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pink bouncy

Introducing Pink bouncy.

Hi all. I've been very warmly welcomed (thanks for that) so I thought I might tell you all a little about myself. Smile
I'm a wannabe smallholder living on an estate in North east England. I'm a full time mother with three kids and a husband who works in a factory. We keep chickens on our garden and on our allotments where we also grow vegetables. This year we're planning ducks, geese and turkeys too.
We would love to be able to buy a smallholding and move to the country but finances aren't great so we do what we can with the resources we have. I'm surprised how much we can do even in an urban environment.
I'm lucky because I enjoy cooking so making my own food has become a hobby gone mad. Very Happy Ham, bacon and sausages are the latest things but bread and jams, pies, cakes and yoghurts have been served here for ages.
I also make soaps and bath products like bath bombs, bath salts and milk bath. Solid shampoos are the newest thing I've tried. I knit too but I'm still very much a learner having only made a few pairs of socks. Embarassed
Farmwoody pointed me in the direction of this site, I was a member of her quilting bee on the upperwood farm forum. She's a great teacher, I didn't have a clue when I started but now I have a king sized patchwork quilt on my bed. Wink
Anyway, that's me. I'll be sticking around for a while I think, I like it here. Very Happy
tahir

Re: Introducing Pink bouncy.

pink bouncy wrote:
I like it here. Very Happy


I'm not sure I do Laughing

Welcome on board.
sean

What's the "only made a few pairs of socks" bit? That's guru status in my book.
Looks as though you should find plenty to join in on. Very Happy
Gertie

Welcome to the site Laughing
Treacodactyl

So, what do you do in your spare time then Mrs Bouncy? Laughing Hope you enjoy it here.
nettie

Re: Introducing Pink bouncy.

pink bouncy wrote:

Anyway, that's me. I'll be sticking around for a while I think, I like it here. Very Happy


Very glad to hear it! I reckon a few of us will be picking your brains from time to time Wink
wellington womble

Re: Introducing Pink bouncy.

pink bouncy wrote:
I knit too but I'm still very much a learner having only made a few pairs of socks. Embarassed


That's expert status in my book - I can't do purl yet! Any chance of more info on the solid shampoo? That does sound interesting!
sally_in_wales

Welcome indeed. I'm also a fairly new member but have found so many kindred wossnames here. Also a soapmaker, so always happy to talk bubbles Very Happy
pink bouncy

Making solid shampoo is much the same as making any other CP soap apart from the oils used. I usually make soap with lard as the major ingredient but it's no good at all in solid shampoo. Castor oil seems to be the 'must have' oil in shampoo bars and I use a bit of coconut oil, olive and sunflower oils and use the castor oil to superfat the batch at the end.
Daydreaming

I'm intrigued. How do you make soap?
pink bouncy

Some people buy ready made soap blocks to melt down and add their own colours/fragrances to. That's known as melt and pour soapmaking. I do what's known as cold process soapmaking. It's the old fashioned way, adding lye to fat and actually causing it to become something completely different - soap.
Although you do need to be very carefull when you're using lye (AKA sodium hydroxide) to ensure you don't end up with alkali burns, using a few simple precautions like rubber gloves, it is great fun to make. I started with my first batch last November and now I'm making soap every week. Very Happy
If you're really interested, I could probably post a recipe and some simple instructions?
Bernie66

Do it for my sake please even if you don't do it for Daydreaming tho i am sure she will want to see it Laughing
Bugs

For Daydreaming and Bernie, Sally_in_Wales gave us instructions for Castile soap on http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?t=3343 (I'm supposed to have put it up as an article too Embarassed ).

Pink Bouncy (can we call you Bouncy for short Very Happy ) it would be really good if you could give some more details, especially on the mixture you use for the shampoo bars.
Bernie66

I knew somebody had,Did just search for that before, couldn't remember the "castile" bit at all so waded through lots of posts with no joy. cheers Smile
Daydreaming

I'm especially interested because my daughter has eczema - I blame Johnson and Johnson. Anyway, I don't use any soap on her atall, but I would like to see if it would be possible to make some nice, sensive soap. Most dermatological soap is fragrance free - so not very inspiring.
Bugs

Have you tried aquaeous cream, Daydreaming? The nurse at my GP practise recommended it for a very very very very mild eczema I have (apparently) and I use it every now and again.

Would the dermatological soap would be suitable for the melt and pour thing you mentioned, Bouncy? You'd have to be careful with the types/sources of oils you use too I suppose?
Daydreaming

Actually, I have soda crystals - I use them in my nappy wash. Is that what Sally means?
Daydreaming

Thanks Bugs. I started with aqueous cream but it's not enough to hydrate her skin. We've been to the GP and now have a variety of dermotological creams and bath emollients but I'm sad that we can't use anything to make her smell nice Sad
Bernie66

You mean when she refers to Caustic soda? no caustic soda is a lethal drain cleaner which i would imagine is far too potent to put anywhere near a nappy. Its the type of stuff you put down the drain and you can feel the heat created as it reacts with the water in the pipe[- very dangerous stuff
Daydreaming

Ah. I doubt it's the same stuff then.
Bernie66

It really isn't please don't swap over by mistake -you will melt your nappies and possibly blind yourself if the mix goes in your eyes!!!!
moogie

I have a condition which means I can't use normal soaps and shower gels and the like, but have found something which whilst being very undownsizery is extremely good - its sainsburys own sensitive bath range. It is totally soap free and absolutely brilliant, even better than aqueous cream which I tried for ages. And it doesn't break the bank either. They do a shower gel and a bath creme and all that kind of stuff. Might be worth a try. Sorry to be terribly undownsizery about it Embarassed
Bernie66

moogie wrote:
I have a condition which means I can't use normal soaps and shower gels and the like, but have found something which whilst being very undownsizery is extremely good - its sainsburys own sensitive bath range. It is totally soap free and absolutely brilliant, even better than aqueous cream which I tried for ages. And it doesn't break the bank either. They do a shower gel and a bath creme and all that kind of stuff. Might be worth a try. Sorry to be terribly undownsizery about it Embarassed



Laughing Laughing Laughing not everything about sainsburys is bad-i met my wife whilst working there-she was the first YTS girl-showing my age again Embarassed
Bugs

moogie wrote:
Sorry to be terribly undownsizery about it Embarassed


Laughing You'll have to confess to one of the Founding Fathers and then bake 12 loaves and knit a pair of Wellingtons as penance Wink
Daydreaming

Thanks moogie. I've been trying to find something else for ages and I'm too chicken to try something that hasn't been tried by someone I know first. It's been hard work getting her skin into the condition it's in now.
She had it on her scalp a few weeks ago - I couldn't show her off to anyone and a year old, she is awfully cute!!
pink bouncy

When you add lye solution to fat you get two things, soap and glycerine. The problem is that glycerine is worth more money than soap. It also gums up the machines the commercial soap companies use so they remove the glycerine and sell it seperately. That is what makes soap so harsh and drying. Hand made soap has the glycerine left in it so it is much milder than anything you buy in the shops.
I have a friend whose daughter has eczema and she used some of my chamomile and calendula soap and she said it was lovely. It didn't help her eczema, but it didn't harm it like other soaps have. It just left her skin clean.
Daydreaming

Now that's what we need!! Surprised
sally_in_wales

Eczema is a tricky thing, it could be triggered by a type of washing powder or even by a particular food type (eg I know one person who can't use any sort of commercial detergent at all, and another who can't go near dairy products without their skin flaring up). Have you explored those possibilities with your daughters skin?

As for the soap, you could try a totally plain soap (like that olive castile if you fancied trying soapmaking anyway) and if she tolerates that well, then try adding soothing herbs like Pink Bouncy suggests.
Daydreaming

I had this discussion with OH last night. I think we are worried about the caustic soda and young children in the house, maybe it's better to buy soap from farmers markets for now.
My mother bought some soap especially for my little girl at a farmers market - it smelt lovely. The chap she bought it from said it was for sensitive skin. It came as broken pieces, so I guess this must be similar to what you make. I was too nervous to use it on her so I use it myself and it's lovely. My OH uses it to wash his face, he likes it too.

Sally - baby eczema is a common condition, I'm hoping she will grow out of it as most do. I use the recommended non-bio washing powder and there is no obvious food source causing a problem.
Bernie66

Hope it wasn't just my rant that put you off caustic soda, read up about it and read the side of the box before making decisions. Its not a nice substance, but there again neither is bleach and sometimes its a neccessity almost. Its the fact that its a chemical reaction creating a huge amount of heat and the chemicals can spit that makes me wary. In the right hands used responsibly i am sure it would be safe
Daydreaming

Bernie - I worry enough about bleach in the house, so anything caustic soda sounds like one to avoid, if I can.
It we had more space I think I might, but where we are at the moment we couldn't swing a cat!
Bernie66

I understand fully,my kids areoldernow 13 and10and have got to the stage where they understand that no means no,so i dont have to worry about that sort of thing as much.
Joey

Soda crystals aka washing soda aka sodium carbonate

As opposed to baking soda = sodium Bicarbonate
and then there is caustic soda = sodium hydroxide
cede

daydreaming, my eldest had infantile excema. we found that using just water to wash was best. and if shampooing hair to do it last thing so that she wasn't sitting in soapy water. like you said she did grow out of it.
Daydreaming

That's exactly what we do, cede. It's better now than it was over the winter. Fingers crossed she will grow out of it
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