I made bar soap today. I'd rendered suet before and froze it. I've not
done it for a long while, so I re-skimmed all my soap books to refresh
my memory. I've not bought soap, since we like my homemade soap, having
made and used it for over twenty years now.
I used department store boxes lined with stapled on plastic
garbage bag plastic. I still have these in the garage, tho Monte made me
nice wood boxes several years ago. I line these with freezer-wrap
paper, waxed side up, of course - taping it to the edges. My boxes'
inside dimensions are 11 1/2" x 18" and a couple inches deep.
Firstly,
I put on my apron, glasses, and a mask, to make the lye - water
mixture, as it heats to over 200 degrees and needs to cool. I use a
recipe I have in my cookbook I got from Ann Bramson's
Soap book
from the 70's. I first measure my empty 1/2 gallon canning jar and add
32 oz (2#) water. Some years I've brewed herbs in this water hoping for
their herbal properties in my soap. Then I stir in 12 oz lye (sodium
hydroxide - ordered from online) using a silicone spatula. Little bits of
lye will tingle with a burning sensation on your skin, if you get it
on it. Just rinse it off. You don't want to breath this reaction, so
ventilation is nice.
Measure
your stainless steel 4 qt pan and add 38 oz tallow (palm oil is it's
equivalent; shortening could be used too), then add 24 oz coconut oil
and 24 oz olive oil (this time I did 20 oz and 4 oz castor oil -
just because I wanted to!). Heat these till solids are not quite melted.
It takes some time to cool down, and will continue melting while
sitting.
You want the lye mixture and oil mixture to be about the same
temperature around 95-98 degrees. I had to set the lye mixture outside
to cool down. I put some cold water in the sink to cool the fats down
some too, once the lye was down and ready. If the lye cools too much,
sometimes just stirring it will raise the temp a bit. I put the pan in the sink (no need for water in the sink) for slowly pouring
the lye mixture in. You want the lye water to pour slowly like a pencil
width, stirring the fat continually at the same time, using a silicone
spatula. Gently keep stirring for the lye and fats to chemically connect
and do their thickening thing.
Keep stirring in circles and swirls gently for at least 10 minutes. Then
you can occasionally stir it. This time it set up fast (some times it
can be an hour or more), thickened enough that when dripped from the spatula
it leaves a trace on the surface, leaving a trail a short bit. At this
point is when additives like scent and coloring is added. I usually
don't add these, liking the creamy color and tallow or palm oil are
forever sweet smelling. If lard were used, or a poor quality beef fat,
it develops an off smell over time, so scenting masks this. It's best to
use essential oils rather than synthetic fragrances. Colorants I've used are things like cinnamon,
cocoa, turmuric - this time in one of the soaps I added 5 tsp paprika.
I
also added essential oils this time: 2 tsp lavender, 1 1/2 tsp rose
geranium, 1 tsp rose oil, 1/2 tsp sage. Not like that's my favorite, but
what I had that I thought might go together. Most bottles sold are
typically a 3oz size. I found that's about 2 teaspoons worth. For this
amount of recipe (about 8 pounds) it's suggested you use 4-5 teaspoons. I
ended up adding to my shopping list now that I took stock of what I've
got and what I want. For gift-giving and covering with felt, having
scented soap is nice.
Once
the mixture is thick enough with the tracing, pour it into the molds.
Soap needs to sit covered with a blanket to keep warm, for about 24
hours. Then I dump it out on a plastic table cloth. Using rubber gloves
I'll cut it into bars or shapes. I'll post a pic of this tomorrow or the
next. The soap then needs to sit on brown paper or stainless steel
racks or wicker or rattan placemats to cure for 2-4 weeks. During this
time the lye turns from a caustic ingredient, into an emollient mixture - the term is "saponification".
I
have been making soap for years - now two decades! I guess that tells
you we like using homemade soap. My very first books that started me
down this journey were
Jeanne Rose's Herbal Body Book and
Soap
by Ann Bramson. I see that both are still available from $1-100. Both
were printed in the 70's. I refer to Jeanne's book as my "Hippie" book.
It is so marked up with notes and about to fall apart. It's the best
beginning reference for what oils, essential oils, fats, herbs, etc are
good for - like nutritive values, for what skin types, hair, etc. I've
collected other books over the years - the others I've most used are by
Susan Miller Cavitch. Her books are still available too.
The Natural Soap Book makes 12 pound batches. Her second,
The Soapmaker's Companion, makes 5 pound batches. She uses a mixer - I don't. My cookbook has the basic recipes I make once a year.
Since I wrote my book, I've been making a shampoo soap bar and moisturizing lotion - both from
The Soapmaker's Companion,
tho I've tweaked them quite a bit. In the picture to the right are the
three main soap bars I keep stocked. If I don't give too much away, I
only have to make soap once a year (even longer span now that it's
mainly just Monte and me)(I'll have to ask my kids if they want homemade
soap made for them) - that's our total soap use - no buying of bar
soap, face soap and creams, nor shampoo! In the past I've done lip balms
and laundry soap too and other household cleaning stuff - maybe I'll
return to doing that. So pictured are a small tub of the face cream
(moisturizing lotion), and stacked from bottom to top: body soap, face
soap, and shampoo bar. Cold-pressed, unrefined, extra-virgin coconut oil
is great for cooking, but also makes a wonderful massage oil, and
Monte's been using it as his body lotion. It and my face cream initially
feel greasy, but they soon soak in. I've tried so many facial products,
including expensive ones, and still prefer my homemade ones!
The
Moisturizing Cream I make is considered a firm mousse. The recipe
proportions amount to about 140 grams of solid fats, 400 grams of liquid
fats, and 400 grams of water. Each time I make it I use differing
ingredients depending on supplies on hand. Olive oil is a dominant fat
in all my soapmaking. The solidifiers in the cream are melted beeswax,
cocoa and shea butters. I like castor oil in both the cream and my bar
soaps. In the cream, I've used wheat germ oil, jojoba oil, apricot oil,
and always almond oil. I don't use water - making it's proportion up
with liquid lanolin, aloe vera gel, rosewater, and witch hazel. Then
there's added glycerin, borax (helps in emulsifying the liquids and
solids, so no separation), grapefruit seed extract for naturally
preserving the mixture from spoilage (parabens are what's used in almost
all cosmetics and studies are finding health issues from this
chemical), and then I add some essential oils: lavender, peppermint,
sometimes nutmeg, and always lemongrass essential oil. This fills 3
small tubs and a quart jar I keep in the fridge for refilling the tubs. This batch lasts me for more than a year!
I want to write out the recipe because I know a few people would read
this and want to make it - I would. I don't want to overwhelm you, but I
do keep these ingredients stocked in a bin in my linen/cleaning
equipment closet. I used to order them from a co-op, but now purchase
them from a health food store and online. Like, Google soap making, and
you'll find many sources. Lye is a major bar soap ingredient. When mixed
with coconut, palm, olive, castor, etc oils it saponifies into a rich
healthy-for-the-skin soap - non-drying to the skin. Store-bought soaps
have the natural by-product of glycerin extracted, for making other
stuff, therefore removing the emollient quality.
MOISTURIZING CREAM
Melt the solids - I
put them in a large glass bowl, and melt using the microwave (Cavitch
does it in a saucepan on the stove, which I should do).
SOLIDS - 130-140 grams
100 gms beeswax (I used to grate it, but now found pellets)
20-25 gms each of cocoa butter and shea butter
Make sure the beeswax melts - I've occasionally found tiny bits when using my cream :-D
OILS - 395-400 grams
250 gms Olive Oil
50 gms Almond Oil
20 gms Castor Oil
25 gms Wheat Germ Oil
50 gms Jojoba Oil
The oils can be added to the melting solids. Don't heat above 165
degrees. Remember, you can use whatever you have on hand as long as you
keep to the overall proportion. Like this time I didn't have wheat germ
oil (it needs to be kept refrigerated, and I must have thought it too
old awhile back ... and then didn't write it down on my 'to buy' list
...). Also, when I opened the jojoba oil, knowing it was getting old, I
smelled it. I won't use rancid smelling products. So I only used more of
the castor and almond oils this time.
WATER - 400 grams
primarily witch hazel and rosewater
then some liquid lanolin and aloe vera gel (I used about 100 grms of each this time)
Then 10 gms of borax
15 gms vegetable glycerin
5-10 gms grapefruit seed extract
Make sure the borax completely dissolves in the water mixture.
A
freestanding mixer would be nice to use, but I've always used a
hand-held little mixer. I might try my immersion blender sometime. Starting on low speed, slowly drizzle the water
mixture into the oils. Continue mixing as the mixture thickens,
occasionally scraping the sides and increasing the speed. Once it's
thickened like mayonnaise and cooler, add essential oils - 5-6grams. I
didn't weigh them this time, so used 1/4 tsp each of lavender and
peppermint. I would have used nutmeg too, if I'd had it. Then 1/2 tsp of
lemongrass.
I often add vitamin E. I used to add Vitamin A to this mixture too.
Vitamin A, retinyl palmitate, is good for the skin, but new studies are
finding that it might, with sun exposure, develop skin tumors. It's put in lots
of lotions, including sunscreens because it is an antioxidant and slows
skin aging, but with sun exposure, is it cancerous? On
the subject of sunscreen, I read labels and try to avoid oxybenzone,
which is hard, cuz it's in just about everything, including lip balms. It
can be allergenic, but primarily it messes with hormones. Sunscreens
too are messing with our Vitamin D absorption. I also don't use products
that use mineral oil - robs skin of it's own natural moisturizing
mechanism - it's used cuz it's cheap!, and don't use petrolatum products (in ChapStick and
Vaseline). Europe won't allow usage of these products. Monte wants me to
start making two moisturizing creams - one with the Vitamin A, for a
night cream.
I
still have lots of homemade soap bars in tubs from many years of
soapmaking days with friends. Over the years we've tried all sorts of
additives. I'm sensitive to fragrances, so rarely use them. When soap is
made with lard, over time it develops an off smell, so fragrances mask
this. I don't use lard, using tallow or palm oil for the other 'fat' in my bar
soaps - forever has a sweet smell. We've added ingredients like oats,
honey, and powdered milk; colorants like cinnamon, or turmeric ... I've
brewed a strong herbal tea to use as the water, adding the herb
properties to the soap as well as differing color.
I've started
felting wool over these soaps. I'm posting a picture of some I did this year to
go with, matching, some of my
knitted washcloths. Think: "Soap in a Sweater"!
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| Felted Soap |
