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2 RECIPES FOR HOME-MADE SOAP

3/6/2014

7 Comments

 
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Recipe by Bassam Khawand
This is a recipe I found online and always use. I find it works well all the time. I have recently tried adding honey from my own beehives to my soap but I still need to find the right dosage.

Ingredients (adjust quantities as necessary):
-10 kg of olive oil
-1.5 kg of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)
-3.5 liters of water
-250 gm of table salt
*Optional: Honey, laurel oil or other aromatic essential oils (lavender, lemon, rosemary, etc.)

Instructions:
1. Add the water to the caustic soda slowly in a plastic bowl and stir with a wooden spoon
*WARNING* Caustic soda is highly corrosive and can cause serious burns to the skin and blindness if it comes in contact with the eyes. Always wear gloves and goggles when handling it
2. Let the mixture cool for 4 hours
3. Add the salt while mixing constantly
4. Add the olive oil slowly while mixing and turning constantly until the mixture becomes thick and cohesive
*You may add laurel oil to the olive oil with a ratio of 1 to 10 before adding it to the mixture
5. Pour the mixture in a large mold or smaller ones
6. Let the soap dry for 2 weeks, away from sunlight
7. If you used a large mold, cut out bars of 10 cm x 5 cm or weighing approximately 100 grams

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Recipe by Liza Charbel
Ingredients:
-1,000 gm of olive oil (Note: 1 liter of oil = 920 gm)      
-124 gm of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)
-340 gm of water
-Laurel leaves

Instructions:
1. Dissolve the caustic soda little by little in the water
2. Stir slowly with a stainless steel spoon
3. Let the mixture cool to 45 °C
*WARNING* Caustic soda can reach a temperature of 90 °C very quickly when mixed with water 
4. Warm the oil slowly in another container to reach 45 °C
5. When both liquids are at the same temperature, mix them until they have a unified “yoghurt” texture (when you move a spoon across it, it should leave a “trace”)
6. Put laurel leaves in the bottom of a mold (cake or cupcake mold) then cover with the mixture
7. Cover the mold with cling film stuck to the paste
8. After 24-48 hours, remove the soap - if you used a large mold, you can cut out small bars
9. Let your soap dry for at least 4 weeks on a grill in a well-ventilated area

7 Comments

I MADE COMPOST ON MY BALCONY - AND SO CAN YOU!  

3/6/2014

3 Comments

 
Submitted by Nathalie Rosa Blucher - Beirut
Last February, the garbage was piling up in Beirut’s streets and I had toyed with the idea of having a compost on my balcony for some time, so I decided to jump into action. I bought a 17.5 litre bucket with lid at the dollar store around the corner, gathered some cardboard, egg cartons, newspaper, a small stash of organic waste and a bag of soil from a construction site across the street which my grocer helped me acquire.

On February 13, I drilled holes in the bucket (bottom and below the rim) and filled it with three layers: shredded egg cartons and newspaper, organic waste and 2 scoops of soil. I knew the soil would be quite dead but I purposefully chose it since most Beirutis would have access to this kind of soil only. Then I closed the lid and waited…

The compost quickly attracted flies and small insects and began to smell very earthy – a nice smell, actually. I kept adding organic waste such as (organic) egg shells, orange rinds (not too many to avoid having a highly acidic compost), vegetables and fruit peels, and a few bits of leftover or rotten food. I left out tea bags (they usually are bleached with chloride) and banana peels (they are usually heavily fertilised). Oh, and hair! The girls in the house empty their brushes over the compost and the guys add bits of cut-off fringe.

After 3 weeks, the compost was three quarters full and appeared really healthy. I always add a bit of soil when the layer of organic stuff gets 3-4 cm thick. My permaculture network friend Alexis gave me some “live” microorganism-rich compost from the pile in his garden, which upgraded our compost from 2 to 4 stars, I reckon.

I’m planning to start a second compost in March, this time with worms (I will be borrowing books about this from another friend in our network, Wolfgang) to compare results.

Composting on my balcony turned out to be an easy thing to do and the amount of waste it reduced in a 4-person household was considerable.

If you feel inspired, yalla go ahead! This helpful link from my friend Rita helped me get started: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-your-own-indoor-co-138645 
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3 Comments

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