Thursday, March 13, 2008

My First *Real* Attempt at Soap Making










Okay, so I finally did it. I finally had enough supplies to make a batch of real soap. I followed a recipe by Delores Boone called "Simply Soap". It consisited of castor oil, coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, lard(yup, real lard!!), lye and distilled water. I used the hot process method with a slow cooker. I was convinced that I would screw it up somehow or end up in the ER with lye burns. Well, I suprised myself with no burns and a great batch of soap so far. The entire process took maybe two hours including molding. Some of it I scented with lavendar and some with patcholi. Smells awesome. I tried using dye in the lavendar batch, but all it did was turn a grayish color with bits of the color suspended in the soap. Looks kinda cool anyways. The first 5 bars in the photo are lavendar and the other three are patcholi. My drying rack has seen better days, lots of paint!! The rest I molded in a handmade mold-from a plastic container that contained coffee creamer. I lined it with parchment paper and secured the bottom with plastic wrap left over from Halloween. It looks a bit scary but I think I will have some nice round bars once they are hard enough. This batch I left out the fragrance. I will probably use most of it for hand-milling. That is where you take soap that is already made and remelt it and mix with other things to make a totally different bar of soap. I am anxious to get started on that project as well, just awaiting some supplies to come in the mail. I am also anxious to use this in the shower, as I am NOT a fan of bar soap...hate the sticky feeling with it after showering. I may have a different opinion of it fter I use my own soap. I noticed the difference after cleaning the bowls and the pots that had left over soap in them. It lathered really nice and my hands felt smoother. So we will see...














5 comments:

LINDA BARES said...

Your soaps look great! I've thought about trying it, but have too many crafts/hobbies at the moment!

Janiece said...

Your soaps look great! I think you used the same molds that I used for my first batch, too.

There's nothing like using soap that you made with your own two hands. Congratulations on the start of a whole new addiction. :-)

Ginger said...

Looks like you will become a soapaholic like some of the rest of us. Congrats on your first batch.

I have never tried hot process. I do cold process and re-batching.

I love using handmade soap, olive oil soap is my favorite.

Stephanie said...

Congratulations, now you're going to be hooked on soapmaking like a lot of us! :)

Krazy Kate Designs said...

very cool! Thanks for sharing your experience in soap making.