one: make soap

Make soap. As in, oils, water, lye.

I can grate up a bar of Fels-Naptha, mix it with baking soda and borax and call it laundry soap without any real thought.

I've been doing all kinds of research (probably more than is necessary) on how to properly make soap.  Yesterday, I had finally scrounged up all the necessities and got to work.

Thanks to this easy to follow post for clear directions!

ready!

I couldn't find safety goggles. Dad's aviators were the next best thing. 

oil mash

I completely made up this recipe based on what oils I had in my closet. This is a super small batch of 4 oz grapeseed oil, 3 oz coconut oil, 4 oz caster oil, and 1 oz beeswax. I used this lye calculator to determine measurements for the lye and the liquid.

Lowes plumbing department score. 

[This is when I didn't take pictures because I value my phone sans lye more than I valued the pictures.]

in the mould, ready to cure! 

Retaining as much heat as possible during the initial saponification process - hello Simba. 

only a few more hours to wait!

and done! A lovely lavender soap!

 Now it dries for about a month, and then will be ready to use!