Price List for October Soaps

Gather a Sunbeam (Available October 7):
 --Round Honeycomb bars (3.1 oz*):  $3.00
-- Rugged Brick Bars ( 3 oz.*):  $2.00**

Rooibos Scrub (Available October 14):
-- Round Honeycomb bars (3 oz*):  $5.20
-- Rectangle bars (2.3 oz*):  $4.00

Gather a Shampoo (Available October 21):
-- Large Rectangle bars (3.2 oz*):  $5.50


Sample Bars
There are a few samples available of each soap.  I will send one as a gift with purchase or upon request while supplies last.

* This is the average weight in ounces.  Due to the homemade nature of my soap, there are slight variations in weight.

**  These have some aesthetic issues from sticking to the mold.  They aren't very attractive, but still have all the great properties as the prettier honeycomb bars.

This One's for You, Mom

As folks say here in Tennessee, "Bless her heart."  My mom is deathly allergic to coconut anything.  This has posed a particular challenge for me when making soap because coconut oil makes such great soap.  I spent last week doing some soap research to figure out how to make a great bar of soap minus the coconut.  I created my own recipe using extra palm oil, soybean oil, and castor oil to replace my usual coconut oil. 

While I was in the experimenting mood, I decided to try to add some color to my soap.  Well, to make sure my new recipe worked, I first made the batch without color.  I left some small bars colorless, and proceeded to rebatch the remaining soap, milling it down, melting it, and then adding pigment.

I'm still waiting to see how these bars turn out, as milled soap takes longer to process than straight cold process soap.  The colorless bars seem to be doing well, and the milled bars will contain the same wonderful oils as the colorless bars, just with an added touch of color. 

The key ingredient in this soap is avocado oil.  My mom specifically requested avocado oil, and there's a nice bit of it in this soap.  Here's a picture of the milled soap in one of the molds:

As I said, it will take a bit longer to harden and process.  I hope my experimentation works out.  I would love to give my mom a lovely pink, floral scented (Roship and Jasmine fragrance oil) bar of soap.

Gather a Shampoo

This week I am happy to present to you "Gather a Shampoo."  That's right, this is a shampoo in bar soap form.  I have been using a shampoo bar on my own hair since May, and I can never go back to using the bottled stuff.  I decided to formulate my own recipe for a shampoo soap because my current shampoo bar is on its last few lathers.

There are actually many advantages to using a homemade shampoo bar over your typical big company brand shampoo:

*  You can pronounce all the ingredients in a homemade shampoo bar.  You know exactly what they are and do not have to worry about what sorts of chemicals are going onto your hair (and into your body).  Many of the chemicals in synthetic shampoos will actually strip hair of its nutrients, leaving it dry and brittle.

*  There is less packaging involved with homemade bars, and there is no factory waste involved in there production.  Homemade shampoo bars are simply better for the environment, and by using one you are adding an element of sustainable living to your bath routine.

*  They are more economical than store bought shampoo.  You may end up spending a bit more for your shampoo bar initially (depending on what kind of big company shampoo you usually buy), but in the end you may just save money.  When cared for properly, shampoo bars last longer than big company shampoo.  It's much easier to use only the amount you need for your hair, so you're not squeezing out a lot of extra shampoo with each lather.  The shampoo bar I'm currently using has lasted me for about 5 months, and I'm guessing it will last me one more month.  You also do not need to use conditioner with a shampoo bar because the oils in the bar have their own conditioning properties.  That's one less product to buy.

* By making homemade shampoo bars a regular part of your bath routine, you are supporting independent artists and craftsmen (hopefully supporting Gather a Lather).  Your soap has been made ethically by folks who enjoy making soap, as opposed to being made on a factory assembly line by machines.  Profits go directly to the person who made your soap rather than being split up among big businesses and middle-men. You are also supporting an American business in a rough economic season, and there is something patriotic about that.

Now that you have seen the wonderful benefits of using a homemade soap, I will unveil the ingredients in my shampoo bars:  Olive oil; Coconut oil; Castor oil (High castor oil gives the shampoo bars the steady lather you want in a shampoo.); Avocado oil; and Jojoba oil.

I also added  lavender, rosemary, peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils.  This combination smells wonderful, and I think it is a scent that both men and women can enjoy.  I did research on essential oils reported to be good for hair and scalp, and used these in this soap.  Here's a little about the essential oils found in Gather a Shampoo:

Lavender:

This essential oil is found to be effective for hair loss prevention in many people. A regular massage to the scalp for about a week's time results in hair regrowth. Lavender oil can be used independently or can be combined with some other good oil for better results.

Rosemary:

This magnificent herb is widely respected for its value as a hair and beauty aide. Rosemary can also be used in the bath, on the face and as a body or scalp massage.


Believed to stimulate hair follicles and hair growth, rosemary is generally believed to slow down or even permanently hold off premature hair loss and gray hair.

Rosemary oils and concoctions will soothe and condition dry, flaky scalps. When applied in a concentrated form to the roots and scalp, rosemary is helpful in clearing many cases of dandruff.

Peppermint:

Peppermint helps to stimulate blood flow to the root of the hair. This helps the hair to receive proper nourishment and to grow correctly. Peppermint makes the scalp tingle and this is what stimulates the blood flow to the hair.

Eucalyptus:

Eucalyptus oil has many of the same anti-bacterial properties as tea tree oil, but smells a lot better.  I love the smell of eucalpytus, so woodsy, refreshing, and soothing.  It has also been used as an ingredient in dandruff shampoo.  My husband has occasional dandruff flare-ups, and I wanted to create a shampoo that would work for him.

I hope you are as excited about my new shampoo bars as I am.  These will be ready to sell in about a month.  I only have 10 bars for sale, so let me know if you want one (through e-mail, or comments).  If you contact me, I'll let you know when it's ready, before it hits the shop.

On Baking Bread and Making Soap

Yesterday I made some delicious bread. As I was kneading the dough, I began thinking about how making bread is like making soap. Both actions are very involved. There is a period of making sure one's measurements are precise, and there is a waiting time before one can continue with the process.

With this in mind, I'd like to bring up a statement that soapmakers frequently hear. Some people are skeptical about homemade soap because it is necessary to use lye in order to produce the soap. Lye is a dangerous chemical when mishandled, and the lye solution used to make soap can cause serious chemical burns. I have heard someone say, "I'll take a bar of your soap, but I don't want it to have any lye in it because lye is harsh on my skin"

This is analogous too someone saying, "I'd like to have some homemade bread, but I don't want mine to have salt in it because I don't like salty things." When making bread, it is necessary to use salt because it reacts with the yeast and flour to help the bread rise. The final product should never taste salty, and if it does that means something went wrong in the baking process. You may have added too much salt or used salt that had clumps in it.

Lye works similarly in the soap making process. Lye is necessary for making soap. It reacts with the oils to form soap molecules similarly to salt reacting to yeast in making bread. A chemical change takes place. There should NEVER be any lye left in a bar of soap after this process has taken place because a change has occurred. It is no longer lye; it is soap. In the same way, you should never taste salt in your homemade bread. It is no longer salt; it is bread.

My husband made biscuits once using some old salt that had formed clumps. Rather than break up the clumps or use different salt, he just dumped the clumps into the batter. As I was eating one of his biscuits, I bit into a salt clump. YUCK! He had messed up when making these biscuits.

Although it is not always evident when one messes up a bread recipe, it is evident when one messes up a soap recipe. If a soapmaker messes up when making soap, the lye will not fully react with the oils. Instead it will separate out, and the lye will be visible in the final bars of soap. These bars caustic and unusable. Gather a Lather Soaps will NEVER sell you a bar of soap with lye in it. And all the soapmakers I have encountered also hold to this standard.

We who make soaps in our homes pride ourselves in being able to provide a product that is often superior to homemade soaps. We have high standards for our products, and we want our customers to enjoy them as much as we do. Bakers will work hard to make a delicious bread, one that they are proud to sell and enjoy eating at their own tables. In the same way soapmaers will work hard to create a luscious soap, one that they are proud to sell and enjoy using in their daily lives.

Rooibos Scrub

The rooibos tea soap ("Rooibos Scrub") is out of the mold and curing on my soap shelf. I love the way the tea gave the soap a spotted look.


I have round honeycomb bars

and rectangle bars.

A Spot of Tea, Please

If you know me personally, you know I LOVE tea. Tea has become a crucial part in my daily routine. I have a cup of "morning tea" in the morning, usually a green tea of some sort, and an "evening tea" at night. For my evening tea, I absoultely cannot have caffine. A warm beverage can help calm and sooth me before bed, but a caffinated beverage will cause me to have a restless sleep.

As of late, rooibos has become my choice tea before bed. Like green tea, rooibos contains beneficial antioxidants, but unlike green tea, there is no caffeine and much less tanic acid.

With my passion for tea, it's no surprise that I would find a way to include tea in a soap. Last night I whipped up a batch of tea, using brewed rooibos tea as part of the base. I also dried the brewed leaves and used them in the soap itself to help with scrubbing and eliminating dead skin. Interestingly, e-how suggests using rooibos tea as part of one's skincare regimen.

As for beneficial oils in this soap, I've included olive and caster in addition to luxurious avocado and jojoba oils. To combine a great scent with luxurious skin-care, I used a citrusy/fruity fragrance oil, which means this soap smells yummy.

My rooibos soap is still in the molds, and I'm trying to think of a name for it. So far I'm leaning towards "Rooibos Scrub," but that seems too boring for such a great soap. I'm currently open to suggestions on the name.

Gather a Sunbeam

I just took this soap out of the molds. The combined smell of the lavender and sweet orange essential oils reminds me of a light warm sunbeam on a spring morning. "Gather a Sunbeam" is the perfect name for my latest soap. I already have a few folks signed up to recieve this soap after it's cure period is complete. Right now I'm working on getting an Etsy shop started, so if you are interested in this soap now, simply e-mail me (gatheralather[a t] g-m-ai-l [d o t]com). I'll let you know when the Etsy shop is up and running, so you can have the first opportunity to buy it.

There are honeycomb-oval bars, brick bars with a rugged looking stone finish, soap balls, and small eco-bars made with recycled yogurt containers.