I have never, ever been interested in making soap. I honestly thought it was the most boring thing to do..you had to let the soap cure for weeks before you could use it. And it was just soap. All I have been thinking about these last couple of weeks is making soap.

Re-batching...
Cold Process....
Hot Process... (You can use a crock pot!! Yes, crock pot!)
Melt and Pour...

I have learned so much!

So, Sunday night I made homemade bar soap! I used the hot process method in my crock pot. I cleaned it really well before and after. (just incase you were wondering...)

I used Olive oil, cocoa butter, castor oil, and the sodium hydroxide water mixture. It made a very creamy lye soap that has a nice stable lather.

Here is a picture of 4 bars from the batch, I made 2 lbs. which made 12 nice size bars.

And a close up of a bar

I did have a few bumps along the way. It was somewhat trial and error but, the great thing is that it is almost impossible to ruin soap.

Here is a detailed description of how to make hot process soap: Hot Process Soap

Some tips I found useful:

• For creamy soap, use a butter like shea butter or cocoa butter.
• A stick blender is key to not having to stir for long amount of time.
• For your first batch keep things simple. Fragrance oils and too many extra can can leave you confused when something goes wrong and make things harder to fix.
• Don't rush it! Just mix and wait. Mix and wait.  Eventually, things will set up.
• Don't be scared of the lye! Yes, lye is caustic and can harm you but, if you're a nervous wreck, you can harm yourself!

Hot process soap is ready to use within 24 hours but, the longer you let the soap cure the harder the bar will get and last in the shower.

I plan to cut up a few bars tonight and make laundry detergent. I found a box of Borax at Wal-Mart for about $3 but, no washing soda so I'll use baking soda. I'm going to make the liquid detergent.

I have already started using half of one bar for washing dishes and it makes my dishes shine!!


I'll make a post soon of all the sites I looked through and videos I watched so you can make your own soap too!!

I said in my intro that I am a light weight green person meaning, I'm probably not green enough to have one of those catchy names like "environmentalist" or whatever the new one is these days... BUT I'm still a little green.

I decided to make a list of things I would like go greener in, as I get better in these areas I will cross the items off the list.

1. Cloth Snack Sacks (found some cute ones on Etsy that have nylon here)
2. Glass food containers. I now have plastic and I have been hearing some awful things about the hormones in them. I would like to move away from it completely. 
3. Unpaper towels (check them out here) {sorry I will not be using unpaper toilet tissue, no thanks.}
4. Cloth baby wipes (I just need to get a pack of baby wash cloths)
5. I would like to try to make my own soap. And I made laundry detergent! Yeah!
6. Cloth menstrual pads (Check out my review of Gem Cloth)
7. Various sized reusable bags to use instead of using grocery bags.

My main reason for wanting to be "greener" is not so much to save the environment although that is important to me, I want to be a bit more self sufficient. I know I have a loooong way to go but, in the case of an emergency I want to still be able to provide for my family. I know in the long run the more I learn to do on my own, the more money we will save as well.  ( I hope that makes sense)

I have always liked to craft and design but, I never thought I would enjoy making things for my family as much as I do. 

If you're wondering why sewing clothing isn't on the list.... *ahem* I don't really like sewing clothing. If it involves reading a pattern and cutting out a million pieces...no thanks.