While the cat's away ...

the mice will ...

well ... felt soap !

Yep - amongst other things - whilst Paul has been away I have been felting my home-made soap!  I discovered felting along my many 'google' travels and promptly put an order in for some merino wool to commence felting with from Sara's Texture Crafts.

I got a few different tops and mixtures of wools, so I could experiment with them.  You can google how to do it - there are quite a few You Tube videos to watch, that are helpful when learning to felt !

Basically, what you do is ...

Apply your wool to your soap in layers (chop off any sharp edges on the soap before you start).  Wrap the wool pretty tightly around the soap until you have your desired 'pattern'.



Then - grab an old pair of tights or stockings and, using just one leg, you carefully put your soap and felted wool into the foot end, wrap it up and then dunk it into hot water (as hot as you can bare) until all the air bubbles disappear.



Then you rub it against a (pre prepared!) sheet of bubble wrap for a few minutes - on either side of the soap. 

 

Then you unwrap your soap, give it a bit more friction until the wool is firmly felted and firm.

Give it a rinse under some cold water, dry it off with a towel and 'hey presto' - felted soaps ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love them - I am now officially a felting addict !!

Why felt soap, well - here are a few reasons .... 

Ø     It is your soap and washcloth all in one !

Ø     Felting wool around soap is an economical and beautiful way to extend the life of your soap.  Your soap is protected with a layer of wool – it stops soap going gloopy or breaking up!

Ø     Wool has natural anti-fungal properties and will retain its freshness. 

Ø     As you lather the soap, the wool remains tight around the soap - making the bar last longer.   The felt shrinks along with the soap as you use it … the casing can be reused by slitting along the edge and inserting a new bar of soap – or it could just be used as a face / shower scrub on its own.

I have felted my Coffee Soap, Horsetail and Comfrey Soap and Olive oil so far but my stocks are diminishing so I have just made up some new batches of soap ... which I will blog about next !

Til then ... Happy Christmas to all !!!

Elaine xx