Clove Soap and Rosemary Mint Soap Cut

Here are the clove soaps

 

And the Rosemary Mint soaps

They are cut and stamped,

But they still need a few days of cure time.

They're available for pre-order on Etsy now.

They'll be ready to ship on January 30th.

 

Thanks for reading!

Making Clove Soap

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I don’t know where 2012 went.

Some parts of it are just a blur.

The year was full of blessings.

For that I am thankful.

 

Best wishes to you all

For a blessed year in 2013.

 

I finally soaped again on Friday.

That is, I made soap from scratch.

It had been too long since the last time.

 

Here are the first soaps of 2013!

Now comes the hard part –

Waiting for them to cure.

In 3-4 weeks they will be ready to go.

Today I'll tell you about the clove soap.

Future posts will focus on the others. 

I made a five pound batch of clove soap.

I wanted to make double that amount.

But clove essential oil tends to accelerate trace.

I thought I better play it safe with my first batch of the year.

 

 After mixing the batch and bringing it to a light trace,

I separated it into two equal parts.

I added ground cloves to one part.

 

I like using a wire whip to mix in the cloves.

 

See the little patterns in the soap?

Those indicate trace.

That means the process of saponification has started.

Saponification per WordWeb:

"A chemical reaction in which an ester is heated with an alkali

(especially the alkaline hydrolysis of a fat or oil to make soap)"

This chemistry is part of why I love making soap.

 

Ingredients are measured by weight in making soap.

Here the essential oil for one part is weighed out.

I like to use Clove Leaf Essential Oil from Bramble Berry.

 

Here the clove essential oil is being mixed into the plain base.

 

Now the clove EO is mixed into the base with the ground cloves in it.

 

I used a technique called in the pot swirl.

It involves pouring one part into the other.

 

Here it is all together in one pot.

For this batch, I didn't combine them any further before pouring.

 

As I poured, some of the base with cloves went into the mold.

And some of the base without the cloves also went into the mold.

No two batches come out exactly the same.

No two bars are identical.

I love that each bar is a unique creation.

 

All the base is now in the molds.

 

The finished loaves.

I decided to make little peaks on the top.

Just for fun.

 

This soap is a good seller.

It is also my go-to soap.

I won't say it's my favorite soap.

That would be like choosing a favorite child.

It just can't be done.

I usually keep a dozen or more bars of clove soap on hand.

And I always keep one in the shower.

 

Thanks for reading!

Cleaning and Soap

I cleaned my house.  I’m not looking for applause; I’m just letting you know because my reward for cleaning the house was cutting and stamping soap!  As I proceeded through the mundane cleaning tasks, I kept reminding myself of the soap I would get to cut after the cleaning spree.

The design of the first soap didn’t turn out at all as I had planned.  I was going for crisp lines and a geometric pattern.  As soon as I started pouring, I knew the soap was at too light of a trace to make the design I had in mind.  Sometimes I’m not very patient (Mom, if you're reading this I think you just laughed a little bit.  Or at least smiled).  So rather than waiting for the soap to get a stronger trace, I went ahead and poured.  I’m very happy with the result, even though it does not have the straight lines I originally planned.  Say hello to Sherbet Swirl.

The next one didn’t come out quite the color I was going for.  It’s pomegranate.  I was going for more of a reddish-purple.  I love the deep purple I got out of this.  I’ll be using this dark purple again.  The dark line is colored with activated charcoal.  It's great stuff.

The final soap that I cut after I decided to stop cleaning (note: the cleaning is never “finished”, but I accomplished what was on my list, so I stopped) is clove.  There is always a bar of this in my shower.  And my other shower.  Yes, it’s great to have two bathrooms with showers, but now we’re back to that cleaning thing.  I digress.  Again.  Anyway, the clove smells great.  It smells like my dentist’s office.  I love that it’s scrubby too.  Did you know that clove has natural deodorizing properties?   The soap isn’t anything special to look at, but it is a scrubby natural soap with lots of great cleaning ability. 

Thanks for reading!

On the Curing Rack and a Science Lesson Too

If you have checked out my website (www.soapartonline.com) or my Etsy Shop (www.Etsy.com/shop/SoapArt), you may have noticed that i make two different kinds of soap.  The glycerin designer soaps are made by adding things to a premade glycerin base.  The soaps from scratch are just like they sound.  They are made by me with high quality oils (lots of olive oil), water and lye.  This post focuses on the soaps from scratch.

I make soaps from scratch in small batches using the cold process method.  I can combine the ingredients at room temperature, and then wait for saponification to turn the concoction into soap.  Here’s what Word Web (www.wordweb.com) says about saponification.  “A chemical reaction in which an ester is heated with an alkali (especially the alkaline hydrolysis of a fat or oil to make soap)”.  In my words, it means that the oils and lye work together to create soap.  Pretty technical, I know.  The lye is what gives the soap its cleansing power. 

The saponification process takes time.  The soaps from scratch need to sit out in the open with air circulation all around them (this is curing) for about a month.  This allows the soap to completely saponify, and also allows some of the water to evaporate.  Curing makes the soap milder and longer lasting.

You made it through the scientific stuff, and are still reading!  You don't know how much I appreciate that.

When I walked into the soap room this morning, the first fragrance to reach my nose was the lemongrass/rosemary essential oil combination in the gardener’s soap.  It will be ready in about two weeks.  I can hardly wait! 

Here are some of the other soaps that are curing.  It’s so hard to wait for the soaps to be ready, but they are so much better after they have cured for a month or more. 

Top Left: Clove All Natural Soap

This is one I try to always keep in stock.  It’s one that I use daily, and one that customers come back for time and time again.

Top Right: Raspberry Bliss

This is a customer favorite that I also like to keep in stock.  The fragrance is very sweet and long lasting.

Middle: Sherbet Soap

This one was a bit of an experiment.  The colors aren’t quite as vibrant as I had intended, but the delicious fragrance is hard to resist.  This one literally makes my mouth water.

Bottom: Feel Good Spa Soap

This is one I have made before, but I did it a bit different this time.  This is scented with a variety of essential oils, with the strongest being ylang ylang.  It also has a touch of vanilla fragrance. The tan color comes from the vanilla fragrance.  Vanilla tends to discolor soap from white to anywhere from off-white to brown.  I love the color this one turned.  The red comes from Moroccan clay, and the black comes from activated charcoal, which has detoxifying properties that are wonderful for all types of skin.

Standing Soaps:

The one on the left is the Sherbet Soap. 
The one on the right is Feel Good Spa Soap

Thanks for reading!

Clove Soap

My go-to soap from scratch right now is Clove. It’s hard to choose a favorite, because I love all of them (Well, almost all of them. I must say I’m not a fan of lavender yet). Here’s what I like best about the clove soap:

- It’s moisturizing
- It’s exfoliating. I add ground cloves to give it scrubbing power.
- It’s bubbly!
- Clove is a natural odor combatant – so I feel extra clean : )
- Last, but best of all – the fragrance is amazing!!

Clove soap is a great unisex soap that can be used as hand soap or as an all over body soap. If you’ve tried the Clove Soap, would you take a minute and let everyone know what you think?