Sally's GF3 thread

[Sally PB]

The few times I've used the self checkout at Meijer, it was NOT faster than standing in line. First, I had to stand in line for the self checkout, and then I had to wait for the one "minder" person to reset the only open one that had worked just a second ago with another customer.

Yeah. Not a fan.

 

[Sally PB]

Well, now I feel inferior to my shampoo. It does TEN things at once!!

I do question some of them. Like "heat protects." What does that mean? Protects from heat? Then say that. Oh, it has to be in one or two words, like the rest of the list.

But the "protects bonds" baffles me. What kind of bonds are we talking about? Must not be color, because that gets its own mention, and I don't color my hair anyway, so the point is moot. So maybe it's muni, or T, or corporate? Bail bonds? Ionic, covalent, metallic?

So much for a relaxing shower.

 

[aart]

Like "heat protects." What does that mean?

Pure marketing gibberish.

 

[Sally PB]

Pure marketing gibberish

It sure is.

Another ad that hubby and I laugh at on TV is "THE (can't recall the brand*) truck." It is THE truck. As in, the only one, singular? What happens when they sell THE truck?

*Is it Chevy? GMC? Ford? I'm not sure. So I guess I'm not going to embarrass myself by going to a dealer and say, "I want to buy THE truck."

 

[saysfaa]

...shampoo.

If you care to figure it out

I had to for all contact products after the dermatologist ruled out Pemphigus vulgaris (after being almost sure she did) in my mother and another of her doctors finally figured out she was allergic to formaldehyde, parabens, and all of the other preservatives used in shampoo, laundry soap, and lotions. Of course, they rarely say they have formaldehyde; they use one of the bazillion other names for it. Note: I didn't look up which preservatives this shampoo has.

Making soap is easy. Very, very, very easy. And very, very fast. And very, very cheap. It works for hair, too.

 

[Sally PB]

Making soap is easy. Very, very, very easy. And very, very fast. And very, very cheap. It works for hair, too.

Do you have a recipe you could share?

I've never made soap. We sure have enough wood ashes to make our own lye. Well, not now; hubby just dumped the ash barrel.

 

[fuzzi]

If you care to figure it out

I had to for all contact products after the dermatologist ruled out Pemphigus vulgaris (after being almost sure she did) in my mother and another of her doctors finally figured out she was allergic to formaldehyde, parabens, and all of the other preservatives used in shampoo, laundry soap, and lotions. Of course, they rarely say they have formaldehyde; they use one of the bazillion other names for it. Note: I didn't look up which preservatives this shampoo has.

Making soap is easy. Very, very, very easy. And very, very fast. And very, very cheap. It works for hair, too.

I don't make soap, but I am very sensitive to chemicals so I started using natural goat milk soap. I tried using a shampoo bar, and after adjusting to the difference (no oodles of lather) I have found I like what it does with my fine, dry, gray hair...no more frizzies!

 

[saysfaa]

I credit Anne L Watson's books for getting my daughter and I into soap making.

But we use recipes from most any website or book. They have all worked well. A few decades ago, soap making was difficult to do but some improvements in the processes and the soap calculators have taken nearly all the mystery out of it.

We used this one yesterday as a hot process soap.

https://lovelygreens.com/simple-castile-soap-recipe-make-olive-oil-soap/

We left out the sodium lactate and the essential oil. And made a larger batch using this soap calculator: http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

The only really, really important thing to remember is to stir the lye into the water (never the opposite).

Really important is to not touch the lye crystals or the lye water and have vinegar nearby to neutralize any lye or lye water that goes where it isn't meant to go. Tiny amounts of lye water or lye crystal on sweat or such will burn similar to concentrated bleach... so be careful but not too obsessive about it.

Also, keep your face not directly above the container of lye water; it makes fumes that are to be avoided.

It is best to stir the lye into the water outside and let it heat then cool outside. After that, it doesn't make fumes and can be brought inside.

Measure exactly.
Don't use metal for anything (except the immersion blender). Glass is fine but could be etched by the lye. Wooden spoons are good for stirring the lye into the water but will be discolored and eventually eaten away.

It can be done without an immersion blender but have an abundance of time, patience, and endurance.

We use silicone baking pans for molds. Or fancy shaped molds from soap supply stores. Or cardboard boxes lined with parchment paper. They all work.

I like simple, just to get clean soaps. My daughter likes to play with scents, colors, and fancy molds so we made the recipe in the picture this week, too. As a cold process soap.

 

[fuzzi]

I credit Anne L Watson's books for getting my daughter and I into soap making.

But we use recipes from most any website or book. They have all worked well. A few decades ago, soap making was difficult to do but some improvements in the processes and the soap calculators have taken nearly all the mystery out of it.

We used this one yesterday as a hot process soap.

https://lovelygreens.com/simple-castile-soap-recipe-make-olive-oil-soap/

We left out the sodium lactate and the essential oil. And made a larger batch using this soap calculator: http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

The only really, really important thing to remember is to stir the lye into the water (never the opposite).

Really important is to not touch the lye crystals or the lye water and have vinegar nearby to neutralize any lye or lye water that goes where it isn't meant to go. Tiny amounts of lye water or lye crystal on sweat or such will burn similar to concentrated bleach... so be careful but not too obsessive about it.

Also, keep your face not directly above the container of lye water; it makes fumes that are to be avoided.

It is best to stir the lye into the water outside and let it heat then cool outside. After that, it doesn't make fumes and can be brought inside.

Measure exactly.
Don't use metal for anything (except the immersion blender). Glass is fine but could be etched by the lye. Wooden spoons are good for stirring the lye into the water but will be discolored and eventually eaten away.

It can be done without an immersion blender but have an abundance of time, patience, and endurance.

We use silicone baking pans for molds. Or fancy shaped molds from soap supply stores. Or cardboard boxes lined with parchment paper. They all work.

I like simple, just to get clean soaps. My daughter likes to play with scents, colors, and fancy molds so we made the recipe in the picture this week, too. As a cold process soap.

You should write an article on this!

 

[Sally PB]

Absolutely! I'd love a how-to on soap making.

What I really need is a hands-on apprenticeship. In a lot of things, actually.

My stepdad made soap once when I was in high school. We had a wood stove, thus lots of ashes to make lye. We'd raised a pig and had it butchered, so there was the fat.

Man, that soap was awful! It didn't lather, it was very harsh. I was at school when he did it, so I wasn't part of the process.