My first Loaf

[sudsly]

Hello all and glad to make my first post. Ive known a couple people over the course of a few years that have tried their hand at making soap. Most recently my neighbor. He gave me a couple bars to try and they were way better than store bought soap. So now I have the itch to make my own soap being the diy crafty person I am. I talked to my neighbor and he told be he used melt and pour soap and where he got it from. So I jumped right in and started reading articles and watching youtube videos on the MP process. I ordered my supplies and and currently waiting for them to arrive along with molds.

I am a person that doesnt like to wait on stuff, and since you cant get quality melt and pour from craft stores, I decided to give cold process a try while I wait. I didnt add any color, fragrance or essential oils for the sole purpose of keeping it simple to learn the process. I bought a cheapy mold from michaels to use. I made a gentle soap using Coconut oil, Lard, Olive oil, Distilled water and Lye.

 

[TeresaT]

Congratulations! Welcome and nice job. That looks lovely, nice and creamy.

Did you run your recipe through a soap calculator before you made it?

Did you use weights and not volume?

Did you line or use mineral oil or Vaseline on that mold before you poured? If not, don't be surprised if it sticks. You can put it in the freezer to help with that.

I'm sure others with far more experience will chime in, but those came to mind when I read your post. Don't forget to post the cut photos. And your M&P creations. I'm pretty envious of the talented people on this forum with both lye & M&P soaps. You'll learn a lot from them.

 

[snappyllama]

Congratulations on your first soap! Now the waiting really begins... it's totally worth it. Handmade soap is so much better than store bought.

Like Teresa said, don't be surprised if it sticks in that mold. Next time (I know there will be a next time!), you might want to line it with freezer paper - shiny side touching the soap.

 

[Misschief]

I have two of the same molds and I always line them with freezer paper. Your loaf looks great, by the way. Congrats on your first loaf of soap!

 

[soaring1]

You did a wonderful job on your first soap. You will be hit by the soap bug. Trying new and different combinations out. I know I was.

 

[galaxyMLP]

That is a beautiful soap! First or not. I'm really digging it!

I second the freezer trick if your soap wont come out easily. I have that exact mold and I dont always line the short sides. A good trick with it is to slide the ends off instead of just pulling them off. You can lift them a little on then ends and then work to slide them off the loaf instead of pulling them off. This limits the chances of the soap coming off with the mold in chunks.

 

[sudsly]

Thank you for the kind words and tips. I used the basic formula from the everything soap making book. I measured everything in ounces. I forgot about the freezer paper I wasn't sure it was needed in a non wood mold. But if I have an issue I'll use the freezer. How long do you leave it in the freezer for usually if it's sticky?

Next batch I'll try some essential oils and basic coloring.

 

[CaraBou]

Way to go sudsly, and welcome to the forum! An hour or two in the freezer should do; just check again and put it back in if it's still not ready.

That's a great book but always run recipes through a soap calculator if you haven't previously verified it. I use soapcalc.com (check out the tutorial for it in the beginner's forum), but there are many others too. It's just good practice as there can be misprints and other errors in other people's recipes.

 

[dibbles]

Your soap looks so nice and I'm sure you can't wait to use it! It's almost as much fun to use your own soap as it is to make it. Congratulations on your first batch.

 

[Soapsavvy]

Sudsly, you did a stellar job for that being your first soap making project. It looks like a tasty Lemon meringue pie. Yummy!!!!! I'd rather eat it than bathe in it LOL!!! Great job!!! :clap::clap::clap:

 

[navigator9]

Congratulations on your first batch, and congratulations on your decision to hold off on color or fragrance. I'm sure you discovered that you had plenty to keep you busy with "plain" soap for your first attempt. And believe me, "plain" handmade soap beats the very best commercial soap by a mile! You won't be disappointed. Do you know if your soap gelled? If it did, you can try to unmold it the day after making it. If not, the process of saponification will take longer, and it may take days before it's ready. You can do a tongue test to be sure. If it's still zappy...wait. Waiting will be hard, but if it's still zappy, it's probably not going to come out of the mold cleanly. Please let us know how it turns out, more pictures, too. And be sure to save a piece of your first batch. I never did, and I regret it. Again, congrats on your beautiful, creamy looking soap!

 

[shunt2011]

Congratulations on your first batch. It looks nice and creamy. Well done! As others have stated, it's important to run any recipe through a soap calculator for the most accurate measuring. I also highly recommend measuring in grams. Much less room for error. I'm sure there will be more batches soon.

 

[Susie]

Congratulations!

You need to WEIGH the ounces out not MEASURE them. (grams are MUCH more accurate!) It may not make much of a difference on the water, but oils are lighter than water and will not yield the same results. Also, you need to definitely weigh out the NaOH. A good digital scale is a necessary piece of soaping equipment.

 

[sudsly]

Thanks all.

I did weight everything Susie.

And navigator once I was finished I tried to gel it by putting a cardboard teepee over it. I just put my tongue on it and it's not zappy at all so I'm guessing it gelled.

I will remember to run every recipie through soap calc. I have to be honest soap calc is a bit intimidating because I'm not really sure what I'm going for using it.

And thank you everyone for the kind words and encouragement. I was only going to be doing mp but I'm really rethinking everything now. I really liked the workability of the CP.

 

[sudsly]

ok so the freezer trick worked to get the loaf out of the mold nicely. So here are the cuts, nothing special, but we will see how it does after curing.

 

[Seawolfe]

Nice! I do love a plain white chunky bar.

 

[Marshall]

Very nice! Now the hard part starts, at least for me it is. That 4 week wait!

 

[navigator9]

ok so the freezer trick worked to get the loaf out of the mold nicely. So here are the cuts, nothing special, but we will see how it does after curing.

Nothing special! Are you kidding? You have no idea how many people fail on their first attempt at making cold process soap. I always feel badly when people are too ambitious and try to use too many ingredients, colors, fragrance or techniques, fail, and then are discouraged. You did it, you made beautiful, handmade soap. You should be very proud. :clap:

 

[penelopejane]

^^^and their second, third and fourth tries! Really lovely soap. [emoji322][emoji2]

 

[Steve85569]

Nice job!
Be prepared for future batches not coming out as well ( just a word of caution).
Sometimes the soaping gremlins just appear and I find myself asking "what did I do?".
Move on to colors and smells slowly and be careful of where you get them. Colors and fragrances from craft stores may change dramatically when used in hand made soap.