Coloring Soap Naturally Using Common Ingredients

I am a purist at heart.  I make soap because I do not like all the chemicals, dyes, and preservatives that are in store bought soap.  So, why I ask myself would I consider using chemicals to dye my soap? Well, the easy answer is its pretty. I do not usually use any colors at all, but I do get tired of the tans, creams, and browns that occur naturally. They are beautiful but sometimes the girl in me would like a bit more color in my life.  So I set out to find natural colors.  I found that many of the natural colorants were hard to find and expensive.  So I did a lot of research and experimentation and found that the stuff I had in my kitchen would work just fine.  Some things you might not have around, but it is easy to find and cheap.  Here is the list I put together.

Greens

Alfalfa Powder

Cucumber (Blend it including peel)

Parsley

Peppermint

Sage

Spinach

Stevia Powder

Yellows

Annatto Seed

Calendula Petals

Carrot  Juice

Curry Powder

Gound Mustard

Tumeric

Oranges

Cayenne

Orange Peel

Paprika

Tomato Puree

Browns

Cinnamon

Coffee

Cocoa

Chocolate

Purple/Blue

Alkanet

Blackberries

Red/Pink

Rose Hip Powder

Soapmaking Classes

    Soap making can be pretty intimidating when you are first starting out. All the measuring of ingredients and the scary warnings on the bottle of lye can be really terrifying.  I recommend that you start out taking a beginning class somewhere.


Online Classes

1).Soap Making 101
Learn the foundations of soap making online with this class.  Good for those of you who feel comfortable learning online.  Its affordable too.

2) Nature's Garden Candles offers a soap making class for free.  Maybe not as comprehensive as some of the more formal classes, but it is pretty good.  A great beginner class for those of you who would like to try it out for free.  They also offer a large selection of classes on other similar subjects, such as. candle making, bath bombs, and shampoo.

Spokane, Wa soapmaking classes

1) Greencastle Soap Company is owned by a very nice lady here in Spokane. She teaches classes on soapmaking. The cost is $55. She also sells soapmaking supplies.

Top 5 places to find Sodium Hyroxide (Lye) for Soap Making

   When I first started making soap it was easy to find lye.  The little Red Devil can was sitting next to all the other drain cleaners in the grocery store.  Twelve years later it isn't quite as easy to find. Stores no longer carry it and buying it from the internet often requires confusing hazmat fees.  So here are a few places I have found Sodium Hydroxide (lye) at decent prices.

1) Lowe's carries Roebic Drain Cleaner it is 2lb and costs $13.60 at my local Lowe's in Spokane, Wa

2) The General Store in Spokane, Wa carries  1lb containers for around $5.00, but that is only good if you live near me.  Check out your local feed, automotive, or general type stores, just make sure it is 100% sodium hydroxide.

3)The Chemistry Store carries sodium hydroxide in 2lb ($10.00), 25lb ($72.00), and 55lb ($105.40) containers.  The shipping is pretty high depending on where you live.  Shipping to me would cost around $15 for the 2lb container, and $60 for the 55lb container.

4)The Essential Depot sells lye 8lbs for $12.49. This lye is food grade and one of the best prices I have seen. Where I live the shipping would be $ 13.04.


5.Amazon.com offers the best prices I have found online. They have a wide variety of lye including Red Devil and Essential Depot. They have food grade as well. The prices range from $4 for one lb to $95 for 50lb.

Time4Learning Review

    I will admit that I decided to write this review because they gave me a free month for promising to write it.  I have searched all over for a good online curriculum for my Kindergartener who refuses to read.  When this opportunity came up I had to give it a try..  So try it we did, me enthusiastically; and her kicking and screaming. She became a bit more cooperative when she found out that it looked sort of like a game.

     The truth is their are good and bad aspects to this program.  We (both me and my uncooperative child) really liked the characters and the game like aspect.  I liked that even though she was reluctant to try it, she did actually begin to read better and have more confidence in her abilities.  She even looked forward to doing it each day.  I was not really fond of the lack of direction.  I thought it was unclear how much work was expected, and I thought maybe she needed to read the story more than twice.  I also thought that the putting the picture on the story thing was kind of boring and so did she.  The printing of the resource pages also seemed a bit confusing, and at first I did not even know I was supposed to print them; but when we started using them I did find them useful.
     My daughter really enjoyed the math section.  She thought is was a just like a game, and begged to do more every day.  I think that she learned the material easily and had fun doing it. I would highly recommend the math portion.
     All in all I think it is a good value for the money and did a very good job of keeping my child interested.  I have home schooled  for 10 years and this is the first online program I have found that is of any use at all.  I would highly recommend this program to anyone with limited time and reluctant students.  We will definitely be subscribing, and my kindergartener will be reading  better soon.

Grandma's Lye Soap

I think that maybe I should have called this soap Not Grandma's Lye Soap.  This soap is definitely an improvement over the lye heavy soap that Grandma used to make.  In the past making soap was a kind of guessing game.  It was almost impossible to know what your lye concentration was, so the soaps often turned out with a bit too much.  Everyone has heard the stories about how Grandma's homemade soap took your skin off.  Today we have modern scientific methods of measuring lye, so our soaps are very accurate.  This soap is made with 100% lard.  I hesitated for a long time to try animal fats in my soaps, but I love it.  It makes a very hard, white bar of soap that lathers very well. This soap also lasts a long time because it is so hard.

So give a bar of gentle and creamy Grandma's Lye Soap a try today.

The First And Easiest Cold Processed Soap I Ever Made

    The first soap that anyone should attempt to create should be simple.  It should have very few ingredients, and those ingredients should be as inexpensive as possible.  Soap making is a science, measuring accurately and following a recipe is foolproof.  Well, not really foolproof.  Soap making may be a science, but it is also an art.  It took me a few tries to perfect even this simple recipe.  So if you are interested in soap making try this recipe.  It is the first soap I ever made.

Basic Soap
48oz Crisco or other vegetable shortening
6oz Food Grade Sodium Hydroxide Lye Micro Beads, 2 Lbs. (Buy 5 get 5 off)
15oz  distilled water

Create using standard cold process procedure.
1) Melt the shortening and cool to 100 degrees
2) Mix the lye into the cold water then cool to 100 degrees
3) Mix the lye solution into the oil and mix with stick blender until "trace", it will look similar to pudding.
4) Pour into mold and cover. Wait 24 hours.
5) You should be able to unmold and cut your soap at this point.

** You could use fragrance oil in this soap at the rate of 1/2 oz per pound.
***This recipe makes great laundry soap bars. Just follow my instructions on making laundry soap.

5 Basic Soap Making Tools

     One of the questions that people ask me about soap making the most often is, "What do I need to get started?". So I though I would put together a list of items that are both easily found and affordable.

     I have read many articles and books on soap making in the many years I have been making soap. Most of the time there is a exhaustive list of hard to find,  not to mention expensive equipment to purchase. This list is not meant to provide all the equipment you would need to start a soap making business. It is just a very basic list for those of you who would like to try soap making without a big initial investment.

1)A Stick Blender: Also called an immersion blender, this tool is absolutely necessary for soap making.  When I started out in the soap making business I didn't know about stick blenders, as a result I spent many hours stirring a pot of soap waiting for the elusive "trace"  I had read so much about.  What all those articles and books never told me about "trace" was that it would happen 2 hours faster if I used a stick blender.  Seriously, you can reach  "trace" (the point when the soap looks similar to pudding and is ready for the mold) in a mere 5 minutes, as opposed to the 2 hours it might take with a spoon or wisk. Getting a good stick blender is important.  I had a Braun stick blender that I used for many many years, until one day it up and died on me.  I went and bought a new one, it wasn't a really expensive one, and it didn't work at all.  I could have stirred faster.  I then I broke down and bought a much more expensive one that is similar to my Braun the KitchenAid KHB100WH Immersion Hand Blender, White.  It is a bit pricey but it works great.  The other great option for finding a decent stick blender is to check out thrift stores. Stick blenders are one of those items that are really valuable to soap makers, but not so valuable to everyone else.

2) An Instant Read Thermometer:   A good waterproof instant read thermometer is essential.  You need to be able to make sure your lye solution and your oil is at the same temperature.  The ideal thermometer should be able to read up to at least 250 degrees,  be easily cleaned, and easy to read. I started out with the dial kind instead of the digital, but I am too old now to see those small numbers. I recommend that you have two of these instant read digital thermometers.  It is possible to make soap with one thermometer, but it sure is easier with two.  The one I use is the Taylor 9842 Commercial Waterproof Digital Thermometer.  It is easy to use, waterproof, and inexpensive.

3)A Good Digital Scale:  The most important thing in soap making is measuring accurately.  Get a good scale you will not regret it.  Once again digital is way easier to read for these old eyes, but if you can read those little lines then the other kind of scale is fine.  I think the best digital scale for the money is Digiweigh 600 x 0.1 Gram/g Digital Pocket Scale for home Candle/Soap Making Lab Set.  Once again, you might  find a great deal at a garage sale or a thrift store.

4)A Stainless Steel Stock Pot  It is really important that this pot is staineless steal, aluminum will not workout. The pot also needs to be large enough to hold your water and oils combined. I have used many different pots for making soap.  Most of the time I use my big stock pot from my kitchen, it works, and yes you can still use it for food.  Just wash your pot really well before using it for food again.  You can look for old pots at garage sales, just make sure they are not aluminum.

5)A Mold:  When you are done making your soap you will need a mold to put it in.  I have used everything from Pringles cans and pvc, to shoeboxes.  I have also used candy molds, individual soap molds made out of plastic, and wooden loaf soap molds.  I use a large wooden soap mold now, but to start out you might want something less expensive.  I have found that the new silicon bakeware works pretty well.  This one Smartware Silicone Loaf Pan Includes Storage Lid, Terracotta is pretty good, and even comes with a cover.

Except for a few items that you should already have around your kitchen, and of course the lye and oils, these five items are all you need to start you soap making adventure.  I hope you enjoy it s much as I do.  Happy Soaping.