Saponification Sunday...Irish Milled

 

 

 

 

 

Before I was deep into the soaping world I was one of those folks who believed that a bar of soap with the words "Triple Milled, French Milled or even better "Triple French Milled" must mean that the soap was pretty durn special, or else why were they charging so much?

 

 

And if done the right way it can make a smoother soap and one that lathers nicely. Scraps of soap are either melted down and remolded or if done well they are run through several metal rollers which makes the pieces very tiny and smooth. It is often a very beautiful looking soap.  Unfortunately as with many commercial soaps, the glycerin is removed which means drier skin at the end of your wash-up.

 

 

This Midlife Farmwife has her own version of French Milling which I call "Irish Milled" . I grate up leftover soap bars, or ones that aren't as pretty as I would like. Melt them in a crock pot, with some water to keep the soap from burning, super fat them with a little more Castor oil and add more essential oil at the end just before dumping in a mold. It is not the smooth and lovely look of the French Version but I never claimed to be sophisticated did I?

 

 



Then after just one day of sitting in my mold, I am able to cut and use the bars. The last time I rebatched or Irish Milled some soap I used two different batches of soap, one very light and one very dark. I also cut up some chucks of the dark soap for even more texture and contrast, This all makes sense since we Irish are not well know for our smooth edges.

 

 

First I spooned in the dark soap, then the light soap over it then pushed in a few dark soap chunks then added more light soap. Both batches had Lemongrass Essential Oil added and mixed very well, before I put them in the mold.

Now I have what I am calling Mud Pie soap. Fun huh?