Spoiler: it worked!!! Anyway, it's worth going through the entire post for comments and the final soap test!
Now curing time for 4 (long) weeks! ;-)
An incredibly important step: wooden mould lining! If you
don't do it in the correct way you can have spills all over your working
surface and this is definitely not good when working with a very caustic
emulsion (lye+oils are still not fully saponified when you pour the emulsion in
the mould so they are still highly caustic).
Looking on the internet I found this amazing video and...voilà! I
managed to line my mould in few minutes and in a much safer way than I've ever
done before (when doing M&P it happened to me to lose a lot of soap
because of holes in the corners!!!)
I've chosen the Beer soap (Shaving soap) recipe from Janice
Joyce 'Make your own soap' book.
Thing is, that I didn't have a flat beer at home or the
Kaoline clay so I went for distilled water and finely ground bamboo powder,
respectively.
This soap contains: pomace olive oil, canola oil, coconut
oil, palm oil and castor oil (all products are from YouWish.nl, a great company by the
way!).
NO preservatives, NO fragrances, NO colours, NOTHING
HARMFUL... that's 100% natural soap.
I love this kind of lid: no spills at all!
Procedure:
1) I first prepared the lye solution. I carefully weighed the required amount of caustic soda for this recipe and added it little by little to the required amount of water. I did this outdoor (balcony) to avoid breathing the fumes released during the preparation and I did it on a stable surface that I have previously covered with a plastic layer and newspapers.
1) I first prepared the lye solution. I carefully weighed the required amount of caustic soda for this recipe and added it little by little to the required amount of water. I did this outdoor (balcony) to avoid breathing the fumes released during the preparation and I did it on a stable surface that I have previously covered with a plastic layer and newspapers.
2) I have weighed the liquid oils and mixed them together in the measuring PP jug.
3) I have weighed the solid oils, put them in a Pyrex jug and melted them in the microwave with few burst of 30 seconds (and then hand stirring).
4) I waited until oils and lye solution reached an approximatively temperature of 42-45°C degrees and then mixed them!
I did this step with a silicon ballon whisk because I wanted to do it in the old way (Granny didn't have a stick blender!!!)
OK, after almost 1 hour of hand-stirring I was about to get desperate because I could barely see the 'trace' (see HERE for an excellent explanation of what 'trace' is).
I decided to pour the mixture anyway!
I have covered and isolated the mould for 24 hours and patiently waited...
...and the day after... my first beautiful soap was there, still a bit soft to be unmoulded, but definitely there!
Facts: I have unmoulded the soap after 48 hours and cut it into slices after 2 additional days!
Analysis:
- There are no lye pockets in the soap which is very good and safe!
- There's only a veil of lye ashes on the surface (don't get scared by the name, because they are not harmful or dangerous).
- pH after a week is between 8.2-8.4 (CP soaps usually range from 8-10).
And above all... it bubbles!!!
Now curing time for 4 (long) weeks! ;-)
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