Good Morning! and Good Afternoon to you Bobbo!
its a lot of fun for me to think that they're are folks out there who are actually gonna give this a go. I personally love to make soap. I find the whole activity to be very relaxing (except for the last five minutes ;) ) and to me its very similar to bread making, which is my first love.
Soapmaking is not like cooking...in that you may throw in a little of this or that and expect it to come out right. ( but your chances are greatly improved when you understand more about the different properties of oils) but it is very similar to bread making in that if you measure CORRECTLY and pay attention to what your doing.....it usually turns out OK.....
Being raised waaayyy out in the country in the late sixties and livin off the fat or sometimes "lean" of the land....gave me a healthy respect for our Grandfathers and Grandmothers and how they managed to be self sufficient. Just amazing really....and in todays time its so easy to forget how our elders worked very hard every day just to provide the basic necessities of life for their families.
Obviously soap, was a big part of farm life....
Now I have re-read my instructions and the equipment list.....I would add two things 1) instant read thermometer 2) and a stick blender (opt) greatly increases your trace time.
and I personally love pictures for instruction; instead of just instruction (pictures are always more fun....and make more sense) and after lots of searching I did find the following site, its helpful in that it has pictures and if folks find themselves looking for supplies they have those too. Now I am not familiar with this site in regards to their supplies....but they show how the soap looks at different stages and this is the hardest part to understand when you've never made soap before.
www.soapcrafters.com/recipes_fromscratch.htm
They use a plastic pitcher to mix the lye/water solution....personally I prefer the heat resistant pyrex glass, because it gets VERY HOT, but this would be your choice.
The second site I found this morning gives very good instruction on cold-process soapmaking...plus a more in depth explanation of using wood ash to produce lye, then to make your soap. It is good to appreciate the skills of our Elders.
www.rejoiceinlife.com/recipes/soap.php
and one of these made mention of having a fire extingisher :eek: lol. But uhhhh...probably good advice.....no animals or children present. And whether you have a gas or electric stove as your heat source. Electric is obviously safer.
I cannot stress the importance of being careful when working with lye.
The other part of soapmaking.....is your basically on your own ;) Unless you are able to take a class ( check your community centers) it really is a matter of trial and error. Lots of people try soapmaking, but not many stick with it. If you're considering going into business as a soapmaker.....I can promise you, you have to sell incredible amounts of soap just to feed yourself.
But as a fun and relaxing past time, I highly recommend it. It is very satisfying to step back from a successful batch and say WoW, I made that....and family and friends are always impressed too :D
I think my best peice of advice....have all your ingredients ready...and do a walk thru of your steps before actually going thru the process.
and most importantly Have FUN!!! and ask questions.
XXWarm Regards, Colleen