Where do you soap?

[Earth_Artist]

More specifically, if you don't have your own studio, where in your house do you do your cold processed soap making?

I am currently working in my garage but I have seen videos of ppl soaping in their kitchen. What are your thoughts about this? If you do soap in your kitchen what safety precautions do you put into place.

Thank you for your input.

 

[Obsidian]

I soap in my kitchen. My safety precautions are the same as they would be anywhere else, I don't do anything special just because I'm in the kitchen.

 

[lionprincess00]

Kitchen. Safety, basic goggles and gloves, placemats down to protect surfaces, paper towels torn in half beside me for quick wiping. Thats about it. Lye water is the most dangerous part of it, and as long as it's in a safe area and pets/others stay out, then there isn't much to worry about.

 

[Steve85569]

I soap in our second kitchen and living room. It's not too popular an area in the winter months because of the wood stove . Like Obsidian , I practice safe soaping and keep the area clean.

 

[LisaAnne]

I soap in the kitchen and sterilize like I am preparing food. I keep my standard soaping supplies on a rolling cart, with the rest in a bedroom. Use the usual goggle and gloves. The one very important precaution I take is I never ever walk with my lye pot. I make it in the sink and pour in oils right next to sink. I am way too clumsy.

 

[Seawolfe]

Kitchen too. I put 2 plastic trays on the stove to increase my workable counterspace. I do the usual safety thing for me, and just wipe down my work area well afterwards. Im not sure why its even a big deal? People have been using lye in the kitchen for generations - bagels, pretzels, curing olives...

 

[Earth_Artist]

Thank you all for your response. I am new to cold process so forgive me if this question was asked before. I did do a search but could not find anything on this topic.

 

[DeeAnna]

I work in the kitchen. All of the "dirty work" that involves lye is usually done on a large steel bakery pan that covers the entire top of my stove. (DH got it from the local bakery for $3!) The pan safely corrals spills. Working on my stove top lets me use my stove hood for good ventilation. Anything food related on the counters near the stove is put elsewhere. I do my best to work clean and tidy, just like I do for food prep. Other than this, I don't take any special precautions.

 

[likeablelady]

I also soap in the kitchen. I line my workspace with freezer paper, and I have a couple big empty buckets to soak all my soaping dishes. I don't want all the soap going down my drain. The paper makes cleanup easier... and I make sure to keep my soaping dishes, pans and utensils stored separately.

 

[lsg]

A couple of years ago our grandson finished the basement with a large craft room, storage room and a bathroom, (We already had a family room in half of the basement). We live on a farm and I milk morning and night. I go out and do chores in the morning, come in a put the milk in the pasteurizer, go upstairs to shower and change, then come back down stairs to spend several hours in my craft room.

 

[shunt2011]

Kitchen here as well. All safety stuff covered.

 

[Susie]

I, too, soap in the kitchen. I remove all the items from the top of the stove, and the counter adjacent to the stove. I mix the lye and water on the stove top, and do everything else on the counter top. I carefully wipe everything in the area (plus a good 3 foot radius) after making soap.

 

[penelopejane]

I soap in the laundry. I have an oven in there but no microwave. I beat my solid oils in the microwave in the kitchen and take them to the laundry.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Kitchen, all safety stuff included. I like having a large sink. I soap with a clean sink only. I need somewhere to wash in case of a spill. I also CPOP nearly all of my batches. And if I don't, they go into the fridge. I want to be close to those so I use my kitchen.

 

[amd]

I soap in my dining room. My table is just a bit higher than counter top so it's really comfortable height for mixing and working with things. My wood floor is in "well loved" condition (the house is 110 years old and original wood flooring) so I don't worry to much about spills other than clean them up as I go but if an oxide stains the wood nobody cries. I'm planning an addition for next year that expands my living room 4 feet, adds on a double garage and master bed/bath. The only question is... Do I build soap space into the garage area or convert the overly large main floor bath? I had planned to open my kitchen into that area but reality may not agree with my vision.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I soap in the kitchen! It makes it easier for cleaning up spills, plus there's usually better lighting and work surfaces that won't be destroyed by any drips. I also let everyone in the house know what I'm doing so that they know to stay out of the kitchen. My cat Cleo seems to have a sixth sense about soaping--she stays well away from the kitchen when I'm soaping.

For mixing lye, in my old place I would mix it on top of the stove, where the fan could deal with any fumes. At my current place we don't have any fans over the stove, so I mix my lye outside most of the time. The only time I'm comfortable mixing lye inside is if I have it in the sink, using frozen liquid and with the container sitting in an ice bath just to be sure that there's no fumes. I always mix in a tall pitcher, which makes lye water sloshing out extremely unlikely.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

In the kitchen. I clear away any dishes and so on, so any splashes aren't so tragic. Then I wipe down with a bit of vinegar to make sure all is fine and dandy (if there is an actual spill of lye or batter, I clear it up with water before a final rinse with vinegar)

 

[kumudini]

In my basement, but I do bring the pot of hard oils to my kitchen for melting. Now that I got myself a crockpot I'll just use that in the basement itself. Before we came to this house though, I used to soap in the kitchen. Just the standard precautions and soaping with care.

 

[Earth_Artist]

Well that settles it! I am going to soap in my kitchen too! Way easier than the garage and much nicer too!
Thank you so much!

 

[enny]

I'm wondering too, if you make soap for selling aren't there any requirements to have a separate workspace? Can you make soap in the kitchen for example?