Cold Processed Soap...lessons learned and a Tornado comes to town

Summer is now here in full force, with flowers blooming and bees a-working! The garden is super-green after several days of rain, and a serious thunderstorm that sparked two tornados...yes, you heard right folks!...tornados! Now, many people will be blase' about this, living perhaps in areas that see tornados a-plenty, but I tell you...tornados do NOT happen here where I live in SA! Little dust devils and small whirlwinds maybe...but a full scale tornado...no. So, when the wind started blowing so hard that I thought our roof would bid us farewell, I wondered what the heck was going on. Next morning, I hear about the tornado that devastated a region about 20km from our home, and couldn't imagine what kind of wind speeds they must have experienced! I really feel bad for the poor people who have had their homes destroyed. There was a second tornado in a nearby Province (equivalent to a State in the US), that sadly killed a young child.

The garden has been annexed by large flocks of birds, probably due to the magnetic power of the fruit and vegetables, and despite the presence of a large and ferocious (not) canine, they are unperturbed. I have been forced to put bird netting around the strawberries and fruit trees...have no idea what I am supposed to do when the trees are big... for now the produce is safe :)

The roses are blooming, irises rising up like soldiers and the lavender is truly spectacular at the moment...Spring is just wonderful!


My sister came over several times over the last few days, and we made loads and loads of cold processed soap. We are totally smitten with new art! Making cold processed soap is really, really easy, as long as you take a heck of a lot of care with safety and the caustic soda handling. I have spent ages on the net, researching all that I could lay my hands on regarding the difference between what I call "real" soap, and the stuff that you can buy in the supermarket. I must say that I am horrified at what goes into most "soaps" that you get on the shelf...really there isn't much by way of actual soap in many of them. And the additives are generally not things that you want on your skin.... so from here on, we will only be using the real deal soap!

I played around with some recipes, using different oils and have come up with some interesting variations on the olive/coconut theme. Take NOTE folks...if you vary your oil content, YOU MUST run everything through a lye calculator! MUST! It's not optional! The one I used is SoapCalc, very user friendly. You can combine any number of oils, and have the recipe printed and saved.
In my journey of soapy exploration, I have picked up some tricks and learned some things that I didn't have a clue about in the beginning. Perhaps these seem like silly inconsequential things, but I am going to post them anyway...maybe someone will be inspired to make some homegrown soaps :)


1. Not all candy thermometers are created equal. It may seem like nit-picking, but I picked up a difference of between 5 and 7 degrees between readings on thermometers in the same liquid. So I checked which were the closest in temperature, and paired those for the soap making. You need two thermometers...one for the oil pot, and one for the lye glass container. Ok... so you say, "Will such a small difference have any impact on your soap?"...dunno people, but I am too type A to see this and just ignore it...

2. Soap Dust/ Soap Chalk/ Soap Ash/ Funny white residuey stuff stuck on one side of my beautiful soap....what the heck?

Hmmmmm.....so here I made my first batch of soap and was as proud as a new parent, when Lo! and Behold!...I see that as it dries, a film of white, chalky stuff starts to appear on top of the soap. At this point, the soaps were still in their silicone moulds. When I gingerly touched it, it was hard and dry, but friable and easily scraped off with a spoon. What is this? After reading what felt like thousands of web pages, here is what I have come to conclude...

This is called Soap Dust (amongst many other terms), and happens when a saponifying soap is exposed to the cold air. It doesn't seem to happen on the sides of the soap that was still in the mold, only on the bit that you could see . There appear to be two schools of thought: first, this stuff is dangerous and caustic, and you musn't tolerate it on your soap, or secondly, this is exactly the same thing as soap, just a different form, and is safe to touch and use, if a little unsightly. Goodness know! I reckon I am in the second camp: I used the soap for bathing for two days now, and I am still alive and well (and it must be said, feeling pretty smug at how good my skin feels ;) ). So then I though...ok...if it's caused by the air contact, I can stop that by putting some cling wrap over the soap after I poured it into the moulds. And it worked!!! The subsequent batches of soap were duly cling-wrapped and NO soap dust appeared anywhere....so me feeling very smug indeed! Below you can see the pretty, adorable little dust free soapling, after the cling wrap has been removed.


When you see the two soaps next to each other, you can clearly see the difference...

The soap dust is really easy to remove, if you don't want it on your soaps...just rub it off or cut /scrape off with a knife :)

3. Handheld stick blenders rock! Just don't gas the Nitro! My first batch of soap was made using a steel whisk , a strong arm, and the patience of Mother Teresa! I am (ashamedly!), no Mother Teresa, so this became tedious very quickly! Enter the Blender! This thing is superfast :) But be careful...if you use the turbo speed, you will go from water consistency to brick in 10 seconds! Just blitz the blender for 5 seconds or so, then stir, then blitz, then stir, and so on... You really can get to trace in about a minute. If you over blend, you end up with stuff that you have to push into your mould, using a steel instrument! Gently does it...

4. Adding an essential oil at trace, can cause your mixture to seize (or turn into a messy, rock hard, lumpy catastrophe!) So what you should add and in what quantities, seems to be a matter of trial and error. It appears that any alcohol containing additives, will cause your mixture to get to trace faster and /or cause it to seize. I made a batch of soap today, and let it get slowly to trace, and then hand stirred the Chamomile essential oil in...it was all ok, but because I had made a 2kg batch, by the time I was filling the last mould, it was quite thick again (I think this may have been because the temperature dropped), and I had to use a spoon to flatten the mixture a bit.

5. Gelling
This was quite a worry for me, and I spent some time trying to track down what this was and why you should /or shouldn't do this. When soap has just been placed in your moulds, it is still hot and the process of saponification (Lye/Caustic Soda turning the oils into Soap and Glycerin), generates even more heat. Some people like to insulate the soap by covering the moulds with blankets etc, to keep it warm for longer. From what I read, this seems to speed up the process of Saponification. If you take a peek, you'll see the soap become transparent from the middle to the outer edges as the heat and reaction continue. I made one batch gelling it, and another without. The only conclusion I came to was that the gelled soap was darker in colour. Several online sources, stated that your soap has undergone 99% of it's saponification at about 48hrs give or take. Over the subsequent weeks, as it cures, the last little bit happens, and supposedly the soap become "milder"... I was way too impatient and used my first soap batch after about 60 hours. It was absolutely fine and my kids and family have been using it too, with only good things to say about it!

Next, I have got to try making some kind of soap with milk in it...any tips?

♥Heidi

Home Made Cold Processed Soap

Today I made my first home made cold processed olive oil and coconut soap. I was initially a bit nervous, having read about the inherent dangers of Caustic Soda, so I took paranoid precautions. The kids and dog were expelled from the kitchen, I cleared an area and covered everything with newspaper. I used Rhonda's excellent tutorial for this soap, please go and take a look at her blog, it really is fantastic! I used this version for the ingredients, wanting to incorporate some coconut oil (I love the stuff!). I buy all my ingredients from a local organic supplier, but really, you could find olive oil and coconut oil at the supermarket just as easily :) The Caustic Soda I also bought from a local supermarket.

First, I donned latex gloves and apron. Then got all my containers ready. These must be glass or plastic. YOU CANNOT USE ANY ALUMINIUM STUFF! The caustic soda will destroy it!!

You will also need two candy thermometers...one for the Caustic Soda bowl and one for the oil bowl. The two sets of ingredients must be at the same temperature when you mix them.
For my Olive Oil , I used Olive Oil Pomace (which is a lot less expensive than Virgin or Extra Virgin Olive Oil ), which is absolutely fine to use for soap.

Prepare the moulds that you are going to use. I used some silicone moulds that are rose shaped...pretty! I sprayed them very lightly with some Spray and Cook. Put them on a tray covered with newspaper. Right, moving onto the ingredients....

So I measured out the required amounts of the oils and water (you can use rain water , but since it hasn't rained here, I used distilled water).

I took a cast iron pot, placed it on low heat on the stove, and melted the coconut oil and the olive oil pomace together. Then poured it into a glass bowl. Placed the candy thermometer on the side of the bowl.

Measure out the Caustic Soda powder in WEIGHT (not mls!), and carefully pour into the glass container with your water. I also put a candy thermometer into this glass bowl. VERY carefully and gently mix the caustic soda granules until fully dissolved. The mix is initially very cloudy, but as the soda dissolves, it becomes clear. You'll see that the mixture produces fumes and quite a lot of heat. (I made sure before I started the process that all the windows in the kitchen were open, and there was a nice breeze.) It wasn't hot enough to make my hand feel hot, ie you can still continue to mix comfortably, but you can see the temp on the candy thermometer rising quite a lot!


Above you can see the mixed caustic soda, and the heat it produced.


I waited until the temperature on both mixtures was the same, ie 50 degrees Centigrade, then very carefully poured the caustic soda into the oil mixture.


When you start mixing the ingredients, the stuff look pretty awful! Like some kind of glue! I decided to use a stainless steel whisk to mix, and as the minutes passed, the mixture became creamier in colour and thicker. It took about twenty minutes to get to the point where I could see thickening, so I decided to see what would happen if I used a handheld mixer. I didn't use the normal egg beater attachments, because you do NOT want this stuff to splatter everywhere (at this stage the stuff is still caustic!). I attached the dough hooks , and within 5 minutes of mixing , the mixture became thick enough that you could see ripples in the liquid which held their shape.

Above you can see the ripples in the mix. I have never made soap before, so I really didn't know if this was the right consistency, but having mixed for so long, decided that it must be...
I added in a blend of essential oils (I have read on the Web that the essential oil/fragrance oil etc component shouldn't be more that 1-2% of the total , but here again, I haven't tested this myself), including Lavender, Patchouli and Orange , mixing it in well with the whisk.

I then carefully transferred the mix to the moulds, being careful not to drip any on my counter top or hand :)

Above you can see the uneven surface, showing how thick it has become. When you have a mixture that has this consistency, it is referred to as having achieved "Trace" .

I placed an oven wire rack on two upside down bowls over the moulds and covered with a thick towel. Apparently you now leave it be for about a day before you can take the soaps out of the mould and leave on a wire rack to cure for 6 weeks or so.

I must say that this process was a lot easier than I imagined it would be! I really enjoyed making this soap, and will try out some more recipes. I found some great ideas here, and here.

These soaps make really nice gifts. I am going to make up a whole load to give as stocking fillers :) ...and the best part of all? If you are on a budget, these really save you loads of money. Here is my cost breakdown:

Olive Oil Pomace: 800mls = R7.28
Coconut Oil 200mls = R2.00
Caustic Soda 130g = R6.50

Total Cost = R15.78 for 12 soaps....one soap cost R1.30 to make!

For all my international readers, the "R" is for South African Rand. At today's exchange rate, the cost per soap in US Dollars is US$0.16!!! Wow! I haven't costed in the essential oils, as they are not strictly necessary and you may want to add your own blends. Suffice to say that the essential oils don't add a huge amount of extra cost :)

How have your Heartmade lists come along? Have you looked at some of the links I posted before? I am adding a Linky List for any ideas you folks may want to share for ideas for Homemade gifts...just add them below...I would love to see what ideas you've seen and liked :)

♥Heidi

Home Made Laundry Detergent...and a wip

I have been working on and off as time allows on my new pattern using the African Flower Hexagon. Above you can see a sneak peek at the wip...I have really enjoyed working with the red yarn, and of course, had to add some pink in... :)

Some feedback on the Home Made Laundry Detergent. IT ROCKS!!!!! Well, I was a bit hesitant, thinking (stupidly!) that if it cost so little to make, it couldn't do the same job as the regular stuff. It works like a charm! I have given some to my sister and mom, and so far my sister has given it a thumbs up... Mom, I still have to chat to about how she found it works :)

I did a costing exercise for you all to see...

Borax R9.99 for half a cup
Washing Soda R6.25 for half a cup
Sunlight bar of soap R5.00

So...total cost of making a very concentrated 10L bucket = R21.24

At the very least, I will do around 80 loads of washing with 10L....so the cost = R0.26 per load!!!!!

I have used half a cup of the concentrate for a load of washing. As it is really thick, I have watered it down with about 500mls of water. It really works very well. I am decidedly not buying the regular stuff anymore...after all, why spend money on that which goes down the drain?

I am going to try my hand at making soap this weekend...again, using Rhonda's recipe. This blog is awesome...go and take a look around :)

Any good ideas for cost saving that you've tried? I'd love to know :)

♥Heidi

In the car Lifesaver for Moms (and Dads!)

So...imagine the scene....

I have collected my 3 year old from playschool, and am driving home in fairly busy traffic. She is strapped into her child safety seat, at the back of the car and to the left of me. I have given her something to eat while I drive home...I forget exactly what...possibly a biscuit or something else...
She says to me,"Mommy, take this!", and, without looking away from the road, I reach my left hand between the car seats (our cars in SA are right hand drives) and hold it out to her, palm up. I innocently expect her juice bottle, toy, shoe ....
I feel a soggy, slimy, something in my hand, very runny and already oozing between my fingers...
...................aaaaarrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

So, this tutorial will show you a quick helper for when your toddler gifts you her chewed up lunch...

Quick Toilet Roll Tin

Take a medium sized tin...it has to be at least the height of your common-ol'-garden toilet roll, and must have a plastic lid. Clean it out well and dry thoroughly.


Use a permanent marker to draw a circle on the plastic lid,

Cut out using kitchen shears.

I guess that the next step is optional...I wanted my tin to look pretty, so I use some of my scrapbooking tape (this one happens to be from 7Gypsies), to tape to the opening all the way around.
Measure around the hole in the plastic lid, and cut a piece of the tape to size. Using sharp pointed scissors, clip all the way around, and and stick all the way around the hole, leaving the tape half in, half out of the hole.


Press the clipped edges down well, and turn the lid over.


Repeat the clipping on the other side and tape down well.

Measure and cut a piece of pretty paper and glue or sellotape to your tin.
Now take a standard toilet paper roll, carefully pull out the cardboard inner, and find the loose end. Pull out a short section of toilet paper.

Push the toilet roll into the tin and thread the loose section through the hole. Push the lid into place.....Voila! ...you're done. It's a lot easier to have one of these tins in the car than a box of tissues, or loose roll of toilet paper...

On another note....I made some homemade laundry detergent today. I have wanted to try and see if it works as well as the regular stuff, albeit at a fraction of the price. There are loads (no pun intended :) ) of sites that you can find info on this, but I used Rhonda's recipe. Go and check it out...her blog "Down to Earth" is fabulous and a gem for self-reliance related stuff. It was really,really, really easy to make...took me all of 10 minutes, and if the users are to be believed, works as well as the store bought stuff. VERY economical as well!
I am going to try it out on a load of laundry now...I'll let you all know how things go!

Nectarines a-growing...

Cherries beginning to form...

Garden helper and chaser of birds...

Strawberries flourishing...

I did a bit of gardening today and am pleased to say that everything is growing well. I have had very little trouble with pests, and only had to spray with organic insecticide (Margaret Roberts) for some aphids I found on a fruit tree... Summer is truly here in SA!

Lemon Tree with a gazillion flowers...

I am really very excited about the garden...my next endeavour is to learn to make jam...

♥Heidi

The DH's Office...what colour do you think it will be?

So, in a week and a half, the new ICU is opening! This is a big deal for us, because it is a "closed" ICU and we are all very excited about it!!! In preparation, I am busy decorating Gerry's new office. Of course, everything is currently beige and white (is that supposed to be calming for patients or for putting doctors to sleep?), and really folks, I cannot abide it! SO....here are the before pictures...not quite done, but enough of an idea for you to take in the scene...


It's not a huge room, space being quite an issue because we are after all, on the fourth floor, so the room is about 13m2 in size and in addition has an attached loo. What is wonderful, is that on the one side there is an entire bank of windows, so it get LOADS of light coming in. I have been running around all week (at least every moment I managed to squeeze in), getting together all the ideas and bits of furniture. I really want this to be a space he enjoys being in...



Ok...so the question, Dear Readers is this....What colour/s do you think I am going to paint this room in? (*Hint: No, it's not pink...)...

For fun, I am going to give a copy of my Lollo African Flower Bear Pattern to the person, who guesses correctly (or the nearest in any case... :) ) Enter by leaving a comment , with the colour you think the office will be :) PLEASE NOTE: if you decide to enter by leaving a comment, you must have a Ravelry account! The files are huge, so the pattern can only be delivered via Ravelry!

Next week, when the office is done, I will post pictures and the colours will be revealed!

Hope you are all working on your Heartmade lists :) I have pinned a lot of ideas and stuff on Pinterest, so take a look for some inspiration!

♥Heidi

Bath Melts Tutorial

Thanks very much to everyone who commented and followed my Pinterest boards! And thank you to everyone who visits my blog...I don't always have time to react to comments, but want you all to know that I appreciate you all :)

Today was a really intense day in the ICU. Gerry arrived back from the States last night (jet-lagged, the poor thing!), and was back at work full throttle this morning. We were very busy, and my time has run out today... So I am doing a short tutorial on how to make a really easy Heartmade gift, which when you have tried them, will have you making them in bulk like I do... :) really, I promise.

I gave a jar of these Bath Melts to my friends in our Knitting group, and they all loved them. Even my girls (and Gerry...) use them every night in their baths. They are super easy to make, and you use easy-to-find ingredients....they are awesome for soft skin!

I make my melts in bulk, because they are so popular and they don't last all that long once you've discovered how divine they are. If you want to make smaller quantities, just use the same ratios as below:
1 measure Creme of Tartar: 1 measure Cornflour: 2 measures Bicarbonate of Soda: approximately 2- 2.5 measures of Coconut Oil. Add the coconut oil slowly, mixing your mixture very well in between additions of oil. It is easier to add more, than to take away (which obviously means you need to add more dry ingredients ). If you prefer, you can use less Coconut Oil and add some Jojoba, or other oils which you like.

If you want to add some essential oils, add them to the melted coconut oil, before you add it to the dry mix. I like to use Rose and Lavender essential oils, with dried rose petals and dried lavender respectively. PLEASE : make sure that you know what essential oils are safe to use, depending on who you are giving the melts to! If you are in any doubt, leave the oils out! The melts will still be divine for bathing :)

Bath Melts Tutorial

Ingredients:

2.5kg Creme of Tartar
2.5kg Cornflour
5 kg Bicarbonate of Soda
2.5 Litres Coconut Oil
Essential Oils of your choice
Dried Rose Petals or Lavender or other dried flowers of your choice
Large tub
Sieve
Wire whisk


Sieve all the dry ingredients together. Make sure that there are no big lumps in your mix.
Use your wire whisk to mix very well.


Add 4 cups of dried flowers. I have used rose petals, but Lavender also works well. Mix thoroughly into the dry mix.


Above you can see the huge tub of Coconut Oil , before I have melted it. Coconut Oil is solid at room temperature, so scoop some out and place in a Pyrex measuring jug. Melt on low heat , 30-40 seconds at a time, in your microwave, until all the oil is melted. BE CAREFUL not to overheat and burn yourself!!!!


My measuring jug holds a litre, so it makes it easier to keep track of how much oil I have added.


If the bulk of your coconut oil has melted, but there are a few white solid lumps left in the jug, use your wire whisk to gently stir...the lumps will melt into the rest of the oil.


Carefully pour the oil into the dry mixture. Use your bare hands to work the oil through as much of the dry mix as possible. You will need to add more oil, so don't be surprised if the mix is still very dry...it is better to add the oil slowly, and end up with the right consistency, than add too much...you can't un-add!

Melt some more coconut oil, and add half a litre at a time. After adding the oil, mix very well, crumbling the dry mix/oil together to ensure that the oil is well spread. You may need all the coconut oil as described, or less...add slowly , small volumes at a time...check your consistency often.


As you work through the mix, you know that you have added enough Coconut Oil, when your fingers leave a clear impression in the mix, that holds it's shape.

Roll balls of the mix into a golf ball sized melt. Place on a baking sheet on a baking tray, and leave in the fridge overnight.

When you run your bath, just pop one of these into the warm water...they will slowly fizzle and melt. Be warned, they are addictive.

Because these melts have no preservatives, you will need to keep them in the fridge...
Once they are hard, put them in a pretty jar and add a nice ribbon, and Voila! you have a lovely gift to give :) Just remember that you will be asked for more... :)

Tomorrow I will post a pretty label sheet for you to use for a gift tag on your Bath Melt jars ....

♥Heidi