The Saga of the Second Soap

On Saturday I attempted my second soap recipe. Full of confidence from my first batch, I set everything up and got started. The new recipe called for triple strength coffee instead of water and condensed goat's milk added once the oil and lye reached trace. I weighed all the ingredients, set the oils on the stove (no heat yet), and poured the lye into the coffee. As the lye and coffee started to react and heat up the glass container and thermometer were steamed up and then... CRACK! The glass pitcher I was using for the lye solution split and the lye solution leaked all over the countertop.

Fortunately part of my preparation was a sink full of vinegar water to neutralize the lye and a jug of full strength vinegar standing by. I poured vinegar over the spill and placed the broken pitcher in the sink. Then, sopped it all up with towels and tossed them in the washer with more vinegar.

I have now replaced the broken pitcher with an 8-cup pyrex measurer. I later found out that a plastic pitcher with the number 5 and the letters "PP" next to the recycle symbol on the bottom will be able to take the heat of the lye reaction.

All in all, everything turned out OK, because I was wearing the proper protective clothing and had prepared to handle a chemical spill before it happened. If you have never made soap from scratch (using lye) before, please take the time to educate yourself on the proper safety precautions.

Take 2: This time I chilled the coffee (room temperature here is nearly 80°) and poured the lye into the coffee slowly never letting the solution get over 150°. In the meantime, the oils were on the stove at low heat just to melt the solids. When both the lye solution and the oils were at about 110° I mixed them together with a stick blender. When they reached trace, I poured half of the soap into the mold and sprinkled some coffee grounds over the top. I mixed 3 tablespoons of coffee grounds into the remaining soap and poured it into the mold then topped it all with whole coffee beans. I am pleased with the outcome, but I need to rework the recipe so it will be a vegetarian friendly soap in the future.

My first soap is done!

Last night I made my first batch of soap from scratch. Well technically my second, but the one I made before was over 20 years ago. The new soap is a version of Castile Soap with 75% olive oil and 25% Coconut oil.

I used a cold process, oven process (CPOP) method. This just means that after I made the soap I put it in a low-temp oven for an hour then turned off the heat and let it cool naturally overnight. It helps to speed up the saponification process and reduce cure time. In layman's terms the soap can be used right away and will be fully ready 2-3 weeks earlier than conventional cold process soap.

Here are some of the notes I took while making my soap last night...
1) The canning pot I purchase just for making soap is too big. The stick blender was barely submerged and there was some splattering.
2) I used filtered tap water chilled in the refrigerator. The ambient room temperature was about 75° so the coconut oil was slushy.
3) Using the stick blender, it took about 5 minutes to get to light trace (the point where the sodium hydroxide and the oils have emulsified and will no longer separate). The soap was poured into the molds at light trace.
4) Soap was unmolded and cut at about 16 hours. The soap was firm, but still very easy to cut. I could definitely use a mitre box to make more uniform cuts.

There are more photos at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seashore-Crafts/127584157282519.

Palm Oil: Yes or No?

In doing research on ingredients for soap making, I discovered that Palm Oil, a commonly used vegetable oil, has quite a bit of controversy surrounding it. Palm Oil is extraced from the fruit of the Oil Palm which is grown primarily in southeast Asia. The problem is that when a new Oil Palm plantation is needed in countries like Indonesia and Borneo that natural forests are cut down and the peat bogs underneath are drained releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These rainforests are also home to many endangered species like the urangutan.

On the other hand in Malaysia, 50% of the land is already protected rainforests. Instead of deforestation of the rainforest, new and expanding Palm Oil plantations are converting existing plantations from their previous crops to Oil Palms.

The easy way out is to stay away from Palm Oil altogether. But I also would like to support the Malaysian farmers efforts in their use of sustainable farming techniques. I believe that punishing them by a complete boycott of all Palm Oil is unfair.

What are your thoughts on the Palm Oil controversy?

Soap Making Spark

I have dabbled in soapmaking before. As a teenager, I  once made a batch of soap from scratch in my Mom's kitchen, much to her dismay. Years ago I made some melt & pour soaps for Christmas presents.

So the other night, I was thinking back on where my recent soap making obsession began (and it has been an obsession). It is thanks to my daughter and a you tube video she showed me of Emilie Autumn on a craft show making fairy wings and melt & pour soap. Emilie Autumn is a great alternative/punk singer with a huge voice and a very burlesque type style.

Soap Making Business?

I'm toying with the idea of starting a business making all natural cold process soaps. The plan is to sell them online and at a local open air craft market at the beach. Some of the soaps will be in shell/beach shapes and themes. Does anyone have any advice on starting a business? What kinds of qualities, scents, etc would you want in a handcrafted natural soap?

Cold process soap is made by the saponification of oils and/or fats with Sodium Hydroxide (more commonly known as Lye). Often fragrance or essential oils and botanicals are added to enhance various features of the soap. This is the way soap was made for centuries prior to the commercial "soap" we are familiar with from the local supermarket. Many of these commercially available "soaps" are actually detergents because they are created by a different method using chemicals. Just read the ingredient declaration on your bar of soap!

The first batch I am making to try out will be called Cafe au Lait. It is a goat's milk soap made with olive oil, coconut oil, lard (I will be replacing the lard in future batches with a vegetable oil - likely soybean oil), sodium hydroxide, coffee and coffee grounds. Olive oil makes a nice mild soap while coconut oil creates loads of rich lather. The goat's milk is for moisturizing and creaminess. Finally the coffee is great for deodorizing your hands in the kitchen after chopping onions or garlic. I can't wait to make the soap!