soap stuff...

I had some questions on how I mix water and lye for soap making so I thought it nice to share this picture. This is my typical set up for water/lye, where I have the water for soap measured in a large beaker which is placed in a bucket with cold water and a frozen icepack. It feels safer somehow to walk around with a bucket with the lye mixture rather than holding the beaker in my hands (I mix outside and then transfer the bunch downstairs to my soap making room). Plus it leaves one hand for opening and closing doors etc.

I also like the cooling down effect of the water & ice (this works better than snow, like cooling soda cans with ice cubes is slower than using a water & ice cube mixture - more cold surface to cool down I guess) and now it takes about 20-30 minutes to cool down from ca. 180-200 degrees F instead of forever LOL

Just a nice picture to show the maple leaves I like making with left over soap from larger recipes. I bought some candy boxes with a see thru lid and made gift sets, each with three differently colored leaves, and I think they look great! I'm real curious to see how they'll do coming market season...