From David Fisher, Your Guide to Candle and Soap Making.
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Clean Dog, Good - Good Dog, Clean
Is Max or Fluffy or Frankie a little less than fresh smelling? Is your four-legged canine buddy being bothered by fleas? Well, while not nearly as potent as modern chemical flea treatments (and many people think that's not such a bad thing!) a good blend of essential oils in an oil-fortified soap can be just the ticket to get Mr. Pupster fresh and clean and repel the fleas.
The recipes below are all based on basic melt and pour soap making. (Though you can easily use the same essential oil blends in a cold process soap recipe as well.) Since you're not bathing your dog every day, a few bars of dog soap will probably last a while, so it's often not practical to make an entire batch of cold process soap.
The recipes feature a blend of essential oils, many of which are mosquito repelling as well. The main ones I use in my dog soap blends are:
Tea Tree - it is known for its mild antiseptic and antifungal qualities and for being good for the skin.
Lavender - lavender is great in just about everything - it's known for being good for the skin and for repelling fleas and mosquitos.
Citronella - perhaps the most famous and widely-used mosquito repelling essential oil - works for fleas too.
Peppermint - fleas don't like it...and it makes your dog minty fresh smelling!
Cedarwood - blends well with the other oils, helps anchor the scent blend (as a base note and repels fleas and mosquitoes
Eucalyptus - known as a germicide and for its flea/mosquito repelling qualities - plus just plain smells good.
You can blend them however you like. Any of them in a blend will be good for Fido's soap. I usually try to balance out between top notes, middle notes, and base notes. You aren't limited by just these either. You could blend any other essential oils (patchouli, ylang ylang, benzoin) you like in with them too. Be careful with citrus oils, though. They can cause your, or your dog's, skin to be more sensitive to the sun.
Now remember, like I said above, none of these is going to repel fleas like a chemical pesticide - but they are a natural, safe, effective alternative - and actually do better than you might expect.
On the next page are some recipe blends that I've used, that I like a lot. (My dog Daisy is the freshest smelling pooch on the block!)
Note: Essential oils are very dangerous/toxic to cats and rabbits. Do not use this soap on cats!
Buy Supplies for this Project Direct
Melt and Pour Soap BasesEssential OIlsCastor Oil and Other Base Oils
Essential Oil Danger for Cats
Essential Oil Danger to Cats
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Source: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soaprecipes/a/dogsoaprecipes.htm
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1 comment:
This soap is amazing! I was out of castor oil, so I used olive oil and Shea butter. I let my husband sniff the bar I made and he loved it! He thought I was making soap for him, LOL! I chose the blend "Walk in the Woods" but also added a couple drops of Neem. Two days later and my dogs coat is soft as silk. Thank you for such an awesome recipe.
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