I have always been obsessed with homemade soaps.
For years, I have only dabbled in the 'melt and pour' types because I was afraid of working with lye.
LYE!
So after much research, I decided to dive right in and start making our own cold process soaps.
Cold process soap is not hard to make
but it does require some equipment.
Lye will not kill you, but you do have to take precautions.
Different oils have different soap making properties
and it's so fun experimenting and being creative!
This particular recipe I used takes six weeks to cure,
so one weekend in early November, I had a soap making weekend to get ready for Christmas gift giving.
And while waiting overnight to un-mold the soaps, I made these big, chunky crochet washcloths to pair them with.
There is a bit of a learning curve to making soaps,
they don't always turn out how you think they will.
That dark chocolate beauty above is a vanilla bean soap
made with palm, coconut, and olive oils.
It was pure white when I poured it into the mold!
Over time it has turned into this luscious brown...and it smells good enough to eat.
Having only made half a dozen or so batches, I won't give any soap making advice here. But I will tell you that it's highly addictive and I've had so much fun making, sharing, and using my soaps.
I just hope those that receive a big bar of soap and washcloth from us don't get offended and think they smell bad!
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