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Apr. 11th, 2010 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiberaddictIt was, once again, a busy weekend. And, once again, I took pictures. Some, anyway. I haven't slept since Friday, so this might be a bit rambly....
Saturday, we worked on the milkroom. Didn't get pictures, but the outside wall has been paneled. Looks good - we have 2 walls to go. Then we get to start on the kid area. :lol:
I also played with the kids a bit.
Kaylee was practicing her jump technique, using her mama as a springboard. She's almost got it...
Ooops! Kaylee fall down, go boom! :snicker: No worries, she was fine:
You can see we have some upper-class goats, here. No hicks, no siree! :snicker:
OK, Firefly fans - this is for you:
Please compare Jayne to his namesake (points to icon) - isn't the resemblance uncanny? :lol:
You see a goat in a cunning hat like that walking down the street, you know he's not afraid of nuthin'.....:lol:
Today, well...I had no more excuses. My stick blender arrived Friday...so we ran to the store Saturday for oils and soap equipment. There was 1 minor problem - the bowl I bought from Wallyworld wasn't quite big enough for the receipe, but Sweet Geek had to run to the office this AM, so we bought a bigger one from the outlet store (and, Aubrey - the outlet store had the KA stick blenders for $35! I think I need to run back over there on payday!)
There it is - everything you need for soap. The plastic container has my frozen goats milk in it; the rest of the oils were the cheap ones from Wallyworld. The Lye isn't Red Devil - Ace didn't carry it - but it's 100% Lye. It was $3.49/bottle; not bad, but if I were doing big batches it'd be too pricey.
This is the melted oils. Coconut oil is a solid, so it had to be melted down, the rest were already fluid. I think the temp hit 115*, but the thermometer I used is kinda crappy. I need to get a couple of better ones, I think. I weighed them out, then put the whole thing in the microwave to melt them.
This is the goats milk/Lye mix. The milk was slushy - in fact, there were some big frozen chunks in it when I started to SLOWLY add the lye. I mixed it while pouring and took my time. It still turned yellow, but at least it didn't turn orange - that would mean I had burnt the milk. The pitcher heated up to about 125*, and the smell! Ammonia! :ick: (The dairy goat forum said this was normal - Aubrey? Is that right?)
While waiting for both mixes to cool down, I got the mold prepared. The box came with the soapmaking kit I bought - I didn't use the kit, though. Since Aubrey was nice enough to give me a receipe, I used it with the mold. I was more comfortable with her instructions, anyway.
Once both containers had cooled down to around 100* (I know, Aubrey - you said 90*, but my thermometers don't go that low!), I poured the lye mix into the oils while stirring with my stick blender. It took longer than 4 minutes to trace - and my blender got very, very hot. I think I need to upgrade already....it's what I get for hitting eBay!. :lol: It took about 10 - 15 minutes to get to the pudding stage - and I added Lavender EO to the batter when it looked/felt like pancakes. When it got to the point that I could see the shape of the blender when I pulled it out, I poured it into the mold, covered it with plastic wrap, and plopped the whole thing into a styrofoam cooler. I'll leave it there a couple of days to harden.
It looks like soap, and it smells like soap, so.......unless someone tells me it looks wrong, I'm going to assume I made soap. :grin:
Now....I did a few things wrong. I couldn't find my rubber gloves, so I forged ahead without (Someone has borrowed my gloves - probably Herself - and didn't return them. She can't find them.....). I do NOT recommend this! I do have experience dealing with toxic stuff - I have dyed fiber a lot, so I know how to be careful, and how to pour things without splashing, but I DO NOT CONDONE THIS, and I will NOT do this without gloves again! (I had already gotten the milk to the slushy stage, and didn't want to take the time to run to the store. STUPID - it could have been horrible. Lye WILL eat your skin - it's dangerous. I can't emphasize that enough - use precaution! I will NOT make soap again until I buy another set of gloves!) I added the lye to the oils at about 100* - Aubrey recommended 90*. I'm thinking that might be why it took longer to reach trace. I did this while tired - I won't do that again. Mistakes happen - especially when you're as tired as I am. I was lucky......:sigh:
All that being said, it wasn't hard, and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. The soap is more yellow than I really wanted, but I can live with that. Next time, I'll add the lye when the milk is more frozen than it was this time. I won't heat the oils for as long next time - I'll aim for 90*.
Clean up - I hadn't asked Aubrey how to clean up the lye containers.....one of my books recommended vinegar, so when I had emptied the measuring cup I sloshed in about a cup of vinegar, then added water to it. All the utensils that had contact with the mix got dunked in the cup, then I rinsed everything out really, really well before putting the things in the dishwasher. The mixing bowl was full of soft soap, so I used it to clean it. :lol: Ditto the stick blender. We'll see how it works....
I'm off to milk, rustle up dinner, and go to sleep. I am one tired fiberaddict!
Oh - Ali, I got your sample! I'll play with it sometime this week when I can actually think about what I'm doing!
Saturday, we worked on the milkroom. Didn't get pictures, but the outside wall has been paneled. Looks good - we have 2 walls to go. Then we get to start on the kid area. :lol:
I also played with the kids a bit.
Kaylee was practicing her jump technique, using her mama as a springboard. She's almost got it...
Ooops! Kaylee fall down, go boom! :snicker: No worries, she was fine:
You can see we have some upper-class goats, here. No hicks, no siree! :snicker:
OK, Firefly fans - this is for you:
Please compare Jayne to his namesake (points to icon) - isn't the resemblance uncanny? :lol:
You see a goat in a cunning hat like that walking down the street, you know he's not afraid of nuthin'.....:lol:
Today, well...I had no more excuses. My stick blender arrived Friday...so we ran to the store Saturday for oils and soap equipment. There was 1 minor problem - the bowl I bought from Wallyworld wasn't quite big enough for the receipe, but Sweet Geek had to run to the office this AM, so we bought a bigger one from the outlet store (and, Aubrey - the outlet store had the KA stick blenders for $35! I think I need to run back over there on payday!)
There it is - everything you need for soap. The plastic container has my frozen goats milk in it; the rest of the oils were the cheap ones from Wallyworld. The Lye isn't Red Devil - Ace didn't carry it - but it's 100% Lye. It was $3.49/bottle; not bad, but if I were doing big batches it'd be too pricey.
This is the melted oils. Coconut oil is a solid, so it had to be melted down, the rest were already fluid. I think the temp hit 115*, but the thermometer I used is kinda crappy. I need to get a couple of better ones, I think. I weighed them out, then put the whole thing in the microwave to melt them.
This is the goats milk/Lye mix. The milk was slushy - in fact, there were some big frozen chunks in it when I started to SLOWLY add the lye. I mixed it while pouring and took my time. It still turned yellow, but at least it didn't turn orange - that would mean I had burnt the milk. The pitcher heated up to about 125*, and the smell! Ammonia! :ick: (The dairy goat forum said this was normal - Aubrey? Is that right?)
While waiting for both mixes to cool down, I got the mold prepared. The box came with the soapmaking kit I bought - I didn't use the kit, though. Since Aubrey was nice enough to give me a receipe, I used it with the mold. I was more comfortable with her instructions, anyway.
Once both containers had cooled down to around 100* (I know, Aubrey - you said 90*, but my thermometers don't go that low!), I poured the lye mix into the oils while stirring with my stick blender. It took longer than 4 minutes to trace - and my blender got very, very hot. I think I need to upgrade already....it's what I get for hitting eBay!. :lol: It took about 10 - 15 minutes to get to the pudding stage - and I added Lavender EO to the batter when it looked/felt like pancakes. When it got to the point that I could see the shape of the blender when I pulled it out, I poured it into the mold, covered it with plastic wrap, and plopped the whole thing into a styrofoam cooler. I'll leave it there a couple of days to harden.
It looks like soap, and it smells like soap, so.......unless someone tells me it looks wrong, I'm going to assume I made soap. :grin:
Now....I did a few things wrong. I couldn't find my rubber gloves, so I forged ahead without (Someone has borrowed my gloves - probably Herself - and didn't return them. She can't find them.....). I do NOT recommend this! I do have experience dealing with toxic stuff - I have dyed fiber a lot, so I know how to be careful, and how to pour things without splashing, but I DO NOT CONDONE THIS, and I will NOT do this without gloves again! (I had already gotten the milk to the slushy stage, and didn't want to take the time to run to the store. STUPID - it could have been horrible. Lye WILL eat your skin - it's dangerous. I can't emphasize that enough - use precaution! I will NOT make soap again until I buy another set of gloves!) I added the lye to the oils at about 100* - Aubrey recommended 90*. I'm thinking that might be why it took longer to reach trace. I did this while tired - I won't do that again. Mistakes happen - especially when you're as tired as I am. I was lucky......:sigh:
All that being said, it wasn't hard, and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. The soap is more yellow than I really wanted, but I can live with that. Next time, I'll add the lye when the milk is more frozen than it was this time. I won't heat the oils for as long next time - I'll aim for 90*.
Clean up - I hadn't asked Aubrey how to clean up the lye containers.....one of my books recommended vinegar, so when I had emptied the measuring cup I sloshed in about a cup of vinegar, then added water to it. All the utensils that had contact with the mix got dunked in the cup, then I rinsed everything out really, really well before putting the things in the dishwasher. The mixing bowl was full of soft soap, so I used it to clean it. :lol: Ditto the stick blender. We'll see how it works....
I'm off to milk, rustle up dinner, and go to sleep. I am one tired fiberaddict!
Oh - Ali, I got your sample! I'll play with it sometime this week when I can actually think about what I'm doing!
