It was these concerns that prompted my sisters and me to learn soapmaking as it used to be practiced. Below are my written chronicles of our first soapmaking adventure.....

There are two rules I exercise whenever possible in regards to my lifestyle, simplicity and natural is better. So in regards to my soapmaking my thinking is the fewer ingredients added the less chance of allergic reactions. Then when rebatching only natural ingredients would be added. Since I raise goats I thought it would be nice to make goat milk soap. Unfortunately Angora goats, the breed I raise for spinning and weaving mohair, only produce enough milk to feed their young, so we purchased our goat milk from a store.

The basic soap we started out with was castile, which consists of olive oil and lye/water. I was a little nervous working with commercial lye, the kind you find sold in a can in harware stores, and thought about using wood ash lye but research indicated that using wood ash is very tricky. That is to say it is difficult to get consistant soap using wood ash.

While with each batch, like with any other project, you learn something new, here are the basics to soapmaking.

1. First gather all your equipment as time can be crucial during certain steps and you do not want to be caught unprepaired. You will need the following items, and remember any utensils, pots and container must be devoted to soapmaking exclusively and never used for food thereafter.
   • 2 kitchen thermometers
   • 2 pitchers for mixing lye and water
   • Kitchen scale
   • A large pot for mixing the soap
   • 2 large wooden spoons
   • A dishpan size rubber container with a lid
   • Safety attire (goggles, gloves, mask, longsleeve top to protect you from possible splashes)
   • Newspaper
   • A large knife
   • A cheese grater
   • Molds for soap
   • Ingredients for the specific soap desired (depending on recipe)

2. Once lye and water are measured seperately take it outside to mix by adding lye to the water. NEVER pour the water onto the lye. Doing so can cause a reaction that could splash up and increase the risk of burning yourself. Instead always add lye to water.
   • I suggest you visit MMS, a very informative site that offers a lye calculator for just about every kind of oil or fat used to make soaps. As a vegetarian I, and my sisters who are not, prefer olive oil to animal fat.

   • Great care needs to be exercised in handling lye as it is very caustic and toxic chemical. One of my sister's volunteered to mix our first batch of lye water. It was quite hot outside, somewhere in the 90's F. Donned in a long lab coat, goggles, rubber gloves and a mask she mixed the water and lye solution outside making sure no children where around to breathe in the gases or upset the table where she was working. She was quite hot in that get up but safe from any reasonable concerns. Respect for this chemical is essential.

   • Stir slowly, careful not to breathe in the fumes, even if outside while wearing a mask, still stand clear of the fumes.

3. Allow solution to cool. The temperature desired before mixing is between 95° and 100°F You may place the container of lye/water solution in an ice bath to help cool faster.

4. While waiting for the lye/water to cool you can heat the oil (we use olive oil) to reach the same temperature desired for mixing with lye/water, again 95°-100°F.

5. When the temperatures for both lye/water and oil are at the approprate degree then don your safety attire (goggles, gloves, and protective clothing) and begin pouring the lye/water into the pot with the heated olive oil.
   • Be sure to pour the lye/water solution very slowly, stirring carefuly to avoid any splashing and to be sure all is mixed well.

6. Continue to stir gently and consistantly as the mixture thickens, looking for signs of "trailing". Trailing is when you can see folds or lines in the mixture as you stir. As you would if stirring pudding. Keep a careful eye out as the trailings can be very subtle. This may take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.
   • There has been a few times we have stirred and never saw any true trailings but decided not to over stir so stopped and went on to the next step with success. So even if you are not sure but have been stirring for close to an hour you could probably move on with the same success. There is a risk of overstirring. You want your solution to still be warm when pouring.

7. Gently pour the solution into a large flat container, approximately the size of a dishpan, with lid.

8. Cover the pan and then wrap in a large towel and set it aside for sopanification process. Leave undisturbed for a couple of days then check the batch. It should have hardened. If not hardened completely remove the top and leave it open, exposed to the air, for another couple of days.

9. Once it is hardened remove the block of soap by pulling the sides away to seperated the soap from the sides of the container, then turn it upside down and press the bottom and the block of soap should pop out.

10. To cut the soap into small bars heat a large knife to make cutting easier.

You are now ready to rebatch adding ingredients of choice by grating 9 oz. of your basic soap using a cheese grater and heating on stove or in a crockpot with 12 oz. water. As the soap begins to melt add your ingredients of choice then pour the melted soap into molds and put them in the freezer for a few minutes until they harden. Remove them from the molds and allow them to sit for a couple of weeks to complete the sopanification process.

You can find recipes for hand milled soap on the internet or check out a book at your local library or your favorite bookstore. I recommend "The Complete Soapmaker" by Norma Coney. A very simple, and one of my favorite recipes is just to add 9 oz. of goat's milk.

Still under construction....more to come