Does Soap Go Bad and Three Other Things You Need To Know

Just like food, soap has a shelf life. 

The shelf life of handmade soap can be determined by looking at every ingredient that goes into the soap. The shelf life of the soap corresponds to the ingredient with the shortest shelf life. For most natural soaps, the ingredients with the shortest shelf life are essential oils, which are usually a year. 

Here's where it gets tricky though. After a year, your handmade soap can still be used and it will work just fine, it may however, not smell quite as strong as it used to and in some cases it may smell not as good. However that doesn't mean the soap has expired or turned rancid, it's still soap and will continue to  clean and fight germs. For the oils in the soap to go rancid, if properly made and stored, could take several years.

Being a soap maker, I use all my older bars. I am currently using a bar of soap in my spare bathroom that is close to 3 years old. It works fine and smells good. I've kept it stored in a cool, dry environment until using it to extend the shelf life.

So, how can you tell if that bar of handmade soap you found in the drawer in your bathroom is still good? Let your nose guide you! Does it smell good? Does it have no smell? Then put it in your shower and use it. If it smells rancid then toss it.

Recently I became aware of a new use for my dish soap and would like to share it with you; it makes a wonderful spot remover for clothing! Get the dish brush wet and rub it over the dish soap. Then gently rub it over the spot on your clothing and toss it in the laundry (with my new laundry soap of course)! Give it a try and perhaps you'll find that spot remover will be one less plastic bottle to buy!

I've received a number of inquiries on if I have an unscented variety of my conditioner bar.  As of this year I can now answer that question with a yes! The bar is rich in cocoa butter so there is still a faint scent, however, no essential oils are added to the unscented variety.

Finally, I want to mention a new color finish to my shave scuttles. Desert Rabbit ceramics is supplying me with a beautiful matte finish dish! Right now I only have it in black but I've been told I'll soon be able to stock matte finishes in other colors and in the popular soap dish! Look for this addition this spring!

Two New Products Coming In 2022 For Allergy Free and Eco Friendly Living

I so enjoyed participating in four holiday markets in 2021. After a disappointing market season in 2020 where all the events were cancelled, I had almost forgotten how enjoyable and enlightening it is to meet face to face with my customers. You guys have so many great ideas!

More than once a customer has asked for certain varieties of soap or changes in packaging which I've implemented. I love hearing other people's perspective especially when they say or ask for something I've never thought of before. I developed my conditioner bar after a customer asked for one. I also created an unscented dish bar after someone requested it. 

Lavender Eucalyptus Coconut Oil Free

A new request I had recently was a coconut oil free soap. I love this suggestion however the main reason people want a soap without coconut oil is due to allergies, therefore, I knew that if I were to make such a bar, just creating the recipe wasn't enough. I needed to also create a work environment where cross contamination would be minimal. After some thought, I decided I would give it a try and I purchased new liners for my molds, a new mixing bowl, and new utensils that will be dedicated strictly to my new coconut oil free bar. 

Lavender Eucalyptus Coconut Oil Free

This bar will be primarily made with olive oil but will include cocoa butter, castor oil, rice bran oil, goats milk, silk, and sugar. Coconut oil is so widely used in soaps because it adds lather capabilities, adding sugar should also do this. My first coconut oil free bar will be color free and contain the skin friendly essential oils of lavender and eucalyptus. If this proves to be something people really like I will expand the line. With all that olive oil and cocoa butter, this bar is really luxuriant! It's curing now so look for it in my etsy shop and website in a few weeks.

Grated Lora's Beauty Soap

Also new for 2021 will be an eco-friendly goats milk laundry soap! I've been using this laundry soap for years myself because it was an environmentally friendly way to use up the end pieces of my soap loaves that weren't quite big enough for a bar. Lately I'm ending up with a bit more end pieces than I can use, so I thought I'd offer the laundry soap for sale.

The laundry soap will come in a paper zip lock bag and will be filled with 28 ounces of powdered soap made with Lora's Beauty grated goats milk bar soap, sodium carbonate (washing soda), citric acid, and sea salt. A mini wooden scoop is included. There are no added scents because the grated soap is already scented with essential oils.

One bag should provide enough soap for at least 30 loads of laundry. You'll only need a couple scoops (1 tablespoon) per normal sized load in an HE (high efficiency) washer. It's best to store the soap in the zip lock bag to protect it against moisture. I've used the soap in cold water and it dissolves just fine.

Best of all, there are no phosphates so the waste water won't be contaminated downstream. Sodium carbonate disassociates in water, occurs in nature and is therefore consider environmentally friendly. Citric acid breaks down easily in the environment, is biodegradable, and is also considered environmentally friendly. Oh and did I mention your clothes will come out clean and your whites whiter? Yea, that too!

I'm excited for another year at Lora's Beauty and I hope these new eco-friendly additions to my shop are useful and allow people to continue to avoid purchasing items in plastic containers. Keep those suggestions coming! Who knows I may implement one. You can always reach me at lora@lorasbeauty.com. Here's hoping you have a wonderful and healthy 2022.

Round Up of Holiday Bazaars For Lora's Beauty & A Discount Code!

We have officially entered the holiday season and with it I want to give a run down on the events I will be participating in this year. After a disappointing holiday season last year with no live events, I am super excited to be participating in three events this year! So if you're local to the Portland, Oregon area, help me ring in the season and find some wonderful, handmade, local gifts.

• First up will be the Hinson Holiday Bazaar at 1137 SE 20th Ave, Portland Nov 12 and 13 from 9:30-4 This event will feature handmade and handcrafted items and vintage/antiques. Last time I did this bazaar there were many yummy treats and baked goods made by local bakers.
• On December 2 from 2pm - 8 pm I'll be at the Madeleine Marketplace 3240 NE 23rd street. If you're a little covid insecure this will be a great event for you as it will be outside under the covered area. There will be fires to keep you warm and hot chocolate, beer and wine for sale. Santa also makes an appearance and there will be caroling and a tree lighting.
• Finally, Saturday, December 4 from 11am-7pm you'll find me at The German Haus 5626 NE Alameda in Portland. This will be the first year I've participated in this event but it sounds like a blast! This event will also be outside so be sure to purchase a Glühwein mug and get a free hot beverage with it. There will be handcrafted items as well as traditional German items available.

For all three events I will bring plenty of soaps for kitchen and bath and even some special kids soaps I don't have available on my website or Etsy store. I'll also have handmade tea towels, face scrubbies, and my beautiful handmade ceramic soap dishes and shave scuttles.

For those of you not local to Portland, I am offering 10% off all purchase at my Etsy shop from now until December 4. Just use the coupon code 2021Holiday at checkout!

Gift wrapping is available!

Above all else, have a healthy and joyous holiday season!

Holiday Shopping, Shipping, and The Cost of Things Today

credit:depositphotos

I'd like to start this post with a thank you. The year has been good for Lora's Beauty as sales have increased and for two months running I've been a Star Seller on Etsy. None of this would have been possible without my wonderful customers, many of whom are multiple return buyers. Thank you! I love making products that elevate everyday items to something luxurious and the fact that people actually buy them and enjoy them is beyond my expectations.

2021 hasn't been that great for all businesses though. As many people know the shipping industry has been hit hard with logistical problems causing slow downs on items arriving to our doors and stores. Due to basic supply and demand economics, this has meant the products that do show up usually costs more including supplies needed for soap making. Add to that, the cost of shipping has also increased. USPS, which I use to ship packages, has increased almost a dollar on the package size I use most often. All this appears to be culminating right at the holiday season. I say all this to encourage you to shop early this year especially if you plan to get packages in the mail. I will do my best to ship all orders I receive within one to two days and supply a tracking number. I have tried hard not to raise prices because I really want Lora's Beauty to be an affordable luxury, however, this month I had to increase the price on most my soaps by at least 25 cents. I did, remove the packaging requirement on my conditioner bar since cooler weather is here, bringing the cost down $2. 

Speaking of packaging, you may have noticed the new packaging for my Solid Dish Soap. I'm now packaging the bars in a box with my paper label. The box and label are both easily recycled. I made the change in hopes of giving the bars, my most popular items, the professional look the deserve and to protect them better. Many people order multiple bars at a time and the boxes should make storing them easier. They also look nice if you choose to gift a bar. If you prefer the old packaging, I can accommodate you, simply send me a message when ordering.

I've added a new item to my shop for the holiday season. Handmade, reusable face pads are an eco-friendly make-up remover. I use them to wash my face every night as they're the perfect size for rubbing over a bar of soap. These pads are sold in a package of three that includes two reusable white cotton pads for use daily and one colored scrubby cotton pad for weekly exfoliation. All pads are machine washable. A package of three and a couple handmade bars of soap would make a practical, inexpensive gift! 

I'm also offering 100% recyclable gift wrapping for an additional $3. Each gift wrapped box will hold up to 6 items, whether it's soap, face pads, or soap dishes.

Finally, for all those customers local to Portland, Oregon, I will be participating in two holiday bazaars so far. The first one will be at Hinson Baptist Church at 1137 SE 20th November 12-13 from 9:30 - 4. On December 4th I'll be at the German American Society at 5626 NE Alameda from 11am - 7 pm. Come see me and say hi!

A Trio of New Solid Dish Bars!

This week brings the launch of my new trio of dish soaps. I'm happy to introduce my new 'Extra Cleaning Solid Dish Bars!'

I want to make it clear that my original dish bars clean excellently and the only reason these are called 'Extra Cleaning' is because each bar contains a natural additive to enhance either scrubbing, grease cutting, or is anti bacterial.

With out further ado, let me introduce the new line up!

Activated charcoal, known for it's anti bacterial properties, is added to one specialty bar. This bar is scented with the essential oils of spearmint and eucalyptus.

Also available is a dish bar with organic lemon peel and rosemary. Lemon peel contains citric acid which enhances cleaning. The essential oils of lemongrass and rosemary (of course) make up this specialty bar.

Last but not least, is a specialty dish bar containing coffee grounds. The acidic coffee grounds are great at cutting through grease as well as providing extra scrubbing effect. These bars are scented with orange and cedar wood essential oils.

All three bars are now available on my website and Etsy store!

How Soaps Clean And Why They're Better Than Detergents

It really is the dog days of summer around here. As I type this Portland, Oregon is staring another several days of over 100 degree weather in the face. The last heat wave we had in June left my ferns and hydrangeas with burnt leaves and that's not to mention what it did to the wildlife and the birds who summer in the north to avoid the heat.

Alas, the subject of this post is not about the heat but about of course, soap and how it cleans your body and that greasy dish.

The power of soap can be best seen when washing a greasy dish. In fact, I've received many reviews, emails, and comments from customers surprised at how well the solid dish soap cleans their greasy pots and doesn't leave them slick. I wish I could claim some secret ingredient or process that allows this to happen but it's really just science.

At a molecular level soap breaks things apart. Soap is made of tiny molecules that contain a head and a tail. The head portion of the molecule easily binds with water while the tail portion avoids binding with water, instead it binds with oils and fats. When you wash a greasy dish or lather your dirty body with soap the tail portion of these tiny molecules attach themselves to lipids and dirt and pries them off, working like a crowbar to remove them from the dish or body where they are then trapped in the tiny bubbles of soap called micelles and washed away.

Soap works not only to remove dirt and grease from surfaces but it's also highly effective at removing viruses and bacteria, better than hand sanitizers. Even viruses that don't depend on lipid membranes to infect can be washed away with vigorous washing with soap. 

Dish detergents and body washes are not soap. Soaps are made by combining an acid and a base through the chemical process known as saponification. 

Instead detergents contain surfactants which work the same way as soap by attaching to the grease and dirt on one end and the water on another end, however they don't stop working like this when they're washed down the drain. If the surfactants are persistent, they do the same thing to aquatic life by attacking the natural oils in the mucus membrane of fish and in some cases causing their gills to quit working.

Many detergents and body washes also contain phosphates which can enter fresh water when washed down the drain promoting the growth of algae.

So, although you can get your body and your dishes clean with detergents the cost to fresh water and aquatic life makes soap the better choice!

What Will My Package Look Like?

In an ongoing effort to further green my business I've changed my labeling and packaging. Soap labels will now be entirely paper and include the new Lora's Beauty logo. Individual soap will be wrapped as usual with a paper band and then secured with the new paper labels making the whole branding recyclable. 

Greening the business doesn't stop there though, all soap will then be wrapped in paper to prepare it for mailing and placed in a cardboard box taped together with eco-friendly paper tape! 

Larger orders will continue to mail using the USPS (US Postal Service) flat rate envelopes or flat rate boxes depending on the size of the order. Using the flat rate envelopes and boxes greatly increases the efficiency of the post office.

If you purchase one of the many beautiful ceramic dishes offered in the Etsy shop, your dish will arrive wrapped in paper and then wrapped in some type of reused bubble packaging for further protection.

 

Your package then makes the trip to the post office either on bike or foot!

These changes are all part of my effort to keep Lora's Beauty as environmentally friendly as possible.