My first attempt at soap making didn't go quite as planned. I substituted and oil but mostly followed the directions exactly. The soap wouldn't thicken up or 'trace' so I poured it anyway and let the runny soap set up over night. Of course it didn't cure into soap.... so I did some internet searching and decided to re-heat the glop. It had thickened up over night but not to a 'bar of soap' stage, more like thick grainy yogurt. After reheating the mixture to 120* I re-moulded it and left it to firm up. By 6pm last night I had reasonably firm soap bars. Still to caustic to use, they must air cure for awhile. But still not a total loss, on the plus side I have tons of soap!
The process I did was called cold process soap. What I plan to do next with this soap is hand mill it. Basically, I shred the soap add water and essential oils, herbs, colors (not likely), and re-mould it. This makes for a firmer bar of soap that doesn't just disintegrate in water. I can do this process after the soap has cured for at least 1 week.
I followed the soap recipe from
down---to---earth, I changed the rice bran oil to safflower oil because I couldn't find the rice bran oil. Other than that it was pretty easy, scary but cool. I plan to make spiffier soaps but for now just a basic soap mix sounds good to me!
This recipe has turned out well for me 5 or 6 times now. It's a lot so a half batch would be best the first time.
ReplyDelete12 oz coconut oil
12 oz olive oil (non-virgin)
10 oz vegetable shortening
5.2 oz lye
2 oz essential oil (optional)
2 cup water (8 fluid ounces)
Fat and lye/water temperatures about 120 degrees F
Time in molds: 48 hours
Age: 4 weeks
Each type of oil requires a different amount of lye so a change in oil type needs a change in the amount of lye.
Sweet! I can't wait to give this a try, thanks cousin mine. :o)
ReplyDeleteMy first soap was really brittle and I don't think it ever cured to the point where the pH would be safe for skin. I shredded up the whole batch and made it into laundry soap before starting over. I have lots of fat waiting for me to make a fresh batch.
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