Condo Blues: soap
Showing posts with label soap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soap. Show all posts

Thursday, May 27, 2021

My First DIY Cold Process Soap Project and Friday Favorites Week 583

I fell in love with using handmade soaps after trying some I bought at a renaissance festival. Every year I'd buy a bar or five. I dabbled with making soap with a melt and pour kit like this one   because I could play with herb add ins, natural scents, and colorants without messing around with lye because lye sounded scary! (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.) A soap maker friend encouraged me to keep experimenting because that's how you learn how different herbs and oils interact and influence the final product.

When I stumbled upon a liquid hot process soap tutorial online, I realized I had most of the equipment needed and I could buy the soap ingredients at the grocery store. I gave it a whirl and realized working with lye isn't as scary as I thought!  But liquid soap is tricky (at least for me.) The book I have doesn't give a lot of why to the how and there is even less information on line unless you're making cold process bar soap. Cold process soap tutorials didn't seem as scary as they did before I started making soap in an old crock pot. I bought this exact The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners book and made my first batch of cold process soap!

DIY cold process soap
The color is a little *intense*  and there were some slight bubbling after sequestering but overall I'm pleased with how my first batch of real deal bar soap came out. 

Sunday, June 30, 2019

DIY Beer Bottle Soap Dispenser

My husband and I often celebrate the end of the workweek with a little TGIF craft beer tasting. Like the full on nerdy thing about recognizing, talking about, and even recording tasting notes of the new beers and types we've tried.

After sampling an Innis & Gunn bottle, my husband commented on the unique look of the bottle and suggested/challenged me to do something cool with it.

Fortunately, I started dabbling in making liquid Castile soap in the slow cooker and I'm in need for a new liquid soap dispenser. (If you want to try it I suggest reading the books Making Natural Liquid Soaps and  Liquid Soapmaking because I'm still learning and it will be quite awhile before I feel confident in writing a tutorial for Condo Blues.) (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links to the supplies I used for your convenience.) 

It practilally a no brainer to to make a soap dispenser from a glass bottle that has a threaded screw cap like my DIY Chamboard bottle soap dispenser because you just screw a replacement liquid soap pump like this one onto the bottle and Bob's your uncle.

But can you make a soap dispenser from a recycled glass beverage bottle that does not have a screw thread top? Yes you can! Here's how!

How to Recycle a Glass Beverage Bottle into a Soap Dispenser


how to make a liquid soap dispenser from an upcycled glass bottle 
Save this quirky bathroom or kitchen decor idea for later! Share it with your friends!