Here is a new handmade soap made in the past couple of weeks. It’s scented with a simple but perfect blend of Virgina Cedarwood and Lavender essential oils and has a fabulous woodsy aroma making it a perfect handmade soap gift for that special man in your life. Sometimes simple is best! Coming soon!
Popularity: 31%
About a year and a half ago Patchouli essential oil went sky high and I had to discontinue the handmade soap I make with it. The oil is still on the high side but I was lucky enough to get into a coop with other handmade soapmakers and get the oil at $44.00 a pound. This is still higher than what you used to be able to buy the oil for but so much better than it’s high of $189.00 a pound. Yikes! That was unbelievable! I am pleased to announce that our popular Patchouli handmade soap will be ready around 4/17/09. While I’m thinking of it Patchouli & Orange, Patchouli & Spearmint, and Patchouli & Lavender sound pretty good too!
Popularity: 76%
When I make handmade goat milk soap the first thing I do is measure out my goat milk and freeze it. Adding sodium hydroxide (lye) to frozen goat helps to avoid the nasty stinky burning of the milk. It is important to keep the milk as cold as possible so that it doesn’t burn and you get a nice creamy color to the soap once it sets up. Stirring the lye into the milk while the pot is sitting in a cold water bath helps keep the milk from heating up too much. As the milk heats up it changes from cream to yellow to orange. You want to avoid the deep yellow to orange color. Last week I made some Raspberry Mint goat milk soap and took some photos of the process.
Frozen Goat Milk and Solidified Fats and Oils
Melted Fats and Oils
Stirring lye into the Frozen Goat Milk
Blending Goat Milk Lye Solution into the Melted Oils
Finished and poured in the mold! This is a batch of Raspberry Mint goat milk soap. I don’t like my milk soaps to gel so they just sit in the mold with no insulation until ready to cut into bars.
Popularity: 100%
Sometimes we have handmade soap bars that cure out to be a tad underweight. And when I say a tad underweight that is exactly what I mean. Like 3.98 ounces in lieu of 4 ounces. We may even have handmade soap on hand that we are testing new fragrances in or color combinations. I’ve decided to offer these handmade soaps at a discount. For those that like to take advantage of bargains this is the perfect opportunity! These soaps are naked bars with no individual wrapping and will be shipped to you wrapped in brown paper and tied with raffia. We just make sure you get an assortment of our usual great soap. So take a look at our Handmade Soap/Grab Bags. Enjoy the soap and the value!
Popularity: 67%
I have some small 3 pound wooden molds that I recently dug out of storage so I could use them to play around with some new handmade soap designs. It’s been a while since I lined wooden molds so I had to look up some directions. I always hated lining. Seemed it took me twice as long to line the molds as to actually make the soap. There are several places online which offer directions on how to line a wood mold, however, in my opinion the easiest and best method can be found here and is graciously provided by Raindance Soaps.
Popularity: 39%
I can not tell you how many times I get asked about how handmade soap is made. I ran into this page and had to post it. Young and old will understand this super cute explanation about how lye and oils turn into soap along with a little extra info on how soapers must calculate their ingredient amounts properly and why it’s important.
Popularity: 28%
Our handmade soaps are in their natural state. They do not contain any preservatives or synthetic hardeners. After the slab of soap is cut into bars they all go onto a drying rack for a minimum of eight weeks before they are boxed to be sold. This is where they “dry out”, harden up and mellow with age like a good bottle of red wine. With just a little tender loving care on your part your handmade soap will live a long life and serve you well. Here are some tips:
1. Keep your handmade soap from drowning in a puddle of water.
2. Always use a soap dish that drains very well.
3. Give your handmade soap plenty of air between uses.
4. Using a bath poof or natural loofa will extend the life of your soap.
5. You can use up every last sliver of soap by using a soap sock or bag.
6. Store your unused soap in a cool dry place such as a linen closet or lingerie drawer.
And last but not least, please enjoy your handmade soap.
Popularity: 29%
Today I went to pick up Olive oil and the price went up AGAIN! Those of you who make handmade soap have been experiencing the price increases right along with me. For those of you who love using handmade soap this has been an ongoing issue for quite some time. I’m just a bit irritated today because two weeks ago when I bought Olive oil the price was up and today I bought it again and the price was up. How many more jumps can I absorb?? Not many. I asked the supplier if she thought the price would stabilize and she actually said to expect more increases. Why you ask? Wall Street! Oh for crying out loud! Everytime I turn around lately I’m absorbing increases in vegetable oils and/or freight. I use alot of Olive oil in my soaps and I’m crying in my soap pot. At least I feel better now.
Popularity: 29%
I use shea butter in almost every product I make from natural bath and body care products to handmade soap. It has excellent skin care properties and I would not know what to do with myself if I couldn’t use it. When I first started making natural skin care products I did not know that there were different grades of butter. From unrefined, refined to ultra refined. Of course the more refining you do the less of the “goodies” are left in the butter. I, in my newbie ignorance and enthusiasm just bought “shea butter”. I didn’t realize I was buying an ultra refined product. This butter was pure white and I had to cut it with a knife. On accident I ended up ordering some shea butter from another supplier and this butter came to me creamy beige and soft enough that you could scoop it with a spoon. It also had a slight nutty odor. Thinking there was something “wrong” with this shea butter I started asking questions. It was from this experience that I learned that there were actually different grades and quality of shea butter out there. A couple of my favorite shea butter suppliers are Oils by Nature and Agbanga Karite. I must say too that if shipping wouldn’t kill me I’d love to get my hands on some of the shea butter sold by Shea Radiance.
Popularity: 58%
When making handmade soap one of the first things we learn as soapmakers is how to combine the properties of different oils we use in the soap making process to give a particular recipe it’s unique quality in the finished soap. It’s like participating in a chemistry experiment on finding the perfect bar of soap. Here is a list of soap characteristics contributed by the more common fatty acids.
Lauric Acid - Hard Bar, Cleansing, Fluffy Lather
Lenoleic Acid – Conditioning
Myristic Acid – Hard Bar, Cleansing, Fluffy Lather
Oleic Acid – Conditioning
Palmitic Acid – Hard Bar, Stable Lather
Ricinoleic Acid – Fluffy Lather, Conditioning, Stable Lather
Each oil we use has it’s own particular fatty acid profile and no one fat or oil has all the characteristics we soapmakers find advantageous. One of the tools I use when designing a recipe can be found here.
Popularity: 57%
