Whee, made my first batch just now, and I have questions

[TessC]

I've been thinking about it and planning to make my first batch of soap for a while now, so I finally did it tonight. I sent my son to play in his bedroom with strict instructions to stay in there until he was told otherwise, I sent the dog to his crate so that he wasn't in the way or in any danger, and I shut the cats in my bedroom so that they didn't try to wind around my ankles at the worst possible moment. Once everyone had been banished, I started on the soap.

I was really nervous, in spite of having read, read, and then read some more about safe lye handling and what to expect. In spite of the jitters, everything went okay. I was concerned about not knowing trace when I saw it, but that wasn't so bad.

It's just a little 1 pound batch, and it's in a Gladware container that's inside an insulated box. I guess I'll know if it's soap or a disaster by this time tomorrow, but I'm pretty excited no matter how it turns out. I'm hoping that not having any sort of trauma or drama with first batch will cure some of the lack of confidence.

I have two wooden molds on the way as soon as my uncle finishes them up, a 2 pound and a 3 pound, so that'll be neat to play around with those. My second batch will be just as soon as those arrive, maybe as early as Wednesday or Thursday. I'll be a bit more adventurous with that second batch and maybe add a bit of cocoa, tumeric, or paprika for color, depending on which essential oils I go with.

Speaking of essential oils, my absolute favorite soap in the world right now is a frankincense and myrrh bar that I bought from a lady at our local weekend market. It smells divine, and I'd love to try my own frankincense and myrrh soap, but I'm not sure if it needs anything beyond those two oils. Would it benefit from a bit of vanilla, cinnamon, or something else, or would just those two EOs be fine?

The worst part as far as my nerves was the cleanup. How do you know without any doubt that you have 100% of the caustic residue off of everything? I bought a big Sterilite storage bin to keep everything in between uses, and all of it's set aside for soap only, so I'm not going to be cooking with any of the stuff I used tonight, I just want to be sure it's safe to store away for the next batch of soap. If we owned a dishwasher, that'd probably make it a lot easier, but we opted to go with no dishwasher or microwave since our kitchen is tiny and lacks a lot of counter and cabinet space.

Is washing everything out in the tub with lots of hot soapy water and vinegar sufficient, overkill, or a decent method? Thanks in advance for any cleanup pointers!

 

[Jeremy]

I'm no expert but I have made several batches and my cleanup process is to stack everything in my lye water solution bowl (after the solution is poured out) and then pour a cup or so of vinegar in it to start the neutralising process, then after the pour I take all my pieces to the kitchen sink and fill it with really hot water, keeping my gloves on and wash the equipment. No need to add soap, you have plenty left over to clean with. A good rinse and then you are good to go. I've had no problems as of yet and have even tested the equipment with phenophaline to check for residual alkalinity but found none.
Good luck and welcome to the sickness.

 

[abigtroutt]

Congrats on your first batch and welcome to the club!!! First thing that needs to be done is picture taking....we would love to see your soap!!

I did the same thing when I made my first batch....all the dogs had to be out side, kids were in school and wife got a play by play of the soap action! Since then I am a soaping fool.....im hooked!!!!

Cleaning I have a sink in my garage and I clean all my soap equipment with dish saop and I always have a bottel of vinegar with in reach.... SAFTY FIRST!!!! I also ware eye protection and gloves while washing...my luck I will splash fresh soap full of lye in my eye!

I then store all my equipment in the garage...so its not mixed with cooking stuff.

 

[cdwinsby]

I alway use paper towel first to remove the excess soap off of my equipment. I then just wash it in the sink with regular dish soap and I continue with wearing my rubber gloves.

I honestly feel less of a threat from washing my soapy stuff than from using bleach!

 

[AshleyR]

I really don't take a ton of precaution when cleaning up after I make soap. I usually throw everything I used into my dirty soap pot, run some hot water on it until it overflows for a few minutes (washes most of the soap away), and then I put on my rubber gloves and wash everything with dish soap and hot water in my laundry sink. I've never gotten a lye burn.

 

[topcat]

Congratulations TessV! How awesome is it to make soap!! Yay!!!

I'm with Cathy and Ashley - and I have a confession...apart from some spatulas and the container I use to mix the lye I used everything else for food :wink: I have not yet had any issues with lye burn or contamination of food. Think about it - the lye is fully incorporated in the soap batter and the batter washes well away with hot water & dishsoap easily with no greasy residue (which would be raw new soap batter).

Tanya

 

[MikeInPdx]

I do something similar, except I wipe out my soaping pots with greasy dish towels and throw them into a plastic bag. I wash them in a couple of days, and the saponified soap helps get any soils out of them.

 

[starduster]

wings unfolding

Congrats.

 

[ChrissyB]

Mike I clean up the same as you. I don't leave anything on my pots and bowls, put the tea towels in the wash in 2 days, they clean up great.
Good luck Tess, you're hooked now!

 

[cdwinsby]

I do something similar, except I wipe out my soaping pots with greasy dish towels and throw them into a plastic bag. I wash them in a couple of days, and the saponified soap helps get any soils out of them.

I like this idea! Though I'll need to go to the thrift shop to get some tea towels...we already go through the ones I have quite quickly.