The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[islafarm]

I've been making soap in a blender weekly for the last 4 years. Plastic is better as lye will eat its way through glass. Having said that my blender is glass.
I make up my lye solution the night before I make soap, this gives it plenty of time to cool down.
The oils go into the blender. Here all my oils are liquid, but if using tallow or coconut in a cooler climate melt them first but just gently. The soap batter will heat up and you don't want to start with hot oil.
Put oils in blender and gently pour in lye solution. Cover and pulse in 2 second bursts, let it rest for 2 seconds then pulse again. I do this for maybe 12 pulses. Put in your essential oils and additives. Pulse another 3 or 4 times and pour into your mold. Cover your mold to keep in the heat and leave for at least 12 hours.

It's very important to have everything ready before you begin: oils weighed out, scents and additives all ready and nearby, mold prepared and handy. The soap moves quickly and it's really annoying to have to dig hard soap out of a blender.

They talk of a light trace - with the blender it happens really quickly. I pour when it has the consistency of cake batter.

This can be such s cool and fun hobby. Tallow makes a beautiful soap. Olive makes a nice bar but it has to cure for months. Coconut is very cleansing great for bubbles but can be drying if too much is used.

Using s blender is by far the easiest quickest and I think most safe - with the lid on there's no dangerous splashes.
Hope this helps and encourages soap making!
Ancel

 

[FridayYet]

Thank you so much for the information! I hope to try it soon.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'll be re-visiting this process when the outside weather warms up a bit. I'd love to be able to mark this one off my bucket list. I'll be keeping my eyes out for an other yard sale blender. Would I be better off with a glass or plastic blender jar? And, when cleaning the blender after the process, is the residue left behind neutralized as far as the corrosive properties of the lye goes, or should I worry about issues with septic system or even contamination of soil if I do clean up outside???

 

[delisha]

Lye can be caustic, but it is a natural product and comes from leaching out ashes. It is the old fashioned way to making soaps. I have not had any issues using lye in a blender. In a dishwasher it comes out pretty clean. Lye is used in foods so the residue left behind and leached into the ground water is not as harmful as you might think. When making a bomb fire outdoors and than the rain comes, it is packed full of lye. You can make some pretty good strong soaps using that too, but it is an ugly looking soap.

AL: I do not know to be honest. Let us know when you try it!

 

[delisha]

Happy New Year!!

 

[tjo804]

I just got one of these for doing soap under 20.00 and I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the bowl I am using to stop splashing.
I use it in the RV when I am not making soap.

 

[islafarm]

I'll be re-visiting this process when the outside weather warms up a bit. I'd love to be able to mark this one off my bucket list. I'll be keeping my eyes out for an other yard sale blender. Would I be better off with a glass or plastic blender jar? And, when cleaning the blender after the process, is the residue left behind neutralized as far as the corrosive properties of the lye goes, or should I worry about issues with septic system or even contamination of soil if I do clean up outside???

Lye will eat through glass if left full strength over a period of time. Plastic - especially those marked 2 or 5 for recycling are impervious to lye. Though watch the containers you use for mixing up your lye solution - they may be fine with the caustic lye, but the heat produced in the chemical reaction between the lye and water may cause them to soften. You can also use a tea to mix with your lye, but make sure it's at room temperature or cooler. Sea water is also nice to use - will leave your lye solution cloudy, but will give your soap a nice silky texture.

The residue left behind after making soap is soap

so it is as neutral as your soap is. The container holding your lye solution can be rinsed out and poured into your sink or toilet. Lye here is sold as a toilet cleaner and as Delisha says it is a 'natural' product, so I think it would be fine for your septic, especially given the concentrations you'd be flushing.

Modern lye is made with sea water: they use electrodes to precipitate sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid. Potassium hydroxide is used for making liquid soap, I don't know how they make that.

Soap making is fun and simple, and providing you have a good and accurate scale, pretty much trouble free. Once you start using your own handmade soap you'll wonder why you ever bought it! Even those lovely, expensive farmers' market soaps

Happy New Year everyone, wishing you a year filled with healthy happy chooks, plenty of eggs and the time to enjoy it all!

Ancel

 

[slordaz]

well Sweatpea is a month old now. still to cold to put her out though and can't put her in the coop yet as she took after BO mom on tempermant

 

[CherMoz]

Sweatpea is a cutie!

 

[slordaz]

Ty CherMoz, now the little roo that hatched with her is gone, she is finally starting to stand up for herself a little more, The 2 pullets though gotta get escape proof brooding pen. They break out and try to break into the fridge for yogurt if I don't give them some everyday lol