Raw Oat Hand Bags & Body Bags - A Cleansing How To

Consider these 2 ingredients if you will:

Raw Oats
Soap

You: 'Why is she pairing a cooking ingredient with a cosmetics ingredient?'
Me: 'Because these 2 work real well together in a hand and body cleansing kind of way.'

In just a moment, I'm going to show you how to pair them up and make your own handy dandy body bags and/or hand bags. I do realize how that sounds, but nevertheless, that's exactly what they are.

Why Oats

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you're no doubt familiar with my DIY soap-free cleansing bars (find an overview here). A couple of the recipes for these bars contain oats. The oaty bars have been particularly fabulous on my (sensitive) skin. But you will also find oats are an effective moisturizing and cleansing treat for all kinds of skin (even skin with acne).

Why Soap

Because of my growing collection of partially used guest soaps, I wanted to find a use for the leftovers. Guest sized soaps are adorable when they're new, but it takes about a nanosecond before the cute factor disappears and you are left with an irritating lump that is too big to throw away and small enough to create grumblings from husbands with large hands and no tolerance for guest-sized soaps.

Shall we get started on our body bags?

You'll need:

• Cheesecloth (or ready-made organza bags)
• Cotton string
• Raw Oats
• Quality Soap of choice

DIY Bags 

Instead of running around shops trying to find the ideal size bags (fitting comfortably in the hand), I convinced myself the wisest (and least inexpensive) course of action would be to make my own bags from some cheesecloth I had.

Little did I realize they would take much longer to make than expected and – after discovering I didn't have anything suitable for the ties – ended up costing me a trip to the store.

Oh The Irony of It All

It was while I was paying for the cotton string that I noticed them: organza bags in the perfect size for a hand-sized bag version sitting right on the counter. They were even on special. I took this as a sign and bought some.

The Easy Peasy Body Bag Making Method

Grate the soap finely. Save the bigger leftover bits and use those as well.

Mix with the raw oats. Prepare for a fabulous, inviting scent.

Spoon into bags and tie shut.

These are great as replacements for your regular bar of soap in the shower. The smaller, hand-sized bags are perfect to keep by the sink.

The bags can be washed and re-used, but the contents should be discarded after one use.

They are also fun to give as gifts.

Enjoy.