I made a batch of soap a while back with lilac fragrance, following the directions precisely (which I rarely do with food recipes) and with heart a-flutter, I added the ultramarine violet color at the end. There's little I love more than pretty colors and floral scents. With my stick blender, I whipped the color throughout my soap mixture and poured it into the molds. Imagine my disappointment when my lilac scented soap looked tan-brown. That would have been fine if I were making sandalwood or a woody soap, but it was lilac...delicate, floral, deliciously dreamy lilac. Brown lilac wasn't what I had in mind.
I was disheartened. . .Maybe soap making wasn't for me.
It reminded me of when I saw a cake pictured on a magazine cover. "Easy as 1, 2, 3, dot, dot, dot." Wow, I can make that! So I collected all of the ingredients. After spending a week's worth of groceries for a family of six, I realized I couldn't go back so I charged ahead to make the cake.
Half an hour into the recipe, I realized that the "dot, dot, dot" that came after 1, 2, 3 were actually steps 86, 87 and 88. By this time, the kitchen was upside down, the kids were asking for the hundredth time about dinner and I had cinder blocks at the end of my ankles. No matter. I was going to finish this cake.
The finished project resembled something a six year-old would make in the backyard sandbox. Worse yet, it tasted like it, too. So, back to my soap. Brown colored lilac scented soap. Not a winner . . . until I took my yellow tinted goggles off. What a difference yellow makes! There before me was lavender colored soap. Beautiful, wonderful purple soap that smelled like a bush ablaze with lilac blooms. And so much easier than that elusive, super-duper cake. What joy. I did it.
This emboldened me to try more, risk more, experiment more, and to remember how wearing yellow goggles colors my soap.
I don't want the "colored goggles" of failure to keep me from taking risks, experimenting and exploring. When someone asked Thomas Edison about his failed attempts of inventing an incandescent light bulb, he said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work."
I wonder how many inventions or discoveries were preempted because of fear of failure. Never give up~
Last week I posted a recipe for dishwasher detergent. (Here's the link: http://christinekenyon.blogspot.com/2015/04/diy-dishwasher-detergent.html) Following up is this recipe for laundry detergent that you can make yourself and is better for you, your clothes, the environment and is more economical than commercial laundry detergent. If you're like me, you're jumping straight to the recipe. For those still reading, here are four of the most toxic chemicals in commercial detergent: 1. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and/or sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)2. 1,4-dioxane 3. NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate) 4. Phospates I'm not an expert in this, but I think that the prevalence of these toxins in so many cleaners and bath products (soaps, shampoos, liquid soap, etc.) is partly responsible for the spate of skin disorders and asthma. So, here's the recipe for Homemade Laundry Detergent: 1 (4 lb. 12 oz.) box of Borax 1 (3 lb. 7 oz.) box of Super Washing Soda 1 (3 lb.) container of OxyClean 2 (14.1oz.) bars of Zote or Fels Naptha soap, grated 1 (4 lb.) box of baking soda 2 (55 oz.) bottles of fabric enhancer crystals--optional Grate the soap, mix the ingredients together and store in a large bucket or double bagged garbage bag. To mix it more easily and evenly, spoon a layer of Borax, then Washing Soda, etc. and stir. Repeat this until it's all mixed. For top-loading machines, use 2-4 tablespoons; for front loading, use 1-2 tablespoons. I make laundry soap bars of 100% coconut oil and use that instead of Zote or Fels Naptha. The coconut oil soap bars are naturally highly cleansing and double as stain remover sticks. I also add eucalyptus essential oil, which is purported to help with grease and oil stains. Our clothes look and smell cleaner. If you try this out, let me know what you think. And, happy Soaping!
P.S.--I have this detergent for sale on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/227841004/eucalyptus-laundry-soap-laundry?ref=shop_home_active_22
