Soap's Done

Our second go-round at soap making was about seven weeks ago and those batches are now ready to use.  Shane took some with him on his trip; I haven't remembered to ask him what he thinks of them, but here are my thoughts.

I don't think these turned out as well as our first batch.  The two made with green tea and cocoa butter seem to be softer and in fact, several of the round bars broke during the curing weeks.  I don't think it was the ingredients as much as the fact that we had a hard time reaching trace when we mixed these.  However, they "work" just fine.  They make a good lather and leave my skin feeling soft and smooth.    The round ones have basically no aroma at all.  The rectangle bars with the flecks of tea leaves smell faintly of cocoa butter.  They "perform" about the same as the round bars.

The bars made with tea tree oil and a bit of green coloring turned out better than the others, but still not as good as our very first batch.  They traced better than the green tea batches and seem to have cured harder.  I like the color and the light antiseptic smell of the tea tree oil.  When using these, they lather a little less than the others.  I think I like this bar better than all the others as a shampoo bar.

Soon it will be time to try another batch, and I've had time to read up on the process and think we'll have better luck.  I know some of you have asked for samples, and I'll be happy to oblige, once I get a batch I'm truly happy with.  I'm not looking for perfection, but something a little nicer than what we've turned out so far.  I'll keep you posted.