Making Soap

My friend Shelly and I decided to make soap. For our first attempt with less than precise directions, I'd say it was a success. Here is some of the equipment we used.


We tried to be precise with our measurements, despite the lack of direction in the recipe*

We got decked out in safety glasses and protective gloves to work with the lye.
We had plenty of vinegar on hand to try to avoid chemical disaster.
After all that, it was kind of anti-climactic when we added the water to the lye. It just tamely reacted in the container, heating up just as it should.
It took a while for both solutions to reach the same temperature at roughly the same time (partially due to our lack of brain power late at night). We added the lye solution to the fats, then stirred for an hour hoping for the mixture to "trace." It never really did* We poured the stuff into containers anyway, covered them with a blanket and let them sit for 24 hours or so.
Eliana had fun playing with my safety equipment the next day.
The first one I tried to get out of the mold wasn't hard enough, so I had to form it into a ball. We decided to wait longer before getting the others out. Today they popped right out.
Now we just have to let them dry out for three weeks before trying it out. I'll write again after I've used it.



It really was fun and pretty easy (the most annoying part was stirring forever, but I bet we won't have to do that next time). I like knowing how to make soap, even though (as my husband so lovingly pointed out) you can purchase soap fairly inexpensively. :)



*reasons for error--the book we had listed all the ingredients in ounces, but didn't specify whether we were to use weight or volume. We decided to use volume if the bottle listed fl. oz and weight if the bottle listed contents by ounce. We probably should have stuck to one or the other. I think next time we'll use the scale for all ingredients except water.

Also, if I make soap in the winter again, I'll use a heavier blanket. I don't think the one I used kept the soap warm enough. But, the mixture would have been warmer had we not stirred it for 30 min. trying to get it to trace.