| Author |
Message |
    
Darsina
hunter
Username: Darsina
Post Number: 505
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 6:53 pm: |     |
Just for the record, the Danube did freeze for a week or two in the winter of 05/06, at least around Vienna.
Thinking is the work of the intellect, dreaming its enjoyment. - Victor Hugo |
Scott
flint knapper
Username: Scott
Post Number: 1989
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 6:58 pm: | |
Thanks Darsina! I had wondered! So were you out skating on it? It is still snowing here - but this winter was very mild and most of the rivers (big ones) in Eastern Canada, couldn't be skated on for very long, if at all.
Scott
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ces gens, Jondalar, ils sourient. Ils me sourient. - Ayla |
Darsina
hunter
Username: Darsina
Post Number: 508
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 7:30 pm: | |
No, I just strolled around. I hadn't thought of taking my skates along when I moved to Vienna that summer and didn't find anybody to borrow skates from when I finally realized that my skates were still neatly stored away in my parents' basement. Alas, no skating for me, but I definitely enjoyed walking across the ice.  The feeling's hard to describe, perhaps sort of realizing how small you are compared to the force hidden beneath your feet, yet I felt totally safe and supported by the Great Mother River. Well, no surprise, the ice did carry me after all. *g*
I still intend to swim across the Danube one day. I've already found a spot where it's safe (and permitted) to do so.
As for the last winter, there wasn't any. No snow, no ice, no real cold. Sheesh!
Thinking is the work of the intellect, dreaming its enjoyment. - Victor Hugo |
Baby_wolf
bear cub
Username: Baby_wolf
Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 6:47 am: | |
does anyone know what type of fat would work the best? |
Scott
storyteller
Username: Scott
Post Number: 2495
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008 - 5:05 am: | |
Olive oil (castile soap), coconut or vegetable (canola) oils work great. To get saponification you need KOH (potassium hydroxide) or NaOH (sodium hydroxide) - you are off to the races.
Scott
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ces gens, Jondalar, ils sourient. Ils me sourient. - Ayla |
Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 3307
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008 - 6:54 am: | |
Numerous references suggest lard is best for soap.
Thank you, Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins... |
Scott
storyteller
Username: Scott
Post Number: 2546
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, October 03, 2008 - 4:37 pm: | |
I checked with my wife's soap company and they said that any long chain fatty acid - and coconut and olive oils are perfect for the saponification reaction.
However, back in Ayla's time, plant oils would not have been easily obtained in great amounts, not like lard would have been at least.
Scott
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ces gens, Jondalar, ils sourient. Ils me sourient. - Ayla |
Cavebear
healer
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 3393
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, October 05, 2008 - 6:58 am: | |
Not to stray too far from the subject, but my understanding is that there is an essential difference between soaps and detergents. That soaps have one end of a molecule that attracts oils which are then physically washed away from clothes, while detergents not only have the one oil attracting end but also a water attachment end which actively pulls oils from clothes (or anything else, of course).
Thank you, Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins... |
New2yrboard (Unregistered Guest)
visitor
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - 8:21 pm: | |
I am new here, and I would like to add something.
I Have made soap for years. I can tell you that extra virgin olive oil is guaranteed NOT to make soap. Use it for salad dressing! For soap, use Pomace oil (the second or third squeeze of olive fruit.) It will save you money and make excellent soap. Also, there is something called an INS value that needs to be around 240 for your soap to be really good. Coconut and palm oils are best for that. If you want to have "foamy" soap, nothing beats coconut oil! If you want solid soap, sodium hydroxide (NAOH) is the lye of choice, for liquid soap, potassium hydroxide (KOH) is the choice. I have not had much luck with liquid soap, but I have had great good luck with solid soap.
Lard makes good soap, but again, it's a matter of putting together appropriate mixes to get the best INS values. There are some good websites and books out there that will help you.
That's what I know - just experience and books. Oh, and use a very accurate scale!
Thanks |
Annie
cave painter
Username: Annie
Post Number: 2344
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008 - 10:06 pm: | |
Thanks for your input, New2yrboard. Experience is the best teacher - no "just" about it!
Chess is the purest form of debate, unadulterated by a topic. |
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Living like Ayla 
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