Kids craft: making soap

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Spice it up on Father’s Day and give Dad something completely different. Socks, ties and screwdrivers have topped the charts for way too long. Give him the edge with a range of modern grooming products, or even a luxurious treat – after all, why should Mum have all the fun? Caring for your appearance is not just a girlie activity. Consider taking your dad for an old-fashioned barbershop treatment – hot towels, razor and all. Or book him in for a training session followed by a relaxing massage.

If you’d like to make it more personal, we’ve created a recipe for a rich soap (pictured below) that’s simple enough for kids to make themselves, or with only a little help from Mum. There's a range of fragrance suggestions, so you can choose one that suits your dad.

You will need
1 cup palm soap flakes
1 tbs finely ground oatmeal
1 tsp sunflower or olive oil
2 drops of essential oil

Step 1.
Place soap flakes in a glass bowl and gradually add 1/4 cup of hot water to make a smooth paste. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir and set aside to cool. Repeat this process until the paste is of a smooth consistency.

Step 2.
Add oatmeal, oil and essential oil, and combine with your hands. You may also add a drop of food colouring to give the soap colour.

Step 3.
Place mixture in a milk or juice container, and set aside overnight or longer to dry completely. To finish, cut the soap into 2cm slices. Alternatively, you may shape the mixture using cookie cutters, or roll the mixture into balls using your hands, and then set aside overnight to dry.

Note:

Our recipe used ARBEE palm oil soap base which comes in 1kg or 500g sizes. The 1kg is a huge amount and would be great for a group/class project. It is available from Spotlight and the 1kg was less than $30. Art suppliers or craft stores should would also stock something similar. There are also kits available at craft shops - even some toy stores.

Production & styling: Angela Haughton. Photography: Sam McAdam.

Published in Notebook Magazine

Issue: September 2006

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Latest comments:

amilano45

added this comment at 11:07pm Thu 17th August, 2006

Soap Recipe: What is palm soap flakes? and where does one purchase them, chemist? health food store?, supermarket?

jacoyne

added this comment at 12:02pm Fri 18th August, 2006

I am also wondering where to buy palm soap flakes.

judy2lezon

added this comment at 1:03pm Fri 18th August, 2006

i'm not sure what they are but you can buy (on the bottom of the supermarket shelves) soaps made of pure vegetable oil, one is olive oil and one is palm oil. They are not expensive and have no chemicals in them. Perhaps you could purchase and grate them into flakes? I'm going to give that a try. Otherwise, try a healthfood shop. Also I think you can still buy soap flakes in the detergents aisle, they are usually for handwashing garments. Hope this helps.

hodds

added this comment at 5:26pm Sun 20th August, 2006

Why not get the block soap and grate it to make your own flakes???

amilano45

added this comment at 9:04pm Sun 20th August, 2006

Thanks for the feedback! Have they made a typo: palm soap flakes = pure soap flakes? I tried Lux brand pure soap flakes on Friday but the perfume in the product is too strong. Is it safe to wash body with? I found the product on my hands to be too harsh. I wonder what it would do to your body? Sunlight make pure soap bars but has yellow coloring in it. Would welcome any suggestions. I thought I would make this as a gift idea with my class of 6 - 9 year olds for Father's Day.

cesca

added this comment at 10:24am Mon 21st August, 2006

Hi All,

Apologies for any confusion over the type of soap flakes required for the recipes. I've asked the creator of the page to get back to me with more details and we'll post them here as soon as we have them.

All best,

Francesca Newby
Calendar Editor

cesca

added this comment at 3:55pm Mon 21st August, 2006

Hello All,

I've received some further information about the recipe for soap:

The brand of flakes used is called Arbee Palm Oil soap base. It comes in 500gm and 1kg packages. 1kg is a huge amount and would probably be enough for a school class.

The Arbee palm soap flakes are available at Spotlight stores. We're trying to see if they are available elsewhere, or via mail order, for those without access to Spotlight.

Soap flakes for making your own are often available at art and craft stores.

We would advise against using Lux as it's not appropriate for the recipe.

You could grate the block of palm soap, or even unscented baby soap, but hopefully this information means you won't need to.

All the best,

Francesca Newby
Calendar Editor

cangel001

added this comment at 11:32am Wed 30th August, 2006

Hi,

In the magazine article of this story there is a mention of an "Online Men's Grooming Special" but I can't seem to find it anywhere! Can you please help?

desleevirgo

added this comment at 9:20pm Thu 31st August, 2006

I was just wondering where to find the fragrance ideas its a wonderful idea. The article mentions fragrance ideas I cant locate them

kerrycarter

added this comment at 1:10am Tue 12th September, 2006

Would be interested in more natural products without smelly chemicals. Thank you

chanel

added this comment at 4:23pm Tue 31st October, 2006

After much searching through craft stores including spotlight, we finally found soap powder (same as soap flakes) at a store in melbourne called Auroma.
The store is located at 86 Burwood Road in Hawthorn, Vic, 3122 and the phone number is 03 9818 3133.
The girls there are really friendly, helpful and also have great stuff in their store including all the essential oils you could need to add to your soap!