1-2-13 Goat's Milk Soap
I did it! I made a beautiful, white goat's milk soap! This soap was made cold process to retain the white color. Same recipe as the 12-31-12 soap, except for replacing the essential oils with lavender. The 2 cups of goat's milk was from a powder. It had been reconstituted, frozen, then thawed enough to break into pieces. A bit of water was added to make the 17.6 oz. liquid needed. I put the jar of liquid in ice water in the sink, and added the lye slowly, about 1T. every 2-2.5 minutes. This took about 45 minutes to add it all. My oils had been melted but were at room temperature, or pretty close. Since both the oils and the lye mixture were cool, I was surprised that it reached trace in only about 20 minutes. The lavender essential oil was added at light trace and it was blended a while longer. After pouring into the mold, it went into the refrigerator in an effort to help retain the beautiful creamy-white color.
It's a new year!
I'm taking down the Christmas tree now. Afterwards I could make Castille (all olive oil) soap. It needs to age a long time, like 6+ months. So I would not be in any hurry to use it. May get to WalMart later today, to get some Sunflower oil.
Back to HP 12-31-12
I loved the 2 cold process batches of soap I did last, but just had to go back to hot process today. This one was made with pretty much the same recipe as the Rooibos soap, but with discounted water and different essential oils. In ounces:
2.6 Castor
10.4 Coconut
13 WM shortening (Beef tallow/palm)
13 Sunflower
13 Lard
17.6 water
7.2 Lye
.8 Litsea
.8 Patchouli
It is cooked and in the mold. Will unmold and take a photo tomorrow. Now what shall I do next? I'm out of Sunflower oil! (Maybe I should go shopping!)
2.6 Castor
10.4 Coconut
13 WM shortening (Beef tallow/palm)
13 Sunflower
13 Lard
17.6 water
7.2 Lye
.8 Litsea
.8 Patchouli
It is cooked and in the mold. Will unmold and take a photo tomorrow. Now what shall I do next? I'm out of Sunflower oil! (Maybe I should go shopping!)
Roobios update 12-31-12
The Rooibos colored soap after a few days. It is not terribly ugly, but not as pretty as when first poured. It looked like caramel then. Made me hungry!
Labeling
My first labels. I do like the water pitcher and the type I chose for the business name. I tried it again with the name in larger type but like this one better. These are longer than they need to be, though. I'll go back to portrait when I revamp them for the next soap.
Awaiting my order
On Friday the 28th of December I placed an order with Bramble Berry for soaping supplies. They are closed til Jan. 2, and I do not know how many orders will be ahead of mine when they reopen. But if they can ship that day, I expect the order to arrive between Jan. 7 and 9. I am really excited to get these supplies. I've ordered castor oil, and cocoa butter. The essential and fragrance oils ordered include french vanilla (fo), patchouli (fo), 10x orange (eo), and chocolate expresso (fo). I've also ordered blue, lavender and orange colors to add to the green I have. This is my Christmas present from my wonderful hubby!
I've been searching for a source for some botanicals to add to my supply, and have settled on Bulk Herbs USA. I'll be ordering alkanet root (for color), lavender flowers, and calendula flowers. Hopefully I'll get that order made today.
I've acquired a few other things, too. My DB and DSIL sent me a great Christmas present! They sent patchouli, sweet orange and peppermint essential oils. These are the Aromatherapy grade, not the cheap stuff! They also sent a box of lavender flowers to incorporate into my soaps. They are the greatest! We also went to Whole Foods while we were in Tulsa last week. I got castor oil, goat's milk powder, and coconut milk, as well as the Rooibos tea I already experimented with.
I've been searching for a source for some botanicals to add to my supply, and have settled on Bulk Herbs USA. I'll be ordering alkanet root (for color), lavender flowers, and calendula flowers. Hopefully I'll get that order made today.
I've acquired a few other things, too. My DB and DSIL sent me a great Christmas present! They sent patchouli, sweet orange and peppermint essential oils. These are the Aromatherapy grade, not the cheap stuff! They also sent a box of lavender flowers to incorporate into my soaps. They are the greatest! We also went to Whole Foods while we were in Tulsa last week. I got castor oil, goat's milk powder, and coconut milk, as well as the Rooibos tea I already experimented with.
Other soaping experiments so far
I've done more experimenting, but not with photos. I've made 2 rose scented soaps. One was with water, the other with 1% milkfat cow's milk. I'm guessing I mixed the milk and lye too quickly, as that one is rather brown. It does have a nice "feel" to it, but not a lot different from the "water" batch. I have goat's milk now, and it is frozen and awaiting another experiment. I love others' goats milk soaps, and want to make my own! These were Hot Process.
I've made several batches of peppermint scented soap. The first one was an inferior peppermint essential oil and the scent did not stay. Another was an attempt at "swirling" where I used enough color for 4 batches, so I am in the process of rebatching all that. I used the crockpot, and after spending a long time cleaning the pot once, for the next one I invested in liners. They are well worth the 50c each!
I've also made 3 plain (unscented) batches. 2 were for use by children who are allergic to scents. The third was a 0% superfat for laundry soap. I LOVE my home made laundry soap- my clothes are the cleanest they have been in years! And there are 2 batches of lavender scented. The first time I forgot to discount the water, so of course I HAD to make another batch. The 2nd is almost gone, as I used it for gifts for Christmas.
I've made several batches of peppermint scented soap. The first one was an inferior peppermint essential oil and the scent did not stay. Another was an attempt at "swirling" where I used enough color for 4 batches, so I am in the process of rebatching all that. I used the crockpot, and after spending a long time cleaning the pot once, for the next one I invested in liners. They are well worth the 50c each!
I've also made 3 plain (unscented) batches. 2 were for use by children who are allergic to scents. The third was a 0% superfat for laundry soap. I LOVE my home made laundry soap- my clothes are the cleanest they have been in years! And there are 2 batches of lavender scented. The first time I forgot to discount the water, so of course I HAD to make another batch. The 2nd is almost gone, as I used it for gifts for Christmas.
Using Rooibos for color.
I had read online (!?) that using Rooibos tea would add a rosy-tan color to soap, so I had to try. I put 3 tea bags of it in the lye water as it heated up. Was not thinking clearly, I guess, as the bags had staples which could have reacted with the lye. Thankfully I did not have to deal with the mess that might have caused! Next time I'll take the staples out if I use bagged tea. (I can always sew them closed or put in a muslin bag.) The color looked lovely like caramel when poured, but did not stay so pretty. It is not a bad color now, just not so pretty like caramel. A friend at the soapmaking forum used elderberries for a lovely caramel shade, so I guess this summer I will be looking for elderberries.
This was my 2nd Cold Process soap. I also added some castor oil to my basic recipe, which makes a nice lather. I can hardly wait to try this, but since it was CP, it will be a while. Guess I need to make some HP using castor oil.
This was my 2nd Cold Process soap. I also added some castor oil to my basic recipe, which makes a nice lather. I can hardly wait to try this, but since it was CP, it will be a while. Guess I need to make some HP using castor oil.
Unmolded
Same soap after it was unmolded from the candy containers. Of course the containers had to be torn off, which seemed so sad. I need a round mold I can use again! Since these are cold process, I waited a few days to cut them, as they were not made with a discounted amount of water.
Using containers for soap
Tim took advantage of the after-Christmas clearance to stock up on candy. After he emptied the containers (into another container!) I took them over and used them for soap molds. I LOVE the little round soaps, but am especially enthralled by the bigger rounds cut in half. I used one part patchouli to 2 parts litsea for the scent, but can only smell the litsea. The patchouli did add a bit of color, however. This was my first Cold Process soap. Made 12-26-12.
My adventures so far
I made this soap using tumeric as the color. It did not have much of an effect. I'm not sure if I did not have enough of the oil infused with the tumeric, or if this is all I can expect. I used litsea for the scent. It is a lemon-like scent. I made this Hot Process soap on December 24.
Starting a blog
I've been thinking a blog would be a great way to keep up with my soapmaking. I could add to it as I have time, put in pictures and even include recipes. I was so happy to find one that is easy to use. I am not against learning new skills, but right now the skill I want to concentrate on is soapmaking.