Saponification Sunday WHAMPOO!!

On the menu today at South Pork Ranch we have homemade Corned Beef. All the kids coming for our monthly dinner in a few hours, but first things first.

     SOAP.

Recently I made more shampoo bars. I call them WHAMPOO! bars because I can. When I started making soap 15 months ago I was one of those folk who had the shower full of bottles;shampoo,conditioner,deep conditioner, shallow conditioner, body wash, and usually one bar of industrial strength soap for my grungy feet.

Now, the only thing in my shower is homemade soap. Some is mine, some from others I've swapped with and then of course I love to buy other peoples homemade soap so I can compare and snoop. (Hmmmm that lather is thick enough to wash our cows. HOW did they do that?!?)

The shampoo bar was originally a recipe from the world famous Julia of Cocobong. If you soap and you don't know her, well leave my blog and check out hers RIGHT NOW    http://cocobongsoaps.blogspot.com/ 

(please come back, we little newbie soapers need fans too  'sniff)
Of course, I tweaked her recipe a bit because of no good reason that is why because, I just did OK?!

My recipe goes a like this

Babassu Oil                  20 oz                     Blood Orange EO    1oz
Olive Oil                      10 oz                      Lavender EO            1oz
Rice Bran Oil               20 oz                      Pink grapefruit         1 oz
Castor Oil                     5  oz                      Lemongrass EO        1 oz
Sweet Almond Oil       5oz

Lye 7.0   oz                                                Organic orange peel powder  1tsp
Distilled water   15 oz                                Annetto seed powder             1 tsp

I prepared a 3 in diameter PVC tube by spraying the inside with mineral oil and blocking off one end with anything round that I can tape to it. This might explain why our black cat Jackson is missing some hair on his hind side.  Then I put it on the floor with the open side up (the PVC tube not the cat) and taped the tube to an old bench I have, to keep the tube upright.

I mix the lye water and set aside
I mix oils and then blend in the EO's and the powders.
I pour the lye water into the oil mixture. The oils and lye water are all approximately 100 degrees F.
I mix it all into a lovely soupy orange mix. It will trace and get thick quickly.
I immediately pour into the PVC tube using a funnel with a wide end.

Because the mix is thick I do get a few air holes but I'm not concerned about those and my customers don't care either. We're a swarmy farmy bunch who judge soap by its ability to remove major barnyard gunk from skin and hair while not stripping it completely . (did you hear that? It was me rationalizing. One of my strong character traits)

I let it sit for 2-3 days and then with the great strength of my husband we push it out of the tube using a small tomato paste can and a broom. Well, he pushed while I hold the soap as it comes out the other end, keeping it from crashing to the floor. Yeah, we're professionals with high tech tools.

I let it sit another 24 hrs and then I cut with a kitchen knife into 5 inch sections. Each of those sections is split in half giving you a great hunky piece, about 5.5 oz to hold easily in your hand. The shape makes it very easy to hold in the shower and rub all over your hair. The evolving lather is unbelievable -HUGE-and therefore makes a super body bar as well. I have very dry middle aging grey and silver Crone hair and the bar is wonderful for it. Today, I'll be handing out samples to the girls in our family so they can test it on their long 20-something locks. Then I'll know how well it works on the youth of our society.

If you make a shampoo bar tell me a little about your recipe and why you love it.

Now back to my corned beef experiment. It's our own 100% grass fed beef brisket but the spices , peppers, salts were all collected at various stores and then there was the "pickling spice" I bought from that guy on the corner of Ashland and Grand. He seemed like a nice enough fellow.We'll see.
Wish my kids luck as they'll be the ones stuck eating it.

Yes, I know, I should've checked with you first Nessa, dangit. What was I thinking?