December 7, 2010

Peppermint Mini Soaps

These turned out to be so cute and they smell so good!!

I made these using the hot process and the following recipe. I didn't have time for cold process to cure with Christmas coming up so quickly. I do plan on doing some of these with cold process next year way ahead of time!

5.122 ounces sodium hydroxide (lye)
12.54 ounces distilled water
8 ounces olive oil
10 ounces canola oil
14 ounces lard
6 ounces coconut oil
1 ounce vitamin E oil
Peppermint essential oil
Red sugar crystals


I mixed my lye/water solution. Please, please, please use your goggles and gloves when doing this and keep some white vinegar on hand to neutralize any spills. I combined my oils/solid oils in my crock-Pot and turned it on to melt them. When oils are completely melted, combine the pour lye/water solution into oils in the Crock-Pot. Using a stick blender with the Crock-pot turned off, mix to trace.
This is where hot process and cold process diverge. In cold process you pour into your mold, wrap and let saponification take place over the next 18 to 24 hours.

With hot process:
Turn the Crock-pot on low. You may have to adjust this to warm if your Crock-pot gets too hot. It took an hour for this soap to cook. The sides will roll up and it will take on the consistency of mashed potatoes and look waxy. Test your pH with strips or use the "tongue" test. Put a little on a spoon hold it close to your tongue. If you feel a zap...cook it a little longer. Turn the crock pot off. Add vitamin E oil and essential oil. Stir well. Spread into a wax paper lined medium sized cookie sheet. Bang the sheet a few times on the counter to get it settled. Let sit for just a few minutes then sprinkle with red sugar crystals. Take a sheet of wax paper and place on top. Using a small roller or your hands, smooth the top of the soap and press the sugar into it gently. Let cool completely. Use cute little cookie cutters and enjoy!


One medium cookie sheet makes 12 sets of these.

Don't forget about the Fix-It-and-Forget-About-It Give Away tomorrow!

12 comments:

Nancy said...

Did you mean cold process? They look so cute. I bet they smell wonderful. :)

Kentucky Farm Girl said...

No Nancy I used hot process for these. I didn't have time for the cold process to sit and cure. I have someone wanting to buy these for gifts to give this week so I went with the hot process. You can use the soap immediately.

Kentucky Farm Girl said...

I edited and added the steps I took to make the hot process soaps. I haven't done a tutorial on this yet but I will if anyone wants it! It definitely has the advantage of being able to use the soap immediately, adjusting the temps of the oil and lye water to match is not as much of an issue as it is with cold process and you can use all kinds of things for molds such as shoe boxes, Pringles cans (they have aluminum lining so you can't use it with cold process). One thing I realized was that my Crock-Pot was getting too hot on low and causing the soap to have a hint of burned oil smell. This was one of the main reason I went to cold process. I now know what the problem was and fixed it so I see lots more hot process in the future!

LindaG said...

How wonderful! Your soaps look great. :)

Megan said...

Those look super! Do you sell them on Etsy or anywhere like that?
They'd make such cute gifts!

Kentucky Farm Girl said...

Megan, I do have an Etsy shop set up but I'm selling these as quickly as I make them locally. I made a dozen of these last night and I had girl buy all of them today. I'll try to get more made and listed tomorrow and post a link.

Visits With Mary said...

Tried making soap a fews years ago and it was a total disaster..you've inspired me to try again ! !
The peppermint soap will make such cute gifts.
Thanks for the inspiration !
Mary
visitswithmary.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I was just wondering, how do you sell your stuff--craft sale, etsy store, on farm/direct? Your packaging is so neat and everything looks so great!

Teresa

Kentucky Farm Girl said...

Thanks Teresa! I have only been making soap for a few months and and am just starting to sell. So far it has been mostly word of mouth and direct sales. I posted some pics on my FB account and friends saw them and wanted soap. So far my sales have been local or shipped to people I know personally. We do have a large annual Christmas craft show here in town in October each year and I am hoping to enter it next year. I am also hoping to get set up in my Etsy store soon.

~Sandy said...

Just stopping by to say hi!!! You have a nice blog:)Thanks for sharing your life with us. ((hugs))

Lindajp said...

I found your blog and just love it. I've never made soap but love crafting everything. I would love to make some of these little cuties. My question is do you use liquid lye or crystals"

Kentucky Farm Girl said...

Linda, I use the lye beads from Essential Depot. Welcome to my blog. Hope you find lost of things you enjoy.

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