# you know your husband has been brain washed when



## CaliChan (May 23, 2013)

He tells you that its healthier and safer to use commercial products. That there is absolutely no down fall to gmo food and that commercial soap is not as bad as I make it out to be. That hand made soaps are worse for you.


----------



## Rachelmf (May 23, 2013)

He says that handmade soap is worse for you?  What does he think is bad about it?


----------



## lizflowers42 (May 23, 2013)

Uh oh...sounds like someone will be sleeping on the couch tonight


----------



## 100%Natural (May 23, 2013)

That's not brainwashed - that's uneducated.  Set that boy straight!


----------



## CaliChan (May 23, 2013)

He thinks that if handmade was so much better that every one would be doing it. *rolls eyes* what hedoesnt seem to understand is that all to often big companies chose a quick buck over quality. Mass media has proven its effectiveness with him. He's still on a "high fructose corn syrup is better than cane sugar" kick cause I told him about how a soda a day increases your chances of diabetes by 22%. And his defence is that they made commercials saying how it is just as good for you...... cause everything on TV is apparently true.


----------



## bodhi (May 23, 2013)

That is a classic example of denial.  I cant deal with the fact that the media has lied to me all my life and i bought it, therefore they are right, and all you wackjob hippies are still drugged.  LOL!  Eegads...  Can you tell ive heard that one before?


----------



## nanashousesoap (May 23, 2013)

My husband was convinced "lye soap" would take your skin off ...   until he ran out of the little soaps he scavenged from his hotel stays on business trips and he had no choice but to use MY SOAP!   

He's hooked now and pimps my soap every chance he gets now.  He tells the guys he works with it's like crack ...  one time is all it takes!


----------



## OHello (May 24, 2013)

My in-laws are the same.  :-?


----------



## maya (May 24, 2013)

WHOA. That would cause some serious issues!


----------



## Mommysoaper (May 24, 2013)

nanashousesoap said:


> My husband was convinced "lye soap" would take your skin off ...   until he ran out of the little soaps he scavenged from his hotel stays on business trips and he had no choice but to use MY SOAP!
> 
> He's hooked now and pimps my soap every chance he gets now.  He tells the guys he works with it's like crack ...  one time is all it takes!



My husband was always supportive with my soaping "addiction" but when he started using it regularly he definitely became my best "marketer!"  Love it!  He won't go back to commercial soaps now and even tries to hand samples out.  He was out in the field doing military manuvers a few weeks ago and handed out tos of samples to the soldiers.  He figured they needed something to take a shower with!


----------



## Kay (May 24, 2013)

I've only made 3 batches so far. The first time I made it I was sooo excited, I called him on the cell phone and made him come to house to try it out! lol! He was rather ho hum about the whole thing. Then he grudgingly agreed to try it in the shower the next morning. His comment? "It's a little rough on one side". AArrgghh! Use the *&#@ other side then!! NOW? He's a true convert! He had to use it a whole 3 times before he truly converted. lol!


----------



## CaliChan (May 24, 2013)

he uses it all the time. he even likes it. hes just under the impression that if hand made was so good dove and other big soap companies would be selling it as well.

Bodhi:  i know what you mean! i was talking to one of my old friends from elementary school and i was telling her about how i stopped buying commercial cleaners and started making my own. then she told me about "glowing bubbles" you make them by dumping a glow-stick into liquid soap. and because i am uncomfortable with my child playing with glow-stick goo im "sheltering my children from the world" (there's broken glass in there!) and i need to stop because everything is toxic anyways so i should just stop trying. 
I prefer to be a healthy hippie lol


----------



## lpstephy85 (May 24, 2013)

Wow, that is crazy. When I started looking into making my own soap and shampoo, my husband gave me a weird look. I made shampoo (well, used an ounce of organic shampoo and them mixed it with herbal tea) he loved it and that is all he uses. Then, just recently started making my soaps and again, that is all he does. He loves to tell people how I make my own soap. Hopefully he will wake up Cali and see the truth!!


----------



## makemineirish (May 25, 2013)

FOR YOUR HUSBAND:



CaliChan said:


> He thinks that if handmade was so much better that every one would be doing it. *rolls eyes* what hedoesnt seem to understand is that all to often big companies chose a quick buck over quality.



There is evidence of handmade soap being used as early as 2800BC in Babylon.  Nevertheless, soap manufacturing processes remained largely unchanged and primarily a household chore until World War I, when a shortage of fats forced a switch to a synthetic detergents developed by Germany.  The convenience of purchasing supplanted the routine of making (Like TV dinners vs cooked meals...or corporate agriculture vs home gardens, the first is easier but the second healthier/tastier/eco-friendly). 

Many commercially produced "soaps" are petroleum based and/or synthetic detergents.  Those that are comprised of the natural base ingredients have been stripped of glycerin to sell as a profitable byproduct, typically do not contain much (if anything) in the way of unsaponifiables, and have a number of chemical preservatives added to prolong shelf life.  

Corporations are profit-driven, not morally so.  Nestle once convinced impoverished mothers that formula was more nutritious for their infants than breast milk, distributed large samples for free, and then started charging once their breast milk had dried up.  The mothers were forced to starve their families to feed their infants, while those unable to afford the formula watched them die.

http://newint.org/features/1982/04/01/babies/
http://www.businessinsider.com/nestles-infant-formula-scandal-2012-6?op=1



CaliChan said:


> Mass media has proven its effectiveness with him. He's still on a "high fructose corn syrup is better than cane sugar" kick cause I told him about how a soda a day increases your chances of diabetes by 22%. And his defence is that they made commercials saying how it is just as good for you...... cause everything on TV is apparently true.



In your husband's defense, he is half-right.  Corn sugar is not really that much worse...or better for you than cane sugar.  Your body does process them slightly differently, but they are surprisingly similar in makeup.  Typical HFCS contains 45% glucose and 55% fructose, while white sugar is comprised of an even 50-50 split.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/sugar.htm

The problem with high-fructose corn syrup is that corn subsidies have made it incredibly cheap.  Therefore, corporate food producers pour excessive amounts into EVERYTHING.  Ketchup is still tasty without any sugar, much less the mega-dose that Heinz adds.  (I am a dork that makes my own condiments because it reduces packaging, tastes better, uses produce from my garden, and is frickin' easy...so I've tasted a few variations.)  

The SO won't touch "white death" while I prefer to die happy and do not particularly censure myself.  However, I do not add more than satisfies me either.  Having given up soda altogether (out of packaging concerns not calorie restriction), I am amazed at how much tastier strawberries are.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/health-effects-of-sugar

Similarly, the characteristics of our food has changed drastically.  The incredibly cheap price of corn also resulted in a nation-wide shift to utilizing it as a primary livestock feed, which changes the composition of meat.  While it is true that a meat-centric diet is not nutritionally balanced regardless...it is also true that the meat we consume today bears little resemblance to that on our grandparents' plates.  That is even before factoring in hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, or GMO components to the argument.

I am with Michael Pollan when it comes to food: that consumables made by people are preferable to those produced by corporations.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/pollan-cooks/

I hope that I did not come across as abrasive or bore everyone to tears with my diatribe.  I'll dismount from my soapbox and leave you in peace.


----------



## Thistle Creek Honey (May 25, 2013)

Being a guy-person myself, I think the best analogy would be food based.  Ask him if he thinkgs McDonalds hamburgers are better than the one he's makes on his grill.  Most people eat McD's, but it doesn't make them the best.


----------



## Clemmey (May 25, 2013)

So for arguments sake I find it interesting that the masses have glommed onto GMO's when what it is a way for corporations to grow corn and other things using a milder weed killer (RoundUp specificially). In the past they have used WAY worse weed killers and stronger pesticides. RoundUp, while being a pesticide, is mild and can be used buy the end consumer as opposed to Herbicides (some of them are worse than RoundUp) or stronger pesticides. So I guess my question is this: do you think that we are more aware because of the lawsuit against Monsanto, or for another reason? Why now... 

For the record, I support buying local and knowing where your food and soap comes from.


----------



## CaliChan (May 26, 2013)

Clemmey: I think you may want to read this.
I only recently started looking into GMOs and why they are bad. But I do know that other countries have banned them. And that it kills some of the nutritional value. I don't want to have to eat more to be healthy, America has enough of an obesity problem as it is. I've even started making my own flour kso that's one less thing were getting empty calories from.
http://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/gmos-for-newbies/


----------



## Bicycle808 (May 26, 2013)

My wife uses my soap to the exclusion of all others, but I think that's mostly b/c it's free for her and she's stingy.  :shock:

When we first met, the Missus was very trusting of mainstream, accessible, low-buck/high-margin consumables.  Now, due to stuff she's read (some of which were my suggestions), she's as paranoid as any of us.

The GMO argument is huge, and while I do believe that it is profit-driven and probably negative overall, there are scientists developing GMOs to help fight hunger.  By creating new plants that can better withstand drought, floods, or pestilence, they're helping ppl in third world countries to grow food, rather than starve.  So, yeah, I'm not going to simplify it to a simple GMO=bad, thing, BUT... They can put "contains GMOs" on the labels, and they ought to be required to.  So we can make informed decisions.  If GMOs aren't scary, why are they scared to identify them?

re: corn... I don't even wanna get started on corn. :shock:


----------



## three_little_fishes (May 26, 2013)

Mommysoaper said:


> My husband was always supportive with my soaping "addiction" but when he started using it regularly he definitely became my best "marketer!"  Love it!  He won't go back to commercial soaps now and even tries to hand samples out.  He was out in the field doing military manuvers a few weeks ago and handed out tos of samples to the soldiers.  He figured they needed something to take a shower with!



Lol! My husband takes my soap to the field too. He's had a few people ask about it. 

As for the OP. This reminds me of my mom. Homemade laundry detergent she claims an allergy to. She can only use the big name, most expensive brand in the orange bottle with a blue lid. Same with my soap. She'll ask me what's in it and will always find something that she says breaks her out (even the unscented, no color, oatmeal honey).


----------



## Serenity (May 26, 2013)

Well I'm proud to say that my husband is actually the one who suggested I try soap making. Hallelujah to him! He likes using it too, although he doesn't know one scent from the other and he definitely doesn't share my enthusiasm when I shove a bar in his nose and I'm all excited with "Tell me what you think!" I don't know if he even cares what it smells like, he just uses it. He says my bars are too big. They're a pretty standard size around 120g. Do men like smaller bars?

My dad will only use my soap if it's unscented and even then he hasn't commented on it. Ordinarily he uses Palmolive Gold which to me is very strongly perfumed. I find that a little insulting but I'll get over it. 

Thankfully I have this forum where people do get excited about the soap I've made and what it smells like. So thank you all!


----------



## makemineirish (May 26, 2013)

*CaliChan and Clemmey*

I agree that there is conflicting information on the safety concerns and nutritional composition of GMOs.  They are not inherently bad.  There are scientists doing amazing things to revolutionize the food supply.

Golden rice is a variety of rice genetically engineered to contain beta-carotene.  The rice was developed to combat vitamin A deficiency in impoverished countries, a deficiency that is estimated to kill 670,000 kids under the age of five each year and leaves as much as a third of African children visually impaired.  Rice is readily grown in much of the world, inexpensive to store, and does not require refrigeration to transport.

The problem is that ideological motivations are not profitable.  A prime example would be strains such as Monsanto's Roundup-resistant corn, allowing you to douse the crop with MORE herbicide without damaging the crop.
http://www.businessinsider.com/monsantos-roundup-and-resistant-corn-found-to-be-toxic-2012-9

To me, there is a much more malevolent aspect ofGMO food that is largely undiscussed.  Corporations are currently allowed to patent the genetically modified seeds that they engineer.  This means that the world's food supply is becoming privatized and is as contentious of a debate as to whether companies should own the water supply.  There have already been legal precedents set were large agri-business tested neighboring farmers crops and sued them for patent infringement.  The farmers did not steal anything, simply had the misfortune to be downwind and a victim of cross-pollination.  As a result, they were bankrupted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/monsanto-lawsuit-organic-farmers-appeal_n_1385693.html
In another instance, the supreme court recently ruled against a farmer who deliberately cultivated and sold seed he propagated from legally purchased parent stock.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/13/4...enetically-modified-seeds-patent-infringement 

Regardless of your opinion of GMOs, villainous or heroic, it should be your individual choice whether to consume them.  Labeling should be mandatory.


----------



## bodhi (May 27, 2013)

Dont let me in on the GMO discussion!  

Glow sticks in your soap? I will be very polite and only say - OMG!!!


----------

