Soap Update

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It has been three days since I mixed up my first batch of blender soap.  If you missed it, here is the post.


I was too excited not to take a peek each day so I did and was very pleased with what I was seeing!  The soap hardened nicely and smelled wonderful.  I used lavender essential oil and since Debbie over at Homespun Living mentioned that she didn't think she added enough to her batch, I doubled the amount.

In order to get the soap out of the mold, (I did spray it liberally with cooking spray before pouring the soap in) I had to use an icing knife to score around the whole outside of the pan.  Then I had to use a metal spatula and carefully slid it under the center of the soap.  Once I did this, it came out easily. 

See that little oopsie at the top while it is in the container?  The blanket that was covering the soap for the last few days fell into it at the beginning.  UGH.  Oh well, this first time making the soap is for learning all the tricks.

The instructions indicated that now was the time to cut the soap into bars.  With my lack of confidence beginning this project, I didn't think this far ahead!  I now wish I would have used more of a square brick sized container.

My bars of soap were not as thick as I would like but seeing this is the first experimental batch, I tried to let the little imperfections slide off my shoulders.

As you can see, the bars are not uniform in size.  The little end pieces will be used up first once the soap has cured.

They don't look too shabby for my first successful batch, if I do say so myself.  I cannot wait to try it in 3 1/2 weeks.  Once I can use the soap and if I like the texture, feel, lather and moisturizing quality of it, another batch will be started immediately.  Now I just have to wait .... and patience is not one of my strong points!


Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

It Might Just Work!

Pin It Making my own homemade soap has eluded me for years.  I had tried Rhonda's recipe over at Down to Earth a couple of times.  I followed the directions exactly, being careful of the measurements and quality of ingredients, only to have the final product fail again and again. It seemed as if I was never destined to make my own homemade soap.  I was coming to the realization that if I wanted to enjoy the wonderful scents, feel and lathers of natural, down to earth, homemade soap, I was going to have to purchase it from someone who knew what they were doing.

Alas, I follow Debbie's blog over at Homespun Living and she posted a new technique on soap making.  Could this be the one?  Could this be the technique and recipe I had been searching for that would bring me success?!

One rainy afternoon about a week ago, I had about an hour and a half to kill before dinner .... not that we ever have time to kill ... right?  Anyhoo, I grabbed all my ingredients (I had them on hand from previous attempts at making soap) and thought now was the time.  Now was the time to try the technique that Debbie had posted about.  She had said it was quick and only made a small batch. 

I measured, I weighed, I measured again.  I poured the ingredients in, turned the blender on and waited.  I checked.  I turned the blender on again.  I checked.  Again and again I followed this procedure.  It seemed to take forever, whereas in reality it was only a couple of minutes.  Then I checked again.  The trace stage was starting!!!!  I COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. MY. EYES!!!  With shaky hands I added a lovely lavender essential oil to the blender and mixed again.  After a few seconds I poured the concoction into the waiting pan that I had greased with Pam, covered it as indicated in the directions and put it on the shelf. 

Cleaning up my area took approximately a half an hour then I couldn't stand it.  I had to peek.  Yup, sure enough, when I removed the cover I could see the soap was already beginning to harden.  I was so excited!!!  I imagined bars and bars of homemade soap with different fragrances and ingredients ..... oatmeal, spices, coffee, even chocolate!! 

The soap needed to sit for three days before I could remove it from the pan and cut it into bars.  Stay tuned!


Remember to give your loved ones a hug!