Soapmaking extravaganza!

Well its that time of year again.... every spring I make soap for personal use and to sell at the summer fairs that we attend. So a Friend of mine came over and our kids played and we cooked soap! When I first started making soap, I was on my own, with a book. Not the best combo. I was not sure what to do and a little scared. I had heard that lye was caustic and poisonous and to be feared! So I geared up in full armour, gloves full leather apron and face mask, the whole 9 yards. I blew up one batch like mount Vesuvius, so I was glad I was geared up! But later I found out that it was because I was using an aluminum pot, so make sure your pot is stainless steel or plated with something. I use a canning pot now. I also had a hard time bringing the soap to trace because I was using a spoon and sheer muscle strength. I learned a stick blender is a fine investment, brings the time down to 10 minutes. Once I ruined about $30 worth of stuff by not using a proper recipe, so I soon learned that it was imperative to find a book that had a good tried and true method, and not depend on free Internet ones. Here is the basic recipe I use: 24 ounces olive oil 24 ounces coconut oil 38 ounces vegetable shortening or palm kernel oil 12 ounces sodium hydroxide mixed in 12 ounces water then add 3 ounces essential oil (EO) of your choice . When you mix soap, make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands, because lye can be very drying, but for the most part, if you have a good recipe, the other gear is unnecessary. Soap making is alot of hurry-up and wait. You have to get all your stuff measured. Get your lye in first. And put in the water, then the lye or it can pop in your face-very bad.... Then put your hard oils in your pot and let it melt, then remove it from heat and add your liquid oils. Then let everything sit, for a long time. I usually start several batches then put them all aside and fix everything else. I line my moulds and mix my EOs. My husband put together some "lovely" wooden moulds for me. They can house 2 batches or you can take out the middle and make one large batch. Because I make soap for sale, I make a ton! But mostly you will only need one or two batches to last a year, depending on the amount of people in your home and how much you end up giving away. Inevitably, when people find out you make soap they will want to try it... Anyway, I LOVE to mix the EOs. I find it to be a wonderful and relaxing job. I start with some oils that are my favorite and go from there. You really can't go wrong with lavender, grapefruit, orange, and lemon. If you love spicy, you can go for strait peppermint, Cinnamon, or pine, all of which turn out lovely. This year I went for some new scents and made wonderful spicy or woodsy scents, but also went with citrus and lavender as well, because everyone loves those. I also like to swirl in helpful herbs to make great colors and patterns in teh soap. Some of the ones I love the most are: rose hips( vitamin-C, pink), elderberries(antioxidnets, purple), tumeric (anioxidents, yellow), lemongrass(fragrance, green) to name a few. You can also add finley ground oatmeal for softening of the skin or corn meal for an exfolient. These you add at about 2 ounces per batch after you have poured into the mould.
I have included some pictures of the wonderful soaps we made. Soap making is so much fun, I think everyone ought to try it once. If you don't feel like doing it on your own, you should try it with someone who has already done it and make a party out of it. After you have enjoyed homemade soaps, you will never want to go back!