Soaping Anyone?

[Marilyn]

Does anyone on here make their own soap?? I've been researching it, and if all goes as planned this evening, I'm going to try to make my first batch using a very basic recipe. If I don't get the whole thing done, I at least want to get my lye mixed with the water and get my mold ready.

I love to bake, and want so badly to learn to do really nice cake decorating. However, we don't want the baked goods around the house. I'm thinking I can do the creative things that I want to try, only with homemade soap. If you research it, you can make all kinds. Natural soaps that are just good for your skin with coconut oil and oatmeal and such, or you can get fancy and use colors and scents and molds or layer or swirl to make some really neat effects.

Anyone done any of this??

[Janet]

I haven't tried it, but it sounds fun.

[Marilyn]

I did it!!!! I made soap, I think. It was hard to tell when it was done. I'm hoping that it will turn out. I didn't burn me when it got on my skin (caustic burn) so I think it will be okay. It's already setting up in my mold (a paste board box lined with freezer paper). I'm doing this very low budget to start just to see if I can do it. Tomorrow I get to take the soap out of the mold and cut it into bars. Then the bars have to cure for 30 days before we can use the soap.

Here's the recipe that I used.

39 oz. olive oil
24 oz. coconut oil
18 oz. palm oil
28 oz. cold distilled water
12 oz. lye

You mix the lye and water, let it cool because there is a heat of reaction that occurs, plus it fumes, so you have to be very careful doing this. I did it very carefully in the backyard while wearing goggles and gloves. Can't be too careful with dangerous stuff.

Then you melt the solid oils and blend in the olive oil. When the oils are at 110 deg F and the lye water is at room temperature, you slowly add the lye water while you stir. Then I used a stick blender until it had reached what I think is full trace, then I poured it into my prepared mold.

Nothing fancy this batch, just basic stuff to see what happens.

I can't wait to see what it looks like tomorrow evening when I remove it from the mold. I used the website www.millersoap.com in case anyone is interested. It is Kathy Miller's classic soap recipe.

I remember my great aunt who made her own lye soap used rain water to make it & bacon grease. I might try using lard to make a batch. It's supposed to make the best soap, and here in So. TX, lard is very easy to find at any grocery.

[Janet]

From your description Marilyn, it sounds like you had a great time making the soap. I couldn't help when you said you did part of it in the back yard picturing a cauldron and your neighbors peeking through their windows...LOL.

I hope it turns out well. To tell you the truth, now that you've explained part of it, I don't think it sounds like something I would want to try.

I still want to try making jewelry, but just never enough time.

[Marilyn]

No cauldron used!!! I used a 1 gallon rubbermaid pitcher to mix the lye. I was wearing yellow rubber gloves and goggles. I spread out a trash bag on the grass, put the pitcher on the bag, added the lye and stirred it with a long handled stainless steel spoon while holding my head to the side because of the fumes. There was a couple on their back porch across the golf course from me that I know was wondering what in the world I was doing!! I could barely hear them talking and I could see that they were looking my way. I told hubby about them, and he said they probably thought I was mixing something to make drugs. My girls are afraid someone will get suspicious and call the law on me.

Hubby is really sensitive to smells and did not want me smelling up the house. Most people cover their stove and mix the lye under their vent hood, but he wanted no chance of any fumes in the house.

Now that I've done it, it's not nearly so bad. I could do it without the trash bag and goggles. I just wasn't sure what to expect. I'll try to post some pic's when I get it out of the mold and cut. It actually looks pretty good this morning, and smells nice.

[Janet]

We also want pics of you in your goggles and gloves...

[Taurus Babe]

Cool guys! I've made soap from glycerin, but I guess that's kind of cheating. I would love to make it from scratch! It's so fun. I used the soap I made fro xmas presents and such, then I had to stop making it cause we had too mcuh soap...I couldn't give it away fast enough.

[Marilyn]

Here are pics of my soap. I'm really pleased with the results. Now we just have to let it cure for 30 days before we can try using it. I wish I had taken a pic of the big piece before cutting. I'm showing my cutting in progress and the finished bars. I will need to work on bar size uniformity, but for my first try, I was very pleased. The soap looks very smooth and creamy and has a very very light coconut scent from the coconut oil. Now that I know I can do this, I'm ready to experiment a little. I want to make a bar with oatmeal and ginger. I may also infuse some green tea in the olive oil. I want to venture into trying some essential oils and color in future batches.

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[Marilyn]

Originally Posted by Taurus Babe

Cool guys! I've made soap from glycerin, but I guess that's kind of cheating. I would love to make it from scratch! It's so fun. I used the soap I made fro xmas presents and such, then I had to stop making it cause we had too mcuh soap...I couldn't give it away fast enough.

I can see having too much soap being a problem. As you can see, my first batch is 28 bars. Most of my friends use shower gel. May have to send some to you ladies. My experiments could cause a soap overload around here. LOL