When I meet people for the first time eventually they get around to asking me what I do for a living. I want to say, “I make bath time more fun,” but I’m not brave enough yet so I usually tell them I wait tables and I own my own business Scenter of the Mind. I make soap.

They usually repeat that phrase questioningly, “you make soap?” Almost always after that they want to know how. So I thought I would share a little bit about my day making soap. Today I was making my Awesomely Superior Soap better known as Sweet A.S.S.

Anyone who knows me knows I love music and dancing so the first thing I do is put on my Ipod.

Then I cover my kitchen table and start gathering all the things I will need. Some of the tools of my trade are a good scale, chemical resistant rubber gloves, safety goggles and a thermometer.

All the ingredients to make soap are measured by weight so you need a good scale. I use premium food grade oils like olive, coconut, palm, avocado and sweet almond. This recipe also calls for cocoa butter.

The other thing you need to make soap is an alkaline solution. I use sodium hydroxide (lye) and distilled water. The lye is the catalyst that turns oil into soap. This is where the gloves and goggles come in. This solution is very caustic and can burn your skin so you need to protect yourself.

I make the lye solution first because when you mix the water and lye together it gets very hot, upwards of 180 degrees, and it needs to cool down. I measure the water and the lye and then mix them in a pitcher in the sink, just in case.

 

 

 

 

 

While the lye solution is cooling I usually measure out and mix the essential oils I use to scent my soaps. I do not use any synthetic fragrance oils; only natural, pure essential oils from flowers and plants. I like to get this ready because then I can enjoy the fragrance while I’m working.

Then I start to mix the oils. Some of them need to be melted or turned to liquid first. The coconut, palm and cocoa butter are solid so I measure them and put them in a pot on the stove.

 

 

 

 

 

I then start weighing out the other oils.

Oooh good song and I just can’t help it I have to dance.

Okay back to work. The next thing to do is mix all the oils together and wait until the oils and the sodium hydroxide solution are the same temperature. I like to soap in the 100 to 110 degree range. Look at these beautiful golden oils.

I have a way to go yet before the temperature is down to 100 degrees soooo…….

You guessed it. I do some more dancing. There is just something about music that I can’t resist moving to it. Besides I’m happy because I’m making soap. I like making soap as much as I do dancing so why not do both?

When the temperatures of both the oils and solution are at 100 degrees I mix them together. This is my favorite part. It is where the magic happens. Modern day soap making is very precise. Soap makers know exactly how much sodium hydroxide it takes to saponify (turn into soap) the oils. I use less than is needed. This allows some of the oil to remain unsaponified in my bars. Soap makers call this superfatting. It is what makes the soap so moisturizing and good for your skin.

While and after adding the two together you have to stir very briskly until the mixture reaches a stage that we call “trace.” That is when your whisk leaves lines or traces in the mixture. When that happens you are ready to pour. I love the way the mixture changes. It is so cool and I don’t think I will ever get tired of watching this reaction. I get excited every time.

Okay it is time to pour. When I make my regular bars I pour it into wooden loaf shaped molds but today I’m making Sweet A.S.S. so my molds are …..you guessed it …..shaped like a butt.

Then I cover the molds with plastic wrap and put them under a blanket for the night. The soap will go through some more stages but by tomorrow will be ready to come out of the molds. That is when I stack the bars on wire shelves to cure for at least 3 weeks. During that time I get to enjoy the fragrance. Friends always tell me my house smells wonderful.  After 3 weeks or so I package and ship them to my customers to enjoy.

Back in the kitchen I wash all the pots, bowls and my utensils. I wipe off the table cover and fold it up. The table gets washed even though it was covered. Everything gets put away.

One more dance and life is good.

 

UPDATE: I no longer carry this soap.