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It was some time ago that I discovered that soft soap is compositionally identical to bar soap plus LOTS of water (i.e., only one bar of soap to the gallon.) This got my little brain going. If you like, I'll post the actual recipes below but the graphic says most of what you need to know. I hope you Enjoy the spoils of my brain-battering victory, it really WAS a jr. engineer/personal victory:
In related news, I'm particularly picky about smells especially in daily use products like soap, shampoo, cleaners, etc. I'm the kind of weirdo that before learning these tricks I'd stand in the soap aisle, holding a box of bar soap to my nose wishing to myself that they would make THIS stinkin' scent in liquid soap. The scene could be comedically complete if someone were able to draw a cute little black rain cloud over my head.
With this newly found knowledge that I can make soap smell JUST like my favorite bar soap, I can rise again as the Super Snifter of all things fresh and clean in this world!
Most high drama aside now: As a matter of fact, My own sense of smell seems to be elevated to unprecedented highs. I like to think that this phenomenon is evidence that when one sense is lost/diminished, the others heighten. My superpowered sniffer MUST be directly related to my hearing loss, but moreon that later. A common example of the practical employment of my superpowers goes something like this and is actually rather common:
Dear Hubby walks through the door from work with just a laptop in hand. After a long hug with whispered wifely greetings and a lightning-quick peck on the lips he turns to put away his coat and laptop.
Me: "What IS that- peanut M&Ms? Do you have any more? Can I have some?"
Him sheepishly: "Yeah." *reaches in pocket*
The first couple of times I pulled this one he was absolutely amazed. The novelty has worn off. It turns out, most junk foods smell strongly. I can informallly monitor his diet quite effectively with this method. The problem is, the day my husband decides to make vegetables a significant part of his diet I'll proudly turn my face skyward, oinking at the little piggies flying overhead. That's one defeated role I'll gladly accede.
I digress. A lot.
Soap's Dirty History
A few rounds later at the google machine told me something any number of interesting things about your run-of-the-mill household soaps. I will tell you that you probably don't really want to hear about most of it, but if you're at all interested in the actual history of soap history, shout it to the rooftops and I'll happily oblige, you dirty little loons. Soap history DOES get shockingly more dirty than what you'll find here and not for the faint of heart.
Anyway, until relatively recently in history, everyone used bar soap. What they didn't realize was that while their love affair with soap would remain steadfast, centuries later people got sick of the yucky goo that accumulates under a bar of soap.
They finally decided they'd do something about it. Engineers ever among us drilled holes in soap dishes, but I have to say that in my opinion it must be the tricky housewives of the time, like us, who found a better way. It dispensed with much greater ease when kept as a liquid and dispensed as such. The overall mess factor was exponentially decreased, as was the overall waste of far less concentrated product by the average consumer. Well HOWDY DOO!
Those among us economically inclined will take note that this was a manufacturer's fantasy land. Suddenly under demand by the consumer they're producing less product in more packaging at a higher price. So, with a little bit of elbow grease that'll shimmy right off with your new soap, make your own soft soap!
DIY Soft Soap short version: be careful to dissolve an entire bar of soap in a gallon of boiling water. Let stand overnight. Fill bottles
Step by Step Soft Soap:
Get: empty softsoap containers. stockpot that holds more than a gallon
Get: hand held cheese grater or power stick blender. if you have neither,
carefully chop small pieces with a knife.
0--------------------------------------------------------------------o
1. Pour water into stockpot that will hold the whole gallon
and place it on the stove on medium.
2. Being careful not to shave off any extremities or burn
yourself on the pot, shred the bar of soap on the cheese
shredder straight into the pot, or chop all and drop all in.
3. Turn heat to high, stirring constantly. When ALL soap is
dissolved and there are no lumps, you're done-take it off
the heat. It may look too runny at this point but it needs to
cool for at least 12 hours overnight.
4. Pour into individual bottles, or large bottles for storage.
THIS is 21st Century Innovation?
We all have learned by practical application in MANY public rest rooms that foam soap is easy to use. It's already lathered.While there may be some crazy folks alternate school of thought out there, I prefer my soap pre-foamed. It washes well and rinses off more quickly. Being married to an engineer as I am, I had to know how the clear liquid was so efficiently aerated into foam-
what's so special about this liquid??
As it turns out, nothing.
I'm not kidding. It's actually a very simple concept that creates foam soap. In the dispenser, one chamber draws air and the other draws liquid. As it's dispensed these are forced together (the soap is aerated) to create foam.
dispensed into your very own dirty little paws you'll find something indistinguishable to the original product. It may be a little bit of deja vous here, but I'll say it again: it seems identical because compositionally, it IS identical. The aforementioned silky foamy soapy goodness. Once again, as consumers we are demanding LESS concentrated product in more packaging for higher prices. Let's save our money and break the cycle.
Foam Soap Short Version: pump 4 pumps of soft soap into the foamer bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with warm water. Shake well. It will get quite foamy but does not need to stay that way- subsequent uses will be aerated like I talked about above. That's it, no long version.
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