Rounding up my equipment; cold process soap

My daughter and I are both counting down the days; we share one countdown, soapmaking which we’ll be doing during the Thanksgiving holidays. She also has two more countdowns; Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She’s excited seeing me pull out my soapmaking equipment….

I’ve already set aside my stock pots, immersion blender, and my dependable Kitchen Aid mixer which I purchased about six years ago. If I remember correctly, I spent a little over $300, for that, it was a great investment. All the items I’ve listed are used exclusively for making skin care products..

The above mentioned items, along with essential oils, herbs, and my carrier oils; jojoba, coconut, olive oil, and palm oil, are in the basement. Jojoba oil, finds it way into many of my soaps, and skin care recipes since with soapmaking it adds lather, and conditioning properties to the soap. Also, jojoba oil mimics the sebum, which is naturally found in human skin, and can make a great ingredient to add to skin products. If used correctly.

My sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aka Lye should be arriving toward the end of this week. I have lye in my garage, but I don’t think it’s good since I’m thinking it’s been exposed to moisture. My ‘soap molds’ are actually bread loaf pans, which I purchase at the local department store. I also have my goggles, mask, and rubber apron that I’ll be wearing while making the soap. I don’t play when handling caustic chemicals.

Since cold process soap normally takes three – six weeks to cure the process won’t be instant gratification, but I still have enough homemade soap to tide us over until my new batch cures.

I’ll be sure to take pictures of the process. I imagine you’ll see photos from my daughter and myself. This will be her first year, that she gets to play an active role making the cold processed soap, and she’s excited.