Soap Answers and Goat Hopping

I am glad that everyone enjoyed yesterday's post on how the publicist makes my rich soap. It was fun for me to write. There were a few questions and the publicist has given me the answers for you.

Hot process soap is a method of making soap where you heat up the oils and fats, then add the lye mixture and cook it some more. It helps to speed up the process of soap making called saponification. With hot process soaps you don't have to have them cure for a month. But hot process soap does not work well with the molds I use. It is a very ancient way to make soap but nowadays is usually done in a crockpot.

Cold process soaps have to cure for them to harden up and for the water to evaporate out of the bars. The soap is really safe to use in about 2 days. The publicist has used my soap this soon without any problems it's just very soft and gets used up very quickly. She does not worry too much because she has lots and lots of my rich soap. The bars just last longer when they have cured.

As to the giveaway winner - they will be able to pick any three bars of soap they would like!

The publicist and I thank you for all of your questions about the soap and if anyone has any others please ask.

I will end today's post with Kevin's latest activity - Pricilla hopping. I don't know what has got into that boy but he seems to think it is a good idea to try and hop on his mommy....

Mallory was being a little threatening there but still I am not a high hurdle!

Remember the newsletter giveaway! All who sign up through May 16th will be entered into a drawing for THREE BARS of my rich soap. I promise not to be a spammy goat. I am a vegetarian.

How the Publicist Makes Soap

One of our wonderful commenters asked how the publicist makes my rich soap. She agreed to show everyone how she goes about it. She wouldn't let me in to watch so I will pass on to you what she told me. Of course it all starts with my rich milk..and Abby's too. If you remember, there was a post before on how the publicist milks us. Only Abby was being milked then, but I am being milked now so my milk is going in the soap again. The publicist freezes the milk she is going to use for soap. When she is ready to make the soap she pulls a bag out of the freezer and puts it in her pitcher to thaw. Using frozen, slushy milk helps to keep the lye from burning the milk.

After the milk has thawed a little the publicist says she "goes all psycho on it." As a goat I am not sure what this means but she said the readers would understand.

After the milk is broken up and melts a bit more and turns slushy

she adds the lye.

This makes the milk turn a really weird yellow/green color. Ick.

By the time it is ready to use it has turned orange and looks like a blob. Aren't you glad you asked about this now?

Then she measures out her super secret recipe of fats and oils and puts them in her big soap pot

and melts them on the stove.

Then she adds the milk/lye blob and mixes it with her stick blender until it gets nice and smooth.

This is called "trace" at which point it is time to strain it and add the fragrance oil or essential oil and pour it into the molds.

The molds will rest overnight. Then the publicist will pop the soaps out of the molds and let them cure for a month.

These are the soaps she made on Sunday night. The scents she used then are Old Goat (Patchouli), Grapefruit and Exotic Red Tea.

The scents used in tonight's batch of soap are making are Bing Cherry, Cucumber Melon and Basil Lime Papaya.

This is called the cold process of making soap. The publicist makes small batches so she can maintain quality.

I hope this has answered any questions there were about the soap making process. If there are any others, please ask and the publicist will be happy to answer them. She loves to answer questions.

Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter. All who sign up through May 16th will be entered into a drawing for THREE BARS of my rich soap. Woo hoo! How cool is that?