Thread: soap DIY

My wife is stationed at NAS NI (shes on her way to The Gulf right now).
We're down in the Imperial Beach area.

No kidding?
its a small world, huh? Gotta suck having her gone for so long. I left in the back of a C-17, along with a helicopter or two, when I went over there. The whole boat ride thing takes a LOT longer.
I am actually looking for a new place (to rent; can't afford to buy out here at my pay) and IB is one of the places I am looking. Right now I live off the 15 by Kensington (between University and Adams)
Somehow I had in my head you were a barber, is that correct or am I confusing you with someone else? I've heard rumors of good ones, and been to 2 so far.
John P

Originally Posted by JohnP

No kidding?
its a small world, huh? Gotta suck having her gone for so long. I left in the back of a C-17, along with a helicopter or two, when I went over there. The whole boat ride thing takes a LOT longer.
I am actually looking for a new place (to rent; can't afford to buy out here at my pay) and IB is one of the places I am looking. Right now I live off the 15 by Kensington (between University and Adams)
Somehow I had in my head you were a barber, is that correct or am I confusing you with someone else? I've heard rumors of good ones, and been to 2 so far.
John P

The worst part is that I dont know this city, and so far from what Ive seen I dont want to know it :lol: So Im detatched from my family in more ways than one. But my step son is comming down in a few weeks, so Im looking forward to that he's a great kid.

As for moving down this way.... to each their own... but our lease is up in Aug. and Im looking to move futher north. IB is small..but in my opnion, its a damn dive! The beach is sooooo dirty its disgusting. If you want to swim, surf or just lay on the beach you have to drive up the Silver strand to Coronado. The beach is closed down here more often than not because the TJ river emptys into the ocean here and there is constant "raw sewage" contamination here. Then to make matters even better, they are dredging out the bay around the Cornonado Bridge and guess where they are dumping the tailings? Yep right out from the end of the Pier here.. so all the garbage that has settled on the bay floor is being dumped right here.

All that and franky the cost of renting down here is more expensive than up around OB. We have a rather ..umm.. ghetto 2bdr appartment.. its clean but it's nothing to be proud of hahah... and we pay $1055 a month. There certanly are more expensive places to live in SD but there are also much better places. I'd rather be cramped for cash and have a better over all "quality of life" expierence. But thats just me...

I am most definately not a barber HAHAH!! :lol:
I do cut my own hair.. with the skill of the barbers in boot camp. I've read on the yahoo forum that there is a great barbershop downtown Coronado right on Orange that offers straight-shaves... I've yet to get there my self however.

Maybe if I was a barber I could get a job down here. Acording to the CA dept. of health I have to go back to school just to perform phlebotomy to "CA standards" .. than and the only place that will hire me without being fluent in spanish is Balboa any way..I cant see going in debt for even a few thousand dollars just to work here a damn year... I cant wait untill were out of CA! Should be around the first of 2006.

Now that you mention it, when we fly down to IB (usually means the pilots need currency or something) and get into the pattern, you can actually see the difference in the crappy water (perhaps literally) from the air when flying over IB. The barber giving shaves in Coronado I think I was the one that posted (my old handle was jpfaster1 on the yahoo site, the new one "johnP" is just easier for me) about him. If you are driving onto the island make a left on orange and go down until you see night and day cafe, a bicycle shop, etc etc you will see a barber pole on the left for "Crown barber" They have a barber that gives straight shaves. Pretty cheap too. If you want world class closeness and multiple passes, however, drive to 7841 Balboa Ave (off the 15 North) suite 101. I think you have to make an appointment too, its 858-279-7145 for Mr. William. He is a master barber, and while his shop seems sortof out of place, and his prices are a little more (I think it was 35 for a shave there) he took about an hour towels lather shave and all the other stuff, and I've never been shaved closer in my life. I literally felt like I was wearing a rubber mask or something. My gf even remarked she felt like a child molester. (I looked like I was 14 or something she said) Usually even with a clean shave I can see where the hairs are going to come out. Not after this guy got done. Give him a shot some time, the closeness of the shave is freaky.
John P

Jack
Where in Walmart did you see coconut oil? I have looked all over the food isles and have had no luck, perhaps I'm searching the wrong place?
John P

JohnP
The coconut oil is in the oil section (Olive Oil, Crisco etc.) of the grocery store part of my Walmart. It is LouAna Brand and comes in 31.5 oz. round white plastic container. I should mention that our Walmart is a Super Walmart (big store) with a full grocery store section.
Jack

Thanks Jack,
I will have to search out a super-walmart and see if they have some. I checked the regular local walmart and they have almost everything EXCEPT coconut oil.
Thanks for the lead.
John P

back to searching....turns out there ARE no super-walmarts down here. I know they have them back home, but apparently not any where near San Diego. I also noticed ingredients of a lot of creams have stearic acid, myristic acid, coconut acid, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide....I wonder if any of you more experienced soapers out there (you know who you are) could tell me if this is something mixed in as an ingredient (I can get all of those online) or if it is a byproduct of the chemical process of lye (KOH &NaOH) on coconut oil.
Anyone? I am clueless about this stuff but very serious about coming up with something that works nice.
John P

JohnP
Soap makers add a lot of chemicals to their soap. In part this makes up for the glycerin and other good things that they remove. I know that stearic acid it beef tallow. Potasium and sodium hydroxide are types of lye. The regular red devil lye makes hard soap and the other is used to make soft or liquid soap. Do an internet search on "properities of oil soap making" and you will find all kinds of information. I make all my own bath and hand soap but haven't had any luck with the shaving soap yet. If you find something that works let me know.
Jack

Has anyone experimented with making shaving soap similar to the commercial creams? Melt & Pour is pretty soft to start off with... just wondering what one would need to add to make it cream-like? Or, perhaps start with a soft-soap base and add something to thicken it up a bit?