Homemade Soap

I have wanted to learn how to make soap for quite some time now, but I was afraid. I was very intimidated by using lye. Justifiable so. My first batch was a goner before it even had a chance to be soap. When the instructions say to use a very large pot and to pour the lye very slowly into the liquid, it means it. I underestimated how big of a pot I would need and I poured the lye into the goats milk much too quickly. What a mess!!! The mixture looked like a chemistry experiment gone very, very bad. Fortunately, I was doing this outside on the porch and not in my kitchen. The goat milk/lye mixture bubbled over the top of the pan and went all over the porch. It even got into my vines and plants (they died instantly and didn't even suffer).

I was tempted to kiss away the idea of even making soap, but I had an audience. My children were watching and helping so I couldn't give up. So....we tried again. This time we used a BIG pot and poured the lye very SLOWLY into the liquid. The difference was amazing. I think I will even be willing to do this again. Not only have I learned how to make soap,, but I've learned that I need to follow instructions very carefully when I am a complete novice about a subject.