Learning to Make Soap ~ Hello again….So I still haven’t quite got my rhythm back yet but I’m working on it and I’ve got some great projects coming up that I’m looking forward to sharing with you. But today I wanted to share with you something I’ve been learning and working on for the last couple of months now. Making soap! But first a quick catchup with what’s been happening here at home.

I have been quite busy in the garden with the summer crops, some of which have been harvested such as garlic, beetroot, carrots and zucchini. Zucchini is a first for me and it’s really so easy to grow, I’m also growing corn for the very first time and that is a very interesting process. The tassels came first which was something new to learn about and now it looks like the cobs are just about ready to harvest and eat. I’ve been told by a good friend that there’s nothing sweeter than home grown corn, so I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve eaten ours how they were. In other news I also invested in a composting tumbler bin as I was sick to death of wasting all the straw and chook poop from my girls and putting it into the local counsel compost bin. Why should they get my compost when I can keep it and use it myself? So the compost bin is full and now we wait for it to all break down and then add it to the garden as I need it.

For me the summer harvest is just about over and I look forward to putting in our winter crop. However we could be on the move soon so I’m not sure if I’ll have winter crops at home or not but definitely down at the community garden there will be winter crops. I just need to wait for the weather to cool down somewhat and for the pumpkins to finish so I’ve got the extra room.

The most fun thing I’ve learnt to do recently is make soap. I in part wanted to learn to make soap as it’s one of those things I’ve always wondered about how it was made. I also wanted to add soap to my store Simply Flaneur to go with our other organic body care products.

It turns out the process of making soap, while scientific as it uses caustic soda, is actually pretty straight forward. I will admit the process of making soap was daunting at first as I really was worried how I would go making the lye but I followed the instructions from Tanya at Lovely Greens and everything went really well.

My first batches of soap were Rosemary & Lavender with pink clay and one I like to call Oh So Naked soap! I call it this as it has no added clay or essential oil just a beautiful unscented natural bar of soap. I wanted to have at least one unscented soap because I’m aware there are so many people around with sensitivities to scent whether it be synthetic fragrance or essential oils. Despite no scent it is a beautiful soap with a gorgeous lather. The feedback from the Lavender and Rosemary soap has been fantastic and it’s been lovely to hear from those that have used it that they found it calming and relaxing. As a maker, that’s the kind of happy feedback you want and it’s lovely when it comes.

My next batches were Spearmint & Peppermint with French Blue Clay and a Calendula Flower soap as well. Now two of my favourite scents are peppermint and spearmint and I thought they would be good together but oh my goodness they gave so much back that I wasn’t expecting. The spearmint and peppermint together are divine and a scent I could spend all day smelling it’s so good. The calendula soap I decided to leave unscented as I wanted the speckles of the flowers to be the hero of the soap and it sure did look very pretty. Again all these soaps have a beautiful lather and each bar lasts ages before it runs out. I have just made an unscented coffee scrub soap which has come out better than I expected though next time I’m definitely adding a scent, I’m just not sure what scent yet.

The hardest part of making soap is waiting the 4 weeks curing time before it can be used, so I’ve gotten into the habit of making a few batches in increments so we don’t run out and so I’ve got enough to keep the store supplied. I won’t be sharing the soap recipes as they’re not mine and I am still learning and want to branch out into different techniques as well. However if you want to give soap making a try go visit Tanya’s Blog Lovely Greens where she has many posts about soap making for beginners and walks you through each step on paper and in her video tutorials.

My pictures are a little shabby as I haven’t taken any staged photos for the website as yet, so please forgive the amateur snaps. I also realized I didn’t take any good pics of the Spearmint & Peppermint soap and none worthy of sharing of the Rosemary & Lavender. However as I make fresh batches I’ll be sure to take some decent pics so I can share them with you.

Well that’s it from me today I’m off to do some research and tomorrow I’ll be making a new batch of soap. What will it be? I’m not sure yet but make sure to follow me here or on Instagram to stay in the loop. Take care and I’ll catch you soon.

A bientot….Michelle x