Soaping and Lotion Plans

Valentine's Day Soap

One of my favorite things to do is make soap.  Now I'm learning to make lotion and cream, too.  It's very satisfying to take some pretty interesting ingredients and follow a recipe or formula and end up with a pleasant product that is both dreamy and practical.  

I've been making soaps for about two years and I learn (I hope) with each batch I make.  

One time I made a few batches of soap and was wrestling one of the batches out of the mold.  I was making a mess of things and was just plain cranky.  My husband reminded me that this was supposed to be fun.  

He was right.  He's also pretty wise and has told me more than once that having the right tool is important when that tool makes a task easier and does it better.  

So . . . I'd been thinking about a new mold for a while, but I'd resisted because of the expense.  But then my husband made the leap and got this wood log mold from Bramble Berry.  I'd been studying it for a while.  It's a five pound mold with sides that swing down.  It makes removing the soap sooo much easier.  My husband is happy when I use it because I'm happier and don't need to call him for help.  I love it because the soaps practically slide out. 


Here's the mold "in action," so to speak:

In fact, the recipe that's in the mold is from this post on the Bramble Berry blog, Soap Queen, written by Anne-Marie Faiola.  I love all the ideas and instructions that come from this blog and the videos that Anne-Marie makes.  

My good experience with this wooden mold encouraged my husband to get a larger wooden mold for me from Bramble Berry.  It's the 18 bar mold.    Pretty cool.  Obviously, I can make more soap in one big mold.  I can make pretty cool swirls in a larger mold.  


I haven't taken any photos of the new 18 bar mold yet.  I've used it only once and I really liked how my soaps turned out.  And more of them!!  


I've ordered other soap making supplies and fragrances from Bramble Berry, too, and some lotion making supplies.  All orders come with a free sample.  Fun stuff!

I just started making lotions and creams.  I have three batches of lotion/cream under my belt and they have been well received by family and friends.  I really took advantage of the Bramble Berry instructional information (both free and paid videos) for the confidence to go ahead and give it a try.   


Why the long "discussion" about soap, molds, lotions, creams, and Bramble Berry?


This is my application to be on Bramble Berry's S.O.A.P. panel.  Panel members will receive six or seven small fragrance samples of Anne-Marie's top floral choices for Spring 2011.  Anne-Marie asks panel members to sniff the new fragrances and test them in any product they want (soap, lotion, cream, bath fizzies).  Then Anne-Marie asks for a report to help her figure out the top picks. 


I'd like to be on the panel.  I think it would be fun.  I think it would help me be more organized in my own testing of products.  And . . . it's been a little while since I made soap or lotion and I'm ready to get back at it!  

I also have a built-in group of willing opinion givers with family and friends who receive samples of my soaps and lotions already.  They really like testing and opining and thinking up new ideas waayy faster than I can make them up!


This panel would be a really good reason to pull out the tubs of soap and lotion stuff and test away.  And make up some of my own (and my friends') ideas, too, while I'm at it.  


What are you making or thinking about making?

Handmade Olympics--My Nomination: Favorite Handmade Goodie With Innovative Design

Purple Alien soap by KristysLovelyLathers

Isn't this soap just amazing!  It's pretty.  It's fun.  It's colorful.  The description makes it sound as though it smells good, too. 

I nominated this soap for Favorite Handmade Goodie With Innovative Design.  the rikrak studio is hosting another Handmade Olympics at her blog.  rikrak is a hugely busy handmaking crafter and promoter.  Her blog is always fun and entertaining and sometimes makes me think.  You can win prizes by participating in the Handmade Olympics by nominating and voting.  And . . . you'll have an excuse for hunting around for items to nominate.  Well, sort of . . .  Check it out here!

Have fun!

Soap Swap Box Arrived!!!

Here I was . . . sitting at my computer working away when I heard a knock at the door.  I could see that there was a box on the table outside our front door.  I could see that it was from Bramble Berry.
Bramble Berry is a wonderful soap making supplier in Bellingham, Washington.  I knew it must be my box of soaps!

Several weeks ago, Anne-Marie Faiola announced a soap swap using fragrances purchased from Bramble Berry.  Each of us who signed up would select a fragrance, make a dozen large bars, then send them to BB, who would then sort out the bars and send a dozen bars to each participant.  My contribution was bay rum scented soap.  I have a couple of bars left in my collection. 

My box arrived today.  When I picked up the box, the aroma was just wonderful.  Exciting and calming, all at the same time.  When I opened it up and pulled out the paper and started unwrapping the bars, this is what I pulled out! 

The scents include bonsai, sandalwood vanilla (I keep holding this one up to my nose), cherry almond, and cranberry fig.  The cranberry fig soap was made by Anne-Marie herself and the instructions for this beautiful, comforting scented soap are here.

Some of the other soap makers are Mayren;  Desert Soapstone of Prescott, Arizona; Auntie Lu's Scrubs & Suds; Bayou Liberty Soaps; Lotion Bar Cafe; Bonnie Bath; Palin's Pantry; Garden Gate Soaps; and Casco Bay Soap Co.

What a nice surpise.  I mean.  I knew it was coming.  I just forgot about it for a while.  Then I remembered it as soon as I saw the box!  I couldn't wait to get it open and see what others made.  I might share.  I might not.  Well, it IS the holidays and all.  My thanks to Anne-Marie and the nice people at Bramble Berry for organizing this.  It's a fun start to Christmas!! 

Isn't it nice when something happens to make you feel good?  I'll get to remember this each time I pass by these soaps and inhale the aromas and look upon the colors and shapes and packaging. 

Thanks to all who participated and went to the trouble to make their soaps and package them up so special to share with strangers.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

More Soap Making Information! Terms and How-To

Anne Marie at Soap Queen has another video about making cold process soaps.  It discusses terms (just what is "trace?") and other basics.  She's holding back on the recipe, though, because she wants you to focus on the basics before you get caught up in the specific ingredients.  Here is the video!


How to Make Cold Process Soap: Basic Terms, Episode 2 from Soap Queen on Vimeo.


Isn't this great?!  If this doesn't seem like all that much fun to you, or too much work, or you just have too much other stuff going on (gee, is life too hectic?) to do this, visit The Yard Woman online or in Tubac, Arizona to get my soaps.  You can also find my soaps at http://www.lucindasnicethings.etsy.com/. 

"Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand."

Mark Twain

Soap--Cutting and Curing--It's Kinda Magic

In my previous posts, I talked about getting your soaping equipment together and the soap making process.  I also linked to some nice videos, websites, and other blogs that give great information about making cold process soap. 

Now--where did we leave off?  Oh, yes, the soaps were in the molds.

Once you've let your soap sit in the molds for a day or two, it's time to get them out of the molds.  If you use oddball things for your molds, some release the soaps better than others.  Some last longer than others.  Some soaps cooperate better than others (oatmeal and honey is nice, shea butter is, well, stubborn). 

This is a photo that I showed earlier and you can see the various molds that I used for this batch of oatmeal and honey.

Not shown here are some "real" molds that are budget molds that I got at Brambleberry and Snowdrift Farm.  I line them with freezer paper with the shiny side facing the soap.  That helps the soap release easily.  Those molds are very nice, but they must have been saved for another soap (like the stubborn, but luxurious shea butter soap).  I'm just not sure how long they will last with the heat of the cold process soaps.  After a few batches, they're starting to warp.  I'm saving my pennies for one of the nice wooden molds!

I also use a drywall mud tray as a mold (at the top in the photo above).  It's not flexible at all, so I make sure to line it with freezer paper so my soap comes out.  It makes a pretty big bar of soap if you fill it or it makes a nice hand sized bar if you fill it just over half way. 

The "hospital" molds are very flexible plastic so I can flex them like an ice cube tray and convince the soap to come out pretty easily. 

The microwave dessert mold works well with some soaps such as oatmeal and honey, but not so well with others, such as shea butter.  And those molds work only two or three times before they break while you're trying to push the soap out.  They make fun looking soaps, though.  My mother loves to help make more of those molds available to me by eating the dessert out of the "molds!"

The silicon candy molds or baking pans (not in the photo) make great soap molds.  You have to support them on a flat and level surface or you get slanted soaps.  If that's the look you want, great.  When you're ready to unmold the soaps in the silicon molds, you'd better be ready because those soaps are practially FALLING OUT of the molds!  Some of the soaps may still be a bit soft, so you may need to gently pry the sides of silicon pans away from the edges of the soap so the soap doesn't come apart. 

Once you get the soaps out of the molds, you need to cut them.  I use a stainless steel dough scraper.  I cut my soaps about 1" thick.  They shrink a bit while they're curing, I'm pretty sure. 

After you cut them you need to let them cure.  That means sit.  Not used.  FOR A MONTH!!  Or maybe more. 

I put my soaps in cardboard box lids with paper towels or freezer paper in the bottom.  I turn the soaps every so often so all sides get exposed to the air.  Here are some boxes stacked up with soaps!

I keep my soap recipe with the soaps along with the date that the soaps came out of the mold.  That way I'll know when they should be cured and ready to be used. 

The little ball soaps are shea butter soaps that wouldn't come out of the molds easily.  When you make shea butter soap, make sure your molds are really prepared well to allow that soap to come out of the mold.  Otherwise, you end up with lots of little soap balls 'cause you had to use a spoon to scoop it out of the molds and a broken spatula 'cause you tried to pry the shea butter soap out of the mold.  Sigh . . .

Above shows patchouli in the top--smells good!  Honey and oatmeal is the orangish soap in the bottom.  I guess the particular honey I used made it that color.  Plus it's still pretty soft at this point.  A month later, it's mellower in color. 

The smell from the soap curing room (the back bedroom) is nice when you go by . . .

Here are some hearts from the silicon candy mold that makes tiny soaps:

You can see that one or two look a bit "drunk."  Those were the ones that weren't level.  A couple have "patches."  Those didn't come out of the mold so easily.  After I took those two out, I put the mold back and waited until the next day to take the rest out.  That worked much better!

After the soaps cure, then they're ready to be used.  If you want, you can use a vegetable peeler to peel off the rough edges (save the shavings for the laundry!), add some pretty decoration and a label and then you have something like this!

Now, I'm not saying I know it all, 'cause I don't!  Not by a long shot.  I have lots to learn and try new things every time I can.  What I do is pretty basic stuff, but they sure come out creamy and nice to my skin!!

Thanks for visiting and, if you have any ideas for future soaps, please let me know!

My Soapmaking Process

I love to make soap from scratch.  I use the cold process method where you first mix water and lye (you can't make soap without it!) and then melt and mix oils.  Then you mix the lye water with the oils.  Then this magic thing happens to make soap.  Well, it's not really magic.  It's science, I guess.  It's called saponification--where the lye mixture and the oils get together to make soap.  This soap is really, really nice.  It's not so drying or irritating as the bars you buy in the grocery or drug stores. 

When you make soap, you need to get your stuff together.

Getting everything ready and in one place ahead of time makes life much less stressful when the soap starts to become soap in the pan (which is just out of the photo) and you need to be ready to pour it into molds. 

As you can see, I make soap outside.  I started doing that because I didn't want lye fumes or any spills in the kitchen.  When I use the metal table outside, I don't worry about the inevitable spills.  And cleanup is very easy.  When the weather's bad and I NEED to make some soap, I've made it inside.  I ran the kitchen exhaust fan and opened the kitchen window and had no problems.  I prefer to do it outside, however.

This is my batch of honey and oatmeal soap, some of which is on sale in my  etsy and artfire shops. 

Once I get the lye mixed into the water in the glass measuring cup and let it start to cool, I melt the oils in the stainless steel soap pot.

Once all the oils are melted, you need to cool the lye water and the oils.  In the picture below you can see that the lye water mixture is HOT.  That's another science thing.  Lye mixed with water makes a chemical reaction that makes it HOT!!

And you take the temperature of the oils . . .

When they get to the right (close) temperature, you CAREFULLY pour the lye water into the oils.  Then you start mixing.  Since life is short, you should use a stick blender to mix your soap.  Otherwise, it takes a very long time and your arm gets very tired.  Duct tape may be required on your stick blender when you use it for soap rather than the soups for which it was intended.

Then you run the blender for a bit and then use the blender as a spoon for a bit.  You don't want to burn up the blender motor.  Once it starts to thicken and you can see the image of the blender on the surface of the soap mixture, it has reached or is reaching "trace." 

This is when you add your special ingredients.   Like ground oatmeal.

Then you add the honey.

Then you pour it in your prepared molds (preparing the molds is part of what you do before you get started!).

Then you put all your molds with your fresh soap mixture in a box lid to help contain drips or spills.  Some soaps you insulate with towels, but soaps with honey don't want to be insulated.  So this oatmeal and honey soap isn't blanketed. 

And, yes, some of those molds are "interesting" things from the hospital and the hardware store.  They make good soap molds. 

The soap rests in the molds for a day or two or three.  Until they're ready to come out relatively easily.  That's another blog topic. 

Next . . . CLEAN UP!!

Clean up isn't that big of a deal, but it is a bit messy and oily, so keep your apron and gloves on.  Sometimes I save the mess until the next day because then it's SOAP!! 

There are a few more steps, but we're at a stopping point for today. 

As I explained in an earlier post, there are great places online to learn about making soap:

Majestic Mountain Sage

Teach Soap

About.com Soap and Candlemaking

If this just seems like waayy too much mess and work, then please visit my shops linked above to check them out and purchase soaps already made!!

Next week I'm planning to make more soap.  On the list of soaps to make are patchouli, peppermint and oatmeal, and maybe rosemary and peppermint. 

What other soaps do you think I should try?  Let me know what you think in the comments below.  Make sure you leave your email address.  Why your email address?  Well, if I select your soapy idea and make up some of those soaps, I'll email you to get your mailing address.  And I'll send some of those soaps your way!!  Now put your thinking caps on and let me know . . .

From the Desert: My First Blog Post

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!


OK, so I’m late with the new year wishes, but that’s me. I’m behind most of the time, but I’m always trying. And I’ve been stewing over my blog name and my first blog post. So . . . just get started already!

I live in the Arizona desert with my significant other. We have a few acres out of town, so planning ahead for groceries and the like is a must. I have a "real" job or two, but I started another one. I like to make things. And . . . since a person can have only so many purses and tote bags and soap and such, I started to give them away and now sell them. So, I started a little etsy shop called Lucinda’s Nice Things. It’s named for my grandmother and the little story is on the front page of my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lucindasnicethings

In my etsy shop, I sell things that my mother, friends, and I make ourselves (pillows, purses, bags, soap); things we’ve collected (beads and other treasures); and vintage items (linens, and some wonderful jewelry). Here are some photos of the great things on my little shop.

The things we make are made in our own homes with our own hands. All of us are smoke free. My friend Kim has cats, but, so far, Kim has listed only jewelry for sale.

Some plans here at the Fun in the Desert blog include little bits about things that inspire us, including art, craft, sewing, quilting, soaping, designing, walking, being in the outdoors, cooking, eating(!), being with friends and family, encouragement, things that make us smile, how-tos, and lots more!

I'm inspired by these wonderful, colorful, and inspiring blogs, among others: http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com/

http://attic24.typepad.com/

http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/pets/

I'm so sorry if this is rough around the edges, but give me some time (and some pointers) with this blog thing and I'll try to figure this out.

So, please stop by when you have a few minutes. Leave comments on my blog when you can (say hello, give me feedback, disagree with me if you want). Just don’t be rude. You can also email me at lucindasnicethings at gmail dot com or at denny1600 at gmail dot com.

What a great and exciting day. Wishing you and yours a wonderful and happy new year. Thanks for visiting!