Kamahido
Paladin of Soap
I too would like to know what woods can kill you. Never thought about it.
I promised I'd ask... sawdust in soap?
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BrewerGeorge
Well-Known Member
Kamahido
Paladin of Soap
Mr. Funnyman strikes again.Arrows, spears, clubs...
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GraciousGraphics
Active Member
GraciousGraphics
Active Member
I'm questioning that too..................
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Sounds like really good stuff! BTW.that's the first time I've ever seen 100% positive reviews on Amazon. Unfortunately, ingredients aren't listed anywhere on the page... unless I missed something (wouldn't be the first time
). If you post a list of Super Soap ingredients it would make it a lot easier to offer suggestions on how to make something similar. <WINK>
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Wood is often associated with issues of dust inhalation causing lung damage and/or cancer, rather than the topical effect of the wood itself.
When there is toxicity, the problem is often with the sap or the bark and leaves (rather than the wood itself).
Having said that, some of the "international" wood I would not use the dust on my skin would include oleander, fig, laburnum, anything in the solenacea family (eg. Angel's Trumpet), western red cedar, teak, walnut and yew.
Yew is the oldest "poison" wood that I know of - Pliny the Elder wrote about it a couple of thousand years ago. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew tested the old stories of toxins, and found a variety of toxins in the leaves, bark and heartwood of the yew.
We have a few toxic woods here in Australia, who's toxins cause anything from skin blistering (our native maples and mangroves do this, mangroves can also cause blindness) to heart attacks.
Some of our native trees contain poisons like cyanide (our native indigo is one - the roots were used to make a fish poison) and some have a poison similar to strycnine.
Our Mulga wood is one you don't want scratching you if you are walking in the bush (it will turn septic). This wood was used for making spearheads.
Our mahogany (Dysoxylum muelleri) is really irritating on the skin (apparently this gets worse as the wood is aged), and our native maple (Flindersia brayleyana) is known to cause "exfoliating excema".
If you wanted to have a look, these sites have a bit of information (I haven't really mentioned sensitivities, which these cover a bit):
UK: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf#
http://www.ubeaut.com.au/badwood.htm
http://baysidewoodturners.com/media...ns_ITD Guidelines Draft - August 24, 2012.pdf
Having said all that, I actually like the idea of sawdust as an exfoliating agent in soap. I've used bamboo, which also has proteins that add a really nice skin feel to the soap and I was chatting to a (former) industrial manufacturer just yesterday, who said they used coconut fibres for exfoliating soaps.
When there is toxicity, the problem is often with the sap or the bark and leaves (rather than the wood itself).
Having said that, some of the "international" wood I would not use the dust on my skin would include oleander, fig, laburnum, anything in the solenacea family (eg. Angel's Trumpet), western red cedar, teak, walnut and yew.
Yew is the oldest "poison" wood that I know of - Pliny the Elder wrote about it a couple of thousand years ago. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew tested the old stories of toxins, and found a variety of toxins in the leaves, bark and heartwood of the yew.
We have a few toxic woods here in Australia, who's toxins cause anything from skin blistering (our native maples and mangroves do this, mangroves can also cause blindness) to heart attacks.
Some of our native trees contain poisons like cyanide (our native indigo is one - the roots were used to make a fish poison) and some have a poison similar to strycnine.
Our Mulga wood is one you don't want scratching you if you are walking in the bush (it will turn septic). This wood was used for making spearheads.
Our mahogany (Dysoxylum muelleri) is really irritating on the skin (apparently this gets worse as the wood is aged), and our native maple (Flindersia brayleyana) is known to cause "exfoliating excema".
If you wanted to have a look, these sites have a bit of information (I haven't really mentioned sensitivities, which these cover a bit):
UK: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf#
http://www.ubeaut.com.au/badwood.htm
http://baysidewoodturners.com/media...ns_ITD Guidelines Draft - August 24, 2012.pdf
Having said all that, I actually like the idea of sawdust as an exfoliating agent in soap. I've used bamboo, which also has proteins that add a really nice skin feel to the soap and I was chatting to a (former) industrial manufacturer just yesterday, who said they used coconut fibres for exfoliating soaps.
Lin19687
Well-Known Member
IMO I would never use wood to help as a scrubby, or anything really.
I think that if you need a scrubby to get something off your hands then use a brush with some soap on it.
I would be too worried about someone getting scratched or god knows what else.
Plus, one persons 'light ' scrubby is anothers shredded body
I think that if you need a scrubby to get something off your hands then use a brush with some soap on it.
I would be too worried about someone getting scratched or god knows what else.
Plus, one persons 'light ' scrubby is anothers shredded body
Have you ever worked with cedar and gotten a splinter? Ouch! Definitely do not use cedar or walnut!
I have purchased this Pinerite that is made with pine and soap shreds I think? Very interesting product...
http://www.pinerite.com/
I have purchased this Pinerite that is made with pine and soap shreds I think? Very interesting product...
http://www.pinerite.com/
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Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Interesting indeed... and gets high marks on Amazon Reviews.
Borax is listed first. Soap is next. The two together comprise 98% of the recipe. Since the pine needle powder is listed last it's either less than 1% or the same amount as the lanolin and listed in alphabetical order. So, a trial recipe would look something like this:
49% Borax: Water Softener
49% Powdered bar soap ground to a powder in a food processor. Ingredients not listed.
1% Lanolin: Added to the powder mix vs in the soap itself
1% Pine Needles ground to a powder in a food processor... I can see some under my Austrian Pine from my office window. Hmmm...
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Okay, there goes that '100% natural' claim. There is no real definition of natural per the FDA, so it means nothing on a label.
Still, wouldn't it just be easier to make a Borax Soap with 1% lanolin and for exfoliation add your ground up pine needles? Of course, I don't know how you can really make a fine enough powder with pine needles, but I've never tried it as I was happy to use them for mulch as they fell from the trees.
Still, wouldn't it just be easier to make a Borax Soap with 1% lanolin and for exfoliation add your ground up pine needles? Of course, I don't know how you can really make a fine enough powder with pine needles, but I've never tried it as I was happy to use them for mulch as they fell from the trees.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
LOL Me too!
What it means on a label is many people would buy it just because it says that
Exactly. They are buying something based on a perceived meaning, but it means something different to different people. Even the FDA can't define as regards to labeling personal care items and state specifically that 'natural' should not be used on cosmetic ingredients statements.
reference: https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/resourcesforyou/industry/ucm388736.htm#7
reference: https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/resourcesforyou/industry/ucm388736.htm#7
Jen Emert
New Member
I was watching soaping 101 on you tube and she made soap from items she found on a vacation to the beach “nights in rodanthe” and she took ocean water, shells and sand and made soap from it. My husband and I LOVE going camping in gatlinburg and that got me thinking. What could I use in soap from there. I was thinking something with pine or pine needles but didn’t dream you could use that. I figured I could definitely use some water from little pigeon river and maybe some rocks to use for a mold but wanted something woodsy. This is great!!!
