All Things Hold Together

Well, not really, but I have started making Christmas soaps. I want them to be perfect, so I am practicing the techniques now, trying things out, and deciding what designs I am going to use.

Here are the ones I made the other day.

This one is scented with peppermint essential oil. Little E was so amazed that it “looks like a starlight mint and smells like one, too!”

The tree soaps are scented with “Hollyberry” fragrance, which smells like Christmas in a bottle. I added some green mica, along with the green liquid colorant, to give the soaps some sparkle.

I realized that I never posted pictures of my cold process soap.

For my first trial, I did not use any fragrance or color. Those additives can change the rate of the chemical reaction, so I decided to do a naked batch first. It kind of smells like fried food, though. I think there was too much excess oil for super-fatting. It is rich and creamy, but too oily smelling.

my homemade soap

I used stamps from a stepping stone kit to make the “soap” imprint.

The funny thing is, now that I have all the stuff to make cold process, I have a revived passion for the melt-and-pour. It is not related. I had a great time making the CP. I want to do it again. It’s just that I have some new ideas for the melt/pour.

I also have some new MP soaps that I want to post pictures of, but I can’t find my camera.

I have been making soap using a pre-made base for quite some time now, but what I really wanted was to make my own soap from scratch.

The soap making process involves a chemical reaction between oils and sodium hydroxide (lye). It is important to have accurate measurements of the oils and lye in order to make sure that all of the lye is fully saponified, since lye is caustic.

Since an accurate digital scale can cost upwards of $50, I figured that soap-making would have to wait.

Then I starting getting ad revenue from my blog, She’s Right, so I used some of it to buy a scale.

All of the soap-making books and websites I have read say that you can buy lye in the grocery store. As it turns out, since lye is used to manufacture the street drug meth, there are now lots of regulations on it and many stores no longer carry it. Not the grocery store. Not The Home Depot. Not Lowes. Not Wal-Mart. (At least around here.)

So, I ordered some online from a website called Summer Bee Meadow - and got scammed! They took my money, but did not send my lye and coconut oil.**

Then yesterday, I found 100% lye drain opener on the ACE Hardware website. I called a local store and they had it! I went and picked up a 16 oz. can of it today for under $4. That is enough to make 7 1-pound batches! Yea!

I cannot wait to get started!

** I filed a complaint with PayPal and I received a refund. Steve from Summer Bee Meadow claims that I was not scammed. His explanation is in the comments section of this post, along with my response. I’ll let you decide.

Just in time for the Fourth of July, I present this American flag-inspired soap bar.

You will need:

• a rectangular bar mold (or other desired shape)
• white melt and pour base
• red and blue colorants (be sure to use non-bleeding)
• a small star-shaped cookie cutter (make sure it fits in your mold)
• summery fragrance of your choice
• alcohol in a spray bottle

You will also need equipment to melt and mix your soap. Most people use a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave. I use a small slow cooker to melt my soap and mix the colors in small dishes. You can also use a double-boiler or a bowl set atop a pan of simmering water.

Each layer should be fragranced. I melt my entire base together and add the fragrance.

Color enough melted and scented base for the first layer blue.

Pour it into your mold and spritz with alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

When it is firm, use your cookie cutter to cut a star out.

I had a little trouble getting the star out because the layer was still very soft.

Spritz the blue layer with alcohol and immediately pour the melted and scented white base over the blue layer to desired height. Remember, you need to leave space for the remaining layers.

Spritz again with alcohol to remove air bubbles.

Color enough base for the next layer red.

When the white base is firm, spay with alcohol and pour over with the red colored and scented base.

Spray again with alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

When red layer is firm, spay with alcohol and pour the final white layer to the top of the mold. Spray with a final spritz of alcohol to remove air bubbles.

Wait until all layers have fully hardened. This takes a few hours. Alternately, you can let it harden over night.

Turn over mold and gently press to remove your American flag-inspired soap.

You have to see this Strawberry Shortcake Soap over at The Soap Queen’s blog.  Have to.  It is so cool.

The other day, I set out to make a great loaf of multi-layered soap. I carefully melted, scented, colored, and poured each layer. I gently textured the top as it hardened. I patiently waited until the next day so the soap would be fully set before I unmolded it.

And here’s what happened to my bars of soap:

The reason was that the soap I used for the yellow and green layers was remelted from another project and the soap I used for the pink and white layers was a freshly opened 1 lb. bar.

Let this be a lesson: Always use the same base for multi-layer pours to ensure better adhesion.

Not the type to give up (or waste three pounds of soap!), I came up with another idea.

First, I melted a pound of clear glycerin soap in my handy crock pot.

Then, I cut my split loaf into cubes.

Next, I scented the clear soap (with the same fragrance oil as the other soap).

I poured a small layer of clear into a silicone loaf pan, sprayed it with alcohol, took a handful of cubes, sprayed them with alcohol, and put them into the loaf pan, adding more clear soap over the top and spraying with more alcohol.

(The alcohol helps the solid soap adhere and it pops the air bubbles on the top of the melted soap.)

After that set, I repeated the process, first spraying the set layer with alcohol.

Here is my final loaf.

I cut it into large 4 oz. body bars and half-sized 2 oz. hand soap bars.

I have been making melt and pour soap for quite a while now. A couple of years, at least. I really enjoy making it and giving it away.

Some time ago, I decided that in order to sustain this hobby, I need to start selling some of my soap creations. I make more than we can use and, as much as I would like to just give it away, it is really not economically feasible.

The problem is that I have done little to nothing to promote my online shop. I don’t even have a link to it on this blog.

I am just not good at selling. It is not that I do not think that I have a quality product, it’s just that I can’t believe people would pay $4.00 + shipping for soap. The whole reason I started making my own soap bars is that I am too cheap to buy glycerin soap in the stores.

Anyway, I am kind of getting off topic. Actually, this post was supposed to be about the fact that I am going to start sharing some of my techniques and recipes on this blog. I love soap making and I think you will, too. If you already soap, I hope that my ideas will inspire you in some way.

For you newbies out there, here are a couple of basic melt and pour tutorials.

The first is from About.com: Candle & Soap Making. It has lots of good photos and a video option, too.

The second is from Teach Soap, a website and forum from Bramble Berry Soap Supplies, where I buy my stuff from.

I don’t own a microwave, so I used to melt my soap base in a double boiler (actually a bowl over a pot of water). Now I use my little 1.5 quart slow cooker. It was free with the 8 quart one I got for Christmas. I just cut up my soap chunks, put them in, turn the cooker on low, and leave it for a while.

It works very well for me, especially since things tend to come up that interrupt me and the slow cooker will keep the soap warm, if needed.

I look forward to sharing my first tutorial with you. In the meantime, you can see a few of my soap creations at charityt.etsy.com.