Saponification Sunday...International Fame

With over 5 decades behind me, I've been called many names. I would estimate 97% of them were accurate. I have never, however been called, (you might want to tell your minor children to leave the room) a" Maitre-Savoneur."

Yes, I know, seems harsh, but as I said most names I have been called, are deserved. This one however is beyond me. Literally. Six years of French, 3 in grade school, 3 in HS, were not helpful in ascertaining the meaning of this label. But looking at it in context, it seems to mean "Maker of soap." How about that?

Maitre-Savoneur looks so much better than "Soap Maker" and I have my blog friend Cro to thank for my new international fame. Since his post about my soap http://magnonsmeanderings.blogspot.com/2012/03/crobar.html#comment-form our lives have been rocked with TV crews, news helicopters hoping to actually view me in the soap making process, and authors wanting first chance at my bibliography.

In addition, my non-soap store is growing with several more orders via email. A school in Chicago is going to use my soap (80 bars) for a fundraiser and the gang at St James bought out a basket of my soap my daughter Raven brought to work. The best part is...This is just a hobby for me, the volume of which I have complete control over and the making of all this soap is pure fun. The first hobby I have had where income is over expenses ( by almost $20 !) How unexpected. Of course this week I need to order more oils and the balance will shift dramatically. Overall though,

The Soapy Life is Good.

However...This weeks creation was not as perfect as I would have liked. Fame has obviously already gone to my head and I became careless. Too much Titanium Dioxide. Lured into the desire for a crisp clean whiter bar I went overboard. When I cut it,  the bar was fine for the upper 2/3 and then crumbled slightly at the bottom. TD sure can heat things up and even though I plopped the soap in the frig for 24 hours I still had a slight gel in the middle.

The bits and bobs of other soaps made it playful enough and 3 days after making,  it created a smooth lather so I'll be able to keep most of it. Photos always show off imperfections and although I'd like to just showcase my best specimens, truth is, most of my specimens are highly imperfect. Looking back over the months I do see (and feel) improvements so I will trudge forward.

I was very brave with my EO's this week, combining Sweet Orange, Grapefruit, Patchouli, Lavender, and Geranium Rose in small amounts. It was sweet but not overly so. The Patchouli grounded it well. So now tell me, you other more experienced soap makers ...how much TD do you use per pound of oils? Many thanks and have great week !

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.

Saponification Sunday unless Its Monday

Yes, a few weeks ago I promised a post every Sunday about my soap making ventures. What happened? Well, I forgot.

Anise Soap Dessert Bars
For the after dinner shower

So sue me. How different is Monday from Sunday anyway? By my last count...it was different by ONE measly letter. And besides, the soap I made this week isn't all that great but maybe together, collectively and as a group we can learn something.

Made from Coconut, Babassu and Lard
Colored with Alkanet
Dressed in faux black pearls

Here is what I learned.

I have an addiction to licorice. Not just any licorice but the bestest kind from my childhood, Good and Plenty Licorice. In fact I've been eating so much of it lately my teeth have indeed rotted out the back of my head and I've had to resort to wearing a ski mask 24/7...indoors and out.

Decorated with peelings of other leftover
soap bars, these take on the aura of a Rice Krispy Bar

In order to decrease my oral fixation with Glycyrrhiza glabra I am attempting to satisfy my cravings in an olfactory manner via Anise scented soap. In fact it is working so well as a substitute I have been swearing like the mother of a sailor just to validate washing out my mouth with a bar of it.

Enough about soap. How about that tablecloth? Marked down
from $34.99 to $5.99 at The Gathering Gilman, Illinois.
How could this miserly farmwife resist?

Saponification Sunday

Making soap, its a good thing, a relaxing thing, a goofy thing...at least for me. I might be able to quit and move on to something more meaningful like planting myself on Wall Street and protesting everything but you people keep buying the soap so I keep making it. Photographing it is another thing. These pics are so blurry I' be better off if I'd sketched the soap for you. Might be time for a new camera.

I decided a few months ago I would not be opening an ETSY store or even adding soap to our list of products on our farm's web site, and I am real happy about that decision. No pressure to produce large amounts, instead I can just soap as my supply in our tiny farm store ebbs and flows and as I get a few orders here and there from this blog. The whole process remains for me...a blissful hobby that pays for itself, most of the time.

This last week I continued to play with all natural additives, going back to a combination of Spirolina and Wheat Grass Powder  powder and a little bit of Orange Peel Powder. I really love doing geometric inbeds or is it embeds? Indents? Inbreeds? Anyway I like taking old pieces of  soap and sticking them in new soap. In fact, this bar involved hot process soap balls added to cold process soap and then cut again into squares and rectangles and placed in another batch of cold process soap.

"Frustrated sculptor", a blog follower once called me, really its more  manic-depressive farm wife with a stick wand.

I also have finally settled on one recipe for most of my bars. Here it is for your newbies who want to copy it. (For you experienced, elderly, ancient  and nearly desiccated soapers:if you see a way I could improve this recipe: hit me baby, I love input when it comes to soap)

Babasuu Oil             25%
Palm Oil or Lard     25%
Rice Bran Oil          25%
Castor Oil                  5%      
Sunflower Oil          10%
Canola Oil                25%

And regarding the lard, I Use the lard from our critically endangered Red Wattle Hogs. (Only 2000 in the world) We respect these animals and want their numbers to grow so we like to use as much of their gifts as possible to promote the breed.  Yes, it may seem odd, but to save them we do believe you must eat them. My lard soaps are super hard and last forever. I love them.

But some of our customers do not eat meat and buy only our milk and would never touch a bar of soap made with lard. Others buy both milk and meat and either kind of soap, and then there is the really fun group who are totally appalled by the soap with lard in it but have no problems buying tons of our bacon.

Oh how I love people.

Sudsy Sunday

Yes, I'm showing consistency. Two weeks in a row I am talking about soap. I kind of enjoy the stress free environment. To date there are few regulations regarding homemade soap sales. You do need to label them ingredient wise and you do need to be honest with that labeling. I think I can do that without even thinking about arguing the points with any government types.

Isn't that refreshing?

Oh, there's one more thing. I can't claim that my soap will cure leprosy or shrink tumors or return sight to the blind. Again, shouldn't be hard. Heck I don't even guarantee it will lather...how do I know what kind of water you have at home?

But I do feel pretty comfortable saying it SHOULD lather. How's that for a marketing slogan?

Now lets get to todays soap topic. My bed is calling. Last year when I started this new hobby I tried all the fun stuff, the lab made dyes, crayons, RIT dye, yup I'm ashamed but tis best to come clean . After a few weeks of experimentation I decided to go all natural. I thought this would mean all brown because of what I was seeing out there in the stores and Farmers Markets.

Then a wonderful fairy godmpther of soap, Mz. Cocobong herself sent me some clays to play with. (And before I forget, Monsieur Magnon is not allowed to comment on this post. We all know why) They were FUN. It's taken some time to learn how much clay, a couple batches came out a bit dry, but over time I improved. I then moved onto plant powders (yes, all legal) and even some algae powder (spirulina). I also color with beer, eggs, milk, aloe gel, juices, and coffee.

Last week I gathered up all my leftover bars, and samples and put them into this box. Look at all those colors! Now I'm selling the peices in my store and folks love them. Especially those who have problems with decision making. They can take 2-3 samples home with them for the price of one bar.

 A great way to enjoy something natural without making a long term committment to it.

Frustrated Scupltor

The problem with a public blog is that the public feel they can just make any kind of comment they want. Take for example Mr Cro , as I call him. After my last post

he had the unmitigated gall to say this about my recent soap creations, "You're really a frustrated sculptor, aren't you!" Now why would an individual who has never even met me, say something so personal ?!?

What evidence does he have that I ever wanted to be a sculptor at all ? Did we ever sit together (with spouses of course) in a wee cafe sipping Jamison or Guinness or heaven forbid some cheap red wine and discuss my dreams of artistry ?

Has Mr Magnon, AKA Cro, ever even read that test they give you in HS where they measure your aptitude for future life success based on your favorite colors and foods and desire to organize all your desk pencils by order of eraser size.? I think not

So, where he gets this bare-brained idea that I am a frustrated sculptor want-to-be whose life is empty and unfulfilled since all she does all day is scratch pig ears, boil a little pig lard and call it soap and write a few pages in her soon to be released novel (if you call "soon" about 3 years away)...I just don't know.

Made over one week, pouring several different batters over several
different pieces of old soap or "imbeds" scented with cassia, clove
and orange EO's All colors made with natural plant materils or clays.
I imagine that if Picasso had made soap...
it wouldn't look like this at all.

Meanwhile back at the farm, our MOSA inspection (Midwest Organic Sevices Association) went very well. I can say that now but 24 hrs ago I was a pit of frustration because I could not find two organic certificates needed , one for the straw we bought and one for calves we bought 9 months ago, AND I forgot to write the cow ID number on one of our locker slips.

That means of the over 200 organic standards we must meet, our inspector was writing recommendations for improvement on just 3 of those standards. I should have been giddy with relief over how well we did, No, I was upset with the lack of perfection. Will I ever learn to be satisfied ?!?!?

Today, I feel much better. Might have something to do with the beautiful weather, the family who toured with their 2 year old son who was more delighted with a single peacock feather than I have been all year with all good things that have come my way, and the GK's who are at this moment giggling hysterically over the antic of Mike Myers as Cat in The Hat.

Mike Myers always makes me smile too. I should've asked HIM to be at our inspection yesterday. Might have spared my husband from that grumpy wife he so often deals with. Or at least given him a cat mobile driven by a mouthy fish to escape in.

Major Decision Made

Its been along time coming, about 8 months but now it is time. I've played around enough, experimented in areas I had no business (or experience) in exploring, frittered away time that should not have been frittered. Or is it Fritayed ?
Either way, I can no longer avoid the inevitable. I have finally decided...to go entirely natural.

No, you alarmists, I am not giving up clothing. I still need customers to come to our farm store for buying out loud. Once again I beg you to try to keep up.

I am talking about soap.

I call this "Dappled Lavender"

At first I tried a little bit of everything. I believe that is fairly common. How can you decide which treat you want  if you do not dip your hand into more than one cookie jar? I'm speaking literally here. If I had never tried a Double Stuffed Oreo I would still be eating dried out and over rated Fig Newtons. But I have once again slid off the tracks.

Whereas this one would be "Knobby Lavender" since it is sitting on a door knob.

I am talking about soap. (The sentence repetition is for my benefit, not yours so don't be getting all bent out of shape like you think that I think you can't stay focused.)

The customers we had on Saturday were unbelievable. One woman recently immigrated from Russia and was so happy to find raw milk ! She had called several dairy farmers near Chicago but none were willing to sell her the raw stuff. She was shocked it was so difficult to get he....What ?...oh Sorry.

Of course this would be "Garden Angel  Lavender" or just GAL

I am talking about soap. After trying lab colors, evil colors like those from crayons (oh cease with the frowning, if you don't try sub standard materials how can you lecture others?)  I monkeyed around with plant extracts and powders. Once again in my life using a mortar and a pestle but without having to crank in the little windows of my trailer with that stupid handle that was forever falling off into the sink, and then pulling shut the cafe curtains with pink and orange peace signs.

And this ? Well, I refer to it as "Lavender Flower" but its false advertising since
everyone knows lavender has very small purple flowers but the Hosta was blooming

This time all compounding was legal. Imagine my delight that paprika made lovely orange soap and a substance called Alkanet would make 30 shades of purple. And then I played around with the fragrances. They were fun but, I hate to admit this, they scared me. You pour them out of the bottle smelling like cakes and cookies and exotic flowers such as Sturgis Sweet Pea but then you look away and...and...your soap has turned into a clay brick, a concrete block, an entire stone fortress !


Another Lavender soap exactly like the last one except its hot process instead
of cold process, I used lots of Alkanet to color instead of hardly any, and I
left out any titanium dioxide for extra whiteness. Oh yeah, the peacocks liked
this one better.

I also explored the slippery world of fats. I never used bacon grease, Keith would've killed me. Imagine using perfectly good cooking fat for soap! But I did enter the wicked world of Crisco. I didn't want to, I knew it was wrong being it was so cheap, but sometimes cheap is just so attractive you know? The soap came out hard and very usable but I couldn't get myself to put "Crisco" on the label.

What it someone took a bite ? Well they might.

My last area of trial and errer was in the area of photography. Seems soap photos are a specialty all its own. My first photos stunk and then evolved into dull. I've tried the photo box with white foam board which wasn't really a box but just me holding up the board behind the soap and trying not to get my shadow in the way.


Pepples. What else?



How about "Pepple Soap shot in Reverse as an alternating

Black and White Theme Within the evening Sun's glow

on the Back Porch Bench" ?

My shadow is bigger than my soap, thus prompting me to  attempt some outdoor soap shooting. Seems my all natural soap looks best on all natural rocks and plants, well if not best it at least looks better than on the floor of my shower.

So my point is, my niche is, my imprint on the soaping world will be...all natural. Now how about this bunny ?