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Country Living Handmade Soap : Recipes for Crafting Soap at Home by Michael Hulbert, Keith Scott Morton (Photographer), Mike Hulbert
Practical as soap is, it can also be a real luxury; this book shows how to create an astounding array of soaps.
There are really just two ways to make soap -- the cold process and glycerin -- but there are literally thousands of ways to make that soap delightful. Beautifully colored and shaped soap is a joy to use; grainy soap is studded with sand or poppyseeds in an amazingly effective hand cleaner; and pure translucent glycerin soap is as gentle as it is clear.
Shaping, coloring and mixing in additives are all covered in details. Soap, cut or molded into bars, squares, balls, domed bars, and round, is a joy to behold. Precious handmade soap can be personalized as gifts for the bride, for a newborn, or for a birthday by embossing a monogram onto the bar. Colors from subtle to pulsating add another dimension. Ingredients such as violet petals or coffee grounds create soaps that soothe and scrub. Sentimental soap made with May's lavender blooms is so romantic in November; pine scented soaps warm the month of December.
Handmade soap is a gift that says comfort, relaxation, and a treat for the senses -- for oneself or for a friend.
EXCERPT: Basic Recipe One
A mild, off-white Castille-type soap, this soap curves into nice hard bars that produce lots of exploding lather. It is an excellent all-purpose soap and a good choice for hand-milling recipes because it is so versatile: you can remold this recipe into both body bars (see Chapter Two) and soaps for domestic use (see Chapter Three).
14 ounces tepid water
6 ounces lye
12 ounces coconut oil
8 ounces of palm oil
20 ounces olive oil
1. Prepare the mold
2. Blend the water and lye. Set aside and cool to 100 degrees F.
3. Melt the coconut and palm oils. Blend in the olive oil and wither heat or cool to 100 degrees F.
4. Once the temperatures match, blend the lye solution into the oils.
5. Stir the mixture until the soap traces. At trace, pour into the prepared mold.
6. Leave the soap to set for 4 to 8 hours, or until the soap is solid and firm to the touch. Release the soap from the mold and allow to cure for 6 to 8 weeks.
