Maple Grove Farm

Soap

Well the girls and made the soap!  We are so excited.  It was fairly easy and simple.  I did not use a hand blender because I did not want to purchase an item the first time I made soap.  Also, I skipped the fancy scale and used my kitchen scale.  Hopefully it will set up fine.  It just seemed wrong to buy a bunch of electricity using special gadgets to make a tried and trued homestead item like soap.

What surprised me was how much money I spent assembling the fats.  They were pretty standard items, but it called for coconut oil which for what I could find was spendy.  On the other hand, this is probably enough soap to last us 6-9 months for bathing.  I do have leftovers to use next time.  We made our own mold out of cardboard box.

Since we were just stirring, it took a while to trace.  I looked up online and found a site that said I could stir for 15 mintues in the beginning and then go back about every 15 minutes until it traced.  That method worked fine and it took about 90 minutes from when we mixed the water/lye solution and fats until we poured it into the mold.  It reminded me a lot of cheese making - do this then check back, do that and then check back, wait, do a little more.

I sewed on the girls' dresses while I waited since my sewing room and project room are next to each other.  I got a fair amount done and while I worked I pondered how so many homestead projects are a result of doing a little at a time and waiting.  It is no wonder we have abandoned this way of living in our immediate gratification society.

Today we are not going to church.  Everyone has been sick and I dragged them around for the last two days doing the monthly shopping.  We need a day at home, so we are going to work on fences and planting.  Happy homesteading to you . . .

Untitled Comment

08:39, 2008-Mar-2 .. Posted by rildapeel1

Sounds like you are pleased with your soap making. I am proud of you. Shows we can do anything when we want to. Enjoy your day!! Blessings, rilda *U*

Untitled Comment

05:05, 2008-Mar-3 .. Posted by morningsunshine

I use a plain kitchen scale,and I found a stick blender for $5 at a 2nd hand store. but molds - this is my favorite - pringles cans. you can get 8 bars from one can, and I generally get 4-5 cans full per batch. you cannot reuse them, but they are so uniform and pretty afterwards. and best of all, they are free if you can find someone who eats the chips and throws away the cans. I put out a freecycle request, and I am getting cans like crazy!