Cutting Up

I got my big soap curing rack out of the milk room and into the guest room today. It's the only room where I can close the door and leave the soap undisturbed to cure. The smell coming out of that room will be absolutely wonderful. The soap will get harder as the water in it evaporates. Then it will be wrapped in quilt fabric, an utterly frivolous and lovely thing, although it does protect the bars and helps the scent last a little longer. I love to shop for fabric that matches the scent of the soap. Some customers save the little pieces of fabric and return them to me the next time they see me. Jan, my faithful friend, made me a quilted seat cover from soap wrapping fabric! I have 48 pounds each of lavender, patchouli, anise, cinnamon leaf, eucalyptus and unscented. Yes, there are people who don't want any scent in their soap. The honey I put in my soap has a natural scent that might put them off...but I risk it anyway. It gives the soap a lovely golden color. It takes me a while to cut my soap by hand, but I enjoy doing it. My soap operation is very, very basic but I kind of like it that way. I slice the soap, cut it in half and weigh every bar to make sure it is between 3 and 3.5 ounces. The long bar gives maximum skin contact - more than a little square chunk I think. I might consider getting some equipment in the future, but for right now I will stay "low-tech" and very much hand-made.