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Soap for Teeth
I was looking through my book of Hall’s Journal of Health (1859), and found an interesting article in the August issue of that year. It piqued my interest, so I did a little research. Here’s the article: Best Tooth WashOn one occasion, a correspondent for a water-cure journal inquired if a statement of ours was […]
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Traveling by United – Again
Next weekend (the 17th), I fly to Dallas to be the keynote speaker at the Texas Soapmakers Convention. I’ll be speaking about the growth and development of the handcrafted soapmaking industry and soap and cosmetic labeling requirements. I’m excited about going and looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. What I’m NOT excited about, […]
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I’ve Been Roasted!
I just got back from the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild conference in Palm Springs, CA. It was an awesome 3-day experience! Being the current President of the Soap Guild, I had responsibilities while there and was involved in the preparations (although Leigh O’Donnell, the Conference Chairman, was truly the mastermind behind it all). I loved having the opportunity to […]
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2009 HSMG Conference
I’m off to the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild 2009 Conference in Palm Springs bright and early tomorrow morning! Very excited about it – this will probably be our best conference yet.
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Colored and Swirled Soap
Making cold process soap is a combination of art and science. Making swirled soap is particularly tricky. It’s quite a skill to get the colors to swirl in together and still keep them distinct. Every swirled bar is different–not only different from soapmaker to soapmaker, but different from batch to batch and every bar within […]
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Grandma’s Lye Soap (1952)
In 1952, soap made it into the hit song parade! Johnny Standly had a mega hit song called It’s In The Book. The first part of it is a parody of Little Bo Peep in the form of a Southern Revival sermon, the second part is a song called Grandma’s Lye Soap. Click here to […]
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Adult Film Star and Ivory Soap
I don’t follow the news much, so I missed the fact that Marilyn Chambers, star of Behind the Green Door, one of the first “main-stream” porn films, died earlier this month. I only found out when it was briefly mentioned in People magazine. What I found interesting was the note that before Marilyn made her […]
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More EO blends from 1904
Here are some more EO blends from The Manual of Toilet Soap-Making by Dr. C. Deite. The amounts given in the book are for scenting a soap batch using 50 kilos of oil; I’ve adjusted them down so the amounts shown below are for a soap batch containing 5 kilos (11 pounds) of oil. The […]
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Promote the Benefits of Soap and Water
As we all know, washing with soap and water is one of the very best ways to prevent the spread of disease, including colds, flu, and other illnesses. The CDC has long been promoting the benefits of washing with soap and water. But a survey by the The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) and the American […]
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EO Blends for Soap from 1904
Back around the turn of the (last) century, synthetic fragrances were just making their debut. Soapmaking manuals and books for the time still gave recipes for scent blending based on essential oils. My Manual of Toilet Soap-Making by Dr. C. Deite lists a number of scent blends for what were “traditional” toilet soaps at the […]
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Wool and Soap
I found a reference in The Art of Soap-Making by Alexander Watt (1918) which describes “fulling soaps.” Being unsure of what, exactly, “fulling” really was, I wasn’t sure whether the soap he described would be suitable for washing woolens as well. Turns out not, but I did make some interesting discoveries along the way. And […]
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Manhattan Garbage & Soap
Imagine New York City and the island of Manhattan in the 1840’s. The city was rapidly expanding with an influx of immigrants from all over the world. Industry was expanding with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. The northern portion of the island was still providing the city with dairy products and meat. Sewage disposal […]
Helping you undersand soap and cosmetic regulations — in plain English.