A Laundry Soap Story and Recipe

For many years I've made a laundry soap.

It's a bar that holds a special spot in my heart.  The reason?

I named it after my Grandmother Marie Jentsch who also enjoyed making soap.

 

Here's a photo of us from long ago - 20+ years.  My dad and I are on the ends.  My Grandma Marie is holding my daughter Caitlin Marie who, at age 12, suggested to me that I should make soap.  Amazing... but that's a story for another time.

 

I've heard stories from my dad and his sisters about Grandma making soap, although I was never able to ask her about the soap making process.  I started the craft after she was gone.  I do know that she would have loved that I am a soap maker like herself!

A while ago I was given Grandma's scrapbook of recipes that she collected over many years.  Many of the recipes are in her handwriting, others are clipped from booklets and newspapers, some dating from the 1940's.

 

I treasure these recipes and love looking over them, imagining a story for each of them.  I wonder to myself, was it early one morning as she was sipping coffee that a recipe caught her eye enough for her to cut it out and paste it into the book for safe keeping.  Or perhaps, she was thinking about my dad and his sisters, and wondering about making something special for them.

 

The book is fragile and so I gently turn the pages.  Twice, I discover, she has clipped out and saved recipes for homemade lye soap!  The old-fashioned laundry bar I've named after my grandma, is adapted from several old recipes and is excellent at removing stains.

 

Lately, for my own use, I've been making a batch of laundry powder which includes ground soap from the laundry bar along with other ingredients.

 

Here's how I make my own laundry powder.  First I grate our laundry bar on a cheese grater.  Grate enough flakes to measure 1 cup.

 

 

Then add 1 cup washing soda, 1-1/2 cups borax and 1 cup baking soda.  I combine all the ingredients into my food processor and mix until powdered.

 

I use 1/4 cup per load of laundry.

This recipe is very inexpensive and I have found it to work really well.

 

Grandma Marie's Yesteryear Laundry Bars can be found on the 'Special Purpose Soap' page of our website.

Christine Kennedy

simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/

A Visitor To The Soap Workshop

Take a look at what surprised us in the workshop.

A turtle!

I had left the doors wide open while I was working.  The breeze was wonderful and I haven't had to worry about bugs these last few weeks of summer.  No one noticed him walk right in and start exploring.

But boy, did he surprise us!

Wondering what size he is?  Our daughter Colleen set down a bar of our herbal soap next to him. 

He's pretty tiny, isn't he?

And, the little guy looks just like a piece of bark.



I realized right away that, while small and seemingly harmless, this was a snapping turtle like the ones I used to see growing up near a lake connected to the mighty Mississippi River.

Look how he sticks out his neck!  Sure wouldn't want to pick him up after he has had some time to grow.  He might just snap onto our finger.

Time to bring him back to the water.

I was glad that we could help our neighbor return to his habitat.  I hope you are home, safe and sound, from all of your summer travels.  Enjoy these last few days of summer!

Christine Kennedy
simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/

Soaps for the Outdoor Life

  Can you think of summer without thinking of casting out a line on one of our 10,000 lakes?  My uncle shared with me his secret, using Anise oil to improve his catch.  Here's my take on this "Old-time Secret": I've taken Anise essential oil and created a soap that not only cleans your hands but helps eliminate human odors that transfer to lures when handling them.  Try washing tackle with this soap - it cleans and coats your lure with the scent of Anise making it more attractive to all fish.           Fisherman's Scrub Soap

  Here's one of my purple coneflowers from my garden, which I need to work in more often.  When I do, our Gardener's Healing bar is what I reach for to clean the dirt off when I'm done.  It's filled with natural ingredients that protect your skin.  I've added powdered echinacea root for healing and lots of honey to soothe and soften hands.  The poppy seeds and ground apricot kernels help to gently scrub.  Shea butter and olive oil are added to help restore moisture lost while working in the garden.       Gardener's Healing Bar 

  It seems that this year especially, the bugs have been extra aggressive.  Or maybe, our long Minnesota winters help us forget how pesty the creatures can be until the next summer when the sun comes out.  One trick I like is to keep a bar of Bug Repelling soap in our shower for the summer months.  I love the smell, a blend of 5 essential oils: peppermint, litsea, lemongrass, citronella and eucalyptus, all known to repel bugs.  Tip: When heading out for the weekend, don't forget to tuck a bar inside your travel bag.  The smell will linger lightly on your clothes, acting as a natural bug deterrent.       Anti-Bug Soap

  Summer living sometimes includes accidentally bumping into poison ivy.  In our family of five, three of us get poison ivy and two of us don't seem to be bothered by it...yet!   As soon as a family member thinks they may have been exposed to poison ivy, they wash with our poison ivy bar of soap.  Usually, washing is all that is needed to protect one from an outbreak.  If a rash does appear we do two things: continue washing the affected area with our soap and leave the lather on the affected area to dry.  The clay in the soap lather helps calm the rash and makes it itch less.    Poison Ivy Soap

  This specialty bar helps soothe the skin after a little too much exposure to the elements ~ both sun and wind.  Although we're careful about the amount of time spent in the sun, sometimes we over do it.  And when we do, our Sunburn Soother Bar is waiting for us.  This is one of those soaps that looks as good as it works, filled with skin soothing Aloe Vera and an extra helping of Shea Butter.   Sunburn Soother with Aloe Vera

Christine Kennedy

simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/ 

What's better than a stack of soap?

A ribbon wrapped stack!



A trio of soaps featuring Bergamot & Ginseng, Lemongrass & Calendula and Citrus Splash.  Available from All Things Herbal here.

A pink ribbon is perfect for a pair of our Vanilla Soaps.

Herbal Soap Samplers - guest size soaps perfect for traveling.  Available on our "Soaps with a Purpose" page - here.

Christine Kennedy

simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/

Soap Party Favors

Just yesterday my daughters and I attended a Bridal Shower for a niece.  It's always fun for us to brainstorm and create custom soap favors for a special event.  Here's what we came up with:

The soap ribbons added a pop of color and hinted at the scent of the bar- blue was for Lavender Almond, Orange was for Vanilla Chai and Bergamot Ginseng, Green was for the Lily of the Valley and Herbal Garden, and the dark pink ribbon was for the Cherry Almond Oatmeal bars.  Each bar was tucked in a waxed tissue and the ends tied with ribbons.  I haven't wrapped soaps in this way before and I really liked how they turned out.  They reminded me of candy favors.  I think this wrapping also made it easy for the guests to bring their soap favor home with them.  And, we hope that sometime later on, the guests are able to relax and unwind with their soothing herbal soap favor as they reminisce about the special day.

Congratulations Therese and Rob - we look forward to attending your wedding this August!

   

Christine Kennedy

simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/

 If you're curious about soap favors we've done for other events, you can check out some photos here:

Lavender Handfelted Soaps

I LOVE handfelted soap!  I love the way it feels, the way it looks and of course the luxurious lather.  What is felted soap you say?  It's a soap in a jacket or a soap with a sweater!  It's a bar of our herbal soap wrapped in a super soft alpaca wool cover.

To make felted soap, wool fibers are carefully selected and blended together, creating a unique look for each bar.  Then the age-old process of using soap, water and agitation, shrinks the wool around the soap.  The wool is like a wonderful cocoon hand formed around the soap.  The photo above is of our lavender soaps that have been felted and are ready and awaiting their final needle felting design work.

Isn't the idea of handfelting soap the coolest concept?  Covering a bar of soap with beautiful hand-dyed wool fibers, felting it, and tadah... a soap and washcloth in one!

Design work is more fun with two or three helpers!  (My mom and I felting together with daughter Colleen taking photos.)

Felted Soap makes an exquisite gift for yourself or to give to someone else.  There is no need for a washcloth or a loofah, just take your felted soap into the tub or shower and it gently exfoliates your skin.  Felting soap keeps it from being slippery and allows you to use every last sliver of it.  Did you know that wool fibers are naturally anti-fungal?

Colleen needle felting lavender sprigs for extra charm!  Our designs are free hand so no two are just alike.

The whole idea of felting soap makes me smile because it’s almost as if we just don’t know when to stop.  We’ve already made the soap, but we have to cover it with more handmade goodness and then, for good measure, needle felt a sprig of lavender buds on top.

Part of the magic is that as the soap is used, the wool continues to felt up smaller and smaller, staying tight around the ever diminishing bar.  Once the soap is gone, you have a unique pouch that can be scented with lavender essential oil and used in your lingerie drawer.   Here's a few clever ideas customers have shared with us for what they do with the remaining felted ball: cats are attracted to wool so it makes a good cat toy, cut it up and toss it outside for the birds, as a natural fiber it can be composted and it's perfect as a little scrubby for cleaning.

Our felted soaps are a labor of love.  Colorful and fragrant, they make an extra special treat in the shower, bath, sauna or at the sink.  Check them out on our website under "Special Purpose Soap" at http://allthingsherbal.com/index.cfm/felted-soaps-kitchen-garden-laundry-shampoo-bars.

Christine Kennedy

simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/ 

UPDATE: We were so excited when our Lavender Handfelted Soap was awarded 1st place in the Naturals Division during the Arts in the Park, held in Brainerd, Minnesota on July 1st, 2012.

Victorian Soap Trade Cards

I'm a little addicted to trade cards, as long as they are soap related.  Have you ever seen Victorian Trade Cards?

Trade Cards were used during the late 1800s to advetise American goods and services and were very similar to our modern business card.  I've spent many happy hours (too many?) pursuing, collecting and studying Advertising Trade Cards.  What keeps my interest are all the unique ones out there.  They are so much fun to come across!  If I'm ever in an antique shop, I always ask if they have any trade cards.  And, if I can't get to an antique shop, there's always Ebay.

What is fascinating about these cards is the advertising.  Let's look at Bloom of Youth's White Lilac Soap.  Here's the front of the card:

And the back:

Don't you just love where it says, "Ladies afflicted with tan, freckles, rough, or discolored skin should lose no time in procurring and applying Bloom of Youth.  It will immediately obliterate all such imperfections..."  I guess this was before truth in advertising laws.

Just a few of the trade cards that I have squirrelled away, each one beautiful in its own right.

Now, I should warn you to be careful.

Reading trade card advertising is addicting and you may become hooked.

Christine Kennedy

simple ingredients, extraordinary benefits

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/