My very first batch of soap!!

[chefinblue]

I made my very first batch of soap today (CPHP method 'cause I am very impatient) with corn stock (water we save from cooking corn in and then simmer the husks/silk in) and the left over water from buckwheat noodles.

I only scented half of the batch and the unscented one has a lovely sweet corn scent to it. I don't have much in the way of proper molds so the bars are a bit narrow in the pix.

The scale I used to measure the lye is some crazy, ancient thing with these metal weights for balancing on one side that my mother lent me (she's a jewelry maker) so I'm sure my math might be a bit off (I used the MMS site) and there's a faint bit of zap if I hold the tip of my tongue to a bar for 3-5sec. I'm hoping that will fade over time.

I loved cleaning up and seeing how much lather I was getting and how nice everything smelled..really fresh!

Didn't want to use good olive oil on my first try so I used whatever oil I had on hand that I didn't care too much about (it's 96.5% peanut oil that is a bit old plus some old oo and grapeseed oil).

I also think I over cooked the batch in the crock pot since it had a really hard time turning into itself the first time it rose up (can't really call it boiling since it looked more like a slowly rising hill of mashed potatoes around the edges) and there were traces of hard soap forming around the sides of the crock pot near the end.

But I had a lot of fun and can't wait to make more. Might try a batch of CP tonight to see what that's like. Anyone have any recipes that use level measures (Tbs, etc.) vs. weighed measures?

I hope this pix works.
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/3761/dsc0361o.jpg

 

[Sunny]

No, and if you stick around, you'll hear this a million times.

Level measurements are not accurate enough to use for soap. Measuring by weight is really important. You need to get an accurate digital scale to make sure your soap is really safe.

Also, good job on your first batch! It's good that you were using oils you didn't care much for, and hopefully you won't get rancid soap right away from using old oils or from using peanut oil.

I think the zap is supposed to be gone by the end of cphp? before you put it in your mold.. but just keep zap testing and hopefully in a few days your zap will be gone.

 

[chefinblue]

Hi Tasha,
I figured as much about the measuring..lol.. I have a great digital scale in storage but lord only knows which box it's in amongst the sea of boxes in there from our last move. :shock:

It sure was fun though..and after your reply I think I'll wait on a second batch until I get the scale situation sorted out...even if there's no trace of zap after a few days.

Once that's done I predict many bars of soap in our near future..heehee..

 

[Sunny]

Oh yes.. it gets out of hand very quickly.. so much fun. You should post pictures of your new soap!

ETA: oooh just found the pic. it looks really great! congrats!

 

[chefinblue]

Zap testing

So far further zap tests have been negative..the soap isn't very moisturizing but it's not irritating either. So not bad for a first batch. Going to make a cold soap and a liquid soap this weekend now that I have a new scale..*S*..

 

[Best Natural Soap]

Scales are soooo important! Mine is a digital-- I've learned to keep an eye on it, though-- when the batteries are dying, the measurements aren't as accurate- even though the display looks fine.

:cry: