I'M HOOKED

Oh my goodness, I wish I would have taken video of my first soap making experience. It was hilarious and so much fun! Ian and I were laughing the entire time. I'm only one day past making my first batch and I'm foaming at the mouth do it again.

From my first attempt I learned I'm going to have to buy a few more supplies as well as some important lessons for next time: 

1. Respect but don't fear making the lye (mixing the sodium hydroxide & distilled water.) I was irrationally afraid of this first step, because sodium hydroxide is quite a chemical, but doing it once put my mind at ease. The fact I wore double "safety goggles" (my glasses + bug-eyed sunglasses) made me feel better too. I think I'll keep practicing this safety precaution. 

2. An electric stick blender is a must have. I don't know if my arms can handle stirring a mixture for 45 minutes again. A stick blender will also considerably speed up the necessary mixing time.

3. Do not stir too hard. As the minutes ticked by I tried to stir harder and harder in hopes of speeding up the time needed for trace to develop. This made no difference and became super sloppy. I lost a good amount of my mixture down the sink drain. 

4. A mixing bowl with a pour spout would also be helpful. Pouring the mixture into the mold was a little difficult without a pour spout and I lost more of my mixture on this step.

Other than that everything seems to have worked. I won't know for sure for another 4 to 6 weeks because that's how long the soap has to set before use. If everything goes according to plan, over the next few weeks the saponification process will play out perfectly and the pH level of the soap will be safe.

Now we wait...again...This process requires so much patience but I think that is one of the things I like about it. In this era of instant gratification overload, the soap making process is kind of refreshing.