Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Welcome to my Science Room!

I figured I would give a little tour of what M and I lovingly call the science room! By tour I mean you get to see the one table all the magic happens at/on.
Above you can see the general look of the table, minus the containers I use while actively making soap. Usually the table is a lot more cluttered.
I recently moved our stereo system to right under the table so I can jam out to some music while making my soap.


On the left are my oils and butters. This picture is a bit old and I've added some stuff, but you get the idea. I have palm oil, hemp seed oil, almond oil, castor oil, coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, and olive oil (which is usually stored under the table). I also keep a bag of beeswax pellets in this area, but I don't typically use it for soap.
Under the table I have my lye, distilled water, vinegar (to neutralize any lye spills), epsom salts, and empty chapstick containers. I make all of the chapstick for myself and my immediate family, so we tend to go through a lot. The chapstick is what I use my beeswax for.
In the middle of the table I have a hodgepodge of items. Gloves, solo cups (useful for small pour-offs or just to hold a dirty stick blender in), my loaf cutter, safety goggles/mask (not pictured)... I dunno, you can see all of it, can't you? The metal tin has some wax tart making supplies for the days where I feel like pouring some wax.
On the very right is where I put my soaps that have been cut and need to cure. I should have put some of my more recent soaps here that don't look icky :). The soaps you can see right now are my first several batches I'd made after my year long hiatus from soapmaking, so you can sorta tell I was just getting back into the hang of things. At this point there are 3 layers of soap layered with some parchment paper on this end of the table.
Hey, I said that this table is usually cluttered!

Along another wall of the room, by my nail art supplies and wax storage are my fragrance/essential oils. I used to have a lot more, but I've been actively trying to use up what I do have so there's less stuff to throw out/leave behind when we move. Silly restrictions on what can and cannot be packed and shipped... *grumble* As is I have no idea how we're going to handle my nail polish.



And yes, I'm still here! We're getting ready for our (eventual) move, and I find my free time all eaten up by appointments left and right. Passports, immunizations, general health/check ups to make sure that I'm able to travel to the country M has projections for... it's all sorts of fun, outside of me cleaning up/tossing/using up items that I know we won't be able to bring with us. That, and the lovely dramallama decided to rear her head while I tried to participate in groups set up for spouses to help each other out with the moving process. I got to the point where I'd even typed out a very long winded complaint post about it. Ultimately I decided not to post it. Long story short: don't participate in 'support/help' groups set up for military spouses. Don't ask any more of me unless you want a long winded post LOL!

2 comments:

  1. Great set up! You are super organized. Your soaps look so rustic and scrubby. I want to use them <3 I am sorry about the military spouse help being a bust. My friend Ashley is a key spouse and helps people transition to new places. I wish she could help you. Are you getting excited?

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    Replies
    1. Excited beyond belief! I've always loved the excitement of moving to a new home, and living abroad for 2+ years will really give me a chance to go out and see the world! It'll be difficult visiting family back here in the states, but with technology so prevalent in our daily lives I feel like it won't be as hard on us as it would've been 20+ years ago.
      Oh, man, wait til I start posting about the soaps I made using coconut oil! These soaps clean fine and all, but they lack BUBBLES! The most recent ones I've made are bubble heaven! I get so childishly excited whenever I use them in the shower :)

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