Soap

I have been collecting the scrag ends of soap for quite some time.  All kinds of soap.

The jar I've been collecting them in gradually filled up.  At the weekend I decided it was time to do something with them.

So I tipped them into a saucepan and put a gentle flame under them.

Nothing much happened.

So I put them in a plastic pot in the microwave, with a bowl of water on the side.  

Nothing happened.

So I did what I should have done in the first place and looked up how to melt soap.

It seems you are supposed to add water to your saucepan.  This seemed slightly counterintuitive to me, but I gave it a go.

And lo - the soap started to melt!

I hadn't put enough water in, so I topped it up with water from the kettle, which I had just boiled to make cups of tea.

Allow me to warn you, should you ever be minded to melt soap, that adding boiling water to melting soap is a Very Bad Idea.

It frothed up and went everywhere, even as I hastily moved the saucepan to the sink.  I ended up with soap all over the stove, all over the floor, all down the cupboard doors and in the sink!!  I now have a lovely, clean kitchen which smelled of soap for a very long time!

But I also ended up with useable soap.  I put some in a silicone mould, and some in a sandwich box.  When the soap in the sandwich box had set, I cut it into squares. I also had little soap Scotty dogs

Scotty dogs waiting to assist visitors to wash
their hands

It was kind of fun, making little hand soaps from soap scraps. I must do it again.

Usually when I take photos of the morning light, I take them from the front porch, looking down the driveway.  I took these looking over the fence from the backyard. We still have lots of trees around us, even after they cut down the trees on the far side of the reserve

It was a beautiful morning, but it was definitely on the cold side.  I think it was about 5d when I took these photos!