Let them make SOAP!

So I have a new addiction.  Addiction is a great word for it, and I have to warn you that if you try your hand at it you'll be addicted too.  Soap making.  Real soap: lye, water, oils and voila....SOAP!
I must admit that I first became curious about soap making years ago, working with lye put me off.  Then I had baby number 3 and it went to the back burner.  Wasn't taking any chances of blowing up the house with  a baby running around.  Well baby number 3 is soon to be five years old and went to pre-school this fall, so mom had some free/quiet time and decided to give it a shot.  

The first recipe I made was a laundry soap.  I was very nervous at first.  If you do decided to make soap then please be careful and follow the directions.  #1 rule, lye is caustic and volatile.  Remember always pour lye into water!  Never water into lye....

Laundry Stain Stick

I must say I like it.  I also use a bar for stain removal and there is a bar at my kitchen sink.  I did add the turpentine.  I'm a little strange in that I like the smell. I also chose to start with this one because its simple..Lard, water and lye.  The hardest thing to find is the lye.
Here is a picture of the 6 bars that I made, I used a lined bread pan.



I did over cook it, only because it was my first time, so trial and error.  Still works great.  I also had a bit of boil over.  The one thing to stress with using a crock pot to hot process soap is to not have your oils and lye to hot when you add them.  I try to keep them at about 110 max, and haven't had any more boil over incidents. My large crock pot also gets hot on low, so I have to cut it off for 10 and leave it on for 10 or it just cooks it to fast. 

Here is the recipe for the Liquid washing soap.

Hot water
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1 Soap bar

• Grate the bar and add to a large saucepan with hot water. Stir over medium-low heat until it dissolves and is melted.
• Fill a 10 gallon pail half full of hot water. Add the melted mixture, Borax and Washing soda, stir well until all powder is dissolved. Top the pail up with more hot water.
• Use 1 cup per load, stirring soap before each use, it will gel. 

The next day I went in with my immersion blender and gave it a whirl.  Stayed together nicely.  I have a family of 5 and it lasted a little over a month.