Have you ever thought about what is in your everyday hand soap? Well, I have and here is your answer: soap is made of potassium ion or sulphat ion. Contain emulsifying agentsand high in fatty acids, e.g., sodium palmitate (C15H31COONa), sodium stearate (C17H35COONa) etc. soap consists of two partes the hydrocarbon part (C15H31-, C17H35-etc) and poler gr. (COO-veNa+ve). Sounds like just a bunch of chemicals to me – so I thought I would checkout making my own soap and then I would know what was really in it. Did you know Bubbles are a sign that a chemical reaction is taking place? Soap bubbles when mixed with water because a gas is being formed when the water molecule and soap molecules collide, bonds are broken, and new bonds are formed. The soap molecule has two different ends, a hydrophilic end (loves water) and a hydrophobic end (fears water). The hydrophobic end attaches to non-polar molecules, such as dirt and grease on your hands and surrounds it, while the hydrophilic ends encase the greasy particles within bubbles essentially and 'dissolve' into the water, thus being attracted to the water molecules and getting washed down the sink when you wash your hands, leaving your hands feeling clean. Well, enough chemistry for the day. It was hard to find soap I could make with out Lye in it and I really didn’t want to deal with the whole mask and goggle get-up. Here is a really easy soap recipe, but as you can see we use soap to make soap – but my thought is – go to the health food store and get natural soap to make my new soap. I know seems kinda silly, so I guess the way to look at it is you can make natural soap into your own special custom creation and that’s fun. So use your imagination and use this recipe as a guideline and have fun creating the rest.
Vanilla and Almond Soap
This soap is great for removing dirt and oil from the skin without drying. Vanilla gives it a delicious fragrance and the ground almonds provide a beautifully textured soap. (Makes one bar.)
1/3 cup whole almonds 1 – 4 ounce bar Castile soap – like Ivory
¼ cup distilled water 1 Tbsp. Almond Oil
1.8 Tsp. Vanilla fragrance oil
Grind the almonds to a fine powder in a food processor or coffee grinder and set aside. Shred the soap and set aside. In a heavy saucepan bring the water to a boil; then reduce heat to a simmer; Remove the pan from the heat and add the almond powder, almond oil, and vanilla fragrance oil, stirring until well blended. Spoon the soap into a mold and let set for five hours or until hardened.
Author: Kathryn Hartwell
