Monday, September 29, 2014

Another addition to the hobby list

edit to add link to soap recipe -  Down To Earth - Cold Processed Soap V2


If I wait much longer to do a catch-up post you'll likely never hear from me again LOL.

So, as I get pics of my fabric and makes from this year I'll post and mention them.  Other than that, I'd just better keep going...

A couple of years ago, I found a few simple living blogs/forums and they piqued my interest. Since then, I've made some changes to my household products, starting with the laundry stuff. Making bar soap ended up on my radar, but working with lye kinda freaked me out made me think twice and I put it off for a bit.

Over the summer, I started collecting ingredients and supplies. Last Monday was the day. The dogs were locked out of the kitchen, I collected everything and gave it a go.
Seems to have worked out ok...they have to cure for about 6 weeks though, so I won't really know til then.   Here are the results...

Just started to unmold them. The silicone molds worked great. The plastic lining in the plastic Rubbermaid container worked, but it isn't a smooth-edged loaf by any means.

Deciding how many pieces to cut the loaf...big pieces, or small?

There's a shadow in the loaf, apparently ok and will/should go away as they cure.

I cut the loaf into 18 relatively small pieces. Ended up with 29 pieces in total, ranging from 1.6 to 3.3 oz. the larger muffin cups were all over 3oz., the smaller ones were about 2oz. The loaf?  Well, let's hope my cutting gets a bit more accurate as I go on LOL




5 comments:

  1. My food delivery man, Don, was telling me about his 11 year old daughter's goats and chickens in August, because she was entering them in a local fair through 4H. On Tuesday, he was saying she won several ribbons, and she's keeping her critters (of course). She plans to milk her goats and make goats-milk soap to sell somewhere. It's pretty cool that you have tried soap making; even if the results aren't that pretty, I'm betting that you'll enjoy using it (or wrapping it up real pretty and giving it to your sisters or whomever).

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  2. Would you share your recipe? Is it body soap or laundry soap?
    I remember momma making laundry soap and I have made goat's milk laundry soap. Back a few years ago when I live on a farm and and had a herd of "girls" to milk. The good life and another lifetime. I would like to learn how to make body or facial soap.

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    1. Sissy - this one is a body soap. I've added the link to the top of the blog post. I also make laundry soap - I started with the powder and the last time, I made the liquid. Good luck if you try it - once I use/give away this batch, I will definitely make more..

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  3. Happy New Year, Claire! I hope this one is better than 2014.

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  4. I've made my own laundry soap for years - started when I was too poor to buy much of anything and kept at it because it is easy, good and cheap. I've never considered making bar soap though - what a wonderful idea and you make it look so easy.

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Thanks for talking to me - I love comments !