Where do you make your soap?

[MissMandy]

Where do you make your CP soap? Do you make it in your kitchen? And what if anything do you put down to protect your surfaces? I think the kitchen is the only place I'll be able to make it.

Also, how much uninterupted time should I set aside for making my first batch?

 

[dubnica]

I make soap in my kitchen and I think you need at least an hour to be able to do one batch of soap. Make sure you have everything prepared - all the tools and oils so you don't have to look for anything in the middle of it. There is great tutorial for first time soap maker - look up tutorials on this forum. I used that to make my first batch and it was a success.

 

[Gregory]

Also make sure all Animals..people and other things that will get in the way are out of thee room. Nothing worse than turning around and boom a cat in the way or your friend wearing your new soap! Best of Luck!

Also where in PA are you from??? I'm in Tioga...which is north central...about 1/2 hour from NY State.

 

[MissMandy]

thanks
I'm in Pittsburgh.

 

[Jezzy]

I make my soap in the kitchen too. I put an old towel down to catch any spills.

I would set aside a good hour too. Be mentally prepared. I was soooo nervous my first batch and very excited at the same time. Because I had spent a long time preparing and reading up on soap making before I made my first batch I knew what to expect... Well pretty much. I think every soap maker runs into bumps along the road. Keep your recipe simple (my first bar was for laundry. CO and PO nothing else.) If you are using a FO know how it works when being soaped. eg does it speed up trace ect. ect. The more prepared you are the smoother it will go!

Have fun and remember.... Soap making is additing! :wink:

 

[neonix]

I'll be making soap in my kitchen as well so this is good news that others do the same.

 

[Deda]

My sweet bunny turned our mudroom into a soap kitchen.
I love being able to leave everything out.

Edited; damn iPhone - sweet hubby! Bunny is my son...

 

[Stacey]

I make my soap in the kitchen too.

I measure my water for the lye on the counter next to the sink. I put the container with the water IN the sink. Then measure out the lye. When I pour the lye into the water I do it right in the sink. That way I don't worry about so much about spills or bad reactions. It can all go down the drain if need be. (I still use all the safety procautions though: gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves.)

Then when I've measured my oils and want to mix in the lye, I set the soaping pot in the other sink. So the farthest my lye water has to travel is about 12 inches.

That process works really well for me. Plus with my soaping pot in the sink I can see in it better when I'm mixing.

I too set aside about an hour or two of uninterrupted kitchen time. My husband learned early on that if I'm soaping that he needs to stay out of the kitchen. The only time he's allowed to come in is when I need him to help me pour the soap into the molds. :wink:

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I make soap in the kitchen. I have a large piece of cardboard to protect the counter top. :wink:

 

[cwarren]

I make my soap in the kitchen too.

I measure my water for the lye on the counter next to the sink. I put the container with the water IN the sink. Then measure out the lye. When I pour the lye into the water I do it right in the sink. That way I don't worry about so much about spills or bad reactions. It can all go down the drain if need be. (I still use all the safety procautions though: gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves.)

Then when I've measured my oils and want to mix in the lye, I set the soaping pot in the other sink. So the farthest my lye water has to travel is about 12 inches.

That process works really well for me. Plus with my soaping pot in the sink I can see in it better when I'm mixing.

I too set aside about an hour or two of uninterrupted kitchen time. My husband learned early on that if I'm soaping that he needs to stay out of the kitchen. The only time he's allowed to come in is when I need him to help me pour the soap into the molds. :wink:

This is how I do it too !!!

 

[albo]

yep, another kitchen soaper here too. secretly I leave gaps in the paper I put down on the benches, hoping for a small spill so "oh dear how sad" we have to finally get a new kitchen. it's only been on my wish-list for about 8 years!

Great tip about using the double sink like that though! I've been taking my lye and water outside to mix, because of warnings about the fumes and the fact that I have two small children (I soap while they're asleep during the day, but I don't want the house full of fumes).

 

[Lynnz]

wish I could say in my purpose built soaping room but alas I too soap in my humble little kitchen with the bench covered with newspaper.......love the idea of carboard!!!!!!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I soap in the kitchen too.
All the surfaces are covered with heavy duty bin liners ( the large wheely bin size ). Easy to wipe clean and re-use, tossed out when they become tatty.

 

[gogreen]

I soap in the kitchen. I line the counter with cut plastic bags, then put old newsaper on top. Great tricks I learned from others when working with lye (other than safety precautions such as goggles, gloves, etc...) is to take a anti-static dryer sheet and rub it on the rim of the container you are putting the lye in...lye tends to fly! The other tip is to put damp paper towels on the scale & surrounding the scale, just in case a lye bead/flake escapes...it will be attracted to the water!

Good luck!

 

[nattynoo]

Another kitchen soaper.
My first CP batch took me about an hour & I had soap everywhere!! I used every container, spoon, spatula & cloth I had handy. What a mess.
Bit more organised these days.

 

[scouter139]

Kitchen here also. Ii you have your lye solution premade I'd say 1 hour...if not 90 min.,what part of Pittsburgh? Sorry about the typos...I am typing on a phone.

 

[Mom210]

I soap in my laundry room on top of my washer , its easy to clean and I just scrape the drips into the machine when I am done ( while they are still warm) and add a cup of borax. I have only done CPHP so far so lye isn't a worry for me in the laundry. I dont line the washer with anything , I figure if you can bake soap in an enamel ware pan , then enamel on my washer should hold up. Then again I have only made about 6 batches thus far. I do line my scale however with plastic wrap.

 

[Stacey]

yep, another kitchen soaper here too. secretly I leave gaps in the paper I put down on the benches, hoping for a small spill so "oh dear how sad" we have to finally get a new kitchen. it's only been on my wish-list for about 8 years!

Great tip about using the double sink like that though! I've been taking my lye and water outside to mix, because of warnings about the fumes and the fact that I have two small children (I soap while they're asleep during the day, but I don't want the house full of fumes).

I don't have too much trouble with fumes in the kitchen. I don't leave any windows open or fans on to cause breezes or drafts that will blow the fumes around. I pour the lye in the water and stir it a little then walk away. I come back a couple of times to stir it again just to make sure everything is mixed up well. But for the most part, I leave it alone and it leaves me alone. Until I need it to do it's soaping magic.

I feel safer with lye water in the sink in the kitchen than carrying it around. I'm sort of a klutz and I can just see me dropping it or tripping on something. Then I'd be in a world of hurt.

 

[ToniD]

I was making soap in the kitchen, but just moved to the laundry room. I did not have room for soaping stuff in the kitchen, so I stored stuff in a bin and carried it up and down the stairs each time. For my birthday, my boys got me a small microwave to melt my oils in and my husband got me a shelf to store all the stuff on. They rigged a bar to hang utensils on over the laundry table. Everything in one spot--I love it.

 

[albo]

I don't have too much trouble with fumes in the kitchen. I don't leave any windows open or fans on to cause breezes or drafts that will blow the fumes around.

i'm glad to hear you say that, because my kitchen is right in the middle of my house and I don't actually have any windows near my sink. So far I haven't had any dramas with getting back inside and back into the kitchen with my lye water, but it only takes one time for there to be something on the floor, hey?