It’s Been a Long Time (about 12 years!)

It’s been a long time since I’ve made soap from scratch. Like over a decade. I loved making it with my good friends. Jennifer was and is my soap making inspiration. In fact, she shared the recipe for my first solo efforts this past spring. When I asked where she found it, she said “on the internet!”. A little digging and I found that this near Castille soap recipe resides at the Spruce Crafts site as “Recipe 4”. I am not certain this is the same place Jenny found it, but I suspect it might be!

Despite the many texts (questions and updates on my part, advice and assurance on her part) supporting the soap making back in early March (3/7/2021), it was my son Orion who helped me find my soap-making self again! I received several bars of homemade soaps as Christmas presents this past year (Christmas 2020). My friend Diane sent be a half-a-dozen bars of different scented soap bars – one even felted! Who knew?! My other friend Jenny sent me several samples from her first efforts at soap making. And my middle daughter gave me a big, fat bar from a relatively local soapery Buff City. But it was my son, shortly after his humorous comment about my friends’ and family’s not-so-subtle suggestion that I stink, who asked, “why don’t you make soap anymore, Mom?”  

I had to think about it. What has been going on in the past 10-12 years that has prevented me from indulging myself in soap making and general craftiness. We can sum it up to getting married to a man with three daughters and going from one child to four, moving across the country, starting over on the promotion and tenure clock, and just trying to keep up with it all! Good news, Cliff and I are quickly approaching our 10th anniversary (December 2021). This spring marks the end of my 10th year at MTSU. And I have renewed my crafty self by reviving a few old crafts (crochet and soaping) and learning a few new ones (paper crafts and glass etching). 

The Recipe: 

• 40 oz. olive oil 
• 10 oz. coconut oil 
• 16 oz. water 
• 6.9 oz. lye
• Between 1.5 and 2.2 oz. of fragrance or essential oil, according to your preference 

Please note, this is not a post on how to make soap or soap making safety. Please review books and other media sources for such. This is a way for me to document what worked, what didn’t, how it turned out, and what I’d like to change.

The first batch included the nubby soap mold. We’ve not used those bars yet, however, I would definitely tap them a bit harder to get the air out and let them cure more than 2 days before unmolding them next time. Some of the nubs came off due to air pockets. Castille soap is generally very soft and this was no different. Scent wise, the first batch contains 1.5 oz of lemon (doTERRA), .5 oz of lemon grass (doTERRA), and 1 oz of tea tree oil (Spring Valley). It is important to note that we were using then Jenny didn’t share any scenting suggestions and scent calculators used suggested the amount for a ‘strong scent’. WELL, IT IS SUPER STRONG! Orion says it’s soap for PEOPLE WHO SMELL! Honestly, it’s not that bad. But it is strong and invigorating. I think it will make a nice kitchen bar and that was the intent. 

Scent wise the second batch was divided into two smaller batches. The first half of the batch contained 1 oz of orange essential oil (doTERRA) and .5 oz cedarwood essential oil (doTERRA). The second half of the batch contained 1.25 oz of Tranquility (GuruNanda) an essential oil blend of spearmint, cedarwood, and patchouli. Again, like the first batch we were using what we had floating around the house with respect to scents and oils. It is important to note that the Tranquility came out pretty strong and heady. However, with my post-Covid (I had C-19 in November for my birthday!) nose I can barely smell any scents of Orange or Cedarwood from the first half of this batch. 

All the soaps are super silky and have a lovely lather. Orion is all set to try another batch or three. Before we do, we wanted to let these cure (which they have!) and try to find some affordable scent sources. Using doTERRA to scent 5 lbs of soap is stupidly expensive! I just received my order from Brambleberry and we will see what sort of trouble we can get into with their scents!