Friday, October 01, 2010

Making Soap - a.k.a. Soapmaking.~
Step one: getting ready...


I made a two-pound batch of goat milk soap yesterday. 
I tried a method that I haven't used before:
Crockpot soapmaking!


Of course, me being me, I HAD to get a
crockpot that matches my kitchen!
;-)

For those who would like to know HOW to make goat milk soap,
via a crockpot, I took photos of each step and
will share the recipe and the method
right now:

First of all, you need a Recipe:
(click on the photo to enlarge and use mine)


There are many places on the Internet where you can find recipes for soapmaking.  Whichever recipe you chose, make sure to check it with the "Soap Calculator" to make sure that it is properly balanced and will produce a bar of soap that is safe to use.

Once you have your recipe and have checked it with your
favorite soap calculator, you want to assemble
the necessary supplies:


Of course you'll need the fats and oils called for in your recipe:


Each oil has it's own properties that it will contribute to the finished soap.   To learn about the  different properties of some of the most commonly used oils ,  CLICK  here.

Since making soap requires lye,
proper safety equipment is essential!


As is a scale for measuring your ingredients:


Have any additives you chose to use
at hand before you begin to make
your soap.


I will be grating two, whole, vanilla beans into my batch.
The PH strips are for testing the finished product to make sure that
all of the lye has been consumed in the sopanification process.

To keep one post from being WAY too long, I'm
breaking up my soapmaking tutorial into three
blog posts.  Tomorrow, we'll  show the steps in actually making  the soap.


9 comments:

  1. I make soap by the crockpot method. You'll have fun. We haven't used any other bar soap since I began this last Feb.

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  2. That is NOT fair!!! You give us all the wonderful step-by-step pictures, but you don't include one of you decked out in the mask and rubber gloves!?! Boooo ;)

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  3. Of course you have to have a pretty crockpot, it goes right with making the perfect soap, doesn't it? :-)

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  4. Voni ~ I can tell I won't be using anything else either! I love the feel (and SMELL ~ I like the scented bars) of my soap. I can't believe how much softer my skin feels ~ not dried out like it is with store bought 'cleansing bars'.

    Katie ~ you'll just have to come home and make soap WITH me if you want to see me all decked out in my safety gear. ;-) Actually, what I did forget is a picture of the goat's milk. But you'll see it tomorrow when I'm weighing it on my digital scale.

    ABSOLUTELY, Kim! It would't be half as much fun if I didn't have matching utensils to work with.

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  5. Great post! Thanks Nancy

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  6. Great post! This is one of the things I want to do when I start milking my Nigies!

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  7. I LOVE the red crockpot. Question: why add vanilla if it doesn't scent the soap?

    Want to thank you for visiting me and Roberta on our blogs and commenting so regularly and positively - I always feel happy when I see your name pop up on the comments!
    :)

    xoxoxoxox

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  8. Oh, Eileen! You don't have to thank me.
    I've come to truly love both you and Roberta and look forward to 'visiting' with you both, each day. I miss you when you DON'T post!

    As for the vanilla ~ I thought it would scent the soap!

    I'm still learnin' ;-)

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  9. Anonymous1:20 PM

    I notice in your recipe, it shows water instead of goat's milk. If using goat's milk, is it the same amount? Thanks

    ReplyDelete

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