My very first batch is sitting on a shelf.

[Mark the Box Guy]

My first batch is currently saponifying in a lined cardboard box on top of my bookcase, and in a day or so will be removed, sliced and racked to finish for a few weeks. It was a good process, clear and true, and affirmed grace under pressure, so I should be clean and brave when I lather up.

It was a good kit recipe, and came pre-measured with instructions, so I could focus on technique and not be concerned with the awful state of the local hotels in the event that I set the house on fire and upset the neighbours, who although were informed, remained camped at the front door in a whisky-fueled hysteria half running on fear and the other astonishment at my courage.

 

[lsg]

Congratulations, I would love to see a picture of the soap after it is cut.

 

[CaraCara]

Yes, please be sure to post the photos.

 

[chicklet]

And if the soap making career doesn't last, I see a definite future for you in writing comedy sketches. I can just picture the neighbors camped at the door. Congrats on your first batch!

 

[deedee1]

I second that your very funny , Well done on making your first batch of soap :clap:

 

[melstan775]

Echoes others in congratulations and funniness!

 

[kazmi]

Can't wait to see your first soap. Love the website and the boxes!

 

[judymoody]

Welcome and congrats! I'm sure you will love using your own soap!

 

[Badger]

Congratulations and it sounds like it was a fun process for you!

 

[Linedog]

Ya gotta watch out for those neighbors with pitchforks and torches!

 

[Smee]

You used a BOX?!?!?
YAY!!!
I am so proud of you - and I don't even know you!
:mrgreen:

 

[Mark the Box Guy]

You used a BOX?!?!?
YAY!!!
I am so proud of you - and I don't even know you!
:mrgreen:

Most people don't use boxes?

 

[Mark the Box Guy]

On the counter was a box wrapped in towels, and I removed the towels and opened the box, and inside the box was what I had made, and it was soap. The soap was clean and true, and rough around the edges, like some women I knew in Denver, or Natasha, who was truly rough, and when I cut it it was soft and greasy and it behaved when I placed it on the rack. A loaf on the end made a daring, but ultimately fruitless escape on the stairs, but Nicole, who is fast with a knife and light on her feet caught it, and returned it to the rack, where it now sits in my office above the book shelf.

 

[Badger]

very nice, a job well done, and very entertaining to read

 

[Hazel]

Congratulations on your first batch and I enjoyed reading your comments about it. :grin:

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Looks like soap, great job!
If you want real shaving soap I can't help you but my husband loves my French green clay soap for shaving in the shower.

 

[Candybee]

Looks good! Nice job. Doesn't it feel good to have your first batch under your belt. That nervous feeling of handling lye and setting fire to yourself or the kitchen goes away once you have a batch or two made and gain confidence.

I do love your description of your neighbors. Did you go and down a pint after you were done?

 

[Candybee]

Here's a simple shaving soap recipe. Its not fancy at all but makes a rich creamy decadent soap with lots of creamy lather:

Olive oil 45%
Coconut Oil 25%
Lard 20%
Grapeseed Oil 5%
Castor Oil 5%

At light trace add up to 1 tbs of bentinite or kaolin clay per lb of oils.

You can sub the lard as I know some people don't like it. But it just makes the richest, creamiest soap I have ever made. Right now I am trying to duplicate a recipe subbing the lard and so far nothing is quite as good.

 

[Smee]

Most people don't use boxes?

Pssttt....Mark...over here....don't draw attention...
Shocking, isn't it? I know! They like to use "molds" around here. :roll:
Go figure. Line a free box vs line a $$$ mold = soap that has to be cut regardless.
They laugh at me and my medium flat rate USPS boxes behind my back.
I hear them...errr...maybe those are the voices in my head...but I hear them!

Don't you let them get to you, Mark. You keep using those boxes!

 

[justme&miller]

Love your website!