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!
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!