Soap Making: Remembering the Little Tricks

A couple of months go I rescued some palm oil from the trash bin.  Several pounds of palm oil actually.  It has been sitting in my kitchen waiting on me to make it into soap.  I haven't made soap in about 6 years and so I am a little rusty. Okay a lot rusty. But I got out my handy dandy book and read up just so I would not screw up.  I was prepared, right?  Wrong.  Little things that I had forgotten led to some mess and now some rework to save all of the effort.

To start with, my soap supplies have been stored under the house for the last 4 years.  My wooden molds are a little warped.  My gloves and plastic mold liners are trash. The labels on the bottles of essential oil and fragrances are smeared.  But undaunted Tatianna and I pressed forward. 

I figured out the fat/oil to lye ratio for a 1# batch and then quadrupled it.  That was the first mistake.  You see while a 1/4 of an ounce less Lye doesn't make a big difference in a 1# batch, a whole ounce does in a 4 # batch.  We got grainy soap.  So in an in order to save the ingredients and effort we will have to re batch the soap.  But we will need to wait until it has set up some more.  Still that lesson was learned and now we won't make that mistake again.  I think I was more careful with my calculations the first time I made soap.  I was a little to cavalier this time.

Mistake # 2; we lined the molds with butcher paper, we've used it before with great success.  Except that the butcher paper we currently have while excellent for wrapping meat, is not good for soap making.  This paper has a sizing on it instead of a plastic coating.  Some of the soap oils and soda ash seeped through and glued the soap & paper to the mold.  Since the soap was grainy it was not too hard to chop it out of the mold. Now I need to go to the Dollar Store and get some of those cheap plastic party table cloths to make my liners with.  They work really well and are reusable.

My next mistake could have been tragic.  I have two pitchers designated for mixing up the lye and water. I had forgotten how much the Lye foams up once it is added to the water.  I tried to mix up all the lye for one batch in one pitcher.   We had Lye all over the counter and floor.  I cleaned it up with some old towels.  And since I didn't have an vinegar to neutralize the lye I grabbed some lemon juice and poured it over the area.   Fortunately none of us got burned. 

One trick I did remember was that the soap came to trace faster using the stick blender.  Now I need a new stick blender for the kitchen.  One small batch started to form lumps before coming to trace, we just used the blender to smooth them out.  That batch by the way turned out beautifully.

Somethings I know.  I still like the whole soap making process.  It makes you feel a little like a witch or sorcerer stirring up that pot of ingredients adding a little of this and a little of that.  Ingenuity is still a major component of crafting.  Necessity may be the mother of invention but common sense and wisdom rule the world.  Skills that our great grandmothers practiced out of necessity should not be lost because of the conveniences of our time.  It may be more expensive for me to make my soap but the process is worth the expense. 

Also I feel connected to my ancestors when I do it.  I love the story of how my ancestor Hannah Foote was making soap when and Indian raiding party attacked.  Her husband was out hunting and she was alone with the children.  She was getting the lye ready (I do buy my lye but I may have to learn to make it one day) when the Indians attacked.  She threw the hot lye on them grabbed her kids and ran into the woods to hide.  What an intelligent lady.  I come from a long line of strong intelligent women.  They are probably up in Heaven shaking their heads saying why on earth is she doing that when she can just go to the store and buy it. But I know it is more than the effort that makes my soap special.

Lessons Learned:
1. Do calculations for the size batch you are making.
2. Mix up lye in small amounts and then combine.
3. Always have Vinegar on hand.
4. Take the time to get the supplies you need or are use to.
5. Make lemonade, mistakes are not always the end of the world.
6. Don't wait for years to do things you like to do.  Skills get rusty.
7. Make notes in your reference books on things that worked for you. (in case you wait six years to do it again)

Interesting Experience

In my last Post I mentioned that I was going to chaperon a Youth Conference.  We went to the conference and brought a quilt that we made out of sheets to be tied.  The Kids were all asked to donate items such as used children's clothes, spare change, toilet paper and hygiene items.  The different wards donated quilts to be tied.  Service projects consisted of writing the missionaries and service men/women, writing testimonies in Books of Mormon,and tying quilts.  800 youth and leaders from all over Georgia, Alabama and Florida came together on the Troy University campus to learn, grow, and render service.  It was a wonderful experience that my children and I both were glad we had.

The Service project that I was asked to help with was tying quilts.  We did not have any frames and the youth were to hold the quilt taut while they tied it.  This was a team building exercise. Basically we used a human frame to hold the quilt.  So 8-10 kids held the quilt tight and two kids tied and cut as the others held.  The plan was to rotate the kids around each getting a chance to hold and to tie.  It turned out that tying it was not as easy as we thought it was going to be and many teams opted to have the same people do the tying so they would be able to finish it.

The room we did this project in did not have any air conditioning.  The temperatures were in the 100's and there were over 400 people in this room.  It was very hot and very sticky and every one was very uncomfortable.  Yet the youth did not complain nor try to get out of the assignments.

There were some complications with this project.  First the youth that were suppose to oversee this project didn't really know what to do.  So as the Adult leaders had to step in and take over.  But we mostly just directed.  The youth did actually run the project once they knew what they were doing. The second problem was that the room was hard to find so many of the youth went to the other location and had to be redirected to the room we were in. 

Then the needle for tying the quilts were the wrong type.  They had tapestry needles instead of yarn darners.  The needles were blunt and we couldn't push them through the fabric. So we had to figure out how to make them work. It was suggested we make a hole and then drawn the yarn thought the holes with the needles.  I shot that idea down.  I felt that we would weaken the fabric and open up the possibility for tearing the quilts.  The this leader came to our rescue.  He pulled out a file and started sharpening the needles.  Someone else had a file on his leather man and we had 2 people sharpening needles.  I knew Killian had a file on his leather man and I sent him to the other location to sharpen the needles there. 

  

After a couple of hours of the heat and miserable conditions we decided to give the kids a break.  We told them that they could go. But several of the groups wanted to stay and finish.  This group had a late start but stayed until they finished.  It was interesting to see how many of the boys really got into this.  I was afraid that they would have thought it too silly or girly.  I think the boys were more into it than the girls. 


I was a wonderful experience for all of those involved.  Watching those kids worked together to get the assignments done was inspiring.   The team building exercise of tying quilts was successful.  Teams were truly built, the kids recognized their strengths and those of the others and utilized each others strengths to get the job done.  No egos were involved just the desire to do a good job and get it done.  That in and of itself was wonderful to witness.

I loved the experience I had at Youth Conference and look forward to having it again.  It was really rewarding to see the youth care about something other than themselves and work as a team.

One More UFP Done

Well I finally finished the wall quilt.  It is quilted and bound. It will go well on the wall of my daughter's room, which is bright green. This was a class I that I took from a now defunct quilt shop in January of 2009.  

I really didn't care for the fabric that came in this kit. They made up the kits from batiks.  I love batiks! Especially in quilts but in this one there were too many colors. The fabrics were all from the same seires but the end results read muddy to me.  There is something to be said for mixing things up.  The sad truth is my favorite fabric in the kit is only used in the border. You don't get to see the really neat dragon fly pattern in it.  I do love dragon flies. 

I wasn't able to fussy cut the hearts from the pink areas and I really don't care for the color choices. This was the first time I did the square in the square pattern as well as the first time I actually appliqued. 

The teacher for the class asked if anyone knew how to do the blanket stitch on the machine.  None of us did, so everyone else did it by hand.  I figured out how to do it on the machine.  I would use a heavier thread next time. It wasn't that hard but I would definitely put the adhesive on the fabric before cutting out the hearts. That way I wouldn't have threads sticking out.

I tried out the stipple stitch on my machine for the white border.  I had planned on doing it in the white background squares as well but the machine only went in straight lines easily.  So I figure I will have to do that free hand for other quilts. 

There are several errors in the quilt but I am not a perfectionist.  Heck it is only the second quilt I've machine quilted.  I am definitely going to do more of them. 

One of my fondest dreams is to have a hand guided long arm quilting machine.  Of course I want on with all the bells and whistles.  They are very pricey and we are definitely on a very limited budget.  I just think I would do better driving the machine instead of the fabric.  But one must make do with what one has.  So I will use my little Brother Sewing/Quilting machine that I got at Walmart.

We are going to get Tatianna's Quilt on the frame today (hopefully) and work on it.  It will be nice for her to get it done.  I am also going to work on the Bronchitis Quilt.  (A quilt I pieced while suffering from Bronchitis) I need to do a border and backing and prep the binding.  I may get as far as pinning it for quilting.  I am going to try free motion quilting on this one.   I am thinking a dragon fly design that I have a template for. 

Oh, and then there is the twin size quilt for the service project.  Our church youth (14-18) are having a Youth Conference July 12-14th.  They asked for quilts to tie and donate to a shelter.  I am cheating, I bought 2 twin sized flat sheets and batting.  I will stitch the the sheets and batting together in an envelope binding and turn it.  Then at the conference they will tie it and finish it.  I am chaperoning for our youth so I will be there to help.  I'll try to get pictures.

I still need to hem 3 pair of suit pants for Killian before Thursday as well.  Hmmmm.  Seem to have a lot on my plate for the next few days.

Unfinished Projects

I have actually finished one of those UFP's I am always talking about.  That full size quilt that has needed binding for the past year.  It is done.  I am so pleased with myself for getting it done.  There is a huge satisfaction in finishing a project that has been hanging over your head. 

It was such a good feeling that I am actually finishing another 3 year project.  It is a wall hanging that needed quilting and binding.  I had actually stopped working on it to make the other quilt.  I am down to binding it now.  Then I will finish the last 3 strips of the chevron quilt and get that top pieced.  I also need to finish the bronchitis quilt. 

It seems that since I have started working out and losing weight I have a lot more energy in the evening and I actually work on things.  Also my studio is not quite as messy as it has been.  I am working on getting things put away and finished off.  That makes it easier to sit down and work.

I did go back to that fabric store this week.  Twice actually.  I thought it was going to close on Friday and went and got some beautiful stuff for my stash.  I then found out that it would be open on Saturday.  I took my friend Michelle and we both got a lot of stuff to add to our stashes.  I really need to get my stashes organized. 

Tatianna is planning out quilts to make and she has already decided on the next one.  7 different colors of 4 inch squares.  She is talking 7 fabrics but I think it will look better if she uses at least twice that many.  It would be a very nice scrappy quilt. 

TaKayren is still on the idea of  10 inch squares all different fabrics for her quilt. She is only doing it to finish off a YW value project. 

I already have 3 or 4 projects in the making and 5 or 6 more planned.  I really need to finish these off.  I especially need to start using my stash and get some of this stuff out of the kids' rooms.  Plus get some of the stuff out of the way in the studio. 

Oh the plans, I have planned.  We will see how fast I can make them happen.