Hi from Norway

[alexanderte]

Hi,

I’m Alexander, a 31 year old beginner soap maker from Norway.

I’ve for a while been interested in different aspects of it – including the actual soap bar, but I haven’t thought about making my own until recently. A conversation with a woman selling soap sparked my interest, and after I went home I started to obsess about it.

I’ve read through most of Making Soap From Scratch by Gregory Lee White. Other than that I’ve watched a few YouTube videos, and I have read some posts at this forum. Learning about soap making has so far been a fun experience.

I started my very first batch yesterday, and prepared it for curing today. I’m attaching a few photos from the process.

I do hope to sell my soaps at some point, but right now I’m just learning and having fun. I hope to give some bars to friends and family so that they can try them out. The only thing that I worry about is if there is some lye left after the curing that can harm them (or me).

 

[jules92207]

Hi Alexander! Welcome to the craft! As long as your following a reputable recipe and allowing a good cure you won't need to worry about excess lye, you should be good!

Can't wait to see your soaps!

 

[Susie]

Hey and welcome!

If you are worrying about lye remaining, just rub your damp finger on the soap, then touch it to your tongue. If there is free lye remaining, you will get a zap. You are not looking for a taste, but an electric zap sensation not unlike touching a 9 volt battery to your tongue. If you ever get zapped, it is unmistakable. But you still need a 4-6 week cure for your soap, even if it does not zap.

I would strongly suggest that you read the first 10 pages of threads in the beginner section, as well as the stickies found there. That will give you quite a bit of information.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Hei Alexander, velkommen til galskapen! ; D

I will continue this in english so I am not excluding the others from understanding my reply:
I am from Norway too, and I am sure you will get a whole lot of inspiration from these boards!

Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you, if you need any advice as to where it is best for us Norwegians to get out stuff from etc. or whatever else you need. I have some trusted vendors that I have found, and that ship to Norway without asking for my first born in shipping fees. As you very well know - or at the least will find out very soon as you are so new at this - soapingsupplies here in Norway are practically non-existing (except some boring molds and regular cooking oils)

Nice to see a fellow Norw here!

 

[CaraBou]

Welcome Alexander - cool photos

 

[alexanderte]

Thank you all for the replies!

I tried to do the zap test, and I didn’t get any unpleasant reaction.

MySoapyHeart, Takk! I found a bread baking mold on Clas Ohlson, but I would like a mold that is as straight as possible, so I guess I would be better of ordering online. There is one thing that I’m going to order from Norway, and that’s a stamp for the batch number which I’ll have on the packaging.

Do you live in Oslo by the way? If that’s the case then I’d love to «såpenerde» over a cup of coffee.

CaraBou, Thanks.

 

[alexanderte]

I’ve been working on the packaging. I’m attaching a photo taken yesterday. I’m going to replace the “1 – 125 g” part of the text with a stamped batch number. The soap in the picture has cured for less than one day when taken, so it’s in no way ready for packaging.

Although I’ve only been into this for a couple of weeks, I’m starting to feel a sense of direction to go into when it comes to the types of soaps that I’m going to make. I have an engineering-like personality and background, and I guess that will affect how I approach the hobby.

Simplicity and minimalism is a very integral part of who I am and what I like to express when making stuff. My soaps will most likely not contain fragrances – at least not those that are not essential oils, nor colors that are not natural. I’ll try to stick to ingredients that are common, but of high quality.

I plan on making three different kinds – “vanlig”, “digg,” and ”skikkelig digg.” Those are Norwegian words/phrases, and I’d loosely translate them to “ususal,” “yummy,” and “very yummy.” The first should be either a castile soap – or a soap having as few ingredients as possible. The second will probably have a bit more lather to it, and it should feel good while being simple. The third will be my no-compromise spa soap. I frequently use jojoba oil on my skin, and I love it. So it will probably contain jojoba oil.

I presume each type of soap will start out awful. My thought is to keep on making batches and adjust the recepies along the way. At some point I hope to be able to sell them, but for now I’m just learning.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.