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Blog Post

Blog post.

Brine Design Update: A Whiter Shade Of Pale
14 Dec 2021

Brine Design Update: A Whiter Shade Of Pale

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post | 16

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

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Auntie Clara's, Brine design, Brine Soap, Coconut Soap, Handcrafted Soap, Natural Soap, salt soap, soap experiment
Brine Design: Salt In Soap
15 Nov 2021

Brine Design: Salt In Soap

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post | 37

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.

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Auntie Claras, brine, Brine Soap, natural colorant, natural colourant, salt bars, salt soap, salt solution, soap experiment
My Black Wattle Woodpile – The Gift That Keeps On Giving
5 Nov 2021

My Black Wattle Woodpile – The Gift That Keeps On Giving

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post | 25

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

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acacia mearnsii, black wattle, black wattle soap, distaff, Handmade Soap, leather dye, mordant, natural colourant, tannin ink, tannin soap
Great Great Great Great Grandmother Mary and The Love Moment
14 Oct 2021

Great Great Great Great Grandmother Mary and The Love Moment

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post | 16

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

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Artisan Soap, Brine Soap, Cape of Good Hope, Clay Soap, Handmade Soap, Terrazzo Soap
Ghost Swirl Soap Revisited. FAQs about High and Low-Water Soap Design.
10 Sep 2020

Ghost Swirl Soap Revisited. FAQs about High and Low-Water Soap Design.

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post | 4

Auntie Clara does a recap of the Ghost Swirl soapmaking technique and answers some frequent guestions about the Ghost Swirl Soap

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Cpop, Ghost Swirl, Ghost Swirl Soap, high-water soap, low-water soap, Ovenprocessing, Soap swirls
African Clay: Local, Natural, and Ancient
25 Aug 2020

African Clay: Local, Natural, and Ancient

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post | 24

Auntie Clara discovers local, natural African clay for spindle whorls and for breathtakingly beautiful natural colours in coldprocess soap!

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African Soap, Clay, Clay Soap, Kaolin, Medieval Spinning, natural ingredients, Red Ochre, Spindle, Spindle Whorl
Langbaken Beest and Beasts: Soap and Culinary explorations in the Karoo
26 Aug 2019

Langbaken Beest and Beasts: Soap and Culinary explorations in the Karoo

by Clara | posted in: Auntie Clara's Blog, Blog Post, Recipe | 4

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

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#Karoo, Asbos, Auntie Clara's, Beest, Beestings, Cheesemaking, Langbaken, laundry soap, Soap, Soap Travels, Soapmaking
Lye Calculation Using a Saponification Chart – Tutorial
2 Sep 2018

Lye Calculation Using a Saponification Chart – Tutorial

by Clara | posted in: Blog Post, Tutorial | 55

A couple of weeks ago, just as I was pulling into a parking bay at the local mall here in Cape Town, my niece #4, who is in her final year of high school in Finland, called me on the … Continued

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Coldprocess soap, Lye Calculation, Lye Discount, Saponification, Saponification Chart, Soapmaking Tutorial, Superfat

Posts pagination

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Clara Lindberg is passionate about making soap. Originally from Helsingfors in Finland and now a happy resident of Somerset West, South Africa, she is soapmaker-in-chief and creative dynamo at Auntie Clara's Handcrafted Cosmetics.

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