Hello from metro Detroit

[Mistrael]

Hi all... My name is Michelle, but that was taken so I'm using my gaming handle for my account.

I caught the soaping bug the way I do everything else... See it, get curious, research obsessively for a bit, and dive in head first. My kids and husband have even learned a lot about soap because I watch YouTube videos on the television! Fortunately they're used to my crafty obsessions... When I fell in love with cooking, I went to culinary school, and now I've been knitting and crocheting for about 9 years. Last weekend I finally got around to learning to knit entrelac by starting a big shawl with a color shifting yarn. (It's going well, btw.)

I've been lurking here for a while, as this place usually pops up when I Google a question, so I figured I ought to say something.

When I made my first soap (basic unscented and uncolored olive, coconut, & castor) I made the mistake of doing a CPOP with a high level of olive oil, and also let it go too long. It was soap, but it broke a bit. I went to rebatch in a crock pot, and long story short, I think I accidentally made clear soap. Hoo-boy.

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and Welcome from another metro Detroiter. How long did you CPOP. Generally you just need to heat the oven and then turn it off when you put the soap in. When I do it (not often) I just leave it overnight.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I caught the soaping bug the way I do everything else... See it, get curious, research obsessively for a bit, and dive in head first.

Welcome! Mosey on over to the Beginner's Forum and find the Sticky "Beginner's Learn to Soap Online". Lots of good info there to get you started. Take a cuppa along and scroll down to Lovin' Soap Studio to get a handle on most of the stuff we talk about here.

Most of the equipment you need you probably already have in your kitchen, with the exception of a stick blender which you might find at a thrift store or Walmart, Target, etc. You can use a whisk to bring soap to trace, but a stick blender is faster.

LYE Look for Rooto "100% sodium hydroxide" (lye) locally at the hardware store or big box stores (drain cleaner). For very little expense, you can buy lard at the grocery store which makes a fine bar of soap all by itself. I wouldn't recommend 100% olive oil (Castile) soap to start with... it takes a long time to trace and requires a long cure.

Make a few 1 lb batches to get the hang of it before tackling a goat's milk soap -- goat's milk contains sugar which causes the soap to heat up so it requires special handling.

DeeAnna's Soapy Stuff is a good read for Newbies & experienced soapers alike.
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapyStuff.asp

This thread is a fun read about what pitfalls await Newbies:
What advice would you give to your beginning soaping self?
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-advice-would-you-give-to-your-beginning-soaping-self.62916/

The best way to search SMF: GOOGLE
(type your keywords here) site:soapmakingforum.com
If you want to search for a phrase, put the phrase in quotes.
You can include individual words along with phrases

Last weekend I finally got around to learning to knit entrelac by starting a big shawl with a color shifting yarn. (It's going well, btw.)

We have a separate Forum for that.

When I made my first soap (basic unscented and uncolored olive, coconut, & castor) I made the mistake of doing a CPOP with a high level of olive oil, and also let it go too long. It was soap, but it broke a bit. I went to rebatch in a crock pot, and long story short, I think I accidentally made clear soap. Hoo-boy.

Hoo-boy indeed! That's quite an adventure. If you want to give it another try, members are finding success with Zany's No-Slime Castile.

 

[Mistrael]

Hello and Welcome from another metro Detroiter. How long did you CPOP. Generally you just need to heat the oven and then turn it off when you put the soap in. When I do it (not often) I just leave it overnight.

Heh. Yeah, I left the oven on for an hour or so, then turned it off. Oops! And now I definitely have half a batch of clearish liquid soap and half a batch of creamy soap. At least it's usable, right?

Welcome! Mosey on over to the Beginner's Forum and find the Sticky "Beginner's Learn to Soap Online". Lots of good info there to get you started. Take a cuppa along and scroll down to Lovin' Soap Studio to get a handle on most of the stuff we talk about here.

Most of the equipment you need you probably already have in your kitchen, with the exception of a stick blender which you might find at a thrift store or Walmart, Target, etc. You can use a whisk to bring soap to trace, but a stick blender is faster.

LYE Look for Rooto "100% sodium hydroxide" (lye) locally at the hardware store or big box stores (drain cleaner). For very little expense, you can buy lard at the grocery store which makes a fine bar of soap all by itself. I wouldn't recommend 100% olive oil (Castile) soap to start with... it takes a long time to trace and requires a long cure.

Make a few 1 lb batches to get the hang of it before tackling a goat's milk soap -- goat's milk contains sugar which causes the soap to heat up so it requires special handling.

DeeAnna's Soapy Stuff is a good read for Newbies & experienced soapers alike.
https://classicbells.com/soap/soapyStuff.asp

This thread is a fun read about what pitfalls await Newbies:
What advice would you give to your beginning soaping self?
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-advice-would-you-give-to-your-beginning-soaping-self.62916/

The best way to search SMF: GOOGLE
(type your keywords here) site:soapmakingforum.com
If you want to search for a phrase, put the phrase in quotes.
You can include individual words along with phrases

We have a separate Forum for that.
View attachment 40893

Hoo-boy indeed! That's quite an adventure. If you want to give it another try, members are finding success with Zany's No-Slime Castile.

I got a bunch of my soaping supplies at Dollar Tree, and other stuff from Amazon, and oils and stuff from the grocery store. We have a Costco membership, so I think I'm going to pick up some CO and OO there next time. I'm nerding out big time over here, and it's good that my husband just goes with it.

I'll have to figure out how to do pics. Technology and I aren't really friends, so it might take a bit.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[shunt2011]

Heh. Yeah, I left the oven on for an hour or so, then turned it off. Oops! And now I definitely have half a batch of clearish liquid soap and half a batch of creamy soap. At least it's usable, right?

As long as it doesn't Zap you may be okay with some sort of soap.

 

[Mistrael]

As long as it doesn't Zap you may be okay with some sort of soap.

No zap on any of it! I've separated the clear from the creamy and am going to heat the creamy again, take my hand mixer to it, and add some essential oils and either salt or sugar to make a foot scrub. The clear liquid... I don't know yet. We don't use liquid soap!

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Mistrael!


IrishLass

 

[Relle]

Welcome Michelle .