Just made my first batch of soap

[urbanfarmer]

I started making soap in 1975 and used to sell a lot of soap at the flea market and things like that.
I love making soap!
I've used about every kind of fat imaginable, even some buffalo fat!
It's a great skill to have for post peak.
p.s. sorry about your husband urbanfarmer.

Thanks Pamela. Buffalo fat?! Wow, you are a serious soap maker!

[urbanfarmer]

If you want to do it from ashes and animals, here's good ol' Grandpappy to tell you how:  http://grandpappy.info/wsoap.htm

Hey Broil! Thanks for that great site. I loved the step-by-step for making the wood ash lye. I have been burning Madronna logs for a couple of years and will definitely save the ashes this year.

I love some of the crazy whipped soap creations. Not particularly doomer soap, but fascinating.

http://www.soapcarvingart.com/gallery1.html
http://dirtyasssoaps.com/

Nice blog with many artful soap makers
http://thesoapbar.blogspot.com/2008/04/ocean-soap.html

Do any of the soap makers have photos of their soaps?

[catmccall]

I've got a few pics of my soaps here -

http://catmccall.blogspot.com/search/label/Soap%20Making

I've only made a few batches, but so far I've only totally messed up one small batch.

Next I want to learn to make liquid soaps http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/form_liquidsoap.html

All of my soaps use goat's milk and I even rendered my own suet. Note to newbies - render suet outside if you don't want your house to smell like cooking beef for *days* afterwords, and don't use an immersion blender to break up the last little bits of fat - it will melt the plastic casing in a matter of seconds ;-)

[urbanfarmer]

I've got a few pics of my soaps here -

http://catmccall.blogspot.com/search/label/Soap%20Making

I've only made a few batches, but so far I've only totally messed up one small batch.

Next I want to learn to make liquid soaps http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/form_liquidsoap.html

All of my soaps use goat's milk and I even rendered my own suet. Note to newbies - render suet outside if you don't want your house to smell like cooking beef for *days* afterwords, and don't use an immersion blender to break up the last little bits of fat - it will melt the plastic casing in a matter of seconds ;-)

Nice blog! I LOVE your rabbits, too. Looks like you learned the hard way with the immersion blender, thanks for the heads up. I bought an old fashioned hand cranked metal double beater for my doomer soap supplies. Maybe that would work?

[residualheat]

This is really interesting. I'm learning a lot here - been meaning to try making soap for ages and the urge is now growing.

[catmccall]

Thank you for your kind words about my blog ;-) I do love the rabbits and had hoped to breed and sell the kits, but the market is depressed for wool rabbits. Can't even sell the wool, so I have a growing stash of it waiting to be spun up.

Make sure your beater is stainless steel or it might react to the chemicals if you plan to use it to stir up the soap. Better idea than an electric stick blender, but I haven't been able to find one around here.

Do give it a try! The hardest part (that I've found) is getting the lye. It's rather expensive to ship but can't be bought locally here because it's used to make meth. Sigh. The low-lifes always take the fun out of everything, don't they? The other ingredients are easy to come by and you can use your kitchen pots if you're careful - I use a glass Visions pot and a stainless steel stockpot that are rarely used for other purposes, and SS or plastic utensils for the rest. DON'T use wooden spoons for any part of the process - the lye will make tiny shards of wood come off them and they will absorb oils, fragrance and lye. Otherwise, use Common Sense (not so common, I know, judging by all of the cautions on soap recipe sites!) and you'll do just fine.

[urbanfarmer]

Thank you for your kind words about my blog ;-) I do love the rabbits and had hoped to breed and sell the kits, but the market is depressed for wool rabbits. Can't even sell the wool, so I have a growing stash of it waiting to be spun up.

The market for everything is depressed, but stored up wool could be very important some day.

Make sure your beater is stainless steel or it might react to the chemicals if you plan to use it to stir up the soap. Better idea than an electric stick blender, but I haven't been able to find one around here.

I have purchased a variety of tools that would be useful without electricity. You can buy a new beater here, but mine was vintage:
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Vintage-Style-Beater/dp/B000BU5K9K%3FSubscriptionId%3D07ES2EZHJF6DCVFRE982%26tag%3Dcomputerrev02-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000BU5K9K



Do give it a try! The hardest part (that I've found) is getting the lye. It's rather expensive to ship but can't be bought locally here because it's used to make meth. Sigh. The low-lifes always take the fun out of everything, don't they?

I found a locally owned hardware store and they had the cans of lye. I told him I wanted it for soap making. He said he could tell who would be using it for the right purposes and let me buy all of the cans on his shelf!

The other ingredients are easy to come by and you can use your kitchen pots if you're careful - I use a glass Visions pot and a stainless steel stockpot that are rarely used for other purposes, and SS or plastic utensils for the rest. DON'T use wooden spoons for any part of the process - the lye will make tiny shards of wood come off them and they will absorb oils, fragrance and lye. Otherwise, use Common Sense (not so common, I know, judging by all of the cautions on soap recipe sites!) and you'll do just fine.

Great information! Thank you. I bought a couple of pounds of shredded goat milk soap for rebatching. Guess that would be a harmless place to start!

When I was researching soap making, I decided that I would buy some blocks of Sculpy and make my own molds. I have all the oils, everything! Just never made the soap. The last gift my husband gave me was a soap making kit for Christmas. He died six days later. He was going to make the wood boxes with the guides for slicing into bars. I guess I have not gone back to the soap making idea for obvious reasons, but this thread has my interest going again!

[catmccall]

The market for everything is depressed, but stored up wool could be very important some day.

I totally agree! I only wish I could convince my OH of that fact ;-) I have a sizable stash of wool and alpaca, too, as well as fabric of all kinds. I spin, knit, quilt and sew and figure that I can make just about anything we might need in the fiber line when TSHTF. He'll be grateful someday...

I have purchased a variety of tools that would be useful without electricity. You can buy a new beater here, but mine was vintage:
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Vintage-Style-Beater/dp/B000BU5K9K%3FSubscriptionId%3D07ES2EZHJF6DCVFRE982%26tag%3Dcomputerrev02-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000BU5K9K


Thanks for the links!

I found a locally owned hardware store and they had the cans of lye. I told him I wanted it for soap making. He said he could tell who would be using it for the right purposes and let me buy all of the cans on his shelf!

My local hardware stores don't carry the "pure" lye - only mixtures for clearing drains. Meth is a *huge* problem across the whole state of Oregon. Sigh. It really sucks and I'm glad I stocked up last year.

Great information! Thank you. I bought a couple of pounds of shredded goat milk soap for rebatching. Guess that would be a harmless place to start!

It is an easy place to start. I really like the goat's milk soaps for my dry skin, and rebatching allows you to make several different types of soap depending on what scents/extra oils/other ingredients you add.

When I was researching soap making, I decided that I would buy some blocks of Sculpy and make my own molds. I have all the oils, everything! Just never made the soap. The last gift my husband gave me was a soap making kit for Christmas. He died six days later. He was going to make the wood boxes with the guides for slicing into bars. I guess I have not gone back to the soap making idea for obvious reasons, but this thread has my interest going again![/size]

Sorry to hear about your husband. I can see why you might not have jumped right in...



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[Laughlvn]

Great link, Broil. Heh, I'm astonished that sodium hydroxide is really a controlled substance in the US. But I guess we don't have a problem with rampant methamphetamine production over here either.

[wordnerd]

I want to learn how to make soap
Here is where I like to buy soap
http://www.indigowild.com/shopping/natural-zum-bar-goats-milk-soap.cfm

My favorite is Lemongrass

[urbanfarmer]

Thanks for that link WN!

Here is a fun link to a shop that makes Cake soap:

http://myprimitiveboutique.com/soap_cake_page.htm

look good enough to eat!

http://myprimitiveboutique.com/be_cider_always.jpg

[Laughlvn]

As an update; my soap has been successfully cut in neat little bars, and they're actually ready after just one meager week of curing. And I used olive oil. They're about as hard as regular candles.

Edit: not even a week, just five days. Made 'em last saturday.

[urbanfarmer]

Excellent! Congrats on a successful first batch!

[Laughlvn]

Thank you.