Newbie First run!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday-I know I did! I received my soap making supplies! I am going to run down my list of everything I think I need, and I would appreciate it if you seasoned soapers could double check for me, I hope to make my first batch this weekend!

The stuff dedicated to soap making:
1 deep stainless steel pot to melt solid oils/bring liquid oils to temp.
1 quart pyrex liquid measuring glass with splash lid (for lye mixture)
2 glass thermometers that read 0-210 degrees F
3 silicone spatulas and one silicone coated spoon
1 hand blender
1 kitchen scale that measures up to 5 pounds (digital)
goggles
rubber gloves
wooden soap mold (thanks to my wonderful father in law's woodworking skills)
freezer paper/plastic wrap
Notepad/pen for making notes
lye calculator for running recipe through
Recipe book (will run through lye calculator)
2 large old blankets
large insulated cooler
old stainless steel knife
newspapers/old sheets to cover work space

Ok, aside for my lye and oils, (which I have a plenty of), am I missing anything? My very first batch is going to be a vegetable shortening base soap, with no frills included. I have read that this makes an excellent laundry soap so if it doesn't come out nice, it will be used!

Personally I wouldn't use a glass container to mix lye water in since there have been many, many soapers that have had the glass explode/shatter after using them. If you have a thick plastic pitcher, that would work to mix lye water in.

Genny said:

Personally I wouldn't use a glass container to mix lye water in since there have been many, many soapers that have had the glass explode/shatter after using them. If you have a thick plastic pitcher, that would work to mix lye water in.

Click to expand...

I thought Pyrex was okay because it's tempered glass?

I thought Pyrex was okay because it's tempered glass?

Click to expand...

Pyrex makes different grades of glassware. If you get the lab quality stuff, it will be OK. I won't use the kind made for kitchen, though.

Seifenblasen said:

I thought Pyrex was okay because it's tempered glass?

Click to expand...

Pyrex makes different grades of glassware. If you get the lab quality stuff, it will be OK. I won't use the kind made for kitchen, though.

Click to expand...

Ok, I will relegate that back to my kitchenware then! After looking at it, it is not as thick as I thought it was. Going to pour my brother's home brew in it to flatten for my 2nd soap run

I just use simple quart containers from the hardware store to mix my lye and water in. Cost like a buck apiece. No need to spend lots of $$ on fancy stuff - that was one of my first mistakes, buying lots of special equipment. Now I use the quart containers and a regular old HDPE bucket.

Welcome to the addiction!

I don't think the glass thermometers would be good to use, either. You could get the stainless steel ones used for meat or deep fryers.

That's great that your FIL made you a wooden mold. What size is it?

Hazel said:

I don't think the glass thermometers would be good to use, either. You could get the stainless steel ones used for meat or deep fryers.

That's great that your FIL made you a wooden mold. What size is it?

Click to expand...

The thermometers are scientific industrial grade-same as the goggles and gloves! The mold is supposed to hold 5lbs of soap-at least the instructions I gave him said so. Guess I will do a volume check!

MaitriBB said:

I just use simple quart containers from the hardware store to mix my lye and water in. Cost like a buck apiece. No need to spend lots of $$ on fancy stuff - that was one of my first mistakes, buying lots of special equipment. Now I use the quart containers and a regular old HDPE bucket.

Welcome to the addiction!

Click to expand...

AGREE 110%!! When I first started I splurged on a few fancy (what I thought were essential) items. Big ol fat waste of money! I now soap in a plastic gallon pail (an old bucket that my coconut oil was in) and use old plastic containers that my clays came in to mix colors. Thermometer is also from the dollar store and it's bang on. I used hubby's digital one to check. No need for special goggles or gloves. I use clear glasses I got from the dollar store, and regular latex gloves - also from dollar store. Although in all honesty, I've gotten pretty good at it and now rarely use either. Goggles and gloves get in my way ...

First batch traced very well!!!! It's in the mold wrapped up in 2 huge old blankets! I chickened out and used my generic crisco, distilled water and lye-all calculated and weighed and both temps were the same prior to mix! No frills or add ins. Just hydrogenated soybean/cottonseed oil. Not sure how it will lather...but should make good laundry soap!

I made the same daggone mistake. I don't use half the stuff that I bought for making soap initially. Now I use plastics containers and buckets. I rarely use my stainless steel pot since I started melting my hard oils in the microwave. Of all my molds I like my wooden one the best. And I have these cheapie plastic bowls from the dollar store that are awesome. They have a pour spout on them so they are great for mixing up different colors. It was a set of 4 bowls. I noticed the lady who does the soaping 101 videos mixes her stuff up in plastic containers. She even uses plastic cups for mixing up her lye water solution. I just use a plastic pitcher I found at the dollar store, and if I am using frozen milk or beer I use my 1 gallon plastic bucket. Most of the stuff you will need you probably already have. The scale, the stick blender, and the thermometers(and your oils and scents) are basically what you need to go out and get.

Bravo on your first batch. You will want to make more, I know I have a batch sitting on the counter now......

Results!

Here are the photos from my first run!

Ooh, it's nice & creamy white

Wow, so white!

Genny said:

Ooh, it's nice & creamy white

Click to expand...

A little plain jane, but it did come out very creamy! When I cut them, they were a bit tacky to the touch (gloved of course!). Is this normal?

lizflowers42 said:

A little plain jane, but it did come out very creamy! When I cut them, they were a bit tacky to the touch (gloved of course!). Is this normal?

Click to expand...

Completely normal. They'll dry out. Just make sure that as they're curing, you rotate on what side they're sitting on.

The soap looks great. It looks like your newbie first run is a home run! Sorry, I couldn't resist the play on words. (I sooo just embarrassed myself. )

Also, you might find the info about single oil soap from Zen Soap informative. http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

Those look great! Very nice, white and creamy!

Now that you have the first batch underway, prepare for addiction to set in :wink:

maiseycat said:

Those look great! Very nice, white and creamy!

Now that you have the first batch underway, prepare for addiction to set in :wink:

Click to expand...

Batch two is setting as we speak! I used a hodge podge of butters and oils in this one (used up what I had left over from my lip balm supplies). It took longer to trace thats for sure! I think I might try rebatching some of the bars from that plain jane batch because I have so many yummy EO's!