Thursday, September 3, 2009

Final Steps in Making Soap






The recipe Cathleen gave me was a good recipe,however I followed the directions on the Red Crown Lye 2 lb.can.I will attempt to put these steps in order with the pics.
After we rendered the fat-cooked it off with some salt-the next morning,which was this am today,the fat looked like this.
I assembled everything I would need,a glass candy thermometer,a glass mason jar,a glass measuring cup ,containers I would be pouring the soap into,the scents,& the colorings,wooden mixing spoons.I will tell you up front now that the colorings I bought at Michaels did not color the soap,& I don`t believe we added enough of scent to scent the soap.That being said...
I dug the fat out & measured my empty plastic container,then added 6 lbs of the fat to the plastic container,then placed the measured fat in an enamelware canner & started heating it up.We used an old wood cookstove & did this part outside.
We then dissolved slowly 1/3 of the can of lye to 1 quart of our well water in the glass mason jar.Very important!!! Always add lye to cold water,not the opposite way.
This will cause the lye water to reach a high temp.Let the lye water cool down to room temp.-we were outside-so we just checked on touching the glass mason jar to see if it was cooled off.
I heated the fat to 95 degrees like it says,then slowly poured the lye water mixture in,stirring constantly,taking it off the wood stove & stirred off & on for 15-20 min.till the mixture gets honey-like.I then added the scent & coloring.
Pour your mixture into your plastic,enamelware,or wooden boxes{in the olden days they used dresser drawers lined with newspapers},I just used plastic square containers & enamelware I already had ready.Let your soap cure for up to 2 weeks,we have ours covered with newspaper up high outside as I was afraid our dogs would find it too tempting & would taste it.I will let you know after it cures what it is like.
Don`t I look like a wicked witch stirring the pot?

1 comment:

Aleta said...

I know you had fun doing this and I know it is rewarding to have made your own soap, but it just looks like so much work! I'm getting lazy in my old age. I bought some scented soap at the Cumberland Gap visitor's center the last time we went. But -- I would like to try yours! I'll buy some from you when it is ready!