80% Lard Soaps..OK, I Get it Now.

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I think a soaping retreat wouldn't need it... After all, knitters & crocheters don't have time-out rooms on their retreats and I've seen some epic internet acrylic-vs-wool fights!

And those folks have needles!

 

[Susie]

OK, well, I have to confess that I crochet also...so I need a yarn room next to the soaping kitchen. And we need a big screened in porch with an indoor/outdoor kitchen for all the gumbo and stuff we are going to be cooking.

 

[not_ally]

That actually sounds kind of heavenly. I am oddly wistful for this imaginary place.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

And those folks have needles!

Thin little needle-sharp hooks can be even worse once they're inside too! And don't forget about the knitters with circular needles... They can be used as a garrote! :twisted: :angel: lol

 

[MorpheusPA]

Thin little needle-sharp hooks can be even worse once they're inside too! And don't forget about the knitters with circular needles... They can be used as a garrote! :twisted: :angel: lol

You. People. Scare. Me.

On the other hand, I'm a gardener. My favorite trowel has a serrated, back-cut edge like an old-fashioned dagger designed to rend flesh and make you bleed to death. I guess I shouldn't talk...

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I was going to say that my most dangerous item looks pale in comparison - my shot gun. But then I looked at my box of straight razors and realised that it is the every day items that are most scary

 

[Seawolfe]

Oooh a soapers retreat!! Ill bring my hammock and the cocktails!!
I went to my first soapers meetup and it was SO much fun - everyone making soap at their crockpot stations, and talking soap and doing zap tests behind the leaders back cause he liked phenolphthalein...

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Gent--and you have a famous literary example of such a thing being used for nefarious purposes. At least for yarn-crafters you have to go to obscure literary sources to find it.

 

[jade-15]

I know the perfect place for our retreat!! A medieval village...

http://mobile.news.com.au/finance/r...-for-just-750000/story-fncq3era-1227264878116

 

[not_ally]

"But then I .... realised that it is the every day items that are most scary".

Just wait until baby EG starts to toddle It is amazing what they can fit up their little noses.

 

[Dorymae]

I know the perfect place for our retreat!! A medieval village...

http://mobile.news.com.au/finance/r...-for-just-750000/story-fncq3era-1227264878116

Well, if we all pitched in. . . How many stone masons do we have? Plumbers? How about painters and carpenters ?

Could you imagine a village full of soap makers on vacation?! Well not from soap of course.

 

[not_ally]

I know, I actually thought about that too. A medieval village soap co-op. Awesome.

 

[Susie]

I have veggies and herbs planted...I don't know if you would call me a gardener, as it is very little. But I know that trowel.

Craig-Before the little one arrives, you need to crawl through the house on hands and knees and remove everything remotely swallow-able from all of the areas you can reach when you are on your knees.(If it will fit into a cardboard toilet paper tube, it will fit in their mouths.) Then cover the electric outlets, put child proof latches on any drawers/cabinets you don't want them in, etc. It really is a big job, as you make the first pass through to identify what you need to install/remove, then you go through and do that, then you go back through double checking it.

 

[grumpy_owl]

I say we pitch in and buy the medieval village and turn it into a crafting town. And have an annual festival called Cardstock. And btw, I am a writer as my main profession and knit as well, so I'll need the foofy writer's retreat segment as well as sheep, looms, and a dying shed.
Let's get on this, people; there's work to do.

 

[jules92207]

I'm so signing up.

 

[Jstar]

Ooooo a soapers retreat! Im in. I crochet too, so looks like we gonna need more than a couple fiber nooks

 

[Luv2Soap]

I'm all in Please sign me up!

 

[LBussy]

Is this a long cure soap or ... ?

I wait 4 weeks for a version of Irish Lass' OO/CO/Lard soap. Longer for this or no?

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm going to have to revisit this type of recipe. I did a 90% lard, 10% CO, beer soap a few years ago -- nicknamed it my "pickled pig" soap. It didn't lather all that well at first so I wasn't at all impressed, and I think that first unfavorable impression stuck with me and overshadowed my later opinions of this recipe.

From my notes:
Week 3: "Lather is 1 out of 3 (3=very good, 2= acceptable, 1=minimal). Creamy, minimal."
Week 4: "Lather is much better after 4 wk cure – it is now about a 2 out of 3. Nice, long lasting in the shower and for hand washing. Much happier with this soap now."
A year later: "Lather is lovely!"

So, Lee, give it at least a month -- two if you have the patience. I think adding a tish more CO and a dash of castor as y'all are doing will make this type of soap perform even better sooner.

***

For those asking about citric acid -- the reason why most of us use the acid+lye version, it's because citric acid is usually cheaper and easier to find than sodium citrate.

The Gent gave more accurate numbers: 10 g citric acid neutralizes 6.24 g NaOH, so add an extra 6.24 g of NaOH for every 10 grams of citric added to the recipe. Since most soapers don't have a scale that reads to tenths of a gram, I simplified the numbers in later posts to this: 10 g citric acid neutralizes 6 g NaOH.

For the amount of CA used in a hobbyist size batch of soap, either version will work fine. If you're scaling up, you'd want to use the more accurate numbers The Gent gave and round just the final answer.

 

[newbie]

Let's get back to this village idea. There was one on eBay even!! It seems there are many to choose from...wouldn't that be cool?

It's an older listing but still the concept...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...r-sale-Italian-alpine-village-for-195000.html