Showing posts with label before and after. Show all posts
Showing posts with label before and after. Show all posts

Monday, August 4, 2014

Human Milk Soap

Last month, I begin to store expressed breast milk (ebm) for the new born. There are few expired ebm dated September 2013. Sadly, I am too sentimental to discard the milk. My elder child would not accept ebm since he turns one and I have been giving away to a friend's child since then. My boy would only accept direct feed, I have been pumping to maintain my supply. The remaining three packets was left untouched to its expiry.
 
To make space for the fresh ones, I decided to turn the expired ebm into soap upon reading about its process here and here. Previously I would add the expired milk directly with warm water in the baby tub.
 
The later method which I opted has lesser ingredients, just a bar of soap and milk. I decided to forgo the fragrant and colouring ingredient. My bar of soap was a round soap from previous hotel stay.

Method
Cut the soap into small bits.
Add milk.
Put it in a pan on slow fire until soap melted.
Fill the mixture into ice cube tray.
Put a layer of baking sheet on top of mixture
(I skipped this part and now my guess would be; the purpose is
to have a smooth surface, without leaving any air bubbles)
 
The small soap and 3oz of milk create 5 cubes of this.
 
The texture is not as hard as normal bar soap, a little 
over dose of milk would be my guess for its soft texture.
 
That was my first attempt. It did occurred to me to try the other recipe if I ever get my hand into lye- the key ingredient to create soap from scratch.

 
Mother's milk is a taboo in producing cosmetic products and soap, the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) ruled, Berita Harian reported.
Jakim director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha said the authority had also take into account guide-lines of the Health Ministry's National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau before making the decision.
The guidelines stated breast milk or any material of human origin could not be used in cosmetic products, including soap.
Othman was responding to an earlier article of the daily that breast milk soaps were making waves in China.
 
I came across this article on the Star news paper on 26th July 2014 after I made the soap. There would be no second attempt in soap making from human milk for me in future. I am still sentimental about throwing it down the drain. In future, any expired milk from the freezer would be plant fertilizer i.e. down the earth instead of down the drain.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

552sqft Flat

Alhamdulillah, the unit procured last year, 12 days away till it became 1 year old, finally settled. We totally outsource the renovation works. None by us. We did consider to do part of it by ourselves to reduce the cost but it seems to be a distant dream. We need to ensure minimal disturb to our monthly cash flow, hence outsourcing it would be the fastest way - the fastest being 1 year process not to mention a costly affair (T_T)

Let's have the before and after photo feast of each area starting from the Hall.

Thankfully the tiles are free BUT we had to add 136 pieces i.e. not similar to the free tiles colour scheme *sadis*
A hard lesson learnt definitely but the free 400+ pieces required 2 trips from the site and additional pieces will require another trip. Not to mention loading and unloading it to the 2nd floor of the property!


The cheap vinyl replaced with tiles makes the room looks bigger - green vs cream.


The sink replaced with counter top and new basin, this eats 15% of the total upgrading cost. 


A cleaned yard from any debris with a fresh coat of paint makes it look so much better.


I roamed through all the 'Before' picture but could not find any showing Bedroom 1. The door is closed - I don't remember hiding anything in that room except debris from the previous tenant which he removed after we request him to do so.
   


Only the 'After' shoots.


This picture do not do justice as the tiles are not shown. The location where the tiles are living 'harmoniously' despite their colour and background differences.

That's about it. Alhamdulillah its settled for the time being. We are eyeing another 2 properties at the moment. Which ever we might end up with, I pray that it would be the best decision made upon guidance from the Almighty. Amin.