Soap Bar #2 Mint Chocolate Mocha

This is the soap that I have pictured in my header currently.  I love mint, I love chocolate and I love my coffee so this was a bar I selfishly did for ME.  I used a bit of a different recipe as far as the oils I used and I got the base ingredients and measurements out of a book I borrowed from the library called "Clean, Naturally - recipes for body, home and spirit" by Sandy Maine.  This is a really good book worth checking out.  There are several soap recipes as well as cleaners and creams.  I literally read this book from cover to cover.

These bars are still curing and will be ready for sale the first week of April 2014.  I can honestly say that they have my house smelling so wonderful just by sitting on a rack curing on my counter.  I personally can't wait to use it.  I keep thinking that this would be a great kitchen sink soap.  There are actual coffee ground in the soap so it will be a little exfoliating and the mint smell would  help wash off any stinky onion or garlic smells from your hands after cooking.  I of course will be using it in the shower to help WAKE UP in the morning.

I just love the looks of it:

Mint Chocolate Mocha Recipe:

24 oz Olive Oil

24 oz Coconut Oil

38 oz Vegetable Shortening (Crisco)

12 oz Sodium Hydroxide - lye

32 oz water

2 tablespoons cocoa powder for coloring

1/4 c expresso coffee grounds and juice squeezed through coffee filter

3 oz. Organic Peppermint Essential Oil

How did I get into soap making?

I have been asked how in the world I got involved with making my own soap.  The answer is simple...  I have been buying handmade soap from others for about three years now.  I love it.  The more scent the better for me.  I have shopped at craft sales, I have bought from Mother Earth News Fair vendors, I have purchased off Ebay and I have randomly shopped other peoples sites online.  I have never had a bad bar of handmade soap and loved them all..

The thing is, this kind of stuff is right up my alley.  I make my own homemade laundry soap, all purpose cleaners, laundry balls and crayon lipstick with my daughter Camille.  I enjoy doing things like this and I just decided to add soap making to my list of hobbies.  Thus far I am really loving the satisfaction of seeing a beautiful bar of soap emerge from fats and lye.

Each batch will be different and each scent will probably become my favorite.

So HEY YOU, yeah Y-O-U, why don't you leave me a comment on what scents are your favorite to inspire my future batches..

Soap Bar #1 Orange Cinnamon Spice

What a better way to track the soaps I make than to blog about each one.  This will show my readers what I have been making and it will help me to document what I used in each recipe for future bars if they become favorites.

The Orange Cinnamon Spice is already one of my favorites.  I am using it right now in my shower.  The lather is perfect, not to little, not to much.

Currently I am making Cold Processed Soaps.  I really like this method and I am becoming more comfortable making soap this way.  Through some trial and errors I am figuring out how to make my soap get to trace a little quicker.  I started by hand stirring with a spoon and it literally would take me an hour and a half of constant stirring and stirring and stirring....ugh!  Who has time for that??!!

I found an ancient hand mixer at Goodwill one day for $3 so I bought it to give that a try.  When I say ancient, I mean it:

So far I can honestly say that has been the best $3 I've spent.  Only thing is, I'm not sure how much life it has in it.  It seems like its overheating after about three minutes of use.  So I usually pulse and turn off and stir, then pulse and turn off and stir.  My trace time has pretty much been cut in half so for now this works for me!!

The Orange Cinnamon Spice soap turned out really nice.  I felt inspired to add some real orange peels to it since there just happened to be a big ole bowl of oranges sitting on my counter at the time and I thought it just might make the soap look pretty.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I was pleased.

You will notice that my bars are all different shapes and sizes.  I cut my bars of soap by hand thus giving it that made at home look even more, which I love!

Orange Cinnamon Spice Recipe:

32 oz Organic Palm Kernal Oil

30 oz Coconut Oil

25 oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil

11.75 oz Sodium Hydroxide

32 oz water

3 oz  Orange Cinnamon Essential Oil

1/3 c of dried orange peel finely chopped

Let the soaping begin.....

I have been making homemade laundry detergent for almost two years now.  Doing this has sparked my curiosity on making homemade cleaners and soaps.  I took a soap class last year at a local place called Quiet Creek Herb Farm.  It was the start of something really fun for me.  I was a bit nervous to handle the lye part of soap making and wanted to be sure to have a hands on live presentation on just how to do it.  Rusty Orner did a great job of teaching soap making and the chemistry behind it.

My first batch was completely given out as Christmas presents to school teachers, friends and family.  The response from this was amazing and thus created my desire to make soaps to sell at local craft shows and online for something to do and to perhaps create some pocket change for extra activities for the family.

I hope to keep this blog up and running to document my progress and show off my fun hobby.  Oh how I only wish I could share the smell of these soaps.

Keep checking back, I will be making soap frequently.

Below is the only type of soap that is cured and ready to sell.  Its basic cold pressed soap using organic palm kernel oil, coconut oil, olive oil, sodium hydroxide (lye) and organic Orange Cinnamon essential oil.. I also took an orange peel and chopped it and dried it to add color.  It turned out beautiful.  If your interested I am selling this for $4.00 per 4 ounce bar.  You can comment below or email me at pookeymom@msn.com with SOAP in the title of your email.