DIY /Make It Yourself
Wisdom drop! My best recipes are not difficult to make, especially for someone who enjoys cooking, works in a clean environment without distractions, and is comfortable with weighing ingredients.
General Comments:- Use a digital gram weight/metric scale that goes to at least 1 Kg [=1000 gm] to weigh your ingredients. Get comfortable with the metric scale to start with, it really is easier. Plus there are many awesome Canadian soapers with gorgeous recipes.
- Remember to 'zero' or 'tare' the scale as needed. It can throw everything off if you are not consistent. Check things off and write down what you did so far or if you decide to alter the recipe.
- Also back up batteries are good to have. One time I had 48 4oz aluminum bottles of rosewater toner to fill and the batteries failed and I only had 1 replacement and had to leave everything and go to the store for 1 dumb 'A' battery.
- I have 2 stick blenders, a red one and a white one. The red one is soap only, the white one is for lotions and body butter whips. Anything you use for soap should not be used for food or anything else that you make.
- I also keep my lotion stick blender separate from food tools, but technically most lotion ingredients are non-toxic.
- Soap is fun to make but if you have pets and kids it requires a very safe strategic set up. Both potassium hydroxide [KOH] and sodium hydroxide [NaOH aka lye] are toxic substances and skin contact may result in burns from hydrothermic chemical reactions. Saponification, is the chemical process that converts fats into soap. Making soap is fun everyday alchemy, but attention to safety is critical. Hmm, after that sentence I'm going to leave out the soap recipe.
- Lotion on the other hand is a subtle chemical reaction, it is one that bonds liquid and oil molecules together until it thickens into an emulsion. It's a little bit like making mayonaise or tahini sauce from scratch.
- Citric Acid is used in bath fizzes- when it hits the water it becomes reactive, but when it is dry don't breathe it in. Use a mask and don't hover over the dry ingredients when mixing. That would be like pouring vinegar into your lungs. Yuck.
- I use an assortment of large pyrex measuring bowls, large stainless steel bowls, a few smaller glasses and paper plates for weights and measures. I avoid using plastic for the most part, but do like those 3 ml plastic pipettes to measure essential oils. Stainless steel or wood utensils with long handles are good to have. Avoid using aluminum utensils or pots, that is a reactive metal. It's weird to me that lye can chew through aluminum but not Tupperware. Please please please no non-stick coatings! I don't care how cute the unicorn shape is. No PFAS/PFOS.
