Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Soap Instructions

Several of you asked how I made the soap for Macie. These are super basic and easy but I will tell you how I did them. During the winter months Macie's eczema gets out of control. She has a prescription steroid cream which helps but not nearly as much as she needs. In October we went to open house night at her school. She was scratching her legs when we got out of the car and by the time we were in the school she had blood running down her poor little legs.

I always buy the hypoallergenic body wash for her but every time she got out of the tub her legs were so raw she would just cry. So I figured that hypoallergenic really isn't all that much better.

This soap is SOOOOO easy you can do it with a toddler helping you if you want. First you need a soap base. This kind is also referred to as melt and pour or something like that. I found mine at Hobby Lobby for $9.99. I choose shea butter because it is good for skin. There are other types you can choose from. Goats milk would be great for Eczema as well.


You simply melt the amount you need in the microwave. I figured out that for my molds I needed about 2-3 small blocks( it comes with 36) for each soap bar. After you have melted it you add in the other stuff. I choose aloe vera because it is healing. Vitamin E would also be really good for eczema. The instructions were to add a few drops per ounce so I did that. This is also where you would want to add in color or fragrance. I did NOT add color or fragrance because I wanted it to be as natural as possible. The bottle of aloe vera concentrate(below) was $2.99 at Hobby Lobby.




While the base was melting I took out my blender and ground up some oats from my pantry. Oatmeal is SUPER great at soothing eczema. We usually put some in a sock and hang it from the faucet for Macie's bath. It really helps. After it was completely ground I simply added it to the soap and mixed.

Then you pour your mix into the plastic molds($2.47 at HL) and wait for it to cool and harden. It says it should take 20-40 minutes but mine took about an hour to be ready. Then simply pop it out of the mold and VOILA!!!!! Eczema fighting soap power. It lathers very well and when my cutie pie gets out of the tub she isn't screaming how bad she is hurting. I hope that this helps any of you who try it. It really did help Macie and I now know we will continue to make our own soap. The possibilities are endless with all the stuff you can add to them and use.

I will also add that this is not a decorative soap. I didn't care about color, etc. You can definitely make yours more attractive but my primary goal was for my daughter to get some relief. They will turn out like the ones in my last post. If you make some I would love to know if it helped you or you child out with skin issues. :)

Have fun making it. I think it could become rather addicting. :)
ETA: Make sure that you let your soap dry in between use. Don't let it sit and stay wet on the side of your shower. It will waste away.

4 comments:

Sarah Coggins said...

What a great idea to make your own soap for Macie. Happy to hear it has brought her some relief.

Maria said...

I totally want to try this!

Gina said...

My daughter has had all sorts of skin problems too. I think we have it under control now but if it flares up again - I'm going to try this!
Thanks for sharing!
Gina

Cassandra said...

That is so cool. I have always wanted to make soap. Bailey has such sensitive skin he is constantly coming out in rashes so i wonder if this would help him.
You have inspired me!

Cassandra xx