A month ago I posted about my brine design experiment. I put soap made with brine (saline solution) next to the same soap made with plain water and found that the brine turned the soap more opaque and much lighter … Continued
Salt makes coldprocess soap appear opaque and therefore lighter in colour. Brine (Nacl salt solution) can be used as an alternative to synthetic brighteners like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.
When it was really cold in September I ran out of firewood. Bad planning on my part – especially since all the local firewood suppliers were flat out of stock at the end of winter. Finally I got hold of … Continued
Eighteen years ago we emigrated to South Africa. Then, like now, it was early October and the open fields around Cape Town were covered in thick carpets of purple flowers. I remember asking our driver what the purple flowers were? … Continued
Auntie Clara does a recap of the Ghost Swirl soapmaking technique and answers some frequent guestions about the Ghost Swirl Soap
Auntie Clara discovers local, natural African clay for spindle whorls and for breathtakingly beautiful natural colours in coldprocess soap!
The Karoo a magical place. It’s an endless region (one third of South Africa) of arid semi desert. Fields of sharp rocks as far as the eye can see with scarce, low, dry vegetation. An enormous bright blue sky in … Continued
A while ago fellow soapmaker Karol Dulmanis posted a picture of a coffee soap in one of the Facebook groups I belong to. The beautiful soap had an interesting dappled look with light translucent soap contrasting with areas of dark … Continued