How Not To Make Soap

Sometimes things don't turn out like you think they will.  Some little variable will change your entire plan.  And so it was the other day when the husband decided to make more soap.  We pretty much make all of our soap and like to make big batches that will last us 6 months or so. 

Jace worked very hard at getting all the ingredients together and spent lots of time grinding up flowers to color and texture the soap.  However, the next day none of the soap had hardened.  It was all a gel like consistency and looked more like jam.  We've made soap many times and have even sold it, so what went wrong?

The downfall of many homesteading projects is when a person decides to do things their way.  Jace had used my enamel coated hot water bath canning pot instead of our usual crockpot.  After I was done shrieking... I looked up why one doesn't use a metal pot typically to cook soap.  It's the old chemical reaction thing.  The internet said doing this would cause toxic results and burn my house down.  Well, not really, but close.

My theory is the metal pot caused the soap to not bind together properly.  I'm not sure if lye was leached into the metal of my pot.  Jace was a good guinea pig and tested the soap to see if it would still work.  It didn't burn his hands off and now we have 6 months of usable gel soap.

Accidents sometimes bring good results but should not be a regular course of action.

Today the first living thing went into the garden.  This means the fence is stable enough to keep out deer.  We planted a lemon tree, seen here, and a nectarine tree.  We mixed regular soil and rabbit poo compost for the fill in dirt.  The cinder blocks are the border for a 16 square foot corn, beans, and squash bed.  Yes, it is February, and yes we are wearing shorts.