Soap
I started out making hot process soap as explained in Handcrafted Soap by Delores Boone. I was really caught by the "Make it today - Use it tonight!" byline. I did a lot of reading about soap-making, and took a workshop at an SCA Collegium, and what was hard for me to swallow was that after I got it all together in the mold, it had to cure, and cure some more. I didn't want to wait that long! So I tried hot process.
Basically, it works pretty much the same as cold process, except that once you reach trace, instead of putting it in the mold for the final saponification, you pour it into a crock pot (or using one of the other hot methods) and cook it through saponification. It gets pretty gloppy, but when the cook's all done, you drop it in the mold (I used a shoe box), let it cool, and cut it up. Pretty simple.
I made a couple batches this way, and I still enjoy it. But I wondered, could I get a cleaner consistency with cold process? Now that I had some soap in the pantry, I wasn't in too big of a rush, so I tried a cold process batch. Also simple, though I was pretty paranoid about lye burns while I waited for it to finish curing. I brought my batch to trace, poured it in a tupperware container, piled on a beach towel, and let it go. Cool! The chemical reaction keeps on going, just slower. It went through all the stages I had read about in various other books, and after 24 hours, I popped it out of my "mold." I cut it up into pretty chunky bars (this batch definitely fails the uniform size test!) and set it out to cure for two more weeks. I couldn't keep from handling it a bit now and then, but nothing horrendous happened. I designed labels while I waited, and was finally able to put together what you see above, my very first batch ever.
I've also played with making solid bubble bath bars, a la Lush. What fun! I invited some girlfriends over and we followed the directions by the fine folks at The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe. They worked really well. As soon as I make another batch (which will be very soon) I'll put together some pictures. To be honest, though, I still can't resist the Lush products! At least now I can tell my husband that it's all in the name of professional market research...
Nowadays, I have 9 different kinds of soap that I make regularly for sale, and I experiment with new and seasonal ingredients frequently as I come across them in sales or as new products. I now use a 4 pound loaf mold, so my bars come out a bit more uniform in size, and I sell my bars for $5 each for 1 1/4" bars. You can see my current soaps below, if you are interested in purchasing any, just send me an email, and I'll arrange to get them to you. Otherwise, I usually have them for sale at CROFT events. Clicking on a thumbnail will take you to a picture large enough to read the various ingredients.
New! Bathtub Bakery Now Open!
New experiments have led to a new line of products, bath fizzies in fun baked-goods shapes with delicious scents to match, for $5 each. I've also started a line of simple beeswax lip balms, available in quarter ounce pots decorated with a lovely pressed flower sticker, for $2 each. Give them a try!
