WHY make your own soap, lotion, etc?

[~gd]

True Factory/Farm eggs and meat usually is cheaper than DIY eggs and meat But the taste [and some beiieve health effects] of DIY products is vastly superior. Now if I have [and I do] have a handy neighbor that free ranges her birds. gathers and takes proper care of the eggs, the cost will be about the same and I don't mind spending a little extra to cover her labor costs. If I was hard up for money I could/would DIY, While I was still working my time was more valuable than hers was.
At one stage in my life I was making cleaning products for thousands of people and using some expensive machines and ingredients that just were not available for DIY. Did I think I was turning out a superior product? Yup for the most part I was, but there are always going to be a small percentage that have different wants and needs that I wasn't going to make any effort to satisfry. This is where they end up.
Quality may seem over priced to some who think they can make their own for less money. some can make better products, some can make cheaper products but there a few that can do both at the same time. SS means that you can meet your own needs....~gd

 

[Beekissed]

I don't find that buying eggs and meat from the store is cheaper than raising my own. It all depends on how you cut cost as you raise these animals whether you come out in the black on finances. I'd never even bother if it was more expensive to raise my own...I'd just buy off of someone who else who did.

 

[Bettacreek]

At this point, my eggs are free. I got my laying hens for free, and when I was feeding a laying mash, I put approximately $0.75 into them per day for 24 layers. Now, they eat for free. To raise my own, however, it does cost some money as chicks to feed them their rations.

As for why do we make our own soaps, lotions, etc... What I want is NOT in the store. At home, I can make a preservative-free lotion, which you cannot get from a store. Also, my lotions are MUCH cheaper to make than if I were to buy the lotion in the scent that I like (Calvin Klein), if they even have that scent in a lotion!! I can also make spray lotion, which you cannot find (at least not around here). Soap? I formulated my own soap recipe, and it is extremely easy on the skin even for the kids now and when they were REALLY little. It doesn't dry me out or make me rashy like commercial soaps do. Laundry soap? That's five thousand times cheaper (ok, slight exaggeration) than buying at the store. I can also make that any scent I wish... Plus I can completely avoid the laundry aisles, which radiate the stench of their products so badly that I cannot go down that aisle.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep...I hate those smells! So cloying and heavy...makes me sick to my stomach now.

 

[me&thegals]

Cheaper and easier rarely are the reasons I do things on my own , although after time and experience, it does become both cheaper and easier.

I make my own lotion, balm, lip balm and soap so I can have total control over what is in it.
I could never find soap with cow's cream, my own honey and sweet potatoes in it, but I can make it!
I can't find lotion that has exactly the essential oils I want without things I don't want.
I can "superfat" my soap so that it's gentle on my family's skin in winter, rather than drying like storebought.

Plus, I sell enough to cover all my costs, and then quite a bit more.

 

[Marianne]

I like to make my own because I can. Right now I have many bars of lard soap and my first batch of shampoo bars curing. No plastic to be added to the recycle/waste stream, more product minus the transportation costs to the store, manufacturing, etc etc. I could ramble on about that stuff.

Anyway, I like scents but I'm okay with just plain ol' soap and lotion. Big batches of soap is good, tiny batches of lotion is better IMO. It's so easy to make, but mine would mold or go rancid within 3 months because there are no preservatives in it. Currently I'm trying to use the simplest products with the least ingredients. Tiny jars with a bit of coconut oil, olive oil or even (gasp) shortening for lotion/cream - they don't go bad, jars can be washed and easily refilled.

As with most things, they can be as cheap or as expensive as you want them to be. Cheap doesn't mean it's always lower quality. If it does what I want it to do, then I'm happy.

I'm with Bee on the chicken thing, that's a whole different thread, right?

 

[so lucky]

Years ago Avon had this terrific smelling shower wash. The eucalyptus and rosemary really woke me up in the morning, and cleared out a stuffy head quickly. They quit making it for some reason. But I saved one of the empty bottles to try to find or make a replacement soap, which I never did. I got the bottle out the other day and read the ingredients. There is not one natural substance in there!! Absolutely nothing "real" to give it that wonderful smell. What a bummer! (there is no moral to this story)

 

[Emerald]

Years ago Avon had this terrific smelling shower wash. The eucalyptus and rosemary really woke me up in the morning, and cleared out a stuffy head quickly. They quit making it for some reason. But I saved one of the empty bottles to try to find or make a replacement soap, which I never did. I got the bottle out the other day and read the ingredients. There is not one natural substance in there!! Absolutely nothing "real" to give it that wonderful smell. What a bummer! (there is no moral to this story)

I have a bottle of bath and body works spearmint eucalyptus and just love it.. doesn't seem to set off any of my allergies. I like their mentol one too. No reaction to it. I have no idea if there is any real natural stuff in there but not gonna look a gifthorse in the nose haha.
While very expensive it seems to just last forever for me. I have cash put aside for holiday gifts and they have good sales so may buy three and get two free for me.. my mother and daughter and mother in law love that stuff too so at least I know for sure what to get them.
I used to love avon. that stuff rashes me out and stuff starts closeing up and I have troubles breathing with some of their stuff now..
Not gonna waste my home made bars of soap on my daughter anymore. she had to have one and the other day she had me get stuff out of the cupboard and there it was. not used two years later.. I didn't say anything but she is only getting store bought from now on..

 

[Steveca]

Because I can.

There are several other reasons I do it but no more justification is required for doing just one more thing that makes you self sufficient, especially on a forum dedicated to self sufficiency. Kind of like joining a hunters forum and asking why do you shoot your own food or asking a woodsmans forum why do you chop your own wood.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep, yep! Great satisfaction in making it better and also cheaper than it can be bought. Love that feeling! Recently made my own NuStock and made it better than the original formula and it worked out at $8 cheaper for the same amount. That's significant savings and also improving the formula will make it better and easier to use and reduce waste. Win/win!