handmade gfts making our soap

handmade gfts making our soap

I have been making our soap for over 30 years and in the beginning we got some of the materials from raising our own beef. Since getting hooked up with the Internet and reading about what other folks were doing, I've found sources for both animal and vegetable fats that have really opened up other possibilities for recipe combinations. We've gotten spoiled using our own soap... it leaves you clean without feeling dry and itchy. I've given it to friends who have allergies or skin conditions and they have found it to help them in clearing up the problem. If you have any of the latent chemist in your soul...you will LOVE watching the transformation as you mix the lye solution into the fat and continue to watch it change as it cures! No one can walk by a table of curing soap, without having the uncontrollable urge to pick up a bar to touch and smell it.
I've put together the following, starting off with the first information I could get as a novice soapmaker. During the early attempts, nine batches separated before I got it down! (Determined!) In the fall of 1998, I read about using a "stick blender" and it has revolutionized my soapmaking techniques and vastly improved the texture of the finished soap! New things are being learned all the time and I'll try to pass those ideas along to you by updating the information on these pages. Since the site was first put up with a single page on soapmaking (the old lye company instructions) I have experimented with many all-vegetable recipe combinations. Some of these produce a harder and longer lasting bar than others and I've tried to note the ones that are my favorites. The others I leave up to offer other possibilities for those who want to use what they have on hand