Weddings

I'm ashamed at how long it has been since I "soap-blogged"... I'm getting married in 13 days and soap has definitely had to be pushed to the back burner the past few weeks.

Ideas keep churning even when wedding takes the forefront of my mind... we are getting married at Grandfather Mountain's Highland Games... we made a short trip a few weeks ago to the Greenville Scottish Games... we are enjoying learning all the things we can about Scotland and Scottish history and the history of Hugh's clan... Lindsay...

Which on the back burner of my mind simmers the idea of Scottish soap... an entire line! Soaps that evoke the feelings and scents of Scotland... we could do this! and then we could go to all the Highland Games within driving distance as vendors, selling our Scottish Soaps!

What things make you think of Scotland? Whiskey... Heather... Thistle... Shortbread... William Wallace... Robert Burns... Bog Myrtle (just learned about that one... very cool!)... Tartans, Clans, Clotted Cream, Earl Grey Tea, Luckenbooths, Silver, Bluebells, Scones, Butter, Orange Marmalade, Lemon Curd, Oatmeal and Heather Honey...

I think there's a line of soaps in there somewhere! Can't wait to start experimenting and developing...

But first... we have a wedding! Yay to the Yayness!!

Is there Lye in your Soap?

We soapmakers often get asked about the use of lye in our soap. The fact is that lye is indeed used to make soap. While in many minds, “lye soap” brings up images of grandmas and washboards and red, red hands, anyone who has used handmade soap knows that it is quite mild and moisturizing. Sound like a contradiction? Well, the truth is that the lye was there, but now it’s gone. Is it magic? Sort of. It’s chemistry!

Why lye, anyway?
Soap, by definition, is the result of a chemical reaction between some kind of oil (like olive oil, coconut oil or palm oil) and lye. Lye is a solution made with either sodium hydroxide (to make bar soap) or potassium hydroxide (to make liquid soap). The reaction is called saponification. That’s it. Beautiful in its simplicity, huh? The other stuff (colors, fragrance, flower petals) adds to the enjoyment of your shower or bath, but is really unnecessary if you just want something that will clean.

Lye can be added by the soapmaker, like I do when making cold process soap, or it could have been added in a manufacturing facility. In fact, some soapmakers use a soap base that can be melted and then colored and scented. In that case, the soapmaker doesn’t have to handle the lye, but it was still part of the process in becoming soap at the factory before the soapmaker got it.
No lye? No soap. Period.

Where is the lye?
“But hold on,” you might say, “the soap I buy at the store doesn’t have lye.”  It may seem that way, depending on how the soap is labeled. Some ingredient labels list things like “sodium palmate”. This is the chemical name for the result of mixing palm oil and sodium hydroxide – oil and lye again! That bar of soap was made by blending in some already-made palm oil soap. The lye that went into making the sodium palmate was used up by the time it went into the soap, so it doesn’t have to be listed on the ingredient label. Or maybe the label lists “saponified olive oil”.  Now that you know what saponification means, you can understand that saponified oils are oils that have been reacted with lye at some point, even if the label doesn’t actually say “sodium hydroxide”.

Another very common reason that a soap label may not list sodium hydroxide is that it’s not soap. Surprised? Many bars in the market today are really solid detergents. Read the labels carefully and you’ll see that they are called “body bars” or “beauty bars” since they can’t call themselves “soap” because they aren’t made with oils and lye.

How can lye soap feel so good on the skin?
If lye is used to make soap, why is handmade soap so gentle?  The trick is that the lye gets used up during saponification. That’s right. The chemical reaction transforms the oil and lye into (Ta-da!) soap and glycerin. The soap cleans your skin (but not so much that all the oils are stripped off ) and the glycerin is a humectant. That means that it attracts moisture from the air and onto your skin, helping it stay moisturized and supple. And unlike Grandma, modern handmade soapmakers are able to formulate their soap using high-quality, beneficial oils and just enough lye to get a mild, conditioning bar that still gives a lovely lather.
So have no fear! Use handmade soap and enjoy all the benefits that it brings. Because the magic of chemistry has turned those oils and lye into something completely different and lovely: some of the best soap you can use on your skin!

reprinted courtesy of Ruth Esteves
http://sironasprings.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/is-there-lye-in-your-soap/

Scotland, Weddings, and Soap

I'm getting married... in 29 days!!!

After a trip last year to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, we both fell in love with the Scottish-ness in both of us. Hugh found that he is a direct descendant from Scotland, we joined Clan Lindsay (his clan, his mother's line) and we planned to go back to the games every year... forever! Shortly after our trip, he proposed in his own inimitable way and said, "wouldn't it be cool to get married at the games next year?" 'Nuff said! It was a plan!

We made arrangements and plans and we're doing it... a historically traditional Scottish wedding at Grandfather Mountain the first day of this year's games! We have read, researched, and used as many Scottish traditions as we can... for someone who has never been to Scotland, I feel like I know as much about their traditions and lore as a native. I've learned about the foods, the flowers, the hills, forests, seas, the wildlife, the clothing, the music, the dancing... the religion, superstitions, and even a word or two of the Gaelic!

We're getting married... in 29 days!

As much as we love the Highland Games, I got to thinking...

We could go to all the games within driving distance... if...

We could become vendors at the games and make some money while we enjoy the kilts and pipes!

Well... what is it we do best? Soap!!!! How bout an entire new line of soaps with a Celtic/Scottish theme? The mind's cogs are spinning out of control! Scottish soaps... hmmm... well of course there's always oatmeal and honey (heather honey!), and heather... and Scotch whiskey (soap from whiskey? Hmmm!) and a lanolin soap (sheep shearing!) and ale, and shortbread (shortbread? vanilla?), and haggis (yuck! not in soap, but ideas!!!!)... then there's Robert Burns and all his love poems... My Love is Like a Red Red Rose... Rose Soap! sea salt bars (from the North Sea?), seaweed, orange marmalade (invented by the Scots), clotted cream, Scots pine, oak moss, lavender... Earl Grey tea... the list goes on, the mind keeps spinning...

can it be done? can we do it? Packaging? a soap stamp with a Scottish logo? a tent decorated with a Celtic theme?

29 days till the wedding, gotta think about THAT for now... lots to do, lots to plan, lots to remember...

... but Scottish soap? I'll get to that in a bit!