Glynne's Soap Blog

I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of water.  I don’t get in the pool, I don’t swim at the beach, I don’t even like baths (but don’t tell anyone – my job as Glynne’s Soaps Sales Manager might be in jeopardy!)

Even though I am not a fan of the water, there are some dogs that love it!  So for them there is this great group called Carolina Dock Dogs.  They are having an event this weekend over at Battleship Park called the Battleship Splash.  Dogs will compete in various events revolving around jumping into the Cape Fear River after a lure.  They have contests for the farthest jump, most air and others.

The Battleship Splash is sponsored by my favorite hotel - Dog Club of Wilmington, and on Saturday from 10-3 there will be vendors set up with all sorts of different things for you and your dog.  Of course, Glynne’s Soaps will be there, along with Aunt Kerry’s Pet Stop and lots more.

This is a can’t miss event with tons of different things to see and do.  When you get there, tell ‘em Wrigley sent ya!

Did you ever cut pictures out of a magazine and paste them to a poster board for inspiration?  Or file them away as ideas you’d like to use later?  Do you remember what happened to that folder?  I remember having many of them….food ideas, craft ideas, decorating ideas, all sorts of ideas.  And I kept them filed away in a drawer, rarely if ever looked at them and finally threw them away. Sometimes I remember, vaguely, something I had cut out and wish I could put my hands on it.  But they are long gone.

Well, never fear, now there is a way to save all those great ideas without taking up space in a drawer.  And they can be organized easily too.  This online tool for storing all those things you’d love to do is called Pinterest.  You’ve probably heard of it.  It’s now the third largest social media site on the internet.  If you don’t yet have an account, or you have one and aren’t quite sure what to do with it, here are a few tips.

If you don’t have an account, you need an invitation to get one.  Just leave a comment on this post and we will send you an invitation.  Once you are signed up, you can create your profile; add a picture and other “about you” information.  Then you can start pinning.

Your categories are called boards, and you can create as many as you want. Some popular categories include “recipes”, “Places to go”, “wedding ideas”, and “fun stuff”.  Once you create your categories, you can add pictures of things you find interesting that fit in those categories.  There are different ways to “pin” pictures to your boards.  The easiest is probably to add the “Pin It” button to your bookmarks bar.  The instructions to do that can be found here.  You can also download pictures to your computer and then upload them to Pinterest.  That works best for pictures that you didn’t find online.

You can then follow other users whose ideas you like.  You can follow everything they pin, or just certain boards that interest you.  And Pinterest is like other social media sites where conversation is key.   If you like something, leave a comment or repin the picture to your board.

It’s a lot of fun once you get the hang of it.  You will be amazed at the great things you find.  And they are tremendously easy to retrieve when you need them.  You can check out our Pinterest page here.  Make sure to follow us!

I had a woman come to our booth at the Carolina Beach Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning and say, “My daughter says I need to switch to natural soap because of the dangers of parabens in commercial soap.  Why?  And how do I know if my soap contains parabens?”

In case you are wondering the same thing, I will tell you what I told her – Parabens are a group of chemicals used as preservatives in many cosmetic and skin care products.  Parabens mimic estrogen which is thought to play a role in breast cancer.  There also is some evidence that parabens disrupt development and growth by mimicking hormones, fooling the body.  And, since there are paraben free products out there, why not avoid something that could possibly lead to cancer or other health problems.

The safe alternative is to use products that do not contain parabens; unfortunately, you can’t look at a list of ingredients and immediately see the word “paraben”, since there are many different chemicals that are types of parabens. The six most commonly found parabens are:

1. methylparaben
2. ethylparaben
3. propylparaben
4. isobutylparaben
5. butylparaben
6. benzylparaben

The safest thing to do for the health of your family is to avoid products that contain one or more of these ingredients, and purchase natural products, like Glynne’s Soaps whenever possible.

A few weeks ago, “How To Tuesday” was all about making your own laundry soap, I thought today could be a follow up to that with one way to make your own fabric softener.   We normally don’t use anything, but mostly because of the overly perfume smell and the not so friendly chemicals.

So, when researching how to make all natural fabric softener, I discovered two things.

1. People don’t really know what all natural means.  I found a plethora of instructions on how to use the least expensive hair conditioner in the store for your laundry.  And yes, this is frugal, but it’s not natural.  The conditioner for your hair can contain just as many harsh chemicals as fabric softener.
2. Sometimes the answer you are looking for is what you would have least expected.

So, what is this all natural remedy for softer clothes?  Vinegar!  I know, your first thought is the same as mine and as Gayle’s.  ”I do NOT want to smell like a bag of Salt & Vinegar potato chips all day!”  But, if you don’t use too much, the vinegar smell will not survive the rinse cycle. You can also add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for an added scent.  (Stay away from citrus oils as they can stain clothes)

Here is the magic formula -

Add 1/4 – 1/2 cup vinegar (use white vinegar because balsamic or apple cider could stain your clothes) to the fabric softener dispenser.  If you want, you can add 1-2 drops of essential oil at the same time.

I have noticed a difference sine I’ve started using vinegar in the laundry.  The clothes are softer and the static cling is much less.  And I have not noticed any vinegar smell.  Give it a try, then leave us a comment on how it worked for you.