Monday, December 17, 2012

Curing Soap

I promised more pictures of the soap Sean and I made HERE... but, then we took a weekend trip to Boston- which will be its own post another day.

For today, I have a few quick photos of the new batches of coconut and olive oil based soap I made last week. I poured these batches into some 6x10 metal pans I purchased at the local Dollar Store. They are the right size to make 8-10 bars from each pan. I like using these smaller pans because I can make one basic batch of soap and then pour the mixed (but pre-trace soap) into separate bowls to combine with different essential oils. The lavender and cucumber melon looked exactly the same, a lovely creamy ivory color. And, they popped out of the pan in one clean piece.

The citrus-mint soap is a sunny yellow color with flecks of organically grown lemon and orange zest and bits of green mint. It is very pretty and smells wonderful. I think this soap is going to be a staple for our kitchen because citrus scents work well to remove unappealing odors.

 I removed all the soaps from the pans and left them over the weekend to dry and cure on a wire rack. I could have cut them up into rough bars Saturday, but it wasn't necessary to do so. I opted to wait until our return.

I measured them and cut them on Sunday night- (after we unpacked our gear and cared for the animals)- while Sean started a fire to bring the house up to a more comfortable temperature from the 40 degrees the thermostat registered. I like to make my bars approximately 2 inches x 3 inches in size. Depending on how thick the bars are, these weigh between 3-4 oz each.

I left the bars to continue curing. I will need to turn the bars every couple of days, so they will dry evenly. In another week, I will shape them with a knife and smooth away the whittle marks with clean water. They will look pretty and ready to use at this point, but it will take 4 more weeks before the sopification process is complete and they will be ready to use.

This picture is of the remnants of the soap I cut away while rough cutting the bars. From these, I will make some sample size pieces to share with Customers and potential Customers.

I save the shavings from whittling the finished bars in separate mason jars. Once the month of curing is finished, I melt these slivers down into water and glycerine to create scented, liquid hand soap. Nothing goes to waste!

I am excited that things are moving along with the soap making aspect of our small farm business. My plan to sell 6 of each of these soaps on my new Etsy store has been jump started with several facebook orders! Little by little... but, progress nonetheless.

I am still tired from our days of travel. The critters are all doing well. The house is standing and warm. Things are coming along fine.

Thanks for stopping in for a vist today, friends. I am glad you did!
Sonja ♥

This post was also shared with: Wild Crafting Wednesdays & Backyard Farming Connection Hop #14

The Chicken Chick Wildcrafting Wednesday

Check out the Blog Hops for wonderful new recipes, pictures, DIY projects and more!

12 comments:

  1. Awesome! I love the idea of citrus zest in the soap. I like to clean with citrus scents because it makes everything smell so clean and refreshing! Can't wait to see how they all turn out in 4 weeks :)

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    1. Me, too! I am tempted to try them now, but then I remind myself how much I am attached to my skin and refrain. :) Just over 3 weeks to wait now!

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  2. Ooh, I really want to start making soap after the holidays!!! I can't wait to see the finished product!

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    1. Thanks, Julie. I will have some samples available. If you are interested, email me your address and I will send some along when they are ready. :)

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  3. They look great, and I am sure they smell awesome!

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    1. They are curing on my kitchen table still. I have been too busy (read that: lazy) to store them in their home in the office. The kitchen smells really good, though! ♥

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  4. Your soap looks so pretty! I need to learn how to do this :) I would love to have you share this on Wildcrafting Wednesday on my blog at:
    http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/

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  5. I've made soap for 12+ yrs. now and never have any edges left. Why don't you just measure evenly and then all is ready to be sold? I never round off edges as that takes away the homecrafting look. Also wastes soap in my opinion as we use bar soap to wash hands. Better yet just use the uneven bars in your shower. That's what I do, I pick the less nice ones as my own bath bar. Wouldn't use anything else. Your bars sound nice. Look pretty too. Good luck on selling them. I use good essential oils and my own dried herbs in my soap too.

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    1. It is a good idea to measure evenly and sell all the bars, but I like to have some edging material for sampling out. Sometimes I leave cut edging and sometimes I round them out. It all depends what I feel like at the moment. One of the best parts of making my own products is that I get to make them however I fancy that day. :)

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  6. They look fantastic and I bet they smell even better!!! Love the idea of turning the shavings into hand soap - I'm definitely going to give that a try. Have a great weekend! :)

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  7. I wish I could smell these, they look amazing! Thank you for linking up with the Clever Chicks this week; I hope you’ll join us again!

    Merry Christmas!
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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