Making Soap with Becky 7

The first soap we made was a layered soap for the Fourth of July. Beck actually makes three batches of soap and divides each batch of soap between three molds. She told me that it was easier this way rather than trying to divide her oils into smaller batches to make one soap. These layered soaps are poured into log molds that Becky made specifically for her soaping. Each mold is lined with sheets of heat resistant Mylar before the soap is poured and this helps the soap come out of the mold smoothly. We didn’t use any goat’s milk for this soap, but it still looked great!

Becky made the first batch and heated her oils to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Once she had reached her starting temperatures, she used her handy immersion blender and mixed her soap until the soap hit a light trace. Once the soap was at the light trace, she added Ultramarine Blue and a little Black Onyx to color the soap a dark blue as well as her special patriotic fragrance blend. Then Becky divided the raw soap between the three molds and then let it set for about 15 minutes to allow the soap to become firm before pouring the next layer. I had to see how firm it was for myself, so I tipped the mold and the soap didn’t move. Becky told me that she could tip a mold and judge how if it was ready or not.

While the soap was setting, we quickly cleaned the immersion blender and prepared the Titanium Dioxide and fragrance blend. Becky adds a little bit of water to her Titanium Dioxide to ensure there won’t be clumps of white color in the soap. Becky quickly prepared a new batch of oils and heated the oils to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for starting temperatures and mixed this batch of soap until it hit light trace. Now this batch was ready to have the fragrance blend and Titanium Dioxide added. Once again, Becky divided the raw soap between the three molds, but this time she poured the soap into a large soup spoon to prevent the white soap she was pouring from putting dips in layers. The white soap ended being a little thicker than Becky wanted, but it still was fluid. We let the soap sit for 15 minutes to set to the firm point that is desired.

For the last batch, we repeated the same steps as the second batch only adding a red oxide and red mica for the red color. After the soap had been poured into the molds, we set the filled molds aside to make a swirled soap.

The swirled soap is beautiful and has yellow and orange feathery looking swirls. We melted the oils until we reached the starting temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Once we had reached the starting temperatures, we mixed the soap until we reached light trace. Once the soap had reached light trace, Becky added the fragrance oil and then after blending that into the soap, the soap was quickly divided into three containers and color was added.

After the color was blended in, Becky started pouring the yellow colored soap into the mold in swirling patterns. She poured about a third of the yellow soap and then started again with the orange soap. Again, she poured about a third of the orange soap into the mold in a swirling pattern. Now she poured a third of the white soap into the mold, still keeping with the swirling pattern. This was repeated three times until the soap was all in the mold. Then, Becky took a small rubber scraper that had the tip bent and told me she used it to pull colors up as well as swirling the soap. She gently pulled the scraper through the soap until she had feathered the color enough.

Becky has been making soap for about 10 years now and it has been something her family has been involved in since the beginning. Her daughters also get to make their own soaps and sell them to promote a charity of their choice every year. I do have to admit, they have some adorable soaps of their own, including snowmen, reindeer, and artwork melt and pour soaps!

I’ve enjoyed visiting Becky’s Soap Kitchen, and I would love to visit yours!