HOW TO MAKE MILD BABY SOAP

I'm not a big fan of using unnecessary products on babies. I don't personally feel that a baby needs soap or body wash, shampoo or any other products that are often too harsh for their delicate skin but also of little to no use for them as they virtually don't accumulate any heavy duty dirt that would call for the use of such products.

Anything that babies get on themselves can easily be washed off with simple warm water or a gentle herbal tea, at least until they start crawling and moping up your floors.

If you still can't imagine your infant's routine without a soap or soap like product but have the desire to avoid commercially produced (and synthetically enhanced) ones, a mild handmade soap, made from all natural ingredients is your best bet.

This mild baby soap is not only suitable for use on young children but it's also of extreme benefit to those with sensitive skin. It's made from conditioning fats like olive oil and Shea butter and we won't even be adding any essential oils to further increase their safety and reduce the risk of allergic reactions.

Why not try making this soap yourself? The cold process soap making is not only simple but also not in the least time consuming, as you will see from the steps we'll cover below so it's definitely worth making a batch for your own family, I'm sure it will be a thrilling experience with the added benefits of helping you avoid excessive disposable packaging and synthetic chemicals that harm the aquatic environmental balance and the gentle balance of our skin's own built in defense mechanisms.

If you're new to soapmaking, please make sure you cover your bases with the Natural Soap Making 101 tutorial first.

This is the recipe we'll use to make the soap. This is a tried and tested recipe from the Gavrilev product arsenal but, as always, you can develop your own recipes as per your preferences. So let's get started.

Let's start by measuring out the oils, butter and beeswax as we'll have to heat them up to the point where the beeswax will melt completely and mix with the other fats.

Measure your olive and castor oils, shea butter and beeswax in a steel pot and place it on the stove over medium flame and heat it up until the beeswax has completely melted.

NOTE: Make sure the pot you choose is large enough to additionally contain the lye solution that will be added to the fats as well as allow for the blending process to take place with ease without spilling.

Remove from stove and let it cool to a lower temperature but not so much as for the beeswax to start solidifying. You will notice this happening when the oil blend starts turning from transparent to opaque. More on this below.

Measure your water and caustic soda accurately by using the tare function on your digital scale.

Although I haven't shown it in this tutorial, you can substitute the water with camomile tea, in which case you would have to brew and cool it beforehand.

Once measured, it's time to add the caustic soda to the water(or tea) but never the other way around. Stir the lye solution in a well ventilated area until the caustic soda crystals have completely dissolved.

Be prepared for an emission of fumes as the lye solution heats up to high temperatures of up to 90 C.

Once dissolved, leave the lye solution to cool down to roughly 30 C.

When both have cooled down, it's time to mix the two and make soap.

NOTE:At this stage, if you notice that the beeswax has started solidifying and turning the oil blend cloudy( opaque), you need to gently re-heat the oil blend until it turns translucent again.

Time to make soap. Pour the lye solution into the oils, immerse your hand held stick blender and start blending in short bursts and moving the stick to stir in between the bursts. Increase the frequency of your blending bursts until you reach trace.

Add the vit. E oil and divide the traced soap into two parts. Add the calendula petals to one part and the turmeric to the other and mix really well.

Layer the two soap parts on top of each other,tap the soap mold to get rid of possible air bubbles. Sprinkle calendula petals on top.

It's optional but you can cover the molds with a cutting board or cardboard sheet and then wrap the molds in blankets to insulate it.

Once the soap has set , remove from mold, slice and cure in a well ventilated room for around 6-8 weeks.

NOTE:As you will notice in the recipe at the top, the soap bar quality numbers show that this recipe will make for quite a soft bar. This may translate in difficulties in removing the soap from the mold. Should this be the case, it helps to refrigerate the soap in the molds before attempting to remove it.