All About Soap Making!!

I cannot believe that it's been a year and a half since I last posted.  I should have more time now that the house is done!

A couple of years ago, I first blogged about my soap making.  I am still making soap and loving the soap I make.  Additionally, I truly enjoy making it.  It can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. I've had a lot of folks asking about my soap and the process, so I decided to dedicate this blog to soap.

First off let me say, I use lye to make my soap and it's not always easy to come by, thanks to those who feel the need to manufacture meth in their homes!  With that said, you can find it online, shipping can be costly.  If you order online you need 100% Sodium Hydroxide, it must say 100%, and all that I've used is in small pellet form.  Lye is serious stuff!  You shouldn't breathe it, and always wear gloves when pouring, opening or mixing.  Make sure there are no children, pets or husbands around when you're using this stuff.  Also, a small batch of soap only takes a couple of ounces of lye, so one bottle will last you many batches.


Okay, so in order to make soap, you MUST have the following:

Rubber Gloves
Something to cover your eyes and nose/mouth (I use a bandanna)
Saponification Chart (http://www.thesoapkitchen.co.uk/guide_to_sap_values.htm)
Lye
Water
Oil(s)
Kitchen Scales
Glass Measuring cup
Something to mix your soap in and with
Something to use as a soap mold

48 hours after soap has been poured into a mold, you will need the following:

Rubber Gloves (until the soap is cured, it can still burn you)
Cutting Board
Knife

Everything listed above is simply what you MUST have.  Everything else is just extras. Like Essential Oils, fancy molds, coloring etc.

Now, here's how I make soap....I use a blender.  Using a blender makes soap making so easy and fast. When not using a blender it can take up to an hour for your soap to reach trace (oils and lye fully mixed) but in a blender it only takes about 4 minutes!  I use an old blender, the slower the speed the better, so if you don't have and old one, just go buy a cheap one.  I start by weighing out my oils.

Blender soap always takes 16 oz of oils/fats...no more!  So, no matter how many oils, your total cannot exceed 16 oz.  So, I weigh out my 16 oz of oil/s, and put it into the blender.  If you're using lard or another solid oil you can melt it in the microwave for a few seconds, but be careful!  Oil gets hot fast.  Once my oil/s are in the blender I weigh out 7 oz of water, again this will never change!  Only 7 oz.  Your blender is not going to make 6 lbs of soap so just don't try it.  If you want to make large batches of soap, the easy blender method is not for you.

Once I get my water measured out, I look at the saponification chart and do the math to figure out how much lye I need, it's usually only a couple of ounces, but for your soap to work, you need to know exactly how much.  Once you determine your amount, get your gloves on!  They will stay on the rest of the time until you pour into the mold.  Get your glasses on and cover your nose and mouth.

Adding the lye to the water (never water to lye!) is tricky because once you pour in the lye the mixture gets really hot!  I usually set my water/lye mixture in an ice bath, stir it with a spoon that I only use for soap making, and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  Making soap using a more "traditional" method would require your oils and lye mixture to be almost the exact temperature before mixing, but we don't need to worry about that.  I just like it to be a little cooler so the soap reaches trace sooner.

While you're waiting for the lye to cool, get out whatever you're using as a mold.  I use anything I can find, but really like egg beater quart cartons, however, my favorite is vanilla soy milk quart cartons, they don't make a square bar, but a rectangle one.  You can use anything, cottage cheese or yogurt containers or buy an nice mold online.  Just remember that you are going to need to cover the poured soap for 48 hours after you pour.

When you're ready, carefully pour the lye mixture into the blender with the oils.  Cover with the blender lid and blend on a low speed.  After a couple of minutes I start checking it, you want it to be close to a pudding type consistency...that's trace.  Once you achieve trace go ahead and pour into your mold.  I seal mine up after I pour, because you need to wrap it in a towel or blanket and sit it in a cool dark place for 48-72 hours, do not check on it!  It will be fine.




Leave your gloves on for clean up!  Until the soap cures it can still chemically burn you!  I rinse everything as good as I can and put it in my dishwasher.  If you get the raw soap on you, rinse with cold water!

After you've patiently waited for 48-72 hours take the mold off, and slice the soap.  It should make at least 6 large bars.  Once your bars are sliced but them on a baking/cooling rack and let them cure in a cool dark place for at least 3 weeks!  You can purchase pH strips in the swimming pool aisle to check the pH of your soap prior to use.  It should be between 7-10 for use.  I try to wait at least a month, the longer you wait, the harder your soap is and the longer it will last you.



If you're ready to try it, I have some pretty simple basic recipes, that I can give you.  I should also add that I keep a soap "journal".  I recommend this because your soap might not always turn out, so I write the recipe, the date that I made it and then comments such as how long it took to trace, how does it lather, if it's a hard bar etc.  I've found it most useful in helping me track when I made it and how long I've been curing it.

There are a lot of ways to make soap, my friend Jolene makes her soap using a crockpot.  For me personally, the blender is easy and quick, mix, mold and your done!


Let me know if you have any questions and if you make some, I'd love to know how it turns out!

-Steph

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