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Kitchen Grease Into Hand Soap
It seems that “what goes around, comes around,” even with soap. What was once a distasteful chore of country housewives or the task of garbage entrepreneurs has now become the new eco-friendly activity of chefs. According to a recent article at Food and Wine there’s a new line of soaps made from the byproducts of […]
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The Many Careers of Soapmakers
Of all the soapmakers I know, not one started out young in life saying,”When I grow up, I’m going to be a soapmaker.” While some have said they “always had an interest,” most were in other careers when they discovered (and got hooked on) soapmaking. Pre-soapmaking careers include accountant, journalist, engineer, chemist, housewife, teacher, internet […]
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What We Watch – Television and Soap
It’s interesting how the American public is so fascinated with and influenced by the trials and tribulations of fictitious families. The success of all soap operas (daytime and prime time), as well as shows like LOST, is all about getting people vested in a form of imaginary voyeurism. And it started with … soap! Earlier […]
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Soap Bubble Close-Up
Ever wondered what a soap bubble looks like close up … VERY close up … like 50x magnification? Absolutely, amazingly beautiful! This image is “Soap Bubble in a Petri Dish,” taken at 50x magnification. Photographer: Viktor Sykora Mr. Sykora won Image of Distinction in the 2008 annual Nikon Small World photomicrography competition. And rightly so! […]
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Census Records of Soapmakers
You can find information about soapmaking in the oddest places and by the strangest methods. Recently, I found out about the numbers of soapmakers around the turn of the (last) century while celebrating my birthday! Birthdays in our family are a day when you can do (or not do) whatever you want. In the past […]
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Sunlight Soap – Botswana
Last night I watched the HBO series “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.” If you missed the pilot, it is soon to be released on DVD. It’s very cute, retains the feeling of the original books and actually looks like it was filmed in Botswana. And how does this relate to soap?
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Raise The Bar, Use Handcrafted Soap
That’s what the license plate holder on my truck says now. I just put the new Handcrafted Soap Guild license plate holder on my truck. Required a little cleaning up of things to get the mud off, but I think it looks pretty nice! It’ll be cool to drive around and have it be known […]
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Making Soap (with pictures!)
When I make soap, I break it out into in several stages: Preparation, Melting, Mixing & Molding, Unmolding & Cutting, Trimming, and Packaging. Generally there is a time gap between the different stages—sometimes hours, sometimes days, and even sometimes months. This is just how I do it.
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The Art & Science of Making Soap
Making soap is both a science and an art. For me, it’s the combination of the two that makes the whole thing so fascinating. That, and the joy of having my own custom-made, custom-scented, just-perfect-for-me soap. Add to that the fact that I can share it with other people and make some income while doing […]
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Off to HSMG Conference!
As I write this (May 2009) I am finishing up all the loose ends to get ready to leave. Very excited (now that most of the stress of the preparations is done)! The HSMG Annual Conference is a really big deal within the soapmaking community and for me as the President of the HSMG. Leigh […]
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John Adams, 2nd President of the United States
Last night I watched the 7th and final episode of the HBO Miniseries “John Adams.” While I’ve been intrigued and educated through the entire series, it was the last episode that gave me the most insight into the man himself. I attribute that to the fact that it covers the last years of his life, […]
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Tax Day – We Need a Change
I hate tax day. Like many (maybe most) Americans, I seriously resent the time and effort I have to spend to file taxes every year. Filling in the forms has gotten easier over the years with e-File and programs like TurboTax, but even with that I spent over 6 hours putting together my taxes last […]
Helping you undersand soap and cosmetic regulations — in plain English.