Soap is so much fun!!

As you know, yesterday I toddled off to the soap making class I mentioned in Tuesday's post.  I have to say, I was so excited the day had finally come around.

A warm welcome

Upon arrival, Judy gave me a warm welcome and I presented her with two linen tablecloths I had made for her stock displays.  The studio smelt so lovely, the gorgeous aroma of essential oils was a pleasant and uplifting environment to work in.

We were each given a kit to use on the day, consisting of an apron, safety goggles, stainless steel saucepan, candy thermometer, whisk and jugs.  A soap recipe sheet and general information was very useful to refer to during the class and we took these home to use for future soap making.  Judy gave a talk on soap making, to let us know a bit about the whole process.

My kit for the day

We soon got into the nitty gritty of it all and I loved every minute of it.  After weighing the oils, we melted the liquid olive oil and solid coconut oil together.

Bernadette weighing her olive oil

The two melted oils cooling

Next came the part where the goggles came out.....mixing the lye.  Caustic soda is added to water (it is IMPORTANT not to do it the other way around and add water to caustic soda!!!!).......a chemical reaction occurs when the two are mixed, causing the mixture to heat up very quickly.  Chemical burns can occur if the mixture is splashed on skin.  The use of safety gear is imperative in this stage.  Goggles, protective clothing and gloves are a good start, if you are thinking of making your own soap.  We added a small amount of frozen goats milk to the lye mix and whisked it all together.  The mix was then put in a water bath to bring it down to a similar temperature as the oils.  We then added the lye mixture to the oils and starting mixing with an electric stick mixer......once the soap mixture reached a point where it left a trail on top (this is called "trace") then it was ready to pour into a greased mould.

The soap at "trace"

And so, into the mould it went.......

In the mould, ready to set

After it went into the mould, we put the lid on top and then wrapped it in insulation paper........

Wrapping the soap to keep it warm....

And into the box it went, ready to take home.  I let mine sit in the mould for twenty four hours and I turned it out today.  Once set, it was like the consistency of tasty cheese and I then cut it into 8 lovely chunky soaps......and it smells SO good too, I added Lemon Scented Gum oil along with red clay and poppy seeds.

One day later, the soap is set and ready to turn out of mould...

Out of mould and ready to cut

Once the soap was cut, I placed it on a cake rack, where it will sit for 6 weeks.  During this time the soap will cure.  This process lets the excess water evaporate and the lye and fat will continue the saponification process.  The result should be a lovely hard handmade soap which smells brilliant!

The finished product.....now 6 weeks of curing and it will be ready to use!

I hope you enjoyed my pictorial tour of my first attempt at soap making!  It really is quite an amazing process which I will definitely repeat at home.  I am thinking once I am half way through these, I will make another batch of my own.

If you are interested in attending the Soap Making Workshops please click on this link......

http://www.gunbowercreekolives.com.au/

and email Judy or Sarah using the contact page.

Cheers,

Jodie 

MPH xx