Soaping

I've been promising to post instructions on how to make soap so sit tight and watch the following video clips I found on Expert Village. I wanted you to watch instead of read because you will remember it better (hopefully). If you are signed up for the soaping class that I'll be teaching next month, the information will be the same. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

How to get ready to make soap
Soap making supplies and equipment
Soap making ingredients
Combining lye and water
How to prepare soap molds
How to prepare oils
Equalizing lye water temp
How to stir soap mixture to a trace
Mixing additives
Pouring soap into molds
Wrapping and curing soap
Removing soap from mold

It's a lot of links but they are only about 2 minutes long so it won't take that long to watch it. Please note: you can use other types of molds than what she is using. I went to Walmart and bought a drawer organizer for $2.50. This way you can pour your soap into the greased mold and just turn it upside down when you are ready to take it out. This kind of soap will get kind of sharp edges but you can always shave them if they get too unbearable.

I also don't stir my soap by hand for 15min to 1hr. I use a stick blender and trace happens pretty darn quick, within minutes.

Some websites I go to are The Sage and Texas Natural Supply to buy my lye and fragrances. If you need a basic soap recipe, please e-mail me at joulu24@yahoo.com.

One last thing: please note that anytime you change the oils in any soaping recipe, you MUST go to The Sage's lye calculator and make sure you are in the acceptable range of % of excess fat (anywhere from 5-8%, no more).

Happy Soaping!