Monday, November 14, 2011

Handmade Soap

I was so excited to take a workshop on how to make your own handmade soap. I have purchased handmade soap at my local farmers market and online on Etsy. I decided to see how it is all done. Little did I know that it is part chemistry and part baking.




( I just got the soap out of the mold)
I was a little intimadated by using lye, but the teacher gave us great safety instructions. We wore gloves and safety goggles while preparing the mixture of cold process soap.





I used my cutting board and kitchen knife to slice the soap.




My husband purchased a shelf at our local thrift store for the soap to cure. I didn't realize that handmade soap takes four to six weeks to cure. I look forward to using our first batch. The instructor gave us a few supplies to make a batch at home this week. Hopefully I will be brave enough to give it a try. Thankfully, she is open for us to calling her for help.







21 comments:

Lindsay said...

Ooh! I have always wanted to make my own soap, too! I didn't know that it had to cure for that long, either!

Anonymous said...

I love handmade soap! It looks great.

The Crone Chronicles said...

I love handmade soap and just really enjoyed your pics. Thanks!

MYSAVIOR said...

What are the ingredients that go into that soap. That is very cool!

♥♥♥
Sue

Lizzi said...

So cool! My friend recently started making soap too (and gave me some lol). I think it's something I would enjoy since I like to cook.

Zuda Gay Pease said...

I bet that was very interesting! I love handmade soap!! Please let us know how you like it when finally get to use it. The waiting would be hard for me.

SHEILA said...

Always wonderful to learn new things. I never knew soap had to cure.

Christie Cottage said...

Awesome!!!


I'll bet you will love it!

I used to make soap with my grandmother. I did not like soap making days. We cooked it in an iron kettle over a fire..outside..

Old timers knew how to make everything we needed.

It's strange how we are coming full circle. People are canning again, making jam and soaps. I love it!

<><

krafterskorner said...

Looks like fun!

sammysgrammy said...

That does look like fun. I didn't know there was a cold process and a hot one. I only ever tried the hot.

Yours looks like "real" soap....

Sue Runyon said...

I make my own soap from scratch too. Love that soap drying shelf. I usually just put mine on freezer paper to dry.

Julia Badgley said...

That looks like fun!

Aloquin said...

I really enjoy buying home-made soaps! I used to make my own from Micheals... the melt and mix kind, but that's really cheap compared to the great stuff. Cold-process soaps are awesome! Let us know how they are when you use them! :)

JulieandMax said...

That looks like lots of fun - I've always wanted to make my own soap.

Unknown said...

Looks great -- must be hard to wait for it to cure!

Becky K. said...

At some point I would love to give this a try. Congrats to you for actually doing it.

Niki Jackson said...

Looks like you had fun making these, what fragrance did you make? Niki x

Loretta said...

Your soap looks great! I always wanted to make my own soap. I became intimidated by the use of lye and just continued buying handmade soap on Etsy. One day, I will take the leap!

Unknown said...

WOW! that's quite an endeavor! They look beautiful on the rack- I bet they smell yummy too!

Faith Caroline said...

You are so talented! Is there anything you can't do? :)

Vanessa Brantley Newton said...

This is great!!! I love it. I just really love handmade products. So cool. Hope that you had a wonderful time with your family and friends on Turkey Day.
Best you and thanks so much for stopping by.
V