Making Unscented Soap

Yesterday's soapmaking was very enjoyable. After weighing the oils and shea butter, I melted them together on the stove. I let them sit and cool in the bowl on the counter while I did some other housework and wrote my blog. After a couple of hours, I weighed the frozen goat's milk and lye. Soapmaking is chemistry, so it's important to weigh your ingredients. For years, I avoided it for that reason. I didn't have a kitchen scale, and I wasn't really sure how to use a digital scale. Now that I have one, I see how easy it is. For some reason, it intimidated me. I would read books on soapmaking and procrastinate. I kept hoping that I could find a recipe where I could just measure ingredients, like in cooking or baking. It doesn't work that way. Well, I did find one recipe on line that said you didn't need a scale, but I skipped it. Now that I'm comfortable, I like the accuracy I get with a scale.

After the oils had been sitting for a couple of hours, I slowly added the lye into the frozen goat's milk. I use a slotted spoon, and stir it into the bowl in small increments. I try to take about twenty minutes. You don't want the milk to scorch and turn brown. This time it turned yellow, which is fine.

After blending the lye milk into the oils with a stick blender, I poured the batter into the molds. I thought about how unscented soap is a great idea. The fragrance oils are very expensive. It never dawned on me that some people would prefer to have quality soaps without fragrance. Whenever I give someone a bar of soap, the first thing they do is hold it up to their nose and smell it. Most of the reviews I've gotten on Etsy mention that they love the scent. It's one of my favorite parts of using homemade soap. But, many people have sensitive skin, and they prefer unscented. It's easier to make.

It's kind of funny, because I used to spend hours on Brambleberry's website, researching the fragrance oils that didn't fade. I was getting discouraged that some of the soaps I made didn't seem to hold the scent after several months. The longer a bar cures, the gentler and milder it becomes. So, I ordered some oils that had the reputation for excellent staying power. I trusted the reviews from fellow soapmakers. It was kind of ironic that I spent all that time. Each person is different, though. A small batch of soap will require at least an ounce of fragrance oil, which is a lot. That's what I love about art, I am always learning and expanding my vision.  

I have never been really big into coloring my soaps, either. That can also get very expensive. There's something about seeing bright colors and black in soap that feels kind of wild to me. The multi colored ones look like art. They remind me of finger painting. I prefer the natural, milk colored soaps. I have never wanted to start committing myself to offering numerous colors and flavors of soap, either. I'm amazed at the shops that are able to do it. I'll stick to my simple bars, with fine ingredients. Quality olive oil, shea butter, and goat's milk cost money, but they are worth it.   I love the look that the decorative molds give the soaps. It's just enough,  for my taste. What kind of soaps do you like?