|
 This week's
Craft of the Week features a popular way to have good, clean fun - soap making. The
following recipes will create hand soap, granulated laundry soap, and a basic shampoo and
more. Don't forget the rubber ducky!
Safety Ideas
Many of these crafts use lye and you need to
exercise proper safety precautions especially if you're a novice.
We'd like to thank Sheri Patterson for some good safety ideas.
also see  legal warning
Basic Hand Soap
1/2 oz or 14gm lye
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup lukewarm fat
1 T. lemon juice (optional)
 In a plastic container, gently stir lye into cold water with wooden
spoon. Slowly add lukewarm fat. Continue to stir until slightly thickened. Add lemon
juice, stirring to mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into plastic molds. Cover with plastic
wrap and leave for 24 hours. Remove soap from molds and allow to air-dry for 14 days.
Yield: 1 - 2 medium bars.
Basic Granulated
Laundry Soap
2 1/2 quarts rain water
2 quarts grease, strained, melted and hot
1 can lye (probably 1 lb.)
3 T borax
Mix water, borax, and lye Take the Crisco and place it into an enamel ware pan and place
on stove to melt and heat. Go outside for ventilation. Take the two cups of cold water and
place into glass bowl and slowly add lye while stirring with a wooden spoon (use wood
only) safety ideas. Add strained
grease slowly. Remove from heat and leave in pot. Stir often during the first day. Allow
two weeks to cure, stirring occasionally.
Basic Shampoo
1 bar basic soap
4 quarts rain water
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 tsp. powdered borax
1 oz. bay rum
Dissolve soap in boiling water. Let cool. Add eggs, borax and bay rum. Stir to mix
thoroughly.
E-Z soap
From Vonda
grate one cake of pure soap (Ivory) or use one cup of soap ends. put into a small
pot. Add enough cold water to fill the pot 2/3 full. Heat until soap is
dissolved. Stir constantly to prevent boiling over. (or you can let the soap
shavings set in water for several hours until melted, then heat to liquefy.)
Add melted soap to one large (3 gal) bucketful of hot water. Last, add
one cup of Arm and Hammer WASHING SODA and stir till dissolved. DO NOT do in reverse order.
The mix cools to a huge gelatinous mess sort of like the soft soap out
of a pump pack. It will cost about $1.00 for the bucketful.
Tony's No Fail
Soap
From Vonda
2 3lb. cans of solid shortening (Crisco or the best buy of the day)
1 can of Red Devil lye (12 oz.)
2 cups of water
Take the Crisco and place it into an enamel ware pan and place on stove to melt and heat.
Go outside for ventilation. Take the two cups of cold water and place into glass bowl and
slowly add lye while stirring with a wooden spoon (use wood only) safety ideas. Stir
until water is clear. This needs to be done in a well ventilated area due to the
fumes from the lye. Wear eye protection and gloves. When the lye and crisco
are warm to the touch (not hot) pour lye mixture into the crisco stirring
constantly. keep stirring until you get trace. (Trace is the the consistency of cake
frosting or until you drop it back into itself and it leaves little plops or trails.
At this point you can add herbs or coloring (grated crayons) and stir and pour into any
plastic molds you have. Be sure to grease the molds with crisco for easy
removal. A pringles can makes a great round mold. let the soap cure for 24
hours then take out of molds and let cure for 2 to 4 weeks before you wrap and store or
use. (The hardest part!!)
This is a very basic recipe. before molding you can divide the mixture and add a cup
or more of cornmeal to make a good hand cleaning soap or oatmeal to make a facial soap.
You can add essential oils to give it a fragrance. tea tree oil makes a good
antiseptic soap..have fun making soap. This goes great if you are reading the little
house on the prairie series..
How I make soap
From: Chefveggi
I have been making soap for a couple of years and I also sell it to the public. I
add the lye directly to cold water and stir for about 2 minutes. I also mix the lye and
oils together around 115 temperature. I stir for about 40 minutes and then I use a stick
blender for 5 minutes to blend thoroughly. After the mixture has traced (a thick pudding
like consistency) I add my essentials oils and my crushed flowers, oatmeal or whatever I
am using. Then I cure the bars for 24 hours and unmold and cut and leave out to cure for 4
weeks.
Resources
http://www.soapcrafters.com/linksoap.htm
http://www.alcasoft.com/soapfact/history.html
This one tells the history of soapmaking back to colonial times. Very
informative.
Ideas
Safety Ideas
From: Sheri
Patterson
Oh My Goodness! I'm so glad my friend told me about this site! Yes, it looks
informative, however a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! Besides homeschooling, I
started making soap three years ago and do it professionally at a local historical park. I
also give classes to school age children and sell at local stores. Here are my safety
concerns about soapmaking:
- Lye is extremely caustic!
- Safety equipment
The maker should be wearing safety glasses, gloves and long sleeves.
- Young children and pets
have no place around the lye process! When the time for adding water and lye, it
is VITAL that cold water is used and that the lye is added
to the water, not the other way around!
- One should never mix anything
in (like borax) directly into the lye water! It should be added after the lye is
mixed into the fat (again not the other way around!) There is a delicate chemical reaction
that takes place between the lye and the fats. Both the fat and the lye should be 100
degrees (+/- 5 ) before mixing them together. When cold water is added to lye, it heats up
instantly (another chemical reaction) to around 225+ degrees! A cold water bath can help
in the cooling process.
- Never walk around with lye!
Inside ventilation is sufficient (open a nearby window) and I myself never use a
glass container to mix lye! The instant heat caused by the reaction could crack the jar
leaving the holder with caustic lye all over! I use a sturdy pitcher with a lid labeled
lye(like Tupperware).
- Adding other materials
If you add any EO's(essential oils), perfume (careful, flammable!) or coloring,it
is best not to add them at this stage! The lye and high heat at this point would evaporate
most of the smell or colorant.The place for this is after it has cured(dried) for
approximately 2 weeks
- Milling the soap
(Again be cautious of touching the soap too soon, the lye is still present until
fully dry!). The process is called Milling and the maker would grate the soap with a
cheese grater, then remelt it over low/medium heat with enough water to maker it liquefy
and then add the EO's and coloring. Then let dry for another two weeks or until completely
dry. Please exercise these safety measures!
Sheri Patterson
|
 
 
The Soap Book:
Simple Herbal Recipes
by Sandy Maine
 
Fire Light, Forest Garden, Gentleman Farmer, Lemon Verbena, Oat and Wheat
Bran--these are just a sampling of the 30 wonderful recipes you'll find in The Soap Book.
History, chemistry, equipment, plants, and oils_everything you need to know to create your
own all-natural, hand-crafted, herbal, aromatherapy, and floral soaps is included.
Throughout, Sandy shares tips, formulas, insights, and practical information gleaned from
her 14 years' experience as a soapmaker.
Soapmaking For
Fun & Profit
by Maria Given Nerius
This fun, reader-friendly book offers all the information anyone, from the
beginner to the seasoned veteran, needs to get started in turning a fun hobby into extra
cash--today! With everything from the how-to's of soapmaking and projects you can make to
a wealth of basic business tips and information, Soapmaking For Fun & Profit is an
invaluable resource for anyone who has ever dreamed of making money from soapmaking.
Featured Books:
Milk-Based
Soaps:
Making Natural, Skin-Nourishing Soap
by Casey Makela
Start-to-finish, foolproof instructions for creating 12 distinctive soaps from
either cow's or goat's milk. Sources for obtaining ingredients and equipment and tips for
naming, packaging, and marketing soaps is also included.
The Natural Soap
Book:
Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps
by Susan Miller
Cavitch
This book offers instructions for creative and beautiful soapmaking. All of her
soaps are free of chemicals and use only natural ingredients. She covers all the
soap basics from where to get your materials all the way to the finished product.
These soaps can be made for business or pleasure.
Transparent
Soapmaking:
A Complete Guide to Making Natural See-Through Soap
by Catherine Failor
Excellent book for beginner and experienced soapmakers; excellent- straightforward, easy
to understand, and well-written. The text itself is also well-designed, with great
illustrations by the author. Includes diagrams and instructions for building a simple soap
mixer and soap cutter. Good troubleshooting section and references. |
