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.

ZERO HOUR!

The time has finally come for me to give soap making a try, tonight is the night. I can't believe how excited I am about this!

Ian and I just finalized the recipe I'm going to use (check out my previous post, Lend Me Your Brain, for more about that.) We also set up all my ingredients and supplies in the kitchen. There's nothing more to do except dive in.

So, here goes...*eeeeeeee*

LEND ME YOUR BRAIN

Well blog, it looks like today may be the big day! After nearly a month of hunting and gathering I finally have all my soap making ingredients and supplies.

The only thing I'm still lacking is a recipe. I encountered a number of recipes on my hunt for knowledge but every one of them incorporated additional, optional ingredients I don't have. They were also calculated for batches that make at least twenty 4 oz. bars. I'm pretty sure my 4 lb. mold will only hold enough mixture to create sixteen 4 oz. bars. Math has never been my strong suit and my palms are starting to sweat just thinking about it. I really don't want to mess this up and waist ingredients. My bank account may never forgive me for that!

It's time to ask for the assistance of my husband and renaissance man, Ian (he does calculus for fun, I'm not joking.)

Here's what I know about my recipe so far:

I have a 4 lb. mold and the ingredients I have to include for saponification are:

> Distilled Water

> Sodium Hydroxide

(these two will be mixed to create the lye solution)

> Olive Oil

> Palm Oil

> Coconut Oil

In addition, I would also like to include a bit of these

> Jojoba Oil

> Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil

> BrambleBerry.com's Oyster Mist Colorant

I also have some conversion charts (that look like a foreign language) which are supposed to help me figure out my recipe. It's safe to assume Ian will look at them and have everything translated and calculated within the hour. Bless him!

To help make up for my math deficiency, please allow me to explain that big word, saponification, I used above. This is the fancy term used to describe the chemical process of making soap. It refers to the way in which the base (in this case sodium hydroxide) reacts with the acid (in this case the vegetable oils) to produce the end result: soap and glycerin. And, for bonus points, it's important to understand that if you calculate your amounts correctly then there will be no harmful, excess lye in your final product. It should be completely converted to soap during the saponification process.

How 'bout them apples?!?! [chuckle] Keep your fingers crossed...Ian's starting to work on the recipe now!

NEW LOVE ???

After opening my packages the other night, like a seven year old on Christmas morning, I immediately decided to start reading my new book. I just finished the first of what I suspect will be many readings of The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch. What a great resource! This book has inspired in me a greater respect for the soap making process and 100% natural soap. I found the author's passion for the importance of natural soap both intriguing and justified. She also brings a wealth of practical knowledge to the table on the subject and quickly filled in those gaps I had about what to do next on my journey.

The more I learn about making soap...the history, the benefits of natural ingredients, the creative abandon the process allows...the more I love it. I hope I still feel the same way after I finally get through my first attempt! Could this really become the hobby I've been searching for? If not, I'm at least proud of myself for sticking with my New Year's resolution this long (see New Year + New Adventure post.)

So, what do I do next? Most importantly for this stage I learned from my reading that I still need a few more supplies. I could use some of the cookware we already have but I'm sure that would not make the house chef (my husband Ian) very happy. I'm on my out now to get the rest of what I need:

> distilled water
> olive oil
> large glass or stainless steel mixing bowl
> 2 rubber spatulas
> 2 instant read thermometers
> wax paper
> rubber gloves

I'm sorry bank account, things will ease up soon!

SPECIAL DELIVERY

 

I just arrived home from work and, OH JOY! My order from BrambleBerry.com is here! I would write more but I have two giant packages to dive into... 

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

 

Still waiting on my order to be delivered. I checked the FedEx website and the tracker told me my package is in Portland, OR. Please FedEx, hurry across the country as quickly as you can! 

GETTING CLOSER

I'm one step closer to making my first batch of homemade soap. I'm so excited! I just submitted an order with BrambleBerry.com and faxed them a signed waiver so they can ship me the sodium hydroxide. I guess I'm going to have to sign and fax a waiver every time I order lye. This chemical thing is still a bit bothersome but I'm sure I'll get over it. 

I went a little nuts with the supplies and probably ordered more than I'll need for this first batch. The Soap Queen sucked me in! 

I ordered Bramble Berry's Cold Process Soap Kit which claims to include everything I'll need to get started (except Olive Oil and Lye). The kit also includes The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch. I hope this book helps fill in some gaps I still have about the soap making process. A few beginner recipes would be extremely helpful. 

Along with the starter Soap Kit I also ordered sodium hydroxide, a digital scale, a 4lb log mold, a cutter for my 4lb log mold, a few suction droppers, oyster mist lab color, an essential oil sampler kit, The Essential Oils Book by Colleen K. Dodt, and some sleeve & tray soap boxes. Over kill? My bank account certainly thinks so! 

Now we wait for the delivery...

THE HUNT IS ON!

Holy information! I've been searching the net for how to make homemade soap and, I admit, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. There are a million different recipes and all the ones I've found thus far seem a tad too advanced for me, the novice. I'm even having a hard time finding exactly what tools and supplies I'm going to need.

The few things I know for sure are that I'm going to be making cold-process, all natural vegetable oil soap. Cold-process means I will not be using heat for anything. This came as a nice surprise since I assumed I'd have to use the stove. I should note that my stove and I are not the best of friends (my wonderful husband does all the cooking in our house.) I also know I will not be using tallow or lard as ingredients. I've gathered that tallow and lard were the main ingredients used back in the day but modern studies have shown them to be pore cloggers. That's no good! Plus, I'm not keen on using animal products. Vegetable oils are much more beneficial to the skin and easier to find.

I've also learned that I'm going to have to use sodium hydroxide (lye) in this process. The thought of using a chemical is a bit unnerving because I'm pretty sure I caught something on fire in my high school chemistry class. One good thing is that by the end of the process the lye will be completely dissolved and therefore will not harm the skin. 

BrambleBerry.com came up during my hunt for soap making knowledge. This is a fun, user friendly site that seems to offer many of the ingredients and supplies I'm going to need. Bramble Berry was founded by a woman that calls herself The Soap Queen. I get the sense this chick is going to help me sort a few things out!

NEW YEAR + NEW ADVENTURE

IMAGE FROM  PAPAYA! ART -2010 WEEKLY PLANNER

Here goes...

It's 2010 so in honor of the new year and my insatiable hunger to find a hobby, I've resolved to start two new adventures: one, making homemade soap; and two, blogging about my soap making dabblings.

How did this soap making idea come about? Well, to my surprise, my mom's wonderful friend, Terri, has apparently been making homemade soap for years. This past Christmas she gifted me one of her amazing homemade bars. Prior to opening Terri's gift I had never come into contact with homemade soap. When I unwrapped the gift it was love at first sight, first touch and first smell! I couldn't wait to use this soap!

My first shower with this intriguing gift further fueled my love. I was captivated by the texture of the wet bar, its soft lather and the lingering scent. Plus, as I later settled into bed, I noticed that my skin was left feeling soft, residue free and moisturized. The difference between the homemade soap and my usual Aloe Vera Lever 2000 was astounding. There really is no comparison except maybe life pre-hairstyling flatiron vs. post-flatiron. I knew after my first shower with Terri's soap that it would be hard for me to ever buy or use a synthetic soap again.

The more I thought about it the more I realized just how impressed I was with this soap. It's 100% natural, it was made (from the heart) in a loved one's home and it worked better than any soap I'd ever used before. The whole thing just "struck a chord" with me. Then, EUREKA! if Terri can make such a quality bar of soap in her home then why can't I? I can't (yet) find any reason not to give it try. So here goes! I hope this will become my long-sot-after hobby, I hope my intrigue turns into passion, I hope this blog keeps me on track and, mostly, I hope I can home brew an equally as impressive bar of soap as Terri!

Let the fun begin! Cheers to 2010 and new adventures!