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.