soaping instructions - Long

[Guest guest]

I wrote the following soap instructions several years ago and thought there

might be a few folks on the list who might be interested. The instructions

are for an 8# batch, and this recipe can be halved or quartered to make

smaller batches.

 

Soapmaking Made Easy

 

By Tina Sams www.essentialherbal.com

Making soap from scratch is an incredibly satisfying craft. Whether using

tallow that you render yourself, or a blend of the many vegetable oils now

available, its hard to describe how earthy and self-reliant it feels to stack a

batch of freshly cut bars to cure. The myriad scents, colors, and textures

only add to the inherent thrill. It is more than a craft; it’s magic.

If you haven’t gotten around to trying it yet, chances are that one of two

things is hanging you up. There’s that whole complicated temperature thing.

The oils and the lye solution are supposed to be within three degrees of

each other, right? And then of course, there is the lye….

Okay. Lets just stop and think about it for a minute. Soap has been

around for thousands of years. That three degree deal must have been brutal

back

when there were no thermometers. There’s no getting around the fact that

lye

can be nasty stuff, but then, I’m terrified of super glue. The key is to

use caution and planning.

Here’s the big news: forget about the temperature. I threw away my

thermometer nine years ago, and haven’t had a bad batch in all that time.

Instructions

You will need the following items. Do not use them for anything other

than making soap.

rigid plastic pitcher ½ gallon size, rigid plastic slotted spoon, enamel,

stainless steel, or glass pot (NO aluminum!!!), sturdy, smooth boxes for

molds. Boot boxes work well. waxed paper to line molds

Ingredients for an 8 pound batch of soap. This size batch uses the entire

container of lye – no measuring!

-18 oz. Lye

-48 oz. Distilled water, cool

-48 oz. Soy shortening, like Crisco

-48 oz. Coconut oil

-16 oz. Palm oil

-16 oz Olive oil

-4 oz. beeswax, for harder, longer lasting bars

-4 oz. Essential oil (optional)

Pour the lye into the water and immediately stir to dissolve lye. I always

do this part near the stove with the hood fan on high. Avoid breathing in

the fumes. Leave the spoon in the pitcher to minimize drips until you need it

to stir the soap. You may want to prepare your mold(s) now, because they

must be done before you start melting the fats.

In a few hours, the outside of the pitcher will feel just slightly warmer

than room temperature. You may begin melting the fats now. Note: I have left

lye cooling overnight many times with great results. Remember that the

purpose of heating the oils is ONLY to liquefy them. Doing so at the lowest

temperature possible is what we are going for here. We start with the hardest

and finish with what is already liquid.

Over low heat, begin by melting the beeswax with part of the shortening.

When that is melted, add the rest of the shortening, followed by the coconut,

then the palm. When the palm has melted, remove from heat and stir in the

olive oil. The oils should be at a temperature you can comfortably touch. In

fact the pan can even be handled.

It’s time to add the lye solution. My pan is very wide, and I can lower

the entire pitcher in, pouring the lye solution against the side. Always pour

slowly and keep splashing to an absolute minimum. If you do get solution on

your skin, rinse copiously. Immediately rinse the pitcher, or set in the

sink and allow water to fill it while you begin stirring the soap. This can

take

anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes. You can seriously shorten the

stirring time if you have an immersible, or “stick†blender that you are

willing

to use only for soap. They reduce the time to only a few minutes!

As the saponification process occurs the soap will start to look like thin

gravy. It is ready to pour when it “tracesâ€. That means that you can

drizzle soap from the spoon onto the rest in the pan, and see what you trace on

the top…like pudding or gravy as it thickens. This is the point where

essential

or fragrance oils, fillers, or some colorants would be added. Stir them in

quickly and pour the soap into the prepared mold(s).

Cover the top surface of the soap with plastic wrap and top with an old

blanket or towel, tucking it around the sides. Ignore the whole thing for 24

hours – if you can.

After 24 hours, dump out the soap and cut it into bars. Stack the bars like

bricks to allow circulation. They’ll be ready to use in two weeks.

 

 

Tina

_The Essential Herbal Magazine_ (http://www.essentialherbal.com/)

_Essential Herbal Blog_ (http://theessentialherbal.blogspot.com/)