Saving money when making soap

As I am sure everyone has noticed, the cost of soap making oils has increased dramatically especially olive oil. Last year when I ran out of olive oil I dreaded having to spend a lot of money on new stock and was pleasantly surprised when I went into Coles to find that they had some large tins of oil reduced from over $30 to $6.95. I have no idea why they were reduced but I picked up two cans straight away in case they were sold quickly.

Pure Soap

Rice Bran Oil was also nowhere to be found last year in the usual supermarkets I visit but I did spot some in a less visited supermarket at one stage so grabbed a container. My hubby said I should have bought more while it was available and the price was good so he went back and bought another three containers. Of course the Use By date was checked first. I noticed that it is now available in the supermarkets in large containers. 

Coconut Oil Soap with Aloe Vera 

Then a friend on the Homemaker's Forum said she was able to buy Coconut Oil in 15 litre packs and, as she lives in Tasmania where the supplier is, it was very economical for her to buy the oil locally from Essential Oils and Soap and now she makes 100% Coconut Oil Soap to give away to various shelters and it hardly costs her anything. Remember that if you decide to make this soap you need to run it through a soap calculator using  20% superfat. 

So I worked it out that even with the cost of postage to Queensland 15 litres of Coconut Oil was much cheaper than buying it in smaller amounts in the supermarket. It comes in a box with a very thick plastic bag inside and the oil was solid when it arrived so thankfully there was no heat wave at the time. I guess it would have been okay if it had liquified as the bag was very thick. I waited for a hot day so that I could pour the oil into containers. The soap with aloe vera that I made had a few white specks in it and was actually pink in places where I hadn't mixed in the green mica thoroughly. Next time I might leave out the colouring and just make a pink soap. 

A friend gave us several punnets of tomatoes late last year and, for the first time, we had a glut of tomatoes. I think the rain earlier on really helped but as soon as we had a couple of really hot days I noticed that they weren't doing as well as during the cooler weather. 

I ended up making several batches of Roasted Tomato Sauce. 

A friend gave us a rose his wife didn't want seeing as I had killed all our roses apart from one and this is the first flower we have had. I think it might be a Blue Moon which would be great if it was as mine died. Sigh! I don't have a lot of success with roses for some reason. 

I have been noticing that some of the bromeliad pups are not the same colour as the mother plant which is disappointing as my hubby often buys broms from the Bromeliad Show during the Carnival of Flowers when he finds one he really likes. I must ask the experts this year when we visit the show why that happens.

 

Some plants just keep on popping up each year regardless of any TLC and this Amaryllis is a little darker than the rest and is quite stunning.  Most other plants are dying off so I have been harvesting seeds to plant next year. 

I hope everyone is keeping well. Have a great weekend!