Soap Making Class

It's a great time to make soap!

I've been making cold process for about 12 years,

and now and then someone wants me

to teach them how to make it.

Cold Process Soap is the traditional way that soap has been made for many years. 

My Granny used to make soap, but it was not

like the handcrafted soap of today.

 Soap is fun and easy to make.

More and more people are going back to using handmade bars of soap.

Real soap is when you mix lye and oils

that creates a chemical process.

LYE + OILS= SOAP

This is not melt and pour that you may have heard about.

Real handcrafted soap is mild and moisturizing to the skin

and uses all natural ingredients.

Here is Marilyn making her Goat's milk soap,

using milk from her very own goat's.

Woeking hard making their soap......

 Even Marilyn's husband Glenn got in on the fun!

Ann (in the front) is making a batch with orange essential oils. 

Smells sooo good!

 Nzalani is testing oil temperatures for her first batch.

She used many kinds of oils and dried herbs, plus

some great essential oils like Jasmine.

One student did have a quick trace time (seizing)

in one of her batches of soap.

Sometimes you have to move fast

when making soap.

Also at times certain oils will cause it to seize,

or even certain fragrances.

Temperatures affect soap,

and even humidity.

Go here for some troubleshooting questions about soap making problems.

http://www.soap-body-and-spa.com/Cold-Process-Soap-Troubleshooting.html

Appreciate your mistakes for what they are,

and learn from them.

The class was fun.

I think everyone learned a lot.

 Nothing like hands on learning.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Time to make soap!

Well, it's that time again.

Time to make soap.

I've been making soap for about 12 years now

and always have fun doing it.

I've tried many different recipes

and shared my love for this old craft many times.

This day I shared it with my friend Karen.

Remember her?  She's my tree hugging friend.

As you can see,

she is having fun stirring the soap mix and

 acting silly for the photo!  LOL

Karen learned how to make a basic batch of handcrafted soap,

using several kinds of oils and lye.

She made it especially hers by adding coffee grounds and cinnamon essential oil.

Here it is still in the mold,

after sitting overnight wrapped up in blankets.

Now it is hard enough to cut into bars like mine.

My batch is Patchouly/Lavender.

The batch made 17 bars of almost 4 oz. each.

After 3 weeks of curing,

they will be ready for their labels.

_______

I was going to keep making more batches,

but then my 12 inch long glass thermometer I use for soap making, BROKE!

OH NO!

 No more soap making today!

 I just went online to

Majestic Mountain Sage at

http://www.thesage.com/

and ordered another one, a metal one this time.

That old thermometer lasted a long time.

I also ordered some essential oils,

one new one being 'sweetgrass' EO.

Oh yes, I also ordered some

French Green Clay

to make soap with.

This soap is called

Savon de Marseille.

In France it has been used for generations

to clean everything from

linens to babies' skin.

The soap got its name because the city of Marseille,

on the southern coast of France,

was one of the most important

soap-making centers of the Mediterranean.

French green clay is a natural clay hidden deep beneath the earth's surface.

It's very good for the skin.

I am excited about making this soap!

So try an old craft,

learn something new,

have fun and....

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Sapo, sapone, soap

Since we have had a heat advisory

yesterday and today

I have been staying inside

making soap.

I wanted to start making up

a lot of batches (16 bars per batch),

so I would have some on hand

not just for our own use,

but to sell at Trade Days this fall,

and to give away at Christmas

(great gifts btw)

Each batch has to cure minimum of 6 weeks,

so I better start now.

Handcrafted soap

is something we use every day

around my house.

The photo below shows 2 batches of soap

still in the molds,

prior to cutting into 5 oz. bars.

My DH makes the molds for me.

My kitchen looks like a laboratory

when I make soap.

I have all my different oils, the 100% lye,

the 100% pure essential oils,

the bowls, the spoons, the thermometers,

the scales and everything needed to make

great homemade soap.

A long time ago when my grandmother made soap

it was harsh and not so good for your skin.

Today, the science is so exact

that it is very gentle to your skin,

if done correctly.

By the time my soap has cured for about 6 weeks,

there is no lye remaining,

only rich moiturizing 100 % natural ingredients.

It is not real soap unless you have oils plus lye.

The term saponification

is the name given to the chemical reaction

that occurs when a vegetable oil or animal fat

 is mixed with a strong alkali (lye).

The name saponification literally means "soap making".

The root word, "sapo", is Latin for soap.

The Italian word for soap is sapone.

Soap making as an art has its origins

in ancient Babylon around 2500 - 2800 BC.

The oils  I use vary

 and  are carefully chosen 

for the character they impart

to the final soap.

Coconut oil creates lots of glycerin,

 makes big bubbly lather,

and is very stable.

Olive oil has natural antioxidants

and its soap makes a creamier lather. 

Lard makes a white, stately bar

 that is firm and creates abundant lather.

 Many other oils can be used,

each one for a specific reason. 

I usually add things like herbs,

sometimes ground oats, etc.

The alkali I use is sodium hydroxide or lye,

which is used to make bar soap.

The common term for the alkali became simply "lye",

which curiously is not short for alkali,

but originated in the Anglo-Saxon language.

Soap made in earlier American times

became known as "lye soap".

That term is still derogatory to many 

and denotes a harsh soap that will irritate your skin.

Not so.

In fact, well made, well cured handmade soap

is better in many ways

for your skin,

than any commercial soap.

TIP:

• melt and pour soap is not real soap.
• Sandy Maine is one of the best soap makers ever
• 100% lye (crystals) is used as drain opener, no chemicals please

Yesterday I made jasmine and geranium scented soap

with some additional herbs and things.

The scent is going all through the house!

My DH loved it!

Well, I'm off to make more soap!

and to.....

Savor the Day!

Yvonne