First batch of soap for 2021

 Recently I got the urge to make a batch of soap and seeing as I hadn't used my loaf mould for a couple of years I decided to do the 'hanger swirl' which you may have read about in the blog post The Hanger Swirl in 2017. It turned out a lot darker than I had hoped but not as dark as it looks in the photos. 

I had to do a refresher course on how to do the swirl and watched a couple of YouTube videos on the Eve's Garden Soaps channel where the most beautiful looking soaps are made. The presenter makes it look a lot easier than it is but it is worth a try if you have had a little experience with making your own soap. You just have to use a wire hanger for the swirl. 

This was my first attempt which I was quite pleased with but wanted to try something different this time which didn't exactly turn out as I had hoped but it will do the job just the same regardless of what it looks like of course. 

Years ago I used to use Rice Bran Oil a lot in my soaps so bought some new oil to start off the year. The fragrance oil I used was Japanese Cherry Blossom and it has a lovely fragrance unlike the last one I used Bohemian Dream which was too strong for my liking. I used several micas including pink, blue, green and also Annatto Red for the yellowish colouring. 

As I like to keep a record of the recipe I used here it is:

345g Olive Oil

450g Rice Bran Oil

330g Coconut Oil

159g Lye

428g Water

35g   Fragrance Oil

A friend who sells her soap uses cold lye and then she puts her finished soap into the fridge so that it doesn't get too hot. So I made up my lye mixture the night before and in the morning melted my coconut oil in the sun before adding it to the other oils. Then I stirred in the lye mixture and bought it to a light trace as it was going to take me a while to divide up the mixture in order to add the colours. If you try this and want to add an essential oil or fragrance oil you need to work quickly as some of them accellerate trace and you don't want a thick mixture to work with for this method.

After the loaf mould was full I added some blue cornflower petals that I had dried a couple of years ago. I couldn't put it into the fridge as there was no room so I added an ice brick to a cooler bag and kept it cool for 24 hours before taking it out of the bag. I then left it for a couple of days although it was so tempting to unmould it too soon in order to see what the pattern was like. Once that was done though and the soap was cut I was disappointed as I wanted more muted tones but next time I will use less mica in each jug as I think I used 1/2 teaspoon this time which was too much. You live and learn as they say. 

This is the last day of January and like in previous years so far it hasn't been a terribly hot summer unlike spring and it is as if the seasons have swapped over. We have had showers at times so I guess that has cooled things down somewhat. Mind you, it is 41C up in the Outback so we are fortunate to live in the cooler area of south east Queensland. I don't envy my grandchildren dealing with that kind of heat every day. 

Have a great week everyone!