Soapmaking 101

A couple weeks ago, I made some Pearberry scented hand soap. I'm trying to use up all my fragrance oil before I order some new oil. I think this time I will splurge and get essential oil. It's more concentrated,so not as much is needed,but it does cost a bit more.

You will need:

 -24 oz Crisco

-9 oz coconut oil

-10.5 oz canola oil

-14 oz cold water

-6 oz lye crystals

-hand mixer ( I use my old one now just for soapmaking)

-non metallic spoon or spatula (I use cheap wooden spoons that I bought just for soapmaking)

-bowl for lye water

-measuring cup

-digital scale

-soap mold ( I use a silicone 8 x8 baking dish)

-thermometer (I used an old candy thermometer)

-scent/coloring (optional)

Ready?

1) Zero out your digital scale by placing the measuring cup on it and hitting the "tare/on" button. You can see in the photo below that it is now set at zero. Everything is measured by weight. Pour water into the cup until it reaches 14 oz. Pour the water into a bowl,and wipe out your measuring cup. Place the cup back on the scale,make sure it's zeroed out,and add the lye crystals until it weighs 6 oz.

Before you mix the lye and water,you will want to open some windows to get some ventilation going. Lye is very caustic,and can burn your skin. The fumes smell and can make you sick. Sometimes I also have to put my t-shirt in front of my nose. Sprinkle the lye into the water,and stir gently until the lye crystals have dissolved  You will see fumes/smoke coming out of the bowl. This is the lye reacting. Place the lye off to the side to cool down. I place the bowl in front of the window.

2) Melt your solids. As you measured the lye and water,do the same with the Crisco and coconut oil. Make sure the Crisco measures 24 oz ( I had to do two measurements of 12 oz since my measuring cup isn't that big) and put it into a pan on the stove. Measure the coconut oil to 9 oz and put in the pan with the Crisco. Melt them over low heat,stirring occasionally  Measure the canola oil in the same manner,making sure it weighs 10.5 oz. When the Crisco and coconut oil and melted,add the the canola oil and stir.


Here you see the solid fats being melted........

......and the canola oil being added once the solid fats are melted

3) Now comes the part I always have a hard time with-waiting for the lye water and the oils to cool to the proper temperature. This is where the thermometer comes in. Both the lye water and the melted oils should be cooled down to 80-100 degrees before they are combined.This could take anywhere from 1/2 an hour to an hour.

4)Gently pour the lye water into the oils,mixing as you go.The mixer should be on low to avoid more air bubbles from forming than need be.

5)Mix on low until soap mixture begins to thicken,then move up to medium speed.The soap is ready to pour when it hits trace. Trace is when the soap forms squiggles on the top of the mixture like in the photo below:

6) This is the time to add your scent (it's up to you how much to add)..........

.......and your soap coloring. Again,it's up to you how much add depending on what you want the color to look like. Make sure you mix in the scent completely before you add the color. Mix in the color completely.

Here it is...ready for the mold!!!!!

7) Pour the soap mix into the mold. Smooth it out as best you can.

8) Cover it with a towel and let rest for 8-24 hours.

9) Take the soap out of the mold and place it away from drafts and cold air for 1-7 days.

10)After a few days,it's ready to cut up into bars. Score the soap to help with sizing. Notice how the soap has turned white? That's the lye that has risen up through the block of soap.

Here is a photo for a better comparison. The block on the lower left shows the bottom of the soap block. The upper right the top. There will be some white residue on the sides as well. Don't worry,we're going to cut those off to make pretty soap.

11) Cut off the white areas,and any other areas you need to make square pieces. This recipe fills an 8 x 8 pan,so the blocks are thick. 

A bit blurry,but you see how nice it looks when the white is trimmed off.

12) I cut the blocks in half,so I get more soap for the buck!

See? Two bars for the price of one!

13) You might wonder what to do with all those pieces that got trimmed off- use them! They still work. I bagged them up into a sandwich bag and put them in our bathroom closet.

14) TA-DA! Homemade bar soap. It now needs to cure for 2-4 weeks. 

After the time has passed, enjoy your soap,or wrap it in some pretty paper and give as a gift!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Going Into The Past

Yesterday I started checking out a few names on my Family Tree Maker. I wanted to see how many of Rick's ancestors took part in wars. I wound up getting involved in that and adding more names to the tree. I discovered that he had family members here earlier than I thought-his Pratt ancestor that came over on the Anne (the third ship from the Mayflower) had been thought to be the earliest. They landed in MA and worked their way up to NH. Now I find one or two were in Portsmouth before the 1620's,and one is buried in one of the oldest cemeteries  in Portsmouth. I think I wound working on this for over three hours. It's very easy to get sucked in.

I do know of a few who served before I was checking it out yesterday. He had a few that served in the French and Indian Wars.His great-great grandfather,Randal Chase,died only a few weeks after the Battle of Fredricksburg during the Civil War. Whether he died from disease (which was a big problem) or from wounds suffered in battle I don't know.He his buried in the Fredericksburg Cemetery. Another ancestor served in the Rev War and died at Valley Forge-he is a distant cousin.

The ones I did find were direct relatives-

Albert Batchelder-Gx2 grandfather-served as a PVT in Company C,NH 6th regiment,NH Volunteers, and was promoted to First Sgt. He fought in various battles in the Civil War,such as Fredericksburg,and 2nd Bull Run. 

Nathaniel West,Jr- Gx2 grandfather-served in Co I,11th Regiment,NH Volunteers in the Civil War. 

John Batchelder-Gx6 grandfather-served in the Rev War  as Pvt under Capt Moses Levitt's Co,Col Nicols Reg.He also served under Capt Clifford's Co as well as Capt Kenny Elkins.

Caleb Shaw-Gx5 grandfather-served in the Rev War as Pvt in the 2nd NH Regiment under Col Poor and fought in Trenton,Princeton,Saratoga,Monmouth,and Yorktown.

Josiah Batchelder-Gx5 grandfather-served in the Rev War

John Weare Shaw-Gx4 grandfather-War of 1812

I told Rick he should join the Sons of the American Revolution! He's got the street cred for it :)


Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

A Touch O' Snow

Last night was the coldest night so far this season. Up in the Great North Woods it went down to the single digits and below zero in some areas. Here it went down into the teens. This AM I woke up and it was lightly freezing rain/snowing.

Kings Highway looks like a white ribbon!

Three hours later,it's still snowing. The snow blows all over the road in a big cloud when vehicles go by. However,it's not going to last.Tomorrow is going to in the 50's,which will be great weather for marching in the Rochester Christmas parade.

I was hoping to get my mudroom done this year,but that is not going to happen. That's fine.It will be the first project of Spring. The pool is covered.Our septic tank is sealed,and the chickens have a light in their coop.The new chickens have started laying,on a fairly regular basis. The extension cord runs from our bedroom window to the garage,through the garage window,and into the coop where the light is plugged into it. Rick forgot that the light was on the other end of the extension cord and unplugged it in order to use it for something else,and no one noticed for about a week (the light only comes on when the sun starts to go behind the red pine trees,which is about 3:00 PM. We gather our eggs before it comes on).The chickens got mighty confused and stopped laying. I felt so bad for my Grappone Man. Grappone Man is an older gentlemen who drives a Grappone Ford truck and buys eggs from me. He stops by every other week. Well, it had been a while since I had any extra to sell,and I felt so bad for him that I gave him four eggs. It was all I had. A couple of days ago,I had just gathered eggs,got them cleaned off and put in the carton when he showed up. I had 6 in total,so I sold them for $1.00 ( I sell my eggs at $2.00/DZ).He was pleased. We have been getting eggs daily for the last few days,so I hope that continues. It kills me to have to buy eggs!!!

Soon I will have to go out into the woods and gather my greenery for decorations. And I really need to puree the rest of my sugar pumpkins.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!!