Speaking of stealing things--Do you know how hard it is to find a plastic box of any sort that doesn't have curved corners or some sort of decorative bubble-thing on the bottom? Really difficult. So difficult that I had to gank a warehouse crate from work in order to get a box that would make a proper soap mold.
So last night I decided to make some oatmeal soap seeing as I couldn't find anything conclusive online or in a book about preservatives (I was planning on making cucumber soap but then I couldn't find any benzoin which the recipe called for--a preservative--and then I read online that benzoin doesn't even really preserve things well. I'll find out the answer eventually). After getting a few last ingredients and safety equipment I got started:
The hardest part by far was weighing out the lye. This was only difficult because a) I read the directions wrong and started measuring out more than I was supposed to and then it took me forever to get it back in the container without spilling it everywhere. Plus I was kind of freaked out about the lye--if it gets on your skin it'll burn you like no other--no, Tyler Durden wasn't kidding. But eventually I got it straightened out. Mixing it with the water was interesting...I knew it was supposed to heat up but when I touched the container there was no doubt it was about 200 degrees. Crazy chemical reaction.Anyway, I ran into some issues with the oils--didn't have enough so I had to go back to town and get more. No big deal though. Gotta say--after the measuring and getting things to the right temperature--it was really, really simple. Now I just have to wait for it to "cure". 48 hours, give or take with this process. Next time--pictures/details of the results.
nifty! did you add any scent? also, what kind of soap is the kind that you can see through? (does that make sense, lol) you know, because you can put objects inside the soap!
ReplyDeletehah yeah, i know what you're talking about--the clear soap is called glycerin soap. I think i have a recipe for it in the book I'm reading. Perhaps I'll make you some if I do ;) As for the scent i added some cinnamon leaf essential oil so it's cinnamon/oat scented!
ReplyDeleteand thanks for reading! :)
ReplyDeletethis is really cool. a few years ago i thought about making the clear kind (ok, to sound official- glycerin!) because i thought it'd be cool to put little things inside. i guess that never came to fruition. i shall live vicariously through your adventure!
ReplyDelete