Sunday, January 22, 2012

Saponification Sunday...Suberb !

So first off, thanks to all of you who encouraged me last week to try my cinnamon coffee cake soap again, you know the one that was all dry and crumbly? Yeah that one. So I did. But I did something very different this time, at least for me.

The first coffee bar. Dry and crumbling
but with potential
I took my time.

I have a bad habit of always trying to do five, six, seven things at a time. Like right now, I have a load of laundry washing, another drying, Red Wattle fat melting on the stove (on low heat obviuosly) and I'm listening to ClareFM from Ireland, my favorite radio program to listen to while blogging. And oh yeah, I AM BLOGGING.

Coffe soap, just unmolded. I could've spent
more time making the top prettier.
So when I make soap I tend to do the same kind of thing. I will have a couple pots of oils melting, and another in the crock pot while measuring and mixing lye'. I do soap when all alone...but still I need to sloooooooow down, do one batch at a time and enjoy what I am doing. Besides it's safer that way.

Just your average mountain of soap
So this week, I followed my recipe exacty after double checking it with the lye calculator and I worked on this ONE BATCH only.  My recipe:

Babasuu Oil            10 oz
Coconut Oil              5 oz
Olive oil (pomace) 10 oz
Sunflower Oil           5 oz
Coffee Butter            2 oz

Lye                           4.34 oz
Cold Coffee              12 oz

Titanium Dioxide       1/2 teaspoon
Clove EO                    1 oz
Cassia EO                   1 oz

Coffe grounds (used)    1/2 teaspoon

After combining my lye/coffee with my oils I brought it to light trace, then added my EO's. I followed some of your advice about not mixing the EO's too much since clove EO can cause the whole thing to accelerate (see there? I am educata-ble) Then I poured out approximately 1/3 of the soap and mixed in the TD with hand mixer. I then hand stirred in the coffee grounds into the bigger portion of soap and poured that into my high tech diaper wipe mold.

After 4 days the bar was hard but not
crumbly and the bottom layer darkened well.
I then poured the lighter colored soap portion remaining, on top. Taking another even higher tech device, the small kitchen whisk, I plunged in into the soap about 8 times.

Popped the whole 2 pound batch into my frig. Left it for 2 days. Unmolded and let it sit at room temp for 2 days and then cut by hand with long knife. I get 8 bars from each loaf, each weighing about 5.5 oz each. This second attempt came out so much better and smells fantastic, that is if you like cinnamon !

The white streaks are cused by my knife.
Perchance a professional wire
cutter would be good?
I sell my soap primarily in our little farm store for $4 each, cheaper than most homemade bars I've seen in other stores but it covers my costs plus a fair enough profit. I also sell a few at two local antique stores.

I have no plans to expand my soap business...much...this next year, our farm requires too much of my time to do that, but maybe one day I'll open an online store. You can however, order a bar by emailing me at opies99@gmail.com. a $6 flat shiping fee in the Continental US for 1-5 bars. They'll be ready to use February 20.

Nothing to do with soap, just a good husband
spending time with one of our wonderful GK's
In the meantime I keep reading other soapers blogs and watching those those gracious and hardworking enough to make VIDEOS and I keep learning and learning and learning because my own particular learning curve is indeed quite WIDE.

16 comments:

  1. What a great post and so informative - I am sorely tempted to try your recipe for the soap. Great picture of the two of them at the bottom of the blog. Intense
    XX

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  2. Any story with fat melting on the stove has to be a good one. Red Waddle fat melting on the stove makes it a great one!

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  3. Great soap Donna, looks amazing, love the swirl! x

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  4. Fantastic swirl! I tried the whisk plunging method before but my soap was too thick for it to be a success. This makes me want to try it again oh so much.

    I love the look of that soap.

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  5. My experience in soap making was beginners dabbling a bunch of years ago. I am always so amazed at your soaps! I do hear you about slowing down. I seem to have only two gears, high speed and asleep, but if I've committed my self to the slow life, then I'd better slow down!

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  6. I think that soap looks yummy enough to eat, actually. Like fudge or something. I bet it smells fantastic, too.

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  7. Rare, I am so glad you checked in. For some reason my comments are not showing up on your blog ( or a couple other across the pond blogs I follow...hmmm...maybe I've been cut off) but wanted you to know I am still out here, watching you :)

    Now, about that soap making. Be sure to read a good soap making book and or watch some good saop making videos. Lye can be so dangerous and I'd hate to have you get hurt!

    Anon. Yes, me too. Red Wattle Fat is a lovely aroma (please don't hate me my vegan friends)

    Thanks Joanna, I'm fairly new at swirling. When it turns out I am MOST surprised.

    Briny, thank you thank you. And I love what you are doing with all your body scrubs!

    Leigh, well then you better slow down RIGHT NOW!

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  8. As the crowe flies, first: I love the title of your blog because my daughters name is Raven and second...thank you, yes it does smell good too.

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  9. I'm so pleased to see that there are others out there who have a desk ALMOST as messy as mine!

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  10. Love the look of this one!! xoxo Jen

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  11. Your new coffee soap has such presence... truly delectable looking. Your whisk swirls are fantastic too and those white streaks actually add to the visual experience imho Donna <3

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  12. Beautiful!

    Silly question from another learning soaper~ is that "used" coffee grounds, as in already "used" to make the coffee with?? Please tell!!

    Yes~ I also liked your desk~ it looks like mine~ nicely organized:))

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  13. Donna, You made me grin from ear to ear; as a fellow "Speedy Mult-tasker" (read "frenzied housewife with ADD) I, too, need to SLOOOOOW DOOOOWN. Easier said than done though, eh?

    I adore your coffee "flames" -absolutely mezmerizing.

    Gotta go, the dryer just dinged, lye is cool enough, dog needs out and I need to make a phone call. LOL! ;)

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  14. I'm so glad you tried a second batch of the soap. It looks absolutely fantastic and I think I can just catch a whiff of it from the computer!

    Love the last group photo of the soaps.

    Robin
    Kinky Witch Soap

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  15. Cro and Crazy, The desk and all its "glory" is my husband Keiths. Mine is directly behind him because I am...how to you say?...anal about where things go. It's not really neat but all spaces have specific uses. For example the Good and Plenty box MUST always be to my left.

    And yes Terri, the coffee grounds are 'used" right from the filter not from our cups. At least that is what I tell folks.

    Soap sister. Coffee Flames ? Yeah, I like that. I really like the little stars at the end of the flames. I'm sure I'll never get that effect again though. Whoops gotta go, I'm painting the house in between snow storms

    Kinky Witch, thank you thank you.

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  16. Great job on the 2nd try! Multi-tasking? I have no idea what you're talking about.

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