Soap 2011

I made the first batch of soap in 2011 last night - lavender, of course. Who can be without lavender soap? I like my new soap mold box which accomodates the six half-gallon milk containers perfectly. Mark Jones of Affordable Carpentry in New Berlin built it for me. The box is "glued and screwed" and won't fall apart when the soap hardens and expands. I pull the blocks out and strip the wax paper off, then slice the blocks by hand like a big loaf of bread. Now my bars will not be bowed as before when I was propping them up with cedar shims - the same shims I use in the bottom of my Bundaflicka Knitting Totes. I used to trim the bars square then melt the scraps for shaving blocks. This system is much better. Thank you, Mark Jones.