions, I'm just sayin'. However, I will continue to heed this warning:  "Salicylates are readily absorbed through the skin and intestine when introduced from medications and supplements including plant oils, gels and extracts. Individual genetics determine ease of blocking but all patients should assume a high level of susceptibility and take no risks." So, I will be doing some experimenting to see if I can make a shampoo bar that has only the allowable oils.

I had some bloopers with my first batch of soap. My soap got stuck in the PVC pipe mold, but released a day later. Soup can + rubber mallet = splat! Overall it was a successful experiment.