Be Kind Visits Hendersonville Coop--Nice Vibe

I spent some time at the Hendersonville Coop on Saturday. Arrion, the Wellness Coordinator, invited me to greet customers and explain how I make WARHORSE from biodiesel glycerin. It was fun to meet lots of people who are mindfully evaluating products and their lifestyle. Arrion also put me in touch with SCORE, a non-profit group of professionals that volunteers to advise and help new businesses. This focus group is soooo helpful. Got some homework to finish before our next meeting.

When traffic got a bit slow around my demo table, I just held up work pants that had a leg soaking in a bucket with some WARHORSE. Most people had never worn clothing that dirty. Take a look.



No scrubbing, just a little time in a bucket.


My table was set up near Devon's register. After two hours I had
watched him help many, many customers. As you can see
he is listening to the gentleman's question. During a lull, Devon
asked about the dirty pants and the jar of biodiesel. He smelled
some soap and commented he like the cucumber cedar. Another
free bottle given out, but it helps me too. If he likes it, he'll tell
someone else. Later in the afternoon I met Devon's mother, who
works here too. She smiled a lot and said her son was a "good boy."
He sure was good to all the customers who came to his register.


Hannah smiled as much as Devon. I was impressed with the
ease they had with all the customers. The Coop has a friendly,
atmosphere and the deli...best pimiento cheese I've ever eaten.
Free Soap to another smiling, attentive "neighbor."

So far so good. Giving out soap for several years is a sure fire way of getting feedback and creating a customer base. Three years ago, I had no plans of marketing and selling my biodiesel glycerin soaps. I'm starting slow and it's going well. My company goal is to make a high quality product. I just tweaked my shower gel and foaming soap recipe, making it even more concentrated-- a little does go a long way. Repeat sales could be weakened if my WARHORSE or Be Kind Shower Gel lasts longer. However, I like it when someone purchases one and realizes how concentrated and thick the soaps really are--no thickeners added. If you check my ingredient list, saponified vegetable oils and glycerin are the first two. See my previous blog for more info on this topic.

My company's success will rely on these factors:

• quality, sustainable, natural soaps
  
• information to the consumer; transparency
• continued commitment to community
  
• word-of-mouth; 3rd party sales
• creating products from customer feedback

I'm in no rush to grow big, and might not grow at all. I've enjoyed the learning curve and working with Elizabeth, Lyndsey, Anna, and Erin--all young, local talent. My bottling and labeling crew has got to read the Code of Production Handbook more closely. It's been interesting to see how this project has evolved and where it might go. We've got some advertising plans coming up. It's going to be homegrown--a Polk County brood and out-of-the-box. I'm excited.

Video: WARHORSE Quietly Attacks Some Dirty Pants

Who's Getting Invited to the Dance?

Be Kind Might Not Get Asked to the Dance, I Know!

Just to give you an idea: It takes approx. 40 hours of babysitting to get a batch of glycerin refined and another 4 hours to turn it into WARHORSE or Be Kind soaps. After the first 10 hours, it gets pretty primitive: soap made over a fire. Might sound dreadful to you, but I enjoy it. I like not using electricity. Then, to my garage or dining room for bottling and some labels. My cost of materials is relatively small, and I am trying to keep the packaging down. But the WARHORSE Multipurpose Cleaning Soap needs a waterproof label with dilution instructions--bit expensive. My shower and foaming soaps will have their homemade labels for a while.

Essentially, my soaps are a truly sustainable product that is AWESOME--simple ingredients, loaded with glycerin. No sulfates, phosphates, TEA's, or Red #33 and Yellow #5. If needed, my soaps' ph levels are adjusted with apple cider vinegar and not a synthetic chemical.

Yes, I know my Be Kind Shower Gel is not as pretty as Body Works' Shower Gel. See the pics again. You and I know that the girl on the left might not get a dance all night. Been there done that.

Mine looks like maple syrup, but you
can close your eyes and imagine you're lathering
up with the one on the right, if you have to.

Do You realize how much "surgery" the pink one has endured?
I guess the list is long to get that look. The one on the left
is what she is, nothing to hide behind, and nothing to cover
up...

Here's what's inside--quite different.

My camera can't focus on the text, so I'll
list some of the Body Works Shower Gel
ingredients for you in order of amount: 35 of them.
water, Sodium Laurel Sulfate, TEA-laurel sulfate,
Sodium PCA, Castor oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycerin,
Benzyl Alcohol, Red 33. That's 8 ingredients and
there's 27 more. Glycerin is number 15 on the list.
Also, this product "Not Tested on Animals."

Here's info on my label:

be kind handcrafted glycerin soap is made from recycled vegetable oil and refined biodiesel glycerin. This soap is part of a sustainable process that produces a cleanser with high glycerin content. Be Kind Solutions LLC is a small company that is dedicated to creating an earth-friendly product. We believe community and education can lead to kind solutions.

Ingredients: saponified vegetable oil, castor oil, sweet almond oil, glycerin, water, lye, may contain apple cider vinegar, essential oil or fragrance. PH 9.5-10.2

* Glycerin is USDA lab tested for purity, no sulfates or phosphates

* nontoxic, simple ingredients

Also, "Not Tested on Animals"

Now: here's some pics of me using Be Kind:

I take my Be Kind from my red-oak-fired-soap-barrel
into my kitchen.

Now, if you're interested in getting a free trial sample and giving me some feedback on product quality, go to my website home page, email or message me on facebook, and I will arrange for you to try it. No pressure to buy anything--just your honest opinions.

Thanks for your time
Tawana

bekindsolutions homepage

WARHORSE and WINDOWS

skeptics galore, some poor teacher peddling 'snake oil.' But I understand...
3 pics show WARHORSE is versatile and super-concentrated...




Ed breathes and paws on the deck glass door, about 30 times a day...
No, we don't have to shock Ed with his collar, just a few tones and
he stops chasing whatever it is he's chasing...




1 teaspoon of WARHORSE in quart of water




A few non-toxic-alcohol-free-mint-scented sprays of
WARHORSE and a page of newspaper...clean for 5 min...
before Ed pants and paws to go outside and chase something...

RS Central High School Graduation Project and Bio Info

Sorry about this article's font issues; I can't get them uniform... and the large font is because I've overdone it reading essays and research papers...maybe it's the natural process of aging as well.

We make a 6:30 am-ish weekly trip to our local restaurants, picking up their used oil and dropping off clean, empty containers for the next week's supply. In the upcoming pictures, a RS Central senior has come to our shop to do an internship for his graduation project. He arrived early enough to make our oil run and then helped with a batch of bio. After several trips, he accumulated 15 hours and felt confident enough to give a presentation on his alternative energy research paper and his biodiesel experience. His mother told us he made a 94 on his project. Good lad!

Get ready: there's no glamor shots coming up. Cody wasn't quite prepared. His shoes used to looked pretty new.


Sunday 7:00 am oil run, then filtering, then loading the processor. This is usually my--or my husband's--weekly duty. Nice break to boss around an anxious teenager.


Cody titrates the oil, looking for the magic number that will be "crunched" to give us the lye amount needed to make biodiesel.



Can't let the senior leave without paying his dues...washing and washing buckets and lids. All the cleaning drove me to ditch the dish detergent and make my own soap. There's about a full day's work each week collecting the oil, making a batch of bio, and washing all the buckets, preparing for the next go around. Add in the supply runs to Spartanburg or Asheville for alcohol, syringes, lye, ball valves, o-rings, micron filters, chocolate. You can see this bio and soap thing has become a part of our work routine, a lifestyle choice. Remember that oil rig? Couldn't happen without him.

WARHORSE Cleaning Soap: Old Saddle and Laundry

WARHORSE Multipurpose Cleaning Soap Gets a Challenge:
OLD SADDLE and handwashed laundry--SAMSUNG Washing Machine Died.
Be Kind Solutions Homepage

Since I've been giving out my glycerin soap, many people have used it on their leather goods. The feedback has been positive. I'm sharing the ingredients and some research info I have learned about saddle soaps and leather conditioner. Since I can adjust my natural glycerin soap recipe, I can modify it to fit various cleaning needs.

WARHORSE Cleaning Soap is a basic soap recipe: saponified vegetable oil, glycerin, some water, and lye. All true soaps must be made with lye. A quick ph test verifies that no lye is left in the soap, as it is used up to turn the oil into soaps. Also, with my glycerin supply, my current recipe includes approx. 40% glycerin in the liquid cleaning soap. So, like Lexol leather products tout, my soap is "glycerin-rich." WARHORSE does not have "oils" floating around that will be left on the surface of the leather, but the glycerin adds conditioning qualities. But, my Glycerin Bar can add some awesome leather conditioning if that is desired.

After Lindsey cleaned a western saddle, my father saw the before and after pics. So, he dug out some very old saddles that haven't been touched--literally--in 30 years. My sister and I worked on a Saddlebred and Arab farm when we were teens, and the saddles have sat on a shelf in a stall since then. When I pulled them off his tailgate, a few wasps flew out. The dust and mold enveloped us as I dropped it on the garage floor. One of the saddles is old, old (one in the very back), and if anyone has info about it, please email me at trweicker@gmail.com. It migrated from Cotswold's Farm in Vermont about 40 years. Someone saw it this weekend at FENCE and thought it could be 100 years old and an officer's saddle. I appreciate any info. Here's the pics after cleaning with WARHORSE Cleaning Soap and the Glycerin Bar:







rawhide stitching


I read about Lexol, Leather Honey, and Effax leather products. Also, there is lots of "expert" leather advice, where a few people said the leather conditioner needed to be made from animal tallow as those unsaponified oils work better with the leather--it is an animal product--makes sense. If this is the case, I can easily get my hands on some beef tallow. Anyone have an opinion or experience with this option, please jump in with comments or suggestions. Most of the products I researched are vegetable oil based with glycerin, beeswax, or coconut oil. Application and frequency vary drastically as well, with caution about stretching the fibers or over cleaning. Wow, I guess personal taste and experience will determine who likes my WARHORSE for cleaning leather and Glycerin Bar for conditioning. I just made a new batch of the glycerin bar with some coconut oil added at the end of the saponification process. I threw in a tad of some orange and cedar essential oil for a pleasant aroma. A few people are going to try it out.


glycerin bars, with some coconut oil and a little
orange/cedar oil for scent

As many leather cleaners recommend, "Apply with a damp sponge or 100% cotton towel to work up a foam that lifts the dirt. Rinse thoroughly with another clean or wet sponge or cloth. Pat dry with clean towel." Of course, many people have a different process for cleaning the tack--application and how often.

On the topic of ph, all natural soaps have a ph 0f 9-10. 5, bottom line. There is no way I can get my soaps lower than 9 without adding TEA (synthetic sulfates or phosphates). Or, if I use citric acid or vinegar to drop the ph below 9, then the soap loses its soap qualities, and it begins to convert back to some FFA's (free fatty acids). In other words, the soap now has oil in it and will leave oils on surfaces. For a cleaning soap, this is not desired. I don't want vegetable oils on my white shirts, my VW Jetta, my windows. Plus, the glycerin still provides a softening aspect to laundry or leather.

This morning I pulled the saddle out of the basement and took a look. The flaps are sooo much softer and pliable. Somebody needs to use this thing and give the leather fibers a workout. I hope the rawhide stitching doesn't break.

Anyway, the test won't be done by me because I am not getting on a horse any time soon, but am washing clothes in a cooler outside my garage and waiting on a Samsung repairman to arrive. Laundry soap is my WARHORSE; I add some lavender for a nice smell. The men have got to have some work clothes that are not covered in concrete dust, red dirt, and form oil.


I soaked a leg of the eldest's jeans in a bucket of water
over night with WARHORSE, then hit with water hose.



ailing Samsung; warranty just expired June 30



work clothes hanging around to dry



Sudsy WARHORSE in my trash can. Where's Brad?

Be Kind Solutions Homepage

First Date: AP Chem Meets Biodiesel from Cooking Oil In the Classroom--2009

Part of  the Warhorse personality is about being kind to others by sharing information. Like many stories, it has a beginning, but we don't know the end--hopefully there won't be an ending, but a continuation. Here's the tale: Sergei Zelevsky is the AP Chemistry teacher at Polk County High School in Columbus, NC. After our discussions about biodiesel and a few class trips to my home shop, he decided to make a trial run of biodiesel with his students. This video shows the date in progress in the 2 week biodiesel project. Here you can see a few students evaluating two cleaning processes--water and red oak sawdust. Stoic-and-steadfast-senior-class-salutatorian Trey Couch and Mr. Z are comparing which process works more efficiently. During 5th period, I'd zip out of my senior English classroom and up to their classroom and see their progress.




As the story continues, Mr. Z. and fellow science teacher Kim Mirasola plan to explore how to make biodiesel from algae (this is outside my range of knowledge, but I do think there's some algae growing in my dish washer). In fact, we want this first date to blossom and evolve into a more developed, long-term relationship: a biodiesel processor on school campus. Since nearby Clemson University and Appalachian State University has "Sustainable Engineering" course and Biodiesel Collaborative Project" and A-B Technical Institute has a Bio-Technology Program, we hope to get some guidance from them and solidify a permanent relationship with PCHS and biodiesel. It's a great way for students to explore the research and development that is going on all over the world--alternative energy sources. Plus, Mr. Zelevesky and our other science teachers see biodiesel as a way to practice applied chemistry concepts. It would really be cool if this marriage could produce some creative offspring by including neighboring high schools in this "real world" science project. Hey, a RS Central Hilltopper and a Hendersonville Bearcat have made biodiesel at my shop for their senior graduation projects. Let's embrace our rivalries PCHS Wolverines and invite them on this journey!

T. Weicker

Family Night--Bottling and Labeling

I am devoid of humorous quips...probably fatigue after adrenaline overload...rushing around, checking email, ordering another ph tester and cucumber cedar for the shower gel...

It was my eldest's birthday, and boy we whooped it up last night... I will let the pics tell the story. The captions will quote the commentary that was accompanying our glorious birthday activities. After a fine meal of country ham, grits, and slaw from Caro-Mi (besides their oil, they give us their empty vinegar jugs for soap), my brood set out to disappearing into crevices and dark caves, trying to hide from my agenda--bottling and labeling some soap. Well, thank goodness Liz and Lindsey were around to assist with the "artistic" and fine motor skills requirements.

Even though I haven't really "launched" my products yet, I keep making soap and filling bottles. I'm like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, where Kev doesn't really understand why he feels compelled to plow over some good corn and build a baseball field in the middle of a nowhere-Iowa-cornfield. Even in the face of financial ruin, he still keeps spending money on his plan and taking the family further into debt--all on feelings, signs, omens, voices. After a while, even his once-supportive wife begins to question her husband's sanity. Get where I'm going with this? I just feel like if I make the soap, people will want to clean with it. I can't explain it--the universe has conspired, the stars have aligned, the time is now... I am waiting for James Earl Jones and his booming voice to jump on my bandwagon and take the journey with me. Well, I know how it turned out for Kevin. He built it and they did come. However, James Earl isn't with me, but this evening I did have some help.

Oh yeah, the pics...

Liz said, "It's better to make more than you need, just in case."
I thought, "If I label them, they will come..."




Eldest states: "This would be more fun if we were bottling moonshine."
I replied, "I've got enough stress without adding helicopters and
surveillance."




Lindsey announced: "...I've got a headache. I will finish the other poster tomorrow."
Husband retorted from the living room: "Where's your work ethic? You teenagers today..."




Here's a visual of my husband's work ethic...he scares us
with it. But, we all benefit from it. I'm getting a new
soap fire pit this weekend while I'm at FENCE in
my tent, waiting for the people to come.



Eldest announces: "The 3rd rule of production from the
"Code of Production Handbook states: 'Acquire currency,
disregard the females.' " It is his 22nd birthday and he's celebrating
heavy now. There is no moonshine around the house, sad...
The goggles are overkill; my soap is non-toxic, no sulfates, no phosphates.
Our dog lapped some up from a bucket today.

Oh, the pics...




Product lining up. Eldest, full of himself as usual, instructs
the us to "improve our transportation
and communication." We are laughing quite loudly
now because we've got a slip and slide thing going from all
the water and soap on the concrete garage floor. Notice
the jug with the yellow cap: Waffle House is giving me
their empty syrup jugs for WARHORSE soap. I'm using what's out there.
The ladies and gents working there are getting ready to
receive a reciprocal-thank-you-Kind soap-delivery for
their recycling, container contribution. Just bottled some
orange mint concoction, and it smells pretty good.



James Earl Jones hasn't appeared yet to encourage
me on this soap journey, but last summer I did see this double
rainbow while fishing with youngest on Lake Blalock. Could it have
been the sign?

Also, last summer I was in the Rockies, trying
to see if I could make it "where no woman had gone before."
Husband does this hike yearly, with gear and bow in hand, looking
for the majestic elk. Ultimately, the only voice I heard from the
mountain was "Suck it up, nose bleeds are common at this altitude.
You said you could do this." Ya'll got that mental picture of the
small, rusty oil drill thing from Kansas, right? It was prodding
me along to the summit. I love that oil rig.

Well, about 10:30 pm last night, the soap packaging slowed to
a lull, and things got sloppy...the brood disappeared back into
the crevices and dark caves. I decided to redeem myself
and finally get around to using the garden bounty and making
my famous salsa--loads of garlic and fresh limes. So, when
my crew drags in , they can dive in the big bowl and think, " She still
likes us, even though we don't see her in the kitchen much anymore."
I could have named my soap The Good Wife Soap, ya know?

My 4th of July--soapin' it up!

Soapin' and dieselin' on the 4th

Before you take a gander at these pics, let me tell you this is my attire most of the time, when I'm not teaching my freshmen and seniors at PCHS the use of the semicolon, author's tone, and sentence variety. At school I follow the dress code. At home, most of the time, my dress code has deteriorated...and my nails...but I did take a breather today and watch a blip of The Real Housewives of New York--and my heart fluttered just for a wistful moment....the girls of New York are in a chic hotel in Morocco. It reminded me of my trip to Turks... Will I ever get there again?

I thought some of my few new followers ( I think I'm up to 2 now) might want to see the boat paddle, the glycerin (which I will eventually get around to explaining on a chemical and "molecular" level), my biodiesel and soap break activities, and our garden. Yes, I said the glycerin distillation and refining takes about 40 hours, but I do live my life in between checking the pot temps and stirring...


...heating the soap...


...new boat paddle works great since my hockey stick broke...



...processing biodiesel...



...Eddie and I take a break eating blueberries...



...using rainwater for the garden...we set up soaker hoses this evening...




...the garden needed attention...PCHS water bottles needed washing...


...I need to make some fresh salsa and give the cukes to my mother for pickles...




...my labels aren't here yet, so homemade ones...



... Chalk Sound in Turks... just four hours away from Charlotte airport... clean fingernails...

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