Let’s recap. First attempt at cold process soapmaking: forgot some of the castor oil. Second attempt at cold process soapmaking: didn’t blend to trace. Third attempt at cold process soapmaking: here we go!
The previous day, Chris made me a wooden loaf soap mold and we had our first disaster. We had to throw out our entire batch. A day later: our mold is dry, our ingredients are weighed, goggles are on, and it’s time to TRY AGAIN! (At this point, I was really, really, getting tired of trying again.)
We watched several YouTube videos about how to successfully line a wooden mold with freezer paper, so that part was covered. Now I just had to compose myself and not jump the gun when it came to pouring the batter before it reached trace. Deep breaths, Holly, deep breaths. All in all, the batch turned out to be my best so far (it’s still curing, so I haven’t gotten to use it in the shower yet). I carefully monitored the mold to make sure oils were not seeping out and occasionally peeked under the lid to look at the batch (which is exactly what I told my husband not to do. Do as I say, not as I do, right?). Twenty-four hours later, I took the loaf out of the mold and crossed my fingers that a pool of oil wouldn’t come flowing out when I cut it (Google it!). I was preparing for the worst. Thankfully, no oil came spewing in my general direction! The day-old loaf was the consistency of hard cheese (woohoo!) and I cut it into approximately one inch pieces. It is now curing on a rack in the spare bedroom. The final test will be using it in the shower. Until then, I’ll say I made my first decent batch!
Holly
Six Degrees of Soap 