Some stuff I found to look at

I don't use that other stuff, either, for the same reason. I stand by my belief that natural is better. It's all these chemicals "in minute amounts" that add up over time and make us sick.

Are you better today? This is a truly nasty flu year ..

Elise

I don't use eye drops either, but one can "balance" (buffer, actually) a solution with gentler salts-- sodium bicarbonate comes to mind.... Doing titrations was one of the things I was pretty good at in Quant Chem (which was the only chem class I did well in).... Bicarb ions are found in the blood stream naturally, and are blown off as CO2 when they pass through the lungs.... And anyway, although baking soda is less than pleasant tasting, believe me, even very dilute lye tastes much worse.... Kaytee "Simplexities" on

Look out for soap, then!

The thing with soap, as long as it doesn't touch any mucous membranes, it's fine with me. I tend not to use lye based soaps, though.

Good point about the mucous membranes - ouch!

I do prefer lye soap, though, especially the handmade ones.

i agree with you...they're the only ones i'll use, really. I can't wait to start making my own next year. I think i may have found a source for raw goat milk, which is AWESOME on the skin.

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Jalynne" :

]I think i may have found a source for raw goat milk, which ]is AWESOME on the skin.

you bought a goat????? COOL!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

ROFL...um...NO...LOL. DH used to raise goats as a teenager, and he said "NEVER AGAIN".

Actually, the milk will come from a 4H student. We're having to barter for it, as it's not legal in Washington to sell raw milk, which is a big reason it's taken me three years to find a source...sigh.

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Jalynne" :

]Actually, the milk will come from a 4H student. We're having to barter for it, as ]it's not legal in Washington to sell raw milk, which is a big reason it's taken me ]three years to find a source...sigh.

it isn't in California, either. i used to just give it away to people with children who needed it.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Has anyone here heard of using Oil of Oregano for warding off a cold or flu?

No, but my Dad used to swear by a good strong shot of Scotch at the first sign of a cold, but then that was his remedy for almost everything, lol. He never did have many colds though - must have been all the alcohol. LOL. Patti

hey ... I've been making soap for years and years.... and know of no way to make ANY soap, whether it be glycerin based or otherwise that doesn't require lye for the saponification process. If you find a recipie for making Goats' milk soap that doesn't call for lye, please let me know! The chemical process that converts the raw materials to soap is one that depends on lye as one of the primary ingredients. Even if it calls for wood ashes, that's the base form of lye....!!!!

I don't know anything about soap other than that I don't like glycerin soap, and that the soap I do like is made with lye. :)

I bought a soap making book once, and it looks so fun! Homemade soap is so luxurious and delightful. Maybe when the kids are older...

No, but I sure would give it a try. I'm so sick of being sick, and I have another show tomorrow.

I swear by two stout beers the very second you feel it coming on. It works, it really really does!