(mis)adventures in soapmaking

Well, it finally happened. I made soap. And let me tell all of you, for someone who thought they knew what they were doing, but in the long run did not really have a clue, I think I did alright. I learned from it and I ended up with around 4.1 lbs of finished product. Because the purpose of this blog is to share both my successes and not-successes, I am going to start at the beginning with what I did, show some pictures, then share what I have learned since then. It may be a bit lengthy but hopefully will keep all of you from making the same mistakes that I made!

Undertaking the Great Soap Making Task

 To begin, I found a recipe and watched a tutorial on FIMBY.TOUGAS.net (the link from my previous post). The recipe was easy
1 LB 2 OZ water
6.5 OZ lye
3 LBS lard

I substituted organic, non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (aka - palm oil) for the lard. I decided that I would add tea tree and eucalyptus to my soap so it would smell good and have some antibacterial/anti-fungal properties. I also wanted to add some green tea extract because, well, I had made some and it is an antioxidant, if we end up using this soap in a shampoo it could be beneficial. 

Ingredients for my first batch of soap

I followed FIMBY's recipe and instructions found here. I measured out the lye and water (right under the exhaust fan since it is about 7 degrees out and I am NOT going to open a window!), mixed them together and began melting the fat. I didn't wait for them to both fall to 110 degrees, I began mixing when they were about 160 degrees. 

Mmmm. Fat. 

 Lye and water solution, thermometer and mixing spoon. The solution has gone clear which means that the harmful fumes are gone and it is safe to breath around it. 

We are doing this on a budget so we did not invest the $30 for a good hand blender, instead I used a drill (power tools!) and paint stirrer. This seemed to do well but in the future, because I am a novice, I will probably get the blender so I'm a bit closer to the mixture and can see the slight changes in the mixture during saponification better. 

As you can see, this method is also a bit messier as there is no guard above the stirrer. 

You are looking for your soap to reach "trace" - trace is where the mixture thickens and you can begin to trace a design into the top of your soap. Further research has also said that when the mixture gets smooth and glossy, you have reached trace. Trace is also when you add your essential oils and/or other additives - herbs, etc - to the mixture. 

After adding essential oils and mixing the soap for a bit longer, I poured it into an old box that I lined with a bag - a cheap and "green" mold! Then I covered it with a towel to retain the heat (heat is part of the reaction that changes lye and fat into soap). 

What a fancy soap maker I am!

I allowed the soap to harden for 24 hours, I won't lie, I peeked about 5 times, and then I cut it. When I took it out of the bag, it was opaque white and really crumbly. It also seemed a bit soft to me, it reminded me of goat cheese. I cut it regardless into 5 oz bricks and put it on a wire rack to cure for the next 3 to 4 weeks. 

It isn't the prettiest block I have ever seen, but it's mine!

My bars of soap. As you can see, they look like goat cheese and crumble like goat cheese... maybe I made that instead?




Figuring Out Why I Had Goat Cheese Instead of Soap

Needless to say, I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my undertakings. I HATE failure, even my first time. So I was a little disappointed when my soap was not quite up to par. I don't think that it is too far off from what it should be and only time will tell if it will form hard bars, but I still don't think it is perfect. So I did some more research. 
According to Miller's Homemade Soap, soft and crumbly soap that leaves and oily residue when smooshed means that it was inadequately mixed and saponified OR the mixture lost too much heat during mixing. 

Saponified? Saponification? I had NO idea what these terms meant, so I looked them up. Saponification is the process that produces soap. I realized that by some voodoo trickery, I had been duped into doing chemistry in my kitchen... and I hate chemistry. Soap is the byproduct of the reaction between an acid (fat) and a base (a hydroxide, whether is is NaOH [sodium hydroxide, or lye] or KOH [potassium hydroxide, or potash]) and saponification is what that reaction is called. Heat is involved and is very important in this reaction turning out properly. What is more... soap is supposed to "gel" before it hardens, this is a key step to knowing if your soap is going to turn out or not. 

I also learned about SAP values or (in layman's terms) how much lye it takes to saponify a specific fat. It is different for every one! Majestic Mountain Sage has one that has been recommended by many sites, it is the one that I will use in the future. 


Troubleshooting 

So what did I learn from all of this? 

1. KNOW YOUR SAP VALUES!
2. Mix soap by hand or with a hand blender to make sure that you reach trace before your soap loses too much heat and becomes crumbly. You can use a paint stirrer for bigger batches but it is best to use a blender so you can see the small changes in the mixture. 
3. Take breaks while mixing with an electric apparatus to make sure that you have not reached a false trace. Real trace will not re-liquify when you stop mixing. Continue to mix with the apparatus turned off to see what the true thickness and state of the mixture is. 
4. You want the mixture to be deeper when you are mixing it, not spread out thinly. This way it retains heat better and does not draw air into the soap. 
5. Vegetable based soap ingredients should be at about 110 degrees before mixing. 
6. (this one is cool) Use a digital thermometer to take the temperature of the soap mixture right after adding the lye to the fat. Take the temperature again shortly after beginning to mix. A 2-3 degree increase is supposedly a reliable predictor of the soap being ready to pour, according to Miller Handmade Soaps. 5 degrees means that visible trace is present. 
7. About 30 minutes after pouring the soap into the mold, check to see if the middle has gone clear and looks like gel. You want to see the soap gel out to the corners of the mold, this means that saponification has taken place. At gel, open your box or mold to allow some heat to escape, once the soap starts to turn opaque again, close the mold again and cover to retain heat for the remainder of the 24 hours. 
8. YOU CAN REMELT SOAP! If your soap does not turn out and you think you can troubleshoot it, rather than waste the ingredients, re-melt it and re-blend it, re-pour it and re-set it. Re-cut it and it should be ready to use immediately. 


So, what am I planning on doing with 4 lbs of moderately successful soap? I am going to let it cure for a few weeks (ie - 2 weeks) and see if it has hardened any and if it seems less crumbly. If so, then I will let it continue to cure and then use it. If it does not seem any better, then I will melt it down again and start over. 


I am glad that I was able to make this batch and learn from my mistakes but, in all honesty, I wish I could report back to you all as Super Woman and say that it was a complete success. I know that this is just a slight bump in the road and it will get easier over time but... aw man!!! I will keep you all updated on what comes of this batch and what I end up doing. Hopefully this will keep y'all from making my same mistakes!


I also made my first batch of green tea kombucha tonight and fed our worms, and took pictures of all of it for a future post. I am anxious to see if the kombucha turns out because I used an old unopened bottle of it as starter. I don't see why I get so upset when I fail, I tend to experiment with everything I do which means a greater chance of failure... you'd think I would learn! ;)


Everyone have a wonderful weekend and be well. Thank you for reading and as always, I am open to any criticisms of the blog. I want to hear your thoughts and ideas, what you guys would like to read, etc. There are a lot of exciting possibilities on the horizon, let's work together to manifest these things and start a green/living like a 1840's homestead revolution! :)