What is everyone's hygiene procedure?

[ChrissyB]

Hi Everyone
I know that this might seem like a strange question, but I was wondering what everyone's hygiene procedure is when making soap, especially if you are making it to sell.
Personally, I know my kitchen is clean, but I just give everything a good wipe down and make sure all my pots, moulds, spoons, bowls, everything is scrupulously clean.
However, if I were to be cooking cakes or something to donate to the school cake stall or something like that, I make a solution of bleach or domestos and water, and wipe and wash every single thing that I will be using before I even start. Of course I don't do that every night when I cook dinner, but if other people are going to pay for my cakes I ensure that everything is meticulous. Just wondering if anyone goes to the same lengths for their soapmaking, or if there is any real need to.
Thanks
Chrissy

 

[topcat]

I'm with you Chrissy. I just make sure all my workspace and implements are clean and go from there. If I am making a body butter I do the whole sterilise the bench, the implements and the jars and wash, wash, wash my hands continually through the process. But I figure soap is SOAP .................................. it's already clean

Tanya

 

[ChrissyB]

Ha Ha, yes I thought the same thing!! I was just curious as to what everyone else does!
Well I'm glad that I'm not crazy!!

 

[xyxoxy]

But I figure soap is SOAP .................................. it's already clean

A good friend of mine uses that theory to get out of cleaning her shower.
"Soap scum has the word SOAP in it so I figure it's already clean..."

I can live with that.

 

[welder]

Bleach works okay, but you know what makes the best disinfectant?

Hydrogen Peroxide.

It's cheap & effective & leaves almost no residue at all, so there's no trace chemicals left behing to contaminate anything. In fact, the super tiny residue soon dissappears too, because it evaporates into the air.

You see, hydrogen peroxide is chemically just ozonated water. In high concentrations, it's potentially dangerous, but in domestic concentrations it fairly safe.

High concentrations is stuff like 80% and over and is used in liquid rocket propellant & some explosives IIRC.

It works by electro-chemically oxidising everything on contact, that's why it can bleach hair. Even relatively low concentrations can cause MINOR painless skin burns that smell like a dead guys feet & appear as a whitish area (direct oxygen bleached).

To make peroxide, they pump ozone (O2) up through a column of water (H2O) to make H2O2. The extra O molecule is unstable and hungrily looks for anything to arc out its electro-chemical charge on.

It fries germs almost instantly & leaves no chemical residue (excess H2O2 evaporates harmlessley).

WEAR GLOVES & use a spray bottle to apply (over time, it'll eat your rags).

Great for baby bottles, soothers toys etc---again--there's no residue left after drying.

Buy gallon jugs of the 35% food grade stuff from any hydroponic "gardening" store (AKA dope growers supply house) for about $15-20 and water it down smaller amounts into your spray bottle with tap water to about 1-2%. OR just buy the weaker stuff from any dollar store or drug store.

Although the residue evaporates completely, rinsing food items & baby stuff with clean tap water after peroxide sterilisation is a good safety measure.

NEVER put the stuff in food or on anyones skin.

 

[digit]

I do the same as Chrissy and Topcat. I also mop the floor and close the vents to the central ac/heating (Don't want to add to airborne dust). I always wear gloves, heavy for lye and nitriles for every thing else. For things other than soap, I am freshly showered, clean clothing with clean apron, and hair pulled back.

I got some sanitizing tablets (kind used in restaurants/spas) to dip my bottles and jars in after washing. It contains the active ingredient Quaternary, based on a tip from a post here from someone who works in the spa and personal care industry. But I found I needed to dry them or I ended up with water spots. And that is difficult to do with a bottle. Must be my water.

So I end up spritzing/rinsing with 91% Isopropyl alcohol. The items stay wet for a good 15 minutes, then I wipe with clean paper towels.

Welder - Thank you for this info!!

I keep a test sample from every batch to observe. When I am ready to sell, I will send samples off to be tested by a lab. However; technically that is only truly applicable to have testing performed on every batch, not in my starting budget. But I do believe it will give me very useful feedback.

Digit

 

[mandolyn]

For soapmaking, I make sure my equipment is nice & clean with no residue from the previous batch. I clean off the surfaces I work on, but I don't try to disinfect anything for soaping.

I am very careful, though about not cross-contaminating my EO's & FO's, so each has it's own pipette taped to the bottle. I keep all my EO's & FO's in a cabinet so there's no dust contamination to the pipettes.

That's it.

 

[Lindy]

I figure the lye is going to kill any little nasties, but I do still wipe everything down and also make sure my soaping equiment is clean of previous batches so there is no cross-cantamination.

Be very careful with Hydrogine Pyroxide - during my First Responder as well as my Occupational First Aid III training we were taught that although H202 does an amazing job sterilizing, it damages healthy tissue as well which causes longer healing time and worse scarring. It is recommended that you rinse wounds with clean running water. I now only use Peroxide for cleaning my earrings... :?

 

[welder]

I figure the lye is going to kill any little nasties, but I do still wipe everything down and also make sure my soaping equiment is clean of previous batches so there is no cross-cantamination.

Be very careful with Hydrogine Pyroxide - during my First Responder as well as my Occupational First Aid III training we were taught that although H202 does an amazing job sterilizing, it damages healthy tissue as well which causes longer healing time and worse scarring. It is recommended that you rinse wounds with clean running water. I now only use Peroxide for cleaning my earrings... :?

I also figured that the lyewater would kill off most critters.

Yes, peroxide fries pretty much any organic tissue it contacts. I've heard that iodine also kills healthy tissue.

Regarding ANY disinfectant, I think getting the right concentration that kills off dangerous microbes while only killing off an acceptable quantity of healthy tissue is the real goal of the use of this class of chemical in medicine. Alcohol strips proteins. Bleach is a carcinogen. Hydrogen peroxide electro-chemically fries most anything it touches. Iodine is poisonous. All are useful, but all kill living things on contact. The trick is finding a concentration high enough to kill bad bugs without destroying too much human tissue.

 

[AshleyR]

I always make my soap in my kitchen, and I'm kind of anal about keeping my kitchen squeaky clean! Every time I do dishes and clean up the counters I wash them with a little bleach. I also have Clorox wipes around at all times that I wipe everything down with too!

 

[Lindy]

We were taught to use antibiotic ointments after rinsing the wound clean with clean water. This encourages healing right away, reduces the chances of scarring and helps the body to heal quicker. When I finished my courses I threw out all my peroxide - I since got over myself and have it again but just to treat bad infections and clean my pierced earrings..... :?

 

[welder]

We were taught to use antibiotic ointments after rinsing the wound clean with clean water. This encourages healing right away, reduces the chances of scarring and helps the body to heal quicker.

Yes, that makes sense.

I admit that some topic antibiotic meds may cause less human tissue damage than others. Peroxide is an indiscriminate oxidiser.

All I'm saying is that on a microbial level they must be aggressive or they won't kill stuff. Penecillin, for example, is the defensive toxic chemical produced by the Penicillin mold to defend itself (violently) from other microbes. Tiny chemical warfare.

These substances attack cells. Our cells fare better than microcial cells, or the antibiotic wouldn't be useful.

I think they are selected based on two factors:

1. Power.

2. Compatability with human tissue.

 

[digit]

When using any type of antibiotics or disinfectant, the pharmacodynamics of the substance plays a crucial role in it's effectiveness. For minor injuries, often washing with soap and water, then protecting it is sufficient. I find that "Mama's kisses" have incredible healing powers.

Digit

 

[KnitchyFingers]

NEVER put the stuff in food or on anyones skin.

Actually, you know what else hydrogen peroxide is great for? Softening ear wax! A tiny little capful (room temperature) in your ear canal, let it fizz for a few minutes and then dump it back out. Softens up everything in there. Never use a Q-tip in your ear canal, but then, just take a tissue and wipe the entrance to your ear canal. Works like a charm!

 

[Deda]

NEVER put the stuff in food or on anyones skin.

Actually, you know what else hydrogen peroxide is great for? Softening ear wax! A tiny little capful (room temperature) in your ear canal, let it fizz for a few minutes and then dump it back out. Softens up everything in there. Never use a Q-tip in your ear canal, but then, just take a tissue and wipe the entrance to your ear canal. Works like a charm!

My Gramma used to say "Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear".

I use 1 cup of Hydrogen Peroxide in a bucket of warm water to soak my good white linens before I put them in the washer.

 

[abigtroutt]

I dont go nuts over being too clean, but all my soap supplies are only soap making stuff....they don't mix with food. As for cleaning I clean every pot, spoon and mold after use and store on my soap supply cart and soap supply shelf in the garage. A clean kitchen is always a happy kitchen....but anal no not me... :roll:

 

[welder]

NEVER put the stuff in food or on anyones skin.

Actually, you know what else hydrogen peroxide is great for? Softening ear wax! A tiny little capful (room temperature) in your ear canal, let it fizz for a few minutes and then dump it back out. Softens up everything in there. Never use a Q-tip in your ear canal, but then, just take a tissue and wipe the entrance to your ear canal. Works like a charm!

When they're in season, I just use fresh leaches for my earwax, otherwise I just use the potion made from eye of newt & bat wing that my mom sends me canned in jars like peaches...

The eye of newt & bat wing potion only work under a full moon, but the leaches always suck the wax out. The leaches are based on far more mainstream medical science...

 

[digit]

The eye of newt & bat wing potion only work under a full moon...

You could stretch that out, all the way through 'til the quarter moon, if you add a pinch of dehydrated fly feet and a few frog hairs.

Digit

 

[welder]

Thanx 4 da tip!

I'm allergic to being burned at the stake, so I think I'll just stick to prescription stuff.

 

[Lindy]

OMG