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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Because I needed another hobby...

Guess what I did today?


Yep, played with lye! I like my stylish safety glasses. I was making soap again. I also made two pounds last Saturday with my beekeeping mentor and soap-guru, Pierre.


This is Saturday's batch. The bars on the left are "five-fold orange" scented (very orangey; it's an essential oil) and the other is a "white citrus floral" fragrance blend, with calendula petals mixed in.

I made a bit of a boo-boo with this batch. I didn't read the label carefully enough in the grocery store and bought an olive oil/canola oil blend instead of straight olive. Pierre helped me adjust the recipe to account for the canola. These soaps are a little softer than pure olive oil soap would have been, but they should be fine. I will let them cure for a month and hope they harden a bit more, but if not, they'll still be okay to use.

Today I embarked on my first solo soap-making venture. I was a bit nervous doing it without Pierre at my elbow! I did make one emergency support call to his iPhone:

"Pierre, the freezer paper you line the molds with.... shiny side in or out??!!"

"Out."

"THANK YOU!"

Everything seemed to work out fine. I'll know for sure tomorrow when I unmold the soap. Today I made peppermint soap with vanilla specks for exfoliation, and anise soap. Can't wait to try beer soap for the menfolk!

I am totally hooked on this and am dying to make more. I ordered more essential and fragrance oils today and will soon have more soap than I know what to do with. I guess I will have to start selling it, once I feel confident it's not going to strip off anyone's epidermis.

Or I guess I could just shower four times a day...

13 comments:

  1. Wow - you are one talented lady. This is another thing I have never tried to do. I'm sure they will sell when you're ready since 4 baths a day will give you prune skin.

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  2. Cool ! Many people do a lot of soap making. Tour house must smell pretty good.

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  3. Do we have to call you 'Bubbles' from now on?

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  4. One other thing you could do with all that soap would be to give it away in contests to your bloggie friends! :)

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  5. Beer soap, mmmmhhhhh? No, I better stay with the real thing. You are one talented lady.

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  6. Oooohh, one more thought about the beer soap. Don`t deprive Gordon of his pleasure. Or at least use stale beer if you have to.

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  7. Maybe you are unconsciously making a statement about cleaning up the world. Goodness knows, it needs it!

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  8. Great!!!!
    Enjoy your weekend!!

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  9. That dog needs safety specs too, and any cats nearby. Most laboratory injuries are suffered by people nearby other people's work, because they are the ones not taking precautions. A friend of mine lost an eye that way (not due to my work, fortunately, but another fellow's exploding glassware). I look forward to seeing the cats and dogs in their safety glasses, though keeping them out of the room may be easier. Andrew the chemistry lecturer

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    1. Don't worry! I was making soap in the kitchen. I just came into my office (where the dogs were) to take a self-portrait! No lye was around the pets. :)

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    2. And I've been mixing the lye out on the enclosed front porch (concrete floor) away from the furry crowds.

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    3. Well that's all right then.

      By the way, there are chickens looking for you here:
      http://donquiscottieblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/waiting-on-knatolee.html

      :)

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  10. Mmm, five fold orange and white citrus floral sound lovely .....I've never tried soap making, but would love to give it a whirl.

    Claire :}

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!