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Question for soap makers...

955 views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  OceanMomma 
#1 ·
What is saponified soap? I have started felting wool and have tried various detergents/soaps and I'm looking for the optimal one to use. A number of my sources suggest using soap, not detergent. I'm not sure what the difference is exactly, but several of the books say to use saponified soap, but I have no idea what this means?

Thanks in advance,

Alison
 
#2 ·
Saponified simply means that a caustic substance like sodium hydroxide is combined with fats (like olive oil) to make soap.

Detergents are things like sodium laurel sulfate. You will find these things in glycerine soap (which some argue is not really soap at all).

I would be happy to send you a sample of some hemp soap (saponified oils of olive, hemp, palm and coconut). You can see what I make at www.beantreesoap.com

Or you can find something of the like at a healthfood store I am sure.

PM me and let me know if you need any more help.
 
#4 ·
Hey Mom at home!

I'd forgotten you were in New Zealand. Hope you like our country & it's beautiful weather. I do tie dyes & the woman I get my dyes off recommends using teric for washing out the dyes. Apparently detergent can have some kind of bleaching action. So that may be where the saponified soap instead of detergent comes from. I can't find the phone number for my dye supplier but she's called Tillia Dyes & Fabrics & is in Whitianga in the Coromandel.

There was an article in an old next magazine on a woman who felts who is the Wairapa somewhere I think. That's half way down the North Island. The magazine was hanging around in my gym so if I find it, I'll rip it out & pm you since there was a tutorial in it. Tho' I'd imagine you will have a lot of wool related stuff going on where you are, coz you're in Christchurch aren't you?
 
#5 ·
Hi Oceanmama,

I am in Christchurch, so loads of wool related stuff. I checked out every book on felting from the library last week so I'm pretty good on info sources. I'm actually just getting ready to do my first piece without kids wanting to help. I love doing projects like this with my kids, but sometimes I just want to do it my way.

Yes, I love it in NZ. It is going to be very hard to go home. The wool culture is great fun. I just got a spinning wheel so have been spinning and getting all sorts of fun wool that's already dyed. I probably will get into dying at some point but right now I'm glad I can easily buy already dyed wool. My dd and I want to experiment with plant dyes too.

Well, I'm off to felt before I need to pick up my kids. Thanks for the info on the soap vs. detergent. I have some really nice goat's milk soap that I'm going to use.

Alison
 
#6 ·
Hmm. I couldn't go back to England. I was only thinking that this morning as I was wandering around the front yard in the sweltering heat with the cicadas deafening me


I got a book called The New Zealand Wool Craft book. Spinning, Dyeing & weaving by Constance Jackson & Judith Plowman. That was given to me by the lady I got my spinning wheel off. It's quite old but it has heaps of natural dyeing info in. Especially using native & naturally occuring plants.

The other possibility to do with your dds while you're here is flax weaving. They'll have heaps of books in the library about it. You can even go to the beach to collect the flax. I can't wait until Saffron is old enuf for us to do this.

Btw have you been to the moeraki (sp?) boulders yet ? They're just down from Christchurch a ways.
 
#7 ·
Sweltering heat? Are we living in the same country? We have had a very rainy summer with an occasional warm day, but today was cold and very wet. I've just learned to really appreciate the nice days.

My dd had asked about the flax spinning last week. I don't know what it entails, but maybe we'll have to check it out.

We haven't been to the boulders yet (I assume you are talking about the ones on the beach), but will at some point.

How old is Saffron? It is a lot of fun to do stuff with my dd. She is so into any kind of craft, she's been knitting, has made a small baby quilt for a friend and at the moment is making a doll stuffed with wool for her sister.

Well, I need to go mediate a disagreement.

Alison
 
#8 ·
haha yeah we're in the same country. Auckland is always really humid so it may only be 25degC but it feels a whole heap hotter. It was 30degC when we were down the Coromandel at new years. It rained today so it's cooled down quite a bit. We get the really loud cicadas up here as well.

The boulders are those big egg shaped rocks in the middle of the beach.

Saffron was 1 on the 19th Jan so she's a bit young to make anything. She helps heaps in the garden tho & loves to play her drum. She can even drum with two hands now & get a rhythm going. Tho' sometimes it all gets too much for her if her Dad is drumming with her & she has to go & have a dance
 
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