I was going through some older pictures and ran across these. They were all taken during the last great soap making event in Idaho. I am pretty sure I knew we would be moving to Massachusetts so I'm not sure why I made so much. We're still using some of it.
You can tell how desperate I was--that's canned goat milk you see. It works just as well as the fresh stuff and is a lot less work but I really do prefer fresh.
Two pictures of basically the same thing? Yeah, okay. I guess twice is better than once. It is just oils ready to be poured in the pot.
Melting oil. This can be a lot of fun. The oils and the lye solution have to be very close to the same temperature (between 100-105 degrees Fahrenheit) when they are mixed together. If the oils are taken off the heat before all the chunks are melted, the desired temperature range is often achieved quickly.
To the left here is all the oils together ready for the addition of the lye solution.
Hooray for technology! I love stick blenders. Without them, it would take 30 to 60 minutes to get soap to the trace. With them, it's sometimes almost instantaneous. What a time savings, and the soap is just as good.
Here we have some cut bars. These in particular are Who Needs a Spa? Bars. They have a layer of soap with large tapioca balls and poppy seeds with a layer of lavender soap on top. They last just about forever. I just finished using one of the bars in this picture and it actually still had smell (and smelled like it was supposed to).
And here we have some bricks. They've been taken out of the mold but not unwrapped. Don't ask what kind they are; I don't remember. Notice the quilting ruler at the top right. I have a different one now but use it all the time for soap making purposes. Who'd have guessed a quilting ruler would be so versatile?
To the left here is all the oils together ready for the addition of the lye solution.
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