Grace Farm Organics Blog!

I am nothing but a great big liar, lyer, lye-er

Caustic Bo Baustic, dangerous stuff, it ate the paint right off my soap studio floor when I experienced a lye spill. When mixed with water, it gets hot, really hot and caustic, hot, nasty steam can result.  I am talking about Lye also known as Caustic  Soda, and for you really smart chemistry type NaOH.  Why would I even think of going near this stuff, well I Love Lye - read on!

  Soap from simplest explanation boils down to the blending of fats and lye.  The fat can be anything from animal tallow to olive oil.  When fats and lye are blended together, in the proper ratios, you end up with a bar of soap.  This whole process, scientifically, chemically and seriously is called saponifcation.  I guess that makes me a darn good lye-ing  saponifier and darn proud of it.

Sometimes your reaction skills are tested and that came one day when I had a lye spill.  A lye spill is what us lye-ing saponifiers all dread.   When working with Lye, all good lye-ers suit up. I am not talking Gucci and Jimmy Choos. On goes the lab coat, topped with a liquid proof apron, then the rubber gloves, then elastics on top of the rubber gloves and yup, goggles and lets not forget the face mask.  I am writing with levity, but seriously, safety precautions are pivotal even if they destroy your make-up.  All this was proved, along with my reaction skills, the day my studio floor melted.

In my full regalia, I started making a batch of soap.)  Everything was going as planned.  All oils, butters and lye measured.  Molds ready.  Next thing I know is my lye water is tipping over, drenching my work bench and gravity was sending this nasty, caustic liquid towards my feet.  My brain did a little “feet don’t fail me now” and my only thought was get the heck out of here.  Watching the tipping lye water jug was like a movie in slow motion.  My brain processed this as a Holy Molly Batman.  And I still question my next thought serious.   Cool, a lye spill, soapers talk of lye spills in hushed tones!  But that didn’t stop my feet from moving at the speed of light getting out of the studio. I protected life and limb only.

I left the studio door closed for the next half hour contemplating what was on the other side of door.   Well, good old vinegar neutralizes the worst of lye.  Vinegar takes the caustic out of the beast and turns it into a neutral beauty.   I armed myself with a jug of vinegar, a mile high stack of old towels and in I went…..still in my full regalia; now my fighting clothes.  

All turned out well, I was able to neutralize and clean up the mess with no real harm done.   Funny, the one victim was my studio floor.  Where the lye spill occurred that paint disappeared, down right dissolved.  Where the neutralized vinegar and lye spread during cleaning was the cleanest my floor has ever been…..Note; I am not recommending you was you floor with neutralized lye water and vinegar, that would be down right dumb.

  Why oh why would I play with lye – well, without Lye there wouldn’t be soap.  And it is all about the Soap.

  Grace Farm Organics uses only, vegan, vegetable based oils with the base being olive oil and Organic Shea Butter.  Lather Up!

You can purchase some soap off the web site! Here!

So Just What is all this Hubbub About Handcrafted Soap

Simply……….it is not detergent¹ and doesn’t contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (shhh, SLS is sometimes considered a cuss word in soapin circles).   Remember the old Shell Ad that’s main feature was “detergent” in the gasoline to clean the engine.   Extra dirty socks get a little extra scoop of “detergent”.  Many bars of soap, well you think they are soap, but, they are actually; yup, you guessed it DETERGENT and SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE)!  Detergent isn’t necessarily a dirty word but would you want to cleanse your skin with the same chemical that you clean your car’s engine?

In my best Boston Accent, “No Way Jose” am I putting detergent on my preciousness. I like to glow with good health, not with chemical cleansers.   Then I started to think, was this SLS/detergent irritating my daughter’s eczema?  A little research here, a little research there and guess what?  Yup, SLS has been proven to irritate eczema.  In our case, the answer is yes

Dahtt, Dahhtt, Dahhtt Dahhh——( Handcrafted natural soap to the rescue   Handcrafted soap is a cleanser made with simple vegetable oils that not only gently cleanse, but real natural soap will nourish your skin.  Natural handcrafted soap, that only uses natural ingredients, can restore the moisture to your skin, while still getting you clean.   You will get your glow on!

So my question to you is, why are you still showering with detergent?   Hmmmm, you say you like to use a Body Wash – we don’t make body wash and the only reason is because of the plastic bottle.  It takes 3 oz of petroleum to manufacture a plastic bottle and then there is the Great Pacific Garbage Dump  for all of those discarded body wash bottles   http://greatpacificgarbagepatch.info/     Ooops I’ve done it again; digressed.

1         A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants having “cleaning properties in dilute solutions.”^[1] In common usage, “detergent” refers to alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water. In most household contexts, the term detergent by itself refers specifically to laundry detergent or dish detergent, as opposed to hand soap or other types of cleaning agents. Detergents are commonly available as powders or concentrated solutions.

2         Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) (C12H25SO4Na) is an anionic surfactant used in many cleaning and hygiene products. The salt consists of an anionic organosulfate consisting of a 12-carbon tail attached to a sulfate group, giving the material the amphiphilic properties required of a detergent.

SDS is a highly effective surfactant and is used in any task requiring the removal of oily stains and residues. For example, it is found in higher concentrations with industrial products including engine degreasers, floor cleaners, and car wash soaps. It is used in lower concentrations with toothpastes, shampoos, and shaving foams. It is an important component in bubble bath formulations for its thickening effect and its ability to create a lather.

Research showed that SDS is not carcinogenic when either applied directly to skin or consumed.[1] It has YIKES  =  however been shown to irritate the skin of the face with prolonged and constant exposure (more than an hour) in young adults.[2] A clinical study found SDS toothpaste caused a higher frequency of aphthous ulcers than both cocoamidopropyl betaine or a detergent-free paste, on 30 patients with frequent occurrences of such ulcers.[3] A clinical study comparing toothpastes with and without SDS found that it had no significant effect on ulcer patterns.[4]

Please understand, many sources say SLS isn’t the least be harmful, and maybe it isn’t even an irritant, but why take a chance when there is something as excellent as handcrafted soap?

Serendipity and the Great Pumpkin

Dan and I both use to travel fairly extensively for work and that experience has turned us both into home bodies.  We do slip away from time to time and last weekend we snuck away for a 2 night stay in Portland, Maine on Casco Bay.We also ventured up to Damariscotta, a much smaller town, but a town with a sense of humor.   Both towns are fabulous and I would recommend them for a destination weekend.

  We enjoyed a fabulous round of golf at Sable Oaks Golf Club and then took a Duck Tour of Portland.  Did you know Portland is the first place molasses was turned into cane sugar or that it is home of the first piece of chewing gum?  Portland is the second city in the nation for restaurants per capita, only surpassed by San Francisco.  Portland is home of the world’s best woopie pie, I can personally attest to this.  And last but not least, Portland is visited by more than 65 cruise ships a year.  Who Knew?

  On Sunday we decided to take a ride to Damariscotta, a small coastal village, to look at the foliage and walk about town.  Serendipity intervened in our day. 

 Damariscotta was having the Giant Pumpkin Festival.  When we decided to visit we didn’t know the festival was in progress.  My first thought was “how serendipitous” their festival was taking place when Grace Farm Organics is having our own Great Pumpkin Event featuring Pumpkin Candles, Pumpkin Soap.

  As we approached the main street of Damariscotta we were greeted by the sites of many giant pumpkins decorated and carved in many fashions.  The first one that caught our eye was a pumpkin turned cat.  As we strolled further down Main street,  we caught the scent of pumpkin donuts in the air.  We wanted coffee and what did we find, a café turned all things pumpkin.

The Giant Pumpkin art was something to behold.

I grabbed a brochure to view the day’s events and I was quite surprised to see a Giant Pumpkin Regatta listed.  For those of you unfamiliar with Damariscotta River boating terms, a regatta is a boat race.   I just had to ask what a Giant Pumpkin Regatta was.    Participants from near and far come to Damariscotta and turn pumpkins into boats.  Yup, I will repeat, pumpkins become boats and they launch them into the Damariscotta River and the race is on.

We had to head home to break the dogs out of boarding before the activities were complete.  From our short time at the festival though I can highly recommend this area for a fun Fall get away and the Pumpkin Festival is entertainment that you don’t find every day.  Next year we plan on returning and spending much more time enjoying the festivities.

The Great Pumpkin

I Love Pumpkin!  Pumpkin pie, bread, candles, decorations, face mask, just the thought of anything pumpkin puts a smile on my face.http://www.gracefarmorganics.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=181996 was a year of change and growth in my life.  The growth included a 331 lb Giant pumpkin.  Lynn has a few ditties assigned to it.  Lynn, Lynn the City of Him!   Lynn, Lynn the City of Firsts!  (as in the first jet engine and night baseball game) and last but not least Lynn, Lynn, the City of Sin!   But the city of Giant Pumpkins and farms, I don’t think so.

The giant pumpkin came into my family’s life when we needed a major distraction from one of life’s little nasties.  For city kids to suddenly have a monster of a Pumpkin in their yard was a distraction.  It actually became a legend.  As the pumpkin started to bolt in size my children, ages 14, 12 and 9 started to boast to their friends of the giant growing in their very own yard.  First, one friend stopped by to look.  Then a neighbor stopped in, he had heard the rumor from his child. 

Could it be true, a 331 pumpkin in our very own neighborhood?  What is a family to do but to enter this monster in the Topsfield Fair – those farmers with 100 acres didn’t have a chance against my ¼ acre. We slightly over estimated our greatness, the winner for that year grew a 1,610.

A test of true family teamwork came when we had to figure out how to get this beast of a pumpkin out of our garden and into the back of my sisters SUV to take it to the county fair.   Me, my sister, a neighbor a blanket and two 14 year old boys did it.  We rolled the pumpkin onto the blanket and heave, ho, oye, vey and a little more heave and the deed was done.  Off to the fair we went.  They have a nifty system at the Fair to get pumpkins out of cars, trucks, flatbeds.  Check out this photo, people take their pumpkin transportation very seriously.

When my children and I spent the day at the Fair admiring our pumpkin on display we knew that, although life was a little difficult at the time, we would be okay.   When the growers of the really giant, giant pumpkins heard ours was from Lynn, big smiles would cross their faces. We were now part of a pumpkin growing community that no one from Lynn had ever entered.  We were special!

When I light a Grace Farm Organics Pumpkin Spice Candles or make a batch of Pumpkin Spice Soap http://www.gracefarmorganics.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=18, I often think of the little messages that the universe sends us to let us know everything is going to be okay.

Ode to the Oreo

Ode to the Oreo

I am an Oreo Hypocrite!  I wish I felt better after my confession, but the truth is that I will probably always be an Oreo hypocrite and I have no desire to change.

I try to live healthy.  I avoid high fructose corn syrup. 
I buy local.  I eat green, well except for Oreos that is.   I pay top dollar for grass-fed beef, organic eggs and pasture raised chicken, but I love Oreos. Let’s face it, just like Lays Potato Chips, who can eat just one Oreo?  If we are going to have “True Confessions

” who amongst us has lost count of how many Oreos we have eaten at one sitting?  And just how good is it when you dunk your Oreo in to icy cold milk?  Try dunking a piece of cucumber, organic or otherwise, into icy cold milk….arghhhh!

I try to avoid buying Oreos when I go grocery shopping, but I am sometimes unsuccessful.  My alter ego, who is the girl of ultimate health, perfect weight and no cavities, ever, puts the Oreos in my cart.  The problem is, she isn’t the one who has the Oreo incident.

An Oreo incident can begin for no reason.  Usually though, it starts with the thought, hmmm, I would like something sweet.  Or more likely, I deserve a treat.  I beeline it to the cabinet and there they are, next to the organic, whole wheat, all natural crackers.  But the Oreos win.

The first sensation is when the scent of the Oreo wafts towards my nose.  Then I open my mouth and “Oh Yes” I feel the texture of the Oreo flowers on my tongue.  Then, crunch and grind – pure joy.  I will have just one, well maybe two and before you know it out comes the milk.  Oh well, I am sticking with “I deserved a treat” and well, Oreos are one of the 7 food groups, aren’t they?

Here are a few fun Oreo Facts:

•  Oreo is the world’s favorite cookie.  Rumor has it that 7.5 billion (with a B) Oreos are eaten every year.  That is 20.5 million Oreos per day.
• The Oreo was created way back in 1912 by the National Biscuit Co. known as Nabisco.
• There is a street in New York called Oreo Way.  It’s on 9th Avenue between 15th and 16th streets.  This was the site of the first Nabisco factory where the first Oreo was ever made.
• If all the Oreo cookies ever made were stacked up, they’d reach to the moon and back five times! If put side by side, they’d encircle the earth 381 times at the equator

Diary of a Mad Secretary Gone Soapmaker

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A Journey to Soap making

I am frequently asked “how did you get started making soap” and the answer has so many facets that I always get a bit of a grin on my face.  My journey into organics, soap making, saponification, or even the chemistry of oils and lye has taken me from a bored Executive Assistant to a very concerned Mom of a daughter with eczema to who I am today,  More on saponification in the future, for now; I will start with the bored Executive Assistant.

I had the good fortune to land what many, and myself, would consider a dream job; my boss was great to work for, expressed and showed respect for his employees and the actual nuts and bolts of my day to day were fast paced and exciting.   For four years I was immersed, grew intellectually and professionally and then – ought ohhhh – a corporate phenomenon happened, REORGANIZATION!!!!!     Suddenly, a 50 hour a week fast paced career became just a job that could be done in 20 hours a week.  What’s a girl to do you might ask, well, off to the Boston Copley Farmer’s Market I went on a Thursday lunch hour and I purchased a bar of handcrafted lavender soap.  It was love at first shower, the soft, rich lather, the soothing scent; how could a bar of soap be so luxurious and how could I not know about it?    A few weeks later my bar of soap was starting to get small and I actually found myself in a bit of a panic, I just couldn’t imagine showering with the body wash in the plastic bottle again, so off to Copley Farmer’s Market again for another bar.   Did you know that body wash is usually detergent, not soap, and it takes 3 oz of petroleum to manufacture and ship just the empty plastic bottle (3 oz of oil, chalk one up for OPEC), but more on detergents and plastic bottles in the future.

I happily toddled off to my shower and while basking in the luxury of my new bar of soap I pondered “just how does one make soap”!   Thank goodness for Google, who I like to think of as a personal friend by the way.  I got on the Internet and started to search and research, and I figured that if someone else could make soap, so could I.  In reality, if you can cook, you can make soap.  The one great difference from cooking and soap making is that soap making IS an exact science, no wiggle room outside of the recipe you are following, don’t get me wrong, you can create new recipes or soap formulas, but you have to follow them to a tee to get a wonderful finished product; too much olive oil and well, you end up with an oily lump of un-useableness.

While I was researching soap making I also began my education on skin care ingredients, this is a natural osmosis.  My daughter suffered from eczema and what I was learning about soap making was also teaching me about ingredients in many commercial cleansing (detergent) bars that appear to irritate eczema…more on my daughter in my next entry…………..