Soap!

I not only quilt, I make soap. I hadn't made any soap since last fall and I've been itching to try out a new recipe - trying to find a harder bar that the Boybarian won't reduce to sticky slime quite so fast. I'm not sure what he does with the soap, but it doesn't stay nice for long...and it used to! I think he might be testing his strength on the bars, squeezing them when they are wet...

Any way...today I printed off my recipe, measured out all of the ingredients...and proceeded to make soap!

The first step is to measure the ingredients. I have a handy-dandy USB electronic scale that The Army Guy bought for me when our local Radio Shack closed. I can measure to my heart's content...or until the ingredients are all measured!

I love soaping in the warm weather. I can mix my lye up outside and not have to deal with the fumes. Here is the lye and aloe vera juice concoction airing out in the sun on my back deck.

While in the throes of soaping, I forget to use my camera *sigh* so here is a picture of the oils and the caustic solution when they have almost reached trace. It is opaque and starting to emulsify. I will then move some of the soap to the smaller container shown on the left, using the cup in the middle. That container already has some green color in it, waiting to color half of my soap batch.

Thankfully The Peanut was home and helped me pour the soap into the mold. I prepped the mold by putting it into a cardboard box because I was concerned that we might just spill some out of the mold...I usually spill...and soap chemistry and kitchen floors are a slippery mix! We each poured our soap into opposite sides of the mold and then I swirled the two together. I can hardly wait until unmolding so I can see how much of a swirl I really got!

This green will morph until it looks mostly blue and the scent is some that I just had a little bit of and have had for too many years. I'm not sure if it will morph just because it is old, but considered it worthwhile to use it in a trial batch, hoping it keeps it's scent through the saponification process.

Tomorrow I'll unmold and cut the soap...and give you a peek!