ReWilded Soaps and Shampoos

Well, I’ve known people who could go without deodorant, but it doesn’t work out for me. I guess I’m an unusually smelly person :D.

i wonder if infused oils would work as well as essential oils in a DIY deodorant? There was a debate a little while ago on the Fabulous Forager blog about essential oils vs. infused oils.

Hey starfish,

I have no idea about infused oils, but I did make a deodorant from essential oils, and it is pretty effective. When I want to be extra Sure ™, I put 2-3 drops of lavender oil directly on my skin. It kills bacteria and is aromatic, and it actually makes a good skin conditioner so I figure as long as I’m not shaving and nicking my skin, it won’t do any harm.

I combined 15 drops of bulgarian lavender, 10 drops of tea tree, 1/2 oz of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 oz of water in a pump-action spray bottle.

Next time I’ll use less water. It doesn’t evaporate like alcohol…just runs down the side of my ribcage, probably taking the oil with it, away from my armpit. Bleh.

A fairly un-shady sales rep told me that whenever I mix essential oils with water, after time they will spoil, and that a cheap rubbing alcohol (or I dunno, even an expensive one) will preserve the concoction if it’s going to be sitting around for more than a few days.

yup, I am interested to try this myself, making the lye water that is. I have made homemade soap using commercial lye, but I’d like to go through the process of extracting it from ashes. I found a link that has some detailed instructions, but I’ve yet to try it (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PAUL_NORMAN_3/soapmake.HTM

I’m only about halfway through the one batch of soap that I made a few years ago so I haven’t been motivated to make any more, but I do want to try soaking corn in lye water to make my own masa.

I also use essential oils if I want to smell nice. I usually dilute lavender in another carrier oil and dab that under my arms.

Every so often, especially on a day when I’ve been working my muscles hard, I’ll do a full body rub of infused balsam poplar oil. Good for the sore muscles, antimicrobial on the skin, and makes me smell like honey, I love it.

Try boiling pine sticks for a long time, you will see that the tre oil gathers on the top of the water, mix this with fat and you have green soap(Used for over thousend years in norway). This soap can be used for whasing your body, your hair(especialy good if you have dreads), treat woodwork(floors, tabels and the likes) and it’s antiseptic, so you can use it(mixed with water) to clean out infections in the skin.

Thanks Ravn, I thought that was incredibly interesting and it’s something I want to try.

And yeah, just one thing I forgot to mention, the pine sticks has to be fresh and preferabely still have teir “leaves” on …

i also have heard of the horsechestnut . Doesnt mud work for cleaning and regulation of skin organism.?

Ai just made a shampoo for mai dad, who likes a specific eucalyptus-scented shampoo. Ai boiled wild gourd wedges, yucca fibers, and leaves from the eucalyptus trees in the local park, then let it sit overnight. Turned out pretty good. Next time ai might try that pine shampoo. :smiley: Bytheby, does that work without adding lard?

I did come across something that said horsechestnuts do contain saponin

I’ve been doing some reading about plants containing Saponins yesterday for a completely different use: fishing.

Oh, cool. Does it feel soapy or lather or anything?

I mostly just roll around in the slough to get clean. If I have any extra dirty areas I rub sand on them. But the slough’s pretty muddy, so I’m sure I end up looking as dirty as I started. Now that it’s winter it’s the season of melted snow washcloth baths and I’ve been using Dr. Bronners. Totally civ. :-\

What plants grow in your area? Maybe some of them have soap in them.

[quote=“chase, post:42, topic:425”][quote author=wildcarrotdances link=topic=460.msg13867#msg13867 date=1228323105]
Now that it’s winter it’s the season of melted snow washcloth baths and I’ve been using Dr. Bronners. Totally civ. :-\
[/quote]
What plants grow in your area? Maybe some of them have soap in them.[/quote]

Soapberries! But I’d have to go sooo far to find them, and then not very many grow in one place.

Mostly there are birch, spruce, willows, high bush cranberry, rose, stinkweed (alaska’s special kind of wormwood), and… well, a lot of cranberries. Some bluebells and fireweed and rhubarb gone wild too, but mostly it’s very shady under big trees and there’s lots of cranberry and roses.

[quote=“Ravn, post:37, topic:425”][quote author=Ravn link=topic=460.msg10574#msg10574 date=1212490596]
Try boiling pine sticks for a long time, you will see that the tre oil gathers on the top of the water, mix this with fat and you have green soap(Used for over thousend years in norway). This soap can be used for whasing your body, your hair(especialy good if you have dreads), treat woodwork(floors, tabels and the likes) and it’s antiseptic, so you can use it(mixed with water) to clean out infections in the skin.
[/quote]

And yeah, just one thing I forgot to mention, the pine sticks has to be fresh and preferabely still have teir “leaves” on …[/quote]
Which sort of fat would be best to mix it with?

Ai just read this again. How could ai be so stupid? Its an artemisia genus plant right? Most of the artemisias in mai area were used as a shampoo. Also, if you have pure clay (of any type) it works well for light to medium strength jobs (reputed to clear dandruff).

Its an artemisia genus plant right? Most of the artemisias in mai area were used as a shampoo.

chase, i’d love to know more about this. i tried doing a search of ‘artemisia homemade shampoo’ but couldn’t find anything.

Ai cant find the original reference just now (grrrr >:(). But for your consideration:

Artemisia campestris L.
Field Sagewort; Asteraceae
Blackfoot Other (Soap)
Infusion of roots cleansed and used for scalp infections.
Hellson, John C. 1974 Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot Indians. Ottawa. National Museums of Canada. Mercury Series (p. 123)

and

Artemisia douglasiana Bess.
Douglas’ Sagewort; Asteraceae
Kawaiisu Drug (Dermatological Aid)
Infusion of plant used as a hair wash to prevent the hair from falling out.
Zigmond, Maurice L. 1981 Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press (p. 12)

(same as above) - Kawaiisu Drug (Other)
Infusion of plant used as a bath for mother and father after childbirth.
Zigmond, Maurice L. 1981 Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press (p. 12)
Plus the many references to curing rashes and colds by bathing in Artemisia infusions.
(all found at http://herb.umd.umich.edu/)
Ai’ll try to find the reference to more ordinary bathing uses :P.

the nettle root i put it in watter it foam much.

So i got to the idea using cranberry or lingonberry juice with water for washing. Do you think that works?

10 minute discussion of primitive soaps, with a little of brushing teeth with sticks and using sandstone on nails. Nothing new, but she does talk through making a lather a couple times:

http://www.wildebeat.net/index.cgi/shows/skills/E155.html

I have not used shampoo in almost five years now. I only use water to wash it. I’ve also stopped using deodorant and soap. Soap strips the oils from your skin (which is also bad now in the winter time because you will be colder). I only use soap occasionally if I’m really coated in grime or something. But for the most part, water is all you’ll ever need. My girlfriend has complemented me on my smell, both my hair and my body. That’s all the confirmation I need to know I’m doing things right. Other people have complemented me in the same ways, including other girls.

The hard part of going shampoo-less is the two or three weeks it takes for the oils on your head to settle down over-production and ease into a calm regularity. Be warned, you will look like a grease-head for a couple weeks. But the good news is that will all settle down and balance out with time, and then you’ll never have to worry about it again! Alternatively, you could just shave your head / buzz your head, quit using shampoo, and then let it grow back.

Also, cold turkey is the only way I know to go. I don’t think you can incrementally cut down on shampoo usage to good effect. It’s certainly worth trying out though.

Have you heard of dry shampoo? It’s great for the transition period. I have brown hair, so I make it with a 1:1 ratio of carob powder and arrow root powder (or you can use corn starch). If you’re blond just the arrow root works, if you’re red head, cinnamon and arrow root. You dust it into your clean but oily looking hair and it absorbs the oil and makes your hair all nice and fluffy. :slight_smile: