A Conversation at Safeway Regarding Soap
June 28th, 2006
I was at Safeway tonight, waiting in line behind a guy in a Whole Foods shirt (I found this amusing), when he addressed me:
“Excuse me; can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What do you use coconut oil for? What sort of things do you cook with it?”
“Actually, I’m not going to cook with it at all–I’m going to make soap with it.”
“Soap?”
“Yes. That’s what I’m using the Crisco and the peanut oil for as well. I’m getting a bunch of different kinds of fat, and then I’m going to make soap from them and make a web page about it.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Kinda a silly thing, but it should be fun.”
I imagine this guy thought I was completely weird, but considering the fact that I have a shelf that looks like this, he might be right:
So, inspired by the Cockeyed.com Science Club and the MOTD guy’s experiments, I will soon be posting pictures and experiences from my adventures in the world of soapmaking. Stick around; this will be fun!
Next: Background.
Entry Filed under: Soap
9 Comments Add your own
1. Lauren | June 28th, 2006 at 14:37
Selection looks fine to me…except what’s with the Draino?? Tell me that doesn’t go into the soap!
2. tellumo | June 28th, 2006 at 15:17
I’m afraid it does! Making soap, at the most simple level, is adding a base to a fat. You can use any base, but sodium hydroxide (for solid soap) and potassium hydroxide (for liquid soap) are the traditional choices; I understand that they’re also the most effectve ones. Confusingly, both of them are often called simply “lye.” I’m using NaOH, which I had to get at the hardware store. Most drain openers contain one or the other alkali-metal hydroxide, along with a bunch of other junk, but the stuff I have is just lye.
MOTD describes the process in a little more detail, and
this site does so with a cute story involving bunnies, wolves, border collies, and sheep.
3. MoTD | June 28th, 2006 at 18:10
Never before have cartoon bunnies so succinctly been used to explain the concept of stoichiometry.
4. Lauren | June 28th, 2006 at 23:53
Ah, I didn’t see the 100% lye part. Thanks to you I am also a MOTD fan, so let me know how your experiment goes!
5. Katie | July 1st, 2006 at 15:56
Soap! Please let me know how it goes! I’ve only made glycerin-type soap before, which isn’t from scratch as your soaps will be. May I hypothesize that the coconut oil and olive oil soaps will be the best? (and I’m only partially basing that on what sounds yummiest to eat)
Ohhhh…and I’m responding to your long-lost e-mail right now…
6. tellumo | July 1st, 2006 at 17:11
Thanks! I will keep you posted.
I agree with your hypothesis; as I understand, olive and coconut oils are two of the most commonly used oils for soapmaking. They have interestingly complementary properties as well, so I might make some soap with both oils.
7. Adam Engelhart » Va&hellip | August 16th, 2006 at 15:23
[...] The width thing is the most important upgrade. When I made my first soap post, I noticed the image extended into the sidebar and looked pretty nasty, so I wanted to fix that before I continued. [...]
8. Adam Engelhart » So&hellip | October 2nd, 2007 at 20:53
[...] Prior: A Conversation at Safeway Regarding Soap. Next time: olive oil, coconut oil, and a mixture. Send this article to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
9. It’s Global Handwas&hellip | October 16th, 2008 at 13:23
[...] is unavailable in your locality, I have written a little monograph on the subject, which begins here. If you require information on manufacturing lye, check this out; if on the manufacture of oil, [...]
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