What is soap?

I wanted to talk about natural and cold process soaps in particular, since I started this blog. But because it seemed like such a massive subject I have been putting it off and putting it off untill today. So get yourself a hot cup of cocoa and read on...
According to various legends, modern soap has its origins at mount Sapo where sacrifices were often cremated and hardwood ashes would accumulate (an early source of alkali). These ashes mixed with the tallow of the sacrificed animals. It is said that after a heavy rain a yellow runoff from the fire pit made its way downhill from the temple. The local women washing their clothes in the river noticed that their clothes were cleaner when the river ran yellow. Over time it was learned that adding salt water to the mixture would precipitate the removal of glycerin and excess water, thus making the soap harder, and not subject to the month long curing process required of true handmade soap. This old-fashioned "yellow soap" was used for laundry, dishes, and the occasional bath. But don't forget, it is just a legend. I am not sure whether anybody really knows the true story.
Well then, what is soap? Soap is a result of chemical reaction between oils and alkiline solution (the base, popularly referred to as lye) this process is also known as saponification. Soap cannot be made without lye. But be sure that because of our precise formulation and a curing period of six weeks, there is absolutely no trace of lye left in Marmalade Hills' natural soap. So how does soap work? Soap molecules can dissolve in water and at the same time they can dissolve grease molecules. While normally oil and water do not mix, the addition of soap allows oils to dissolve in water, allowing them to be rinsed away easily as water strings down your body and into the drain. Brilliantly simple! Nature has her ways of taking care of everything, doesn't she?
What is so special about handcrafted, cold process soap? All soaps are not created equaly. Today's soaps are often made from cleaning agents, such as synthetic detergents and are designed to look like a "beauty bar" or "body bar". The truth is that they are made with the same chemicals you use to wash your dishes or your car. Marmalade Hills' natural cold process soaps are completely different from mass produced soap or even glycerin soaps (these are sold as melt and pour bases). Our handcrafted soaps are made from skin loving, vegetable ingredients and other nature derrived ingredients like earth pigments, clays, herbs and essential oils. Our soaps will not over-dry your skin, as many tend to believe. The cold process soap is the best thing for your skin! In fact I recommend it even over our natural shower gels - those are not as gentle, because even though they are both technically natural, they are not made the same way...but that's another story. All our cold process soaps are made with high-quality, natural ingredients carefully chosen for their healing and beneficial abilities. Food grade Olive Oil is used as a base oil (about 50% of all oils), we also add coconut oil and palm oil for hardness. No vegetable shortenings or canola oil here. In addition I love to play with herbal infusions, prescious oils and butters by adding them at the end of the saponification process. It is called superfatting. This way additional oils do not go through full saponification process, they retain their nutrients and hang around to make our soaps extra moisturizing and gentle. All Marmalade Hills' soaps are made from scratch, using time tested "cold process" method. We mix warm oils, lye and water together. We pour raw soap in small 10 lb molds, let it sit wrapped in blankets for 48 hours. We unmold, cut, weigh and package soaps by hand. So you are getting the most unique yet very functional treat you can get!
Finally, how to take care of your cold process soap? Cold process soap will last you for a very long time if stored properly. Do not leave your soap under a running water, store it away in a dry spot of your shower on a soap dish with drainage holes on the bottom. You can use a regular soap dish, but you must use simple soap saver in this case.

Got SOAP?!

New products are coming your way!

New soaps are finally all dry! I usually wait for 6 weeks before offering them to customers. From the moment of mixing a fresh batch and until 6 weeks have passed you really don't know how the finished bar of soap will look like (and it is one of the most exciting parts of making cold process soap!). When soap is still in a pot it looks totally different than after 48 hours in the mold... and as it dries it keeps changing color due to water evaporation and air exposure. Here is how fresh Gingersnap looks like (here) and compare it to what it looks like now The Gingersnap turned light brown after it came out of the mold and as it was drying it got darker and darker. It is completely naturally inherited color from Goat Milk and Fragrance Oil: in two words, all goat milk soaps are usually brownish and any fragrance that has Vanilla notes in it will turn soap brown. So in this case it turned double brown! But it still smells scrumptious!

I will be uploading new soaps and products to my shop every day. Until then here is a little preview of a few things that are coming up!
Of course all this and more you will be able to see for yourself at the Holiday Gift Show this year!

Stay tuned!



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Fight Flu, Wash Hands! Helpful Discount

Cold and Flu Season is in full swing and I am just terrified of my kids getting sick. I know sleepless nights will come, non-stop crying and stuffy noses can happen any day now. I am preparing myself for possibility of juggling holiday shows, ton of holiday orders and being sick myself or having sick kids at the same time. It seems impossible to prevent cold or flu when you share everything with everybody in your household. But there are two things that everybody can do: take vitamins and WASH HANDS! I remember, before I was making my own soap, every winter we all had to use a ton of regular soap as frequent as 20 times per day! And I remember that my hands felt like if I wash them one more time, my skin would peel off of them. Harsh detergents in soap burned, dried and scaled my skin and no lotions, no matter how much or how often I would use, could help. My husband had the worst case of dry hands in winter, it was painfully uncomfortable. After constant washes the skin on his hands would turn white and it felt dry, like paper. He would use a ton of lotions but at the end of the day would always end up with the same problem. For the past few years that I have been making my soaps and using only soaps I make, I can proudly declare that our household is “dry skin-free”! It is truly a miracle. Even in winter months I do not need to saturate my hands in lotion every 10 minutes. My husband’s hands feel great and even sometimes he can forget to use lotion completely.
I wish everybody could experience the power of natural soap and wash hands as frequent as possible to stay healthy and happy this winter season. So I have decided to run a promotional SALE on some of our most soothing and gentle soaps until the end of this year. Just add WASHHANDS09 at check out and get 20% off on the following soaps:
Lemongrass Moisturizing Soap with Shea Butter
Classic Lavender Moisturizing and Nourishing Soap with Shea Butter and Goat Milk

And don't forget to check out our Seasonal Sales, Oatmeal Honey and Forest Sprite would be an excellent choice for Gentle and Moisturizing Hand Soap and they are already discounted!



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Full Steam Ahead

I have been making soaps like madwoman in a last few weeks. What seems like madwoman to me, however may look more like slow moving snail to somebody else :) Juggling kids, every day chores, house keeping and business is NOT an easy task. Unfortunately, most of the times business gets lowest priority. But I know that I just have to keep moving and make continuous small or even micro steps forward, whether making a new product, blogging, researching or making labels - whatever I have time for. And I have made some progress, one small task at a time. I have added a new soap book to my soap-making book collection and it is by Soapylove It is so inspirational, fun and quite unique. Melt and Pour soaps are not exactly up my alley but I love all the techniques, designs, clever ideas that Debbie has to offer. I had a little time to experiment with some of her ideas and the first one was Soap Balls! Before I have been rebatching my old soap by Hot Processing it and then together with my 5 year old rolled soap balls for embedding…it could have taken up to two month to make those soap balls. Now I have successfully made batch of 28 red and yellow Cold Process soap balls using ice cube mold recommended by Debbie, and all it took is 24 hrs. I’ll let them sit on my drying rack for few more days and they’ll be ready to go into my Zesty-Cranberry soap. Yippee!
I just have to brag about my new Gingersnap Milk and Honey soap! I made it yesterday night! It smells delicious and looks even better! Pardon my lighting, it was late night outside. It is made of fresh, creamy goat milk, local honey, oats and the most amazing smelling Gingersnap fragrance! The scent will make you want to sink your teeth into it. I bet it will be a crowd pleaser at the Holiday Gift Show this year!



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