Saponification... and Glycerin

    Saponification is a process (chemical reaction) that produces soap  from fats and lye. Depending on the nature of the alkali base used in their production, soaps have different properties. Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) gives "hard soap", whereas, when Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) is used, a soft soap is formed. In our soaps we use Sodium Hydroxide. The harder bar lasts longer and keeps its shape better.
 
   Basically, saponification is the chemical reaction between an acid and a base to form a salt. Yep, Soap is a salt. ;) When you make soap using a cold process method you mix a  fat (which is your acid) with Lye (which is your base) to form soap.

   As you mix, and stir the carefully measured acid and base together, they start to react.Within the fats are a single glycerol molecule  (which turns into skin nourishing glycerin) allowing the fatty acids to combine with the hydroxide ions within the base, forming soap. Two reactions occur. The first reaction is glycerol turning into beneficial glycerin, and the second reaction is the acid and the base combining to form a salt which is your soap.

  In most 'soaps' you would buy at the store the glycerin has been removed. (And sold separately for more profit) Or they are not even soaps but rather detergent. If your soap is void of its natural glycerin it is not going to be skin softening.  And can even be drying. A homemade natural bar of soap will have it's glycerin still in tact.

   In the Saponification process the glycerin becomes chemically separate from the soap. Yet still part of the soap. Glycerin is a Humectant. Meaning it ATTRACTS moisture to your skin. It is a great thing!  And to think it is a byproduct!

 If you have skin problems from rashes to posion ivy to dry skin in the winter. Natural Homemade soap is a great choice! I welcome you to try ours!  www.simplycleansing.com

Emily

SOAP WINNER!!!

Our Willy drew a name this morning! Thank you for entering! We are planning drawings often So keep checking back with us!

LKS let us know your scents!
Emily

SOAP GIVEAWAY!!

I will send out 8 bars to the winner this Friday!

To win you must comment below to tell us your favorite scent (or the one you want to try).
Blogger doesn't always let people comment. So if you cant leave one you are welcome to email me your entries. simplycleansing@gmail.com Put giveaway in the subject please.

To get more chances to win :

1: "like" our FB page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94199075209
2: Subscribe to our blog
3: Blog about us
4:Share us on FB

Let us know what you do and I will add you in the drawing that many times.
This is a fast giveaway so you can get it before Christmas.

Emily

Soap Curing...

This is our soap curing shelf. About a thousand bars are there now. We are making a couple batches a week right now. (200- 400 bars) It is great!
And it smells so yummy here! The bars sit here to air dry 3-4 weeks. We then package and mail them out. The dryer the bar the longer it lasts.
When you are using your soap if you have a soap dish that drains well your soap will last longer. We use a wooden one at our sinks. It works well.
We really enjoy making soap. And seeing full shelves is wonderful! They empty out fast when cured though.
If you have never tried out soap please do! I think you will be satisfied. If for some reason you are not please let us know. We do all we can to make things right!
Emily~

Soap Bags...

Our oldest heard us say we wanted to make cloth bags for our soaps. She got excited and begged for a week for us to get started! So we will soon have nicer bags for our soaps. And I have her to thank for it. She did great and had fun. Next she is planning on making tags for them. They are cute!
Emily

Packages...

We have been really busy! It has been great! We are working on adding in new soaps. And have gotten many ideas on them from customers too! We love feed back! The more you tell us the more we can do!
With the Holidays here many boxes we are sending are gifts. I think that is so fun! Our tiny Post office has enjoyed seeing us grow. It is really nice! We have put our candles in a local Amish store. Our beeswax comes from a amish neighbor of the store. Local selling at its best! I get the raw unstrained wax and turn them into beautiful candles.
The children are loving to help package soap. If I get caught doing it they hurry to help get the product I need. Makes it fun being a family business! The children are hoping to help get their products online at some point soon also. Which will be a great thing for them!

We made 200 bars of soap again last night. They smell so yummy! Cant wait to cut them!

Emily

Powdered Laundry soap...

We made powdered Laundry soap last night. It is something all the children get in on in one way or another. 2 took pictures and 2 helped with ingredients. It is really easy and works well. We generally make a liquid laundry soap. But this is faster. We will share both recipes here.If you try it share your thoughts here with us. It is way cheaper to make your own. And you know the ingredients. And you chose the scent! That is the best part!












The recipe is
2 bars of soap (we used our Cinnamon smelled great!)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup baking soda or washing soda
Essential oil of choice. (we used none as the soap had plenty to make it smell great)

Grate your soap, Add in the Borax and soda. We worked it with our hands to get the soap smaller as our grater isnt to small. It was fast and easy. Add in the ess. oils if you want to.
Pour into a airtight container and label. We use 2 TBS of the powder per average load.

Emily~

Gift Baskets!

We have had requests for gift baskets. If you are interested email us at simplycleansing@gmail.com and let us know what you are wanting in the basket. The above Basket is $30 plus shipping. We can do any size and and combination of our candles and soaps.

If you can think of any other way we can serve you better please let us know!

Emily

Ordering...

You can order here on our blog. Top right corner. We also sell our Beeswax candles here on the blog.
And ofcourse on our website www.simplycleansing.com

We have some customers that prefer not to use Paypal. If you are one you can email us simplycleansing@gmail.com We can give you a total and our address to mail your check or money order to.

You can also order by phone 785-447-0708

We look forward to your business!
Thank you!
Emily

www.simplycleansing.com

Our site is back up and running!

Please check out our store! We will be adding products over the next few mths. We are working to grow and expand the store. We are thankful for our long time customers and new ones! And pray by growing the store we can better serve and bless our customers.

Have a great day!

Emily

www.simplycleansing.com

Our site is currently down due to a server issue. We are doing all we can to get it up quickly. For the time being we moved the store here. You can order on the side bar.

Scroll down and see new products and other changes. We love serving our customers and get packages out quickly. We look forward to doing business with you soon!

Thank you for stopping by!

Emily

Photo taken and designed by our oldest. :)

Cinnamon!

We are adding a new yummy soap to our line up!

CINNAMON! It is a yummy,warm scent and so fun to add in for the holidays!

Cinnamon essential oil is germicidal,antiseptic,and anti fungal!Just the aroma alone is said to help relieve depresssion,drowsyness, irritability,pain and frequency of headaches.Topically can relax sore achy muscles and joint pain.

We really enjoy this soap!

Emily

New! Beeswax Candles!

12 inch Tapers


Bear with Skep 2.5 inches tall


Carved Egg 4 in tall candle
Beautiful best seller!


3 1/4 inch tall round candle

Skep 3 inch candle

Square Pillar Candle just over 4 inches tall

Weighs a LB!

We are adding a new line to our store! Beeswax candles! My Dad is a beekeeper. I bought my first molds when I was a young teen. I started to sell candles then at craft shows and farmers market. It was a fun hobby that I did for a few yrs and started back up in the spring. It has been so fun! Didn't know how I missed it!

Our wax is from my Dad's bees in central KS and also from a local Amish beekeeper here in Missouri. It is a beautiful golden color! And has a light honey scent. We use quality cotton wicks. 100% beeswax no additives.We leave the wick long so before burning TRIM them. Otherwise it will burn too fast and may cause problems.

We have a few available right now. With more styles to come in the future! You can order on the side bar right now. Our main site is down. I will explain in another post.

Thanks for looking!

Emily

Lavender Soap!

Lavender has a lovely sweet floral scent! Very relaxing! And fresh smelling. Our Lavender soap has lavender buds and lavender essential oil.
Lavender is known to be soothing to cuts, burns and skin irritations. It disinfects the skin and scalp. It is added to baby soaps to encourage good relaxing sleep, it is great for tense muscles, muscle aches, sprains and tension.
We like to bath our children in it at night to help them rest and smell pretty. Amazes me how long the smell lingers on them!
A nice pretty soap! We really like it!

PEPPERMINT SOAP!

It is often recommended for easing migraines (especially those stemming from digestive problems); it helps clear sinuses.
Mentally, it clears the brain and is a mental stimulant. It is great if you are a morning shower person. Strong and Invigorating!
It has been said to help with itching due to bug bites, chicken pox and poison ivy. We have found truth in this personally.
For poison ivy we like to wash up with it and let it dry on to cure it faster.
It could help to ease the sting of sunburn, reduce redness of inflamed skin, reduce itchiness and cools down the skin with its vasoconstrictor properties.
Try our peppermint soap today! All orders mailed the next business day! And always sent priority mail.

"This is a picture of our soap that is still curing. We added comfrey to color it. The current bars for sale are white with peppermint leaves in. No comfrey."

Orange Soap!

The benefits of our Orange Essential Oil can be attributed to its properties like anti inflammatory, anti septic, and anti depressant. The smell alone is said to lift the mood! Which I very much agree on. Yum! It smells just like a perfectly ripe orange!
It is known to have anti wrinkle properties as well! Which I (like many others) am finding as the yrs add on!
It's anti septic qualities may be able to might help us avoid both septic and tetanus as it inhibits microbial growth and disinfects the wounds. Which is a great soap to have around on the farm.
It serves as a detoxifier and is very good for maintaining a healthy, smooth and glamorous skin. It also may help cure acne and dermatitis.
We love our orange soap. And like all the rest of our great soaps you will find no fillers, artificial anythings or junk. Just plain goodness!

Our current batches are colored with powdered Tumeric. They are 2 toned. My children call them orange cream!

Patchouli Soap ~ Now 50% stronger scent!

Our Patchouli soap is a wonderful deep, earthy scent. Our customers love the lingering scent as a perfume. It is strong yet mellow. And not over powering. We use 100% patchouli essential oil in our soaps.
Patchouli is noted to be great for skin issues like acne, eczema, inflamed, cracked, chapped and irritated skin. It is a anti fungal so it is perfect for athletes feet. It is said to tone and tighten the skin, and is used in many anti wrinkle blends At the same time it helps regulate oily skin and dandruff . We have customers that love this soap as a shampoo. (with a diluted apple cider vinegar rinse)
Patchouli is said to help to reduce tension, insomnia and anxiety.

~Emily

Gotta love Youtube

Simply Cleansing Soap makes good shaving cream!!!

Adrian Steam Engine Show

We are planning on doing more shows as time allows. Also we are looking for businesses to sell our soaps. If you are interested please let us know. We will see what we can get worked out.

Check out our soaps at http://www.simplycleansing.com/ !!

Emily

Our Lemon soap ~ sunshine soap

Lemon essential oil is said to have astringent and detoxifying properties.Which makes it great for blemishes due to oily skin.

It is rejuvenating and can brighten dull skin.

Our customers say it is a great morning soap to wake up with as it is bright and cheery smelling.It has also been liked to clearing 'mental fog'.

Lemon Essential Oil is a powerful antiseptic. It has been used to clean contaminated surfaces, such as a butcher's cutting block. It has a powerful antibacterial and antiviral effects.

We have also seen it to be good for insect bites and eczema.

Emily~