Lemon Balm Soap: Part II

For a splash of color, I'm adding some powdered parsley. Parsley has very high Chlorophyll content, and is known for keeping it's bright, grass green color, even after undergoing saponification. Lots of folks who make all natural soap struggle with color, since many natural color additives quickly lose their luster once the lye is added.

Just below, I've dissolved the organic acacia honey in some warm distilled water. 

Next, I weigh out the lye. Lye is absolutely necessary for making true soap. There's no way around it. The goal here is to calculate the lye/oil ratio perfectly, so that the lye completely expends itself as it transforms the oils into soap. If properly measured and mixed, you end up with pure saponified oils (soap) that is gentle and cleansing. 

Below, I've strained the olive oil, and it's reflecting my kitchen cabinets nicely. :P

Remember the herbal infusion I made in Part I? The I've strained it out and it's ready for the lye to be added.

Next, I add the lye to the herbal infusion carefully. You can't see it in this next picture, but I've got big purple rubber gloves on to protect my dainty hands from lye burns. This next picture shows the lye/herbal infusion in an ice bath on the left, and the Lemon Balm infused olive oil on the right.

 Next, I've added the lye/herbal infusion solution to the olive oil. Commence the stirring! Stir, stir, stir, and stir some more. This part takes a while. It's important that the lye solution and oil are mixed very well to prevent pockets of burning pain in your bars of soap. No one like pockets of burning pain.

The image below shows the mixture at a stage when it's ready to be poured. Notice the difference between the picture above? It's all creamy looking now. Mmmm. Creamy...

Here's a picture of the mold I'm using. It's a 5 pound wooden soap mold, lined with freezer paper.

Inside the mold, I've added a little parsley powder and chamomile buds.

This next picture shows the soap mixture after I've added some parsley powder.  Green is good!

And here we have the mixture after it's been poured into the mold, all nice and swirly!

I always make a little more than 5 pounds of soap. The next picture shows my smaller 2 pound mold, filled with the remaining green soap mixture.

And finally, I offer a "Thank You" to my ally, Lemon Balm. She gave much, and is due some gratitude.

Stay tuned for Part III of Lemon Balm Soap, where I remove the soap from the mold, and cut it into bars.