Indie Knit & Spin February 25th

2017 Indie Knit & Spin is quickly approaching!  

Here is the low down of what I'll be bringing with me

See you there!

Spicy Salt Bar

Geode Soap

Clean Your Face

Full Moon

Sunshine

Rose Geranium

Winter is Here

Latte Bubbles

Sweet Dreams

Lemon Honey Oatmeal

Lavender Oatmeal

Ultimate Shave Soap

Moroccan Spring
Green Tea Lemon Balm 

++  soap sampler sets - 10oz of soap - very limited quantities!

Bath bombs - Lavender Orange + Peppermint scented

Drawstring project bags for your WIPS

Shawl sticks + pins

plus maybe some felted soaps

Find Dusty Tree Soap 

at Indie Knit & Spin

Wilkins School Community Center

10-4pm 2/25/17 Pittsburgh, PA

www.dustytree.com

Please welcome.....

Today at 5:42 pm I finally got out of it's mold a new soap.  It took literally ALL day.  I tried many, many things to get it to even budge a bit, but I can now say I'm a proud new parent to a brand new soap for Dusty Tree Soap.  I feel like I was in labor all day over this thing - I swear delivering my second child was easier!  Seriously!  I pushed him out in like 10 minutes.....this soap took forever!  

I've been meaning to make a shaving soap for ages and had a few requests in the past and always thought yeah, I'll get to that someday then I had a gentleman speak so kindly of my other soaps to me and asked a few times if I would ever consider making a shave soap.  I figured it was about time to get cracking on it.  I decided to use a new mold - a PVC pipe so the soap would be circular in shape instead of the regular rectangle shape.  I studied articles online and books about different oils and other ingredients I knew I wanted to incorporate.  I developed a perfect recipe and jumped right in to get started.  I was so excited to have a go at this new soap that I completely forgot to prep or line the PVC pipe with freezer paper so it could release.  I just poured it in - even trying to be so precise with swirls, put a lid on it and then it hit me - I forgot to prep the pipe!  I turned to google to see if others had any recommendations on what to do.  My husband told me to quickly scrape it out and slap it into a regular mold, but I didn't want to risk loosing my swirls or half of the soap being all gooey in the mold.  I'm happy to know I'm not the first person to do this either. I tried so many thing to get it to budge ....putting it in the freezer for a bit and then running it under really hot water for some condensation.  I used a mason jar lid and a wooden dowel to try and push it out.  I hit the end of it repeatedly on the driveway hoping it would budge.  I got so frustrated that I actually tossed it a few times on the ground to see if the shock would break the seal.  I can tell you that this sucker sure does bounce...it went flying into my perennial garden bed.  I put it in our vice clamp and pounded it with a rubber mallet.  I was about to give up and didn't know what to do so I just put it back into the freezer and forgot about it for a few hours.  Once I took it out I threw it on our basement floor and pounded the end again - and it moved...slightly.  I was thrilled!  

I continued to push on the pipe to get it to move ever so slowly.  My hubby came down and saw what I was doing and with his manly upper body strength it finally came out.  I know I will never forget to line that mold again!  I'd cut the soap, but I have to wait until it thaws - it is frozen solid!

But here is it -   //  Dusty Tree's newest SHAVING SOAP /// 

So many new stuff & things.....

newest - StUfF + tHiNgS

Wool Wash!

- Wool Wash -

coming to an 

Indie Knit & Spin

near you!

// Made with all natural ingredients + Lanolin //

(restores moisture & helps protect your woolies)

Progress shots:

goings on.....

Indie Knit & Spin

February 6th

10-4pm

Wilkins School Community Center

- Spicy Clove -

handcrafted with:

Clove, Orange + Cedarwood Essential Oils

paprika for natural colorant

- Lavender Oatmeal -

Handcrafted with:

Lavender Essential + Colloidal Oatmeal

alkanet for natural colorant

Rosemary Peppermint

tingly freshness

slight spark of earthy

Rosemary Peppermint

Handcrafted with 

edible vegetable oils

Rosemary + Peppermint Essential Oils + 

Rosemary powder for natural color

new sOaPs for 2016

I've been admiring some newer scents 

of Essential Oils and decided to give 

some a go.....

First up - Rose Geranium

handcrafted with Moroccan Red clay 

for a

 people + earth friendly 

natural colorant

simply divine!

Another new one -

Rosemary Peppermint

handcrafted with 

rosemary powder for a 

natural colorant

(photos coming soon!)

Not a new Essential Oil for 

Dusty Tree Soap

but oh so popular.... 

Drunken Hippie

made with

beer and Patchouli Essential Oil

- raw soap in the mold - 

will be cut tomorrow

Stay tuned for an even BIGGER reveal soon......

an ecommerce website - YES!  

Watch this space !

Ligonier Country Christmas 2015

See you there!

the latest.........

here is what was pictured in the crock pot 

from my earlier post

HOT process

What do you do when you planned meticulously weeks in advance for 3 (three!) Holiday Craft Shows, but feel you need more soap (at the last minute)

HOT PROCESS SOAP!

I sat and calculated how many varieties and quantity of each weeks ago and made batch after batch weeks ago only to look at my soap stash and wonder if it is enough?  I have to admit I've never had my shelves so full!  

I'm not one who usually makes soap in the hot processed method - 

(I've actually never done it!) but I'm always up for an adventure. 

It isn't a whole lot different than when I melt all of my scraps down in the 

crock pot so I got to cooking.   I think it turned out nicely.  

Most people say you can use it right after cutting, but I have a week and a half

 before my first market so it has some time to sit.  I am using a bar in the kitchen 

today though and I really like it

.....smooth, creamy and a great lather - just like my cold processed.  

Holiday Cheer

I'm sold that I actually made another batch today - so now I have 14 varieties (had to make another couldn't be 13!) and close to 400 bars of soap.  

I'm set - seriously all done! 

Indie Knit & Spin - Featured Vendor

Dusty Tree Soap (click on this link to read more)

 is a featured vendor for the 

Indie Knit & Spin 

event that is quickly approaching

November 14th 

10am - 4pm

Wilkins School Community Center

Regent Square - Pittsburgh, PA

herbs from 

Summer's harvest 

fresh from the garden

mint + lemon balm

reap the rewards

Fall....

Crisp, cool

the wonders of 

Fall....

SoAP

A favorite

richness of pumpkin

cleansing power of bamboo activated charcoal

+ the fighting properties of tea tree oil

a perfect trio!

SoApy goodness

a new favorite of mine

with Fall in the air, this is just what my skin needs - 

Shea Butter rich creamy + dreamy

DEODORANT!

My most requested item is finally back in stock!!

Come visit me at the Ligonier Country Market this Saturday

but you better hurry - they sell out QUICKLY!

I'll be there from 8am - noon

Made with nature in mind - NO palm or GMO's here!

Crafted by hand not a robot using: Organic Arrowroot powder, Coconut Oil, Baking Soda, Organic Unrefined Raw Shea Butter, Beeswax, Zinc Oxide + Essential Oils (Sweet Orange + Cedarwood)

Makes me happy to make your pits happy with skin loving bacteria kicking all natural goodness! 

Sunday soaping

Casa de Dusty Tree was super soapy this Sunday

in the line up....Eucalyptus, Mint Scrubbie, Ocean Salt Bar & Jewelweed

Always a nice way to send an afternoon.

 (unless of course you are me and realize you are short on one of your oils half way through the soaping process and you need to make a run to the store....but still fun!)

As a side note, a customer told me she took a Master Gardener's Herb class at our local extension office and the teacher used MY Jewelweed soap as an example during her presentation of how herbs are used in a therapeutic method.  This girl is uber- excited!  So cool to hear.  I wish I knew who the teacher is to thank them!

Thrifty vs practical

I got a free sample of a fragrance oil when I ordered from a  large supplier of soap making products.

The thrifty part of my brain got to thinking..."yeah maybe some people might like this scent, maybe I'll make a small batch, some people don't really care about the whole all natural thing, blah, blah....."
And the practical side got to thinking..."well what is this stuff, let's read more about it, and I don't really feel comfortable even cracking open the bottle to take a sniff."

So I got investigating....it actually has a Materials Safety Data Sheet!  Um, ok....  Here is what I found out:
-it contains diethyl phthalate...what the heck is that?  A quick Google search and I found this article about it.  Read here for your reference, but anything that is listed on the Toxic Substance & Disease Registry website sure isn't something I really want in my soaps.  Basically, this is nasty stuff!  It affects your liver and reproductive health (especially in kids)  Great!  Not only is it a main component in this fragrance oil, but it is also found in plastics....toothbrushes & food packaging are the ones that I took notice of.

Also on the Materials Safety Data Sheet you will find that.....
-it can cause a reddening and burning sensation when applied to your skin --WHAT! people add this to many soaps to add scent.
-it shouldn't be inhaled -- WHAT!  it is a fragrance oil.
-if applied to skin, wash with soap and water.  Ok, now this just doesn't make sense to me.  People are to buy and add this fragrance oil to soaps, lotions, etc, but are told on the Materials Safety Data Sheet to wash with soap and water if applied to skin
-avoid exposure to vapors -- this just gets me laughing...isn't that the whole point behind these fragrance oils....to smell, but technically you shouldn't inhale or be expose to the vapors
-avoid contact with eyes, skin and clothing -- well, I'm just about done here seriously how is this stuff even being sold let alone added to personal care products that we lather and slather all over our bodies.  This is down right scary!
-and the last two that I won't even comment on are.... wear an approved MESA (whatever that is) respirator when working with this product and wash hands after use.

Holy smokes people!  This stuff is in a lot of things too.  Sometimes I feel ignorance is bliss, like the less you know the better, but in this case maybe not.  I started making soap after I had children since I didn't want to use Sodium Laurel Sulfates on their skin.  I never even thought about these other things...scents, colors, etc.  I always knew in the back of my mind they weren't good, but I never would have guessed all this!

Now, I'm so glad I didn't crack the seal on the bottle....basically it is toxic stuff.  What in the world do I do with it now?

Dusty Tree Soap is, will and always will be free of this stuff -  thrifty or not!  I never use scents/dyes/colors so my soaps are people & earth friendly.

Thanks for stopping by for a read and I hope I educated you a bit and not freaked you out too much.  People laugh at me all the time since I'm a 'label reader', but it seems like you have to be these days.
*steps off soapbox*  (no pun intended)

new stuff