Soaping, yes, that's a word

My obsession with soap came about in a weird and wonderful way. When we were preparing for our epic Europe trip a couple of years ago, I was trying to pack super light. I'm not kidding you here. We are talking two adults and four kids with 6 carry ons and 6 small backpacks for 1 1/2 months. It all hinged on one thing only... that overnight train trip from Italy to Paris. We had to be able to carry everything ourselves. For a few city blocks. And store it in lockers. We pre-measured. We did the logistics. Oh, and no liquids... it's carry on, remember? Shampoo was out. I went online and found a company that sold shampoo bars. I bought 5 small sample bars. We went to Europe. The next year I was on Facebook and discovered that the owner of the shampoo (and soap) bar company had been my camp counselor in 6th grade. I went on her website again to touch base, and looked at her soaps and her ingredients, one of which was "saponified coconut oil". What the heck does "saponified" mean? Google it! and then prepare to be amazed at what comes up. I found recipes for coconut oil soap, using only two ingredients, one of which I already had. I watched a video of a mom making soap in a crock pot in her kitchen after her kids were in bed. I was so intrigued. I had to try it. I made my first batch and then I couldn't stop. I spent many late nights reading about oils, lye discounts and natural colorants. My neighbors are probably wondering if I'm making meth in my breezeway... I have my goggles and rubber gloves and various buckets and spoons and immersion blenders and glass bottles of stuff. Pretty soon I had fruit boxes with various bars on chairs, in the pantry, on top of the dryer, in my closet. My husband is a very very patient man! Now my friends are on to me. Yes, I'm soaping today... and maybe tomorrow too. I can give you a sample!