from soil 'n trees 'n leaves to soap molds...

I have a stack of soap to make at the mo, so what better time to show you how I make 'Potters Bar'...?
I have made a conscious decision to discontinue my organic range of soap and haul 'em on over to the botanical range, which after looking at figures from last year was the most popular range and the one most talked about. Nothing like looking at the details to see which bit of your mini business you are getting right. Yes, that means there will be no more fragrant range or organic range, but there will be lots of new soaps made with 100% natural ingredients all scented with essential oils to be getting stuck into instead. So as it stands, I shall have a botanical soap range along with some more new products including the egg bombs from my last post.
Another reason for quitting the organic is the rising cost of organic essential oils and organic palm oil. I'm all for fair trade, and for sourcing products sustainably but for now the organics must wait....until the price drops!
Right, now that I've told you...here's how botanical Potters Bar soap is made along with a rundown of the ingredients used to produce it.


well obviously that's me.. in my new apron that mummy bought for me for xmas...nice huh!


caustic soda mixed with mineral water (yes there is a little residue from the caustic floating on the top....it happens sometimes).

essential oils..left to right: fennel (foeniculum vulgare), lemon (citrus limon), lavender (lavandula angustifolia), eucalyptus (eucalyptus globulus). In each batch of 10lb soap, I add a minimum of 60ml (about 16 teaspoons).

coconut oil and palm oil ready for melting on the hob.

olive oil & sunflower oil mixed - into which I shall pour the melted coconut & palm.

pure, unrefined organic cocoa butter

organic soya oil for mixing titanium dioxide and any other colour i may be using.

wheatbran - for exfoliating gardeners or potters hands...or for breakfast

soya oil with titanium dioxide on the right and the same on the left but with 1/2 tsp of chromium green oxide added to give the pale green colour (love that)

heavily traced soap...with the green mix added to the left batch and the white TD added to the right batch

let the layering begin...already poured some of the white into the mold and now using a spatula to gently place on top of the white before patting down a little ready for the next layer.

You need to have really thickly traced soap to do this...well I find it helps. Also, when working with essential oils the mix doesn't tend to seize like it can when using fragrance oils

the finished batch sprinkled with lavender flowers and soap shreds

That's it!
Want some? you'll have to wait til it's cured...in about a month!

my reward! oh...just noticed the knife...that's not a good advert. Matt is still alive....honest!

Organic Soap

This little lot are 97.3% organic!

When I did my calculation, I thought I was supposed to include each and every ingredient to determine the organic percentage of my soap...
NOT THE CASE.

I'm not silly. I know that a combination of sodium hydroxide & water is mixed with fats & oils to create a chemical reaction known as saponification....
What I didn't realise is that when doing my organic content calculation I do not have to include the water or the sodium hydroxide weights...
So...after thinking and believing my organic range to be just 65% organic, I came to the realisation (after re-calculating) that they are in fact 97.3%! YES!

For those who don't quite get it...here's the thing.
Sodium Hydroxide and water are mixed together (and referred to as lye) and poured into fats and oils to make what we call 'soap'.
As soon as you pour your lye solution into the fats & oils, a process called 'saponification' starts to take place. The mix is now on its way to becoming soap.
After the soap has rested in its mold for 24 hours, and has cured (for up to 6 weeks), the sodium hydroxide and 99% of the water has evaporated, which means these ingredients are no longer components of the finished batch.(the water is latent).
So...what you're left with are your hard, cured bars of wonderful, skin-loving soap.
So....basically, the lye mix is only used to make the soap...the soap does not contain it, so it is not necessary to include the sodium hydroxide or the water content when doing an organic calculation.
Easy peasy!

Hope that makes sense to you all.

After contacting the Soil Association, this is the info they gave to me so it's only right and proper that I pass it on.

Now then...the next step is to get my soaps certified as organic.
No problem...well.....just a little cash flow issue.
It costs £250 + VAT to get them assessed.
Then...a futher £580 per year to keep the certification.

More sales needed!

I will endeavour to get this sorted, but in the meantime....I'M SO HAPPY!

on a roll....

'Cyclone' Botanical Soap 

an essential oil blend of Juniper, Petitgrain, Geranium,

Clary Sage & Bergamot. swirls created using violet

ultramarine, charcoal & TD.

'Spruce' - a soap for the christmas season

 a fragrant blend of Cranberry Fig, Moroccan Fig

and 'Santa's Spruce'. YUM. smells just like

xmas eve.

 'The Organic Collection'. now available at FuturePrimitive

 

A box of all 5 organic soaps from my range including:

'No. 11' - essential oils of Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Vetiver

& Patchlouli

'Humbug' - essential oils of Spearmint, Peppermint &

Madagascan Vanilla absolute.

'Lemon Citron' - essential oils of Sicilian Lemon,

Grapefruit & Wild Chamomile.

'Potters Bar' - essential oils of Lavender, Eucalyptus

& Lemon. with wheatbran to exfoliate.

'Floral Marquee' - essential oils of Boubon Geranium,

Rose Geranium, Ylang Ylang & Lemon.

Still got to make more!  I am soooo enjoying my soaping at the moment.

That ultramarine violet has been sat in my soap cupboard for nigh on a year...and I only just got round to using it.  Wot a fool.  It turned out so much better than I expected.

Weirdly, the scent of the soap smells purple....if anybody would like to try a teeny freebie slice, drop me an email and I'll send some to you when it's curing time is over.

Or...the Spruce one if you'd rather...or if you're a greedy guts..both.

Anyways, I'm off now as I've been sat on this 'ere pooter for far too long.

Been reading the book 'this is new york' today...the book of pics of 9/11.  That'll stick with me all night now.

Bit random I know but it's what i've been doing...so there.

Sincerely hope you're all well.

x

new organics

click pic to view 'no.11' in my etsy


click pic to view 'floral marquee in my etsy

Now available from my futureprimitive online store and on my etsy are the first 2 organic 6oz soap chunks.
i am using 'no. 11' already! very nice 'tis too. a blend of juniper, black pepper, cedarwood, ho wood and patchouli.
A creamy bar with a thick lather and a subtle woody scent. the notes of black pepper stand out, as does the juniper...in fact all of the essential oils come up trumps in a 'one by one' kinda way.
The patchouli works in the way it should....it doesn't actually smell like itself in this blend...more of a deep tone that mellows, than a full on hippy scent.
the other is 'floral marquee', which i was going to name 'pelargonium parfait'. I changed my thinking cap and floral marquee is way more fitting. it's what the scent combo reminded me of after a week of thought.
After having worked at the RHS Malvern Spring Gardening Show (in the floral marquee) on many an occasion, I remember the heady rush of floral scents that hit my nasal passages as soon as I entered the doorway...a very pleasing aroma!

I have a busy old week this week, then next week I'm on hols. Supposed to visit cornwall but it looks like i may be busy coming up with new ideas for new soaps. This evening however, I have soapers block!