Soap Suds Part III

Our soap has been resting quietly for about 24 hours now, and nap time is over. 

You will note that there is a bit of oxidation on the backs.   Unless it is moisture, i am not sure what causes this, but it doesn't affect the bar.  If anybody figures it out, feel free to shout it out. 

Slowly and gently press on the back of the mold to release the bar. 

What did i tell you?  Ya get about three good bars from this mold.  Oh Well. 
The tray molds are easy to remove because they generally release on their own.  I suppose it is because of the weight of the giant bar.

These are two of my favorite fancy molds, and they come out fairly consistently.

Time to get out the ol' Galloping Gourmet Bash N Chop to cut the big bars into small bars.

Look!  What a lovely loaf of....soap!

Lay the bars out on trays lined with freezer paper or butcher paper.  Be sure to leave space around each one so that they get plenty of air.

The bulk of the work is over, now, and the anticipation part begins.  The soap needs to cure for about eight weeks before you use it, but you are going to become real friendly with it in that time, because for the first several weeks, ya gotta flip them over every day, and then every other day or so for the rest of the time.  You want them to let them get aired out all over so they cure evenly.  

After the curing is done, draw yourself a nice warm bath and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

One last tip.  Write on the liner paper whatcha got on the tray.  You may think you will remember what you put in the soap, but it is kinda like tossing something in the freezer without marking it.  You think you will remember when you throw it in there, but after stuff gets frozen, it all looks alike, and two months down the line you have no idea what it started out as.  Write it down, now.  Trust me.

 

 Yes, that says "goose."  Remember the geese we butchered last week?  We rendered some of the fat for the soap.  Susan "Guess Who" Dear Susan assures us it will make a nice, luxurious bar.  Can't wait to try it out.

Last year we tried something new, and were quite pleased with the results, so it is going in the regular line up.  Here is the recipe for a....

Shampoo Bar
6 oz Castor oil
15 oz Coconut oil
10 oz Olive oil
3 oz Palm oil
6 oz Jojoba

2T Steric acid
5.4 oz Lye
15 oz goat milk
Vitamin E
Fragrance oil

Remember when i complained about how the airlines won't let ladies of a certain age carry the liquids of necessity in a gallon sized baggie? The shampoo bar is how i managed in a quart baggie.

The shampoo bar is very rich with oils, and takes way longer to cure--i think we waited about 4 months, and wound up cutting it into small little cubes to get it dried out, but it was well worth the wait.  Am thinking to get a regular sized bar we are gonna have to work about a year in advance.  Will let you know about that later.

Good luck, and happy saponification!