River County Soap Works Blog

A WORD ABOUT PATCHOULI

Robin — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:11:15 +0000

Some of you have noticed that our handmade soap collection is missing our very popular Patchouli Soap. Back in October, Patchouli essential oil spiked in price. What normally sells for $30.00 to $40.00 a pound shot up to $187.00 a pound. Now this is really bad because Patchouli essential oil is just as versatile as Lavender essential oil. Not only is it good straight up but it is a must for blending with other essential oils. Unfortunately, $187.00 a pound Patchouli oil would make for $12.00 a bar of soap! So I pulled it temporarily until the price has stabilized. As of this week, pricing is down between $129.00 and $97.00 a pound. Word on the street is that we should see another drop in price by October. When it comes down a wee bit more then I will bring the Patchouli soap back online.

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SOAP ON A STICK!

Robin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:16:24 +0000

I have been very busy restocking all my handmade soaps these past few weeks and today was the day for making Cucumber Melon soap. This time around though, I had a vision of this particular handmade soap with pink, cream and white layers. It is tedious when making layered soap because each layer has to set up before pouring the next layer or the soap will run together and you won’t get clean lines between each layer. This is the reason that I haven’t layered any soap in a while. It just takes too darn long and I am a busy lady after all!! I really should know better. To save time I decided that I would pour three molds in a row instead of doing one at a time. That means make a batch of soap, color it and then pour 1/3 into each of the molds. Sounds good and should have worked but the 3rd layer which I colored green set up too fast when I got to the second mold. It was like pouring thick porridge. By the time I poured the last portion into the 3rd mold I had glop. Just plain glop. No amount of pounding, shaking or twisting the molds would move this soap around evenly. I ended up using a flat edge trowel to try and even out the hills and valleys of wet soap. I can tell you that when this happens it is an exercise in frustration. I doubt I’d pass as a concrete finisher. Hopefully, when I cut this batch of handmade soap up I will be able to even most of the bars out and end up with suitable and saleable bars. If all else fails, there is always the “Ugly Duckling” box!

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THE VANCOUVER FARMERS MARKET

Robin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:06:26 +0000

It’s that time of year again and I find myself back at the Vancouver Farmers Market in Vancouver, Washington. This is my seventh year. Wow! I can hardly believe it. When I first started selling here I only made handmade soap. Now I make quite a collection of natural skin care products. It is always a joy to go back to the market and meet up with customers that have become friends and I now know on a first name basis. It just warms my heart that all these people have supported my business for so long.

This is a family oriented farmers market in downtown Vancouver, Washington where you can shop for fresh, locally grown produce; pick up stunning fresh flower bouquets for the table and browse for unique arts and crafts. If you are visiting Vancouver, please be sure to include our market in your travels for a visit and don’t forget to stop by my booth and say hello!

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WHAT MOLD TO USE?

Robin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:05:02 +0000

Why silicone of course! Why? Well, when making handmade soap pouring wet soap into silicone is a bit like cooking. Silicone releases the finished soap easily with no pulling, pushing, jumping, hopping or the dreaded “L” word, lining a soap mold. I LOVE, LOVE my silicone soap molds. Handmade soap and silicone molds just go together. It’s plain as day. There is no lining, insulating with heavy blankets or stacking of molds trying to get a good gel. An added bonus of using silicone molds for handmade soap is these molds insulate very well. Ours were custom made by my “go fix it” guy but you can get these types of molds through Upland Soap Factory and Silvermoon Soap Supply.

Up top is a photo of one of my molds. I’m not the best photographer but you get the idea. These are the best for making handmade soap.

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GOT GOAT SOAP!

Robin — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:10:30 +0000

I’m into adding to my goat milk soap collection and am just about ready to debut my latest which is scented with an essential oil blend of Lavender, Patchouli, Pettigrain, Orange and Spearmint. Not sure yet what I’m going to end up calling it. It smells pretty terrific and I’m pleased. The only change I’ll make next go around is to deepen the color. The swirls kinda disappear and don’t come out as deep as I had wanted but the scent makes up for it.

Making goat milk soap can be tricky for a number of reasons. The main rule of thumb is to freeze the milk before pouring your lye into it. I freeze my goat milk in gallon freezer bags and then use a mallet to smash the milk up before pouring the lye into it. Otherwise, the milk overheats, turns bright orange, curdles and stinks to high heaven. Trust me, I learned this the hard way! You also want to soap cool. By cool I mean 80 degrees and no insulation. Milk soaps heat up so soaping cool will keep them a nice creamy color.

Look for this new goat milk soap in a couple of weeks. It is still on the drying rack!

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Cold-Process Soap Making

Robin — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:29:16 +0000

I get asked all the time how I make soap or if my handmade soaps are “glycerin” soaps. Well, I make what is called cold-processed soap. Very simply put this soap is made by combining different fatty acids with sodium hydroxide (lye) and water. When I make goat milk soap I replace the water with 100% goat milk. Fatty acids can by from almost any oil from Olive, Oil, to Lard, to Sweet Almond Oil. Combinations are as endless as your imagination.

Cold-process soap making is not rocket science but it does incorporate both art and science together. There is a certain proportion of lye (sodium hydroxide) and water to fatty acids that forms a chemical reaction called “saponification”. During saponification the oils and lye mix and become soap. A by product of this process is glycerin. This entire process takes several weeks to complete. That is why handmade soap is allowed to cure. I like to let my handmade soap sit on the drying rack and cure for a minimum of eight weeks. This long cure period results in a mild and hard bar of soap that lasts in the shower.

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Alien Brain Syndrome

Robin — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:40:34 +0000

I’ve been making handmade soap for several years now So much so that now I consider myself a professional soap maker. I live and breathe handmade soap. Right now I’m in soap mode. That’s what I call it when I’ve got a boat load of soap to make and not a bunch of time to get it done. It never fails that when I am this busy I mess up. My soap molds are custom made of silicone. They insulate really well. No more wrapping box molds in layers of fleece to keep the heat in. The silicone does it for me. Years ago, when I first started to make soap I read about “alien brain syndrome” on Kathy Millers Soap Making website. I got my very first case of this making my Rosemary Mint Soap last week. I stacked my molds. BIG MISTAKE. Now, I do know better. I really do. Apparently, my brain wasn’t working entirely that day and I forgot not to stack the molds on top of each other. Alien brain syndrome is caused by over heating and that is exactly what happened to 12 pounds of my freshly made soap in the middle mold. In this case, it not only is unsightly, it isn’t usable because the soap overheated so much it separated which means that the lye solution leached from the freshly poured soap. Oh Well. Stuff happens!

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All-Natural Handmade Soaps

admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:01:15 +0000

Our luxury all-natural handmade and handcrafted soaps are made using exotic fruit and nut oils such as sunflower, sweet almond, wheat germ and jojoba oils in addition to nourishing butters such as African shea butter and cocoa butter which add richness and vital moisturizing properties along with a creamy and luxurious lather.

Naturally glycerin rich, our handcrafted soaps clean your skin without stripping it of its own natural oils. Your skin will be soft, nurtured and pampered. Visit our Wholesale page for more handmade soaps and handcrafted products.

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