With hand sanitiser having long disappeared from our supermarket shelves, our Programme Coordinator Brian has been using his time at home to experiment with making bush soap and shared the process with us:
Step 1 – Make a fire to create charcoal (charcoal and water make an alkaline solution)
Step 2 – Crush charcoal into a fine powder and mix with water (distilled preferable). Filter charcoal water through a cloth to get rid of big bits
Step 3 – Heat up some Lard (or animal fat)
Step 4 – Collect some plants with antiseptic properties (kawakawa, lavender, pine needles …) and cut them up as finely as you can
Step 5 – Mix the melted lard, filtered charcoal water, and chopped plants together and boil until the water is gone
Step 6 – Let it cool and harden (mine is more like a hard-liquid soap)
