The Quick And Easy Way To Rebatch Soap

There are many people today who are choosing natural bath and body products because of sensitivities they may have to the chemicals and detergents used in many of these off the shelf products. I discovered the world of natural body care when my daughter developed eczema at nine months - I found that the detergents used in regular soap can be very drying to her skin, as well as mine. This is when I began researching handmade soap and its benefits.

Handmade soap has many benefits for your skin. When making soap, you can choose the oils that you feel will suit your skin's needs. As I read soap recipes online, the process seems quite simple - choose your oils, run it through a soap calculator, weigh your ingredients, mix them, add the lye water, stir, pour into molds. However, as a mother of three little inquisitive minds ages five and under, working with the saponifying agent in soap, namely sodium hydroxide, aka lye, was not an option for me. How, then could I have the benefits of handmade soap without the dangers of lye?

Further research brought me to the practice of rebatching. Rebatching soap was a great option as I could get all the benefits of handmade soap without having to work with or store lye in my home. Rebatching soap is the process of taking fresh handmade soap, melting it down, adding your chosen oils, scent and color, then allowing to harden.

Rebatching soap is not the same as melt and pour soap, which is vegetable glycerin soap. In fact, I like to call rebatching soap, melt, wait, stir, melt, wait,stir, then spread soap. There are a few methods one can use for rebatching, but here I am going to outline the oven rebatching method that I used.

First, obtain some fresh (10 days or less) handmade soap. There are many vendors online that sell soap specifically for rebatching - find the one that works for you. The older the soap, the harder it will be to grate or chop up and the more liquid you will have to add to get it to melt smoothly. Because the soap is so fresh, it is advised that you wear gloves while handling it to avoid any irritation from the saponifying soap.

Preheat your oven to 150-200 degrees. The hotter the oven, the more you have to watch over the soap. I set my oven to the space right before the 200 degrees.

Chop or grate the soap into the smallest pieces possible - the smaller the pieces, the faster the melting process. For each pound of soap, I add about 2-3 tbs of distilled water or milk. (When I made my coffee soap, coffee was my liquid of choice.) Place the pieces into a glass casserole dish with a lid. Pour the liquid over and place into the preheated oven.

Now you wait. Check your soap every 10-15 minutes, depending on the temperature of your oven. Stir the soap pieces with a sturdy wooden or plastic spoon. If you need to, add more liquid, but keep the adding liquid to a minimum. After about 30 minutes, your soap pieces should begin to turn to a substance like applesauce or softened petrolatum jelly. Keep it heating evenly and stir until the mixture is as smooth as possible with no unmelted pieces.

At this time, you can quickly add your fragrance or essential oils as well as your color. Follow your manufacturer's directions and be sure your additives are skin safe! Stir until the additives are incorporated, then spread the mixture into your molds. I prefer to use a plastic log mold or a box (yes, a box) lined with freezer paper. Tap the molds carefully (you don't want to splash hot soap on yourself) so that the soap settles - you don't want any air pockets in your soap. Set your mold or molds aside and let the soap solidify, usually overnight depending on the size of the mold. Once the soap has hardened, pop it out of the mold, let dry for about three days and you have your customized handmade soap!

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Author: Christine Lowe-Woolard is a mother of three and the owner of neosoul.essentials, llc. Founded on the principles of natural skin and body care, neosoul.essentials, llc carries all natural, preservative free products for bath and body. Visit http://www.natural-skin-products.net for product information.

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Red Scar After Mole Removal - 2 Myths About The Dreaded Red Scar Effect

Hey [your name], You Still Have A Red Scar After Mole Removal?

Yes, the dreaded sentence that you receive from your family or friends after you've got rid of that mole. You are not alone and there is talk about ways to treat this as well.

Please be reminded that although you might get some advice about how to treat your red scar after mole removal you must always confirm this. Confirm this by going through the points you learned with a dermatologist.

Myth 1: There Is Nothing To Worry About That Red Scar

While the natural healing process of that red scar can be very predictable often times you have to take very good care. You have this because your skin is sensitive and prone to keloid formation.

For instance, a normal timeframe of the healing from this red scar phenomenon is 4-12 months it usually is not normal if you expose it like your other parts of your skin. Keep it protected from sunrays for at least a few months.

Myth 2: Use Vinegar Or Baking Soda To Heal It

This is a most common advice given out online and I've done some readings too. You have to remember that this is totally unprofessional advice. Anytime it involves your body you better cautious.

You cannot use some household items with a non proven method and instruction to use it to treat any red scar after mole removal in anyway. Vitamin E cream is a good suggestion but still talk to a pharmacist first.

Follow Professional Proven Advice

Of these two myths probably one of the more common ones is the advice that you see in discussion forums are user generated and not professionally approved. You need to have some sense of facts to count on before you treat that red scar after mole removal.

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Author: Learn More About Red Scar After Mole Removal, at a reliable website resource on Everything Mole Removal today.

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Hypertrophic Scar Treatment

When it comes to hypertrophic scars, there are very few successful treatments currently available. The reason for these limitations in available treatments mainly has to do with the difficulty of eradication the scar since it is most notably reported as a reoccurring scar. What this means is that while many of the treatments may seem like they work immediately following the procedure, after a few months they come back. It is not yet clear as to why the hypertrophic scars for this but many dermatologists have their theories associated with it.

In any type of injury to the dermis, the body's natural reaction to it is to form a scar. This scar being formed is similar to that of a callous forming when you work too hard. It is just a natural defense mechanism to prevent any further injuries. In most cases the outermost layers of skin are damaged and therefore the scar can easily be remedied by removing these layers of skin. Unfortunately with the hypertrophic scars, they form under the papillary layer of skin which means it cannot just be eradicated with the normal scar remedies.

The worst type of scar you can get is of course a keloid with the scar being in a close second. The reasons for this is that just like a regular scar the hypertrophic scar only affects the traumatized area of skin but the keloids affect outside of this area.

The reasons that many people are looking at remedying a scar is that it is more common than that of a keloid scar and can even occur as a direct result of a surgical procedure. While they are reoccurring the hypertrophic scars also digress quicker which means that they are more likely to respond to a scar treatment than a keloid would.

The treatments that are available for scars vary on the actual scar. If it is a very noticeable scar it is also more likely to be harder to eradicate. If you have a scar and are looking at getting rid of it then your best option is to seek out a certified dermatologist who is better equipped at giving you the best treatment options for your scar.

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Hypertrophic Scars

Hypertrophic scar formation

Hypertrophic burn scars

Dr. Jim Greene would like to invite you to visit the above resources if you are interested in learning more about hypertrophic scars.

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