# Botched batches.....



## RocknRoll

*Botched batches..... *NEW PICS**

Ok everyone... *AlchemyandAshes *asked for it! here are two of my botched batches of soap. The first one is Spellbound woods. I had this vision of beautiful girly colors of blue, purple and pink all swirled together. Um, no. what I got was soap that traced so quick and heavy that I was scooping the soap inot the molds and despite tapping the mold, I got lovely air bubbles too . Adding to the terrible look of this bar is all the ugly bumps due to not premixing/melting my palm oil. Lesson learned. This was also made before i knew to mix my TD with water so i have white specks and the other pigments are specked too (they were water soluable and I mixed them in oil). To top it all off, I got a nice partial gel lol. *face palm* these bars are still sitting in a paper bag. they smell nice. Oh and one more thing, I didnt know that the FO turned soap brown so the edges are tinted with brown and so is the bottom and a few other ramdom areas. I put glitter on top and i hate that too. 

The second one is an oatmeal mik and honey soap. It turned out good except for the fugly partial gel, the scrape marks from the oatmeal and all the ASH!!! .... thanks for oogleing. See, I make some ugly soaps too!!! :mrgreen:


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## AlchemyandAshes

YES! 
This is what I needed to see to make sure you're not some fancy schmancy soaping robot.
I appreciate your imperfect soaps and thank you for acquiescing to my demands of "failure pictures".
I can now offer you my soapy friendship without reservation.


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## Moonshea Botanicals

AlchemyandAshes said:


> YES!
> This is what I needed to see to make sure you're not some fancy schmancy soaping robot.
> I appreciate your imperfect soaps and thank you for acquiescing to my demands of "failure pictures".
> I can now offer you my soapy friendship without reservation.



She could still be a soaping robot. She might have had to had repair work done at the time she made these


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## AlchemyandAshes

Moonshea Botanicals said:


> She could still be a soaping robot. She might have had to had repair work done at the time she made these



Ooooh, good point! :shock:
**** it, I'm feeling paranoid now since offering my soapy friendship to a possible robot...I may need to see more failure pics from all of you...you know, to make sure you're REAL soapers...


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## RocknRoll

AlchemyandAshes said:


> YES!
> This is what I needed to see to make sure you're not some fancy schmancy soaping robot.
> I appreciate your imperfect soaps and thank you for acquiescing to my demands of "failure pictures".
> I can now offer you my soapy friendship without reservation.


 LOL! friendship accepted *huggs* :grin:


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## RocknRoll

AlchemyandAshes said:


> Ooooh, good point! :shock:
> **** it, I'm feeling paranoid now since offering my soapy friendship to a possible robot...I may need to see more failure pics from all of you...you know, to make sure you're REAL soapers...


 lololol! Yes! we need more botched failure soap pics. Hmmm, maybe a new thread? :shifty:


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## RocknRoll

Actually, because of this forum and all of you, through trial and error and practice... my soaps have gotten so much better than my soapcapades in the past. I have all of you to thank whenever I have a soap success!!! :clap:


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## lizflowers42

Aww they are beautiful disasters R&R! I'd use 'em!


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## Momonga

All soaps are beautiful in the eyes of God.  

I get my last oils in tomorrow and then I make my first CPs!  I have this vision of cutting them and they will be magnificent and everyone on the forum will be in awe of me!  But if not so much, is it OK if I post them in here instead?

Actually, I would totally use that top soap.


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## Momonga

Speaking of botched, you should see these cookies I just took out of the oven.  Serves me right for goofing around on the Internet while I'm baking.


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## RocknRoll

lizflowers42 said:


> Aww they are beautiful disasters R&R! I'd use 'em!


 lol, thanks. After taking the mug shots, I put them away back into hiding :sick:  maybe i will donate them lol


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## RocknRoll

Momonga said:


> All soaps are beautiful in the eyes of God.
> 
> I get my last oils in tomorrow and then I make my first CPs!  I have this vision of cutting them and they will be magnificent and everyone on the forum will be in awe of me!  But if not so much, is it OK if I post them in here instead?
> 
> Actually, I would totally use that top soap.


 YES!!! Post them here! People can post their most ugliest soap disasters in one convienent thread. How fun would that be lol! i may have a few more up my sleeve...lurking around in my picture folder somewhere on my pc :think: 
oh and i cant wait to see you first batch!


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## danahuff

I wish I had seen this before I threw out the Peaches and Cream mess I made on Sunday. I didn't even want to try to rebatch it. The way I figure it, we are all going to have batches that flop. I have fewer flops now than I did when I started. It stinks when it does happen, but I am much more sanguine about it than I used to be.


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## RocknRoll

danahuff said:


> I wish I had seen this before I threw out the Peaches and Cream mess I made on Sunday. I didn't even want to try to rebatch it. The way I figure it, we are all going to have batches that flop. I have fewer flops now than I did when I started. It stinks when it does happen, but I am much more sanguine about it than I used to be.


 I wish you had taken a picture! I love seeing soap that is well...lets say asthetically challenged because I can relate. When we see a batch gone bad, we relate and remember how we felt when it happened to us too. So we all feel your pain. I hope to see some posts on this thread. Im digging through my archive of pictures right now lol. Doesnt have to be what seems "ugly" just plain weird is welcome too!


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## AngelMomma

Sometimes beauty is on the inside.  I had an ugly one that looked nice after we used it a few times.


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## RocknRoll

*"eye" see you soap....*

So here is a strange one. I just cut one of my Cashmere Silk soaps in half so I can finally try it and this is what I got! Two frogs stareing eachother down! Can you see the eyes/faces or am I just desperate to post pics on this thread? lol


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## tryanything

hahahaha.  OMG I see the faces!  I don't know, I kind of like it!


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## RocknRoll

tryanything said:


> hahahaha.  OMG I see the faces!  I don't know, I kind of like it!


 I just showed it to my bf and he said it looked like "knotts" in a piece of wood. :Kitten Love: I prefer the faces lol!


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## AngelMomma

I totally see that!!!


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## AngelMomma

I used a FO in this batch that accelerated.  Plus I let the goats milk get too hot and there are specks of it all through the whole batch.  U~G~L~Y!!!


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## danahuff

OK, I just remembered I had a picture of one of my early accidents. This is what happens when your soap overheats. There is stinky oil oozing from that cavern, and the bars were kind of sweaty looking. I rebatched it, and the soap came out OK. I use a slab mold for this recipe now, and it behaves better.


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## RocknRoll

AngelMomma said:


> I used a FO in this batch that accelerated.  Plus I let the goats milk get too hot and there are specks of it all through the whole batch.  U~G~L~Y!!!


 It looks like peanut butter! Did you end up using it?


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## RocknRoll

danahuff said:


> OK, I just remembered I had a picture of one of my early accidents. This is what happens when your soap overheats. There is stinky oil oozing from that cavern, and the bars were kind of sweaty looking. I rebatched it, and the soap came out OK. I use a slab mold for this recipe now, and it behaves better.


 Oh WooooW!!! :shock: I've had an oozy soap but this trumps it! I could only imagine the horror on your face as you cut into it! :silent: Thanks for sharing, im loving the "soap gone bad" pics! Its a good educational tool too!


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## AlchemyandAshes

This one completely separated in the mold and wasnt able to be revived, even with a crockpot rebatch surgery (it lost too much blood...I mean lye). May it rest in peace.


I don't make it a habit of taking pictures of my shameful soap spawn, but I will from now on


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## melstan775

Rock&Royalty said:


> YES!!! Post them here! People can post their most ugliest soap disasters in one convienent thread. How fun would that be lol! i may have a few more up my sleeve...lurking around in my picture folder somewhere on my pc :think:
> oh and i cant wait to see you first batch!



Look at you showing off your bad soaps with as much pride as you do your good ones.  You're, not bowing to peer pressure like some jerk but proudly holding your head up saying, "Ha, I do make bad soap bishes, and here it is, so take that!"  

I'm just kidding but I think it's brave of you to show soap disasters. Now everyone else better anti-up and not leave you out to dry.  I await the additions....


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## RocknRoll

AlchemyandAshes said:


> This one completely separated in the mold and wasnt able to be revived, even with a crockpot rebatch surgery (it lost too much blood...I mean lye). May it rest in peace.
> 
> 
> I don't make it a habit of taking pictures of my shameful soap spawn, but I will from now on


 I'm going to from now on too, I had one seperate a long ass time ago and I had to literally pour it into the garbage (then properly disposed of). Its amazing what soap can do when we least expect it!


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## RocknRoll

melstan775 said:


> Look at you showing off your bad soaps with as much pride as you do your good ones.  You're, not bowing to peer pressure like some jerk but proudly holding your head up saying, "Ha, I do make bad soap bishes, and here it is, so take that!"
> 
> I'm just kidding but I think it's brave of you to show soap disasters. Now everyone else better anti-up and not leave you out to dry.  I await the additions....


 lol, that just made me laugh! I love show and tell and the interaction from all of you. Thanks for the encouragment i cant wait to see who else shows off their beautiful blunders! :mrgreen:


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## melstan775

AlchemyandAshes said:


> This one completely separated in the mold and wasnt able to be revived, even with a crockpot rebatch surgery (it lost too much blood...I mean lye). May it rest in peace.
> I don't make it a habit of taking pictures of my shameful soap spawn, but I will from now on



Yuck. This reminds me of several things , all of which are gross and unappealing. I salute your bravery in sharing your soap accident!


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## Moonshea Botanicals

well, IMO if they didn't make mistakes, how would they know if we newbies did?


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## 2lilboots

I have 4 botched batches in boxes in the closet until I figure out what I am going to do with them.  And I chucked 2 batches, one the FO had such a stench mixed with the milk in one soap.  The other was an aloe/silk flop that looked hairy.  The ones in the closet were cupcake and cake type soaps that just don't look good to me at all.


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## Badger

I think it is wonderful to show soaping imperfections.  Not only does it show me some of what things can look like when they do go awry and what it may mean, but it shows me that even the people with more experience than I have also have had less then perfect results at times also.


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## dianne70

This is a soap I made with a green tea infusion for my water.......in my wisdom I wanted it GREEN, but of course the tea turned it brown.....so I just kept adding TD and Green Oxide until I had a green colour....pretty pleased I was with myself too, I might add!!  Should have seen my face when I unmolded and cut it!!  So people...this is what happens when you add  WAY TOO MUCH color !!!


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## RocknRoll

dianne70 said:


> This is a soap I made with a green tea infusion for my water.......in my wisdom I wanted it GREEN, but of course the tea turned it brown.....so I just kept adding TD and Green Oxide until I had a green colour....pretty pleased I was with myself too, I might add!!  Should have seen my face when I unmolded and cut it!!  So people...this is what happens when you add  WAY TOO MUCH color !!!


 too cool! It reminds me of lizard skin!!! I must admit that I would love to be able produce a crackled soap such as this. I think it looks neat! good to know thats what happens when you add too much color and add a little heat...


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## RocknRoll

Badger said:


> I think it is wonderful to show soaping imperfections.  Not only does it show me some of what things can look like when they do go awry and what it may mean, but it shows me that even the people with more experience than I have also have had less then perfect results at times also.


 i feel the same! I find myself excited about what crazy soap picture will pop up next!!! the anticipation is killin' me lol


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## RocknRoll

2lilboots said:


> I have 4 botched batches in boxes in the closet until I figure out what I am going to do with them.  And I chucked 2 batches, one the FO had such a stench mixed with the milk in one soap.  The other was an aloe/silk flop that looked hairy.  The ones in the closet were cupcake and cake type soaps that just don't look good to me at all.


 I wanna see, i wanna seee! lol.  I would have really likes to have seen the "hairy soap" bar :Kitten Love:


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## melstan775

Rock&Royalty said:


> I wanna see, i wanna seee! lol.  I would have really likes to have seen the "hairy soap" bar :Kitten Love:



Me too me too!


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## melstan775

Rock&Royalty said:


> too cool! It reminds me of lizard skin!!! I must admit that I would love to be able produce a crackled soap such as this. I think it looks neat! good to know thats what happens when you add too much color and add a little heat...



Crackling seems to be caused by overheating and too many additives. Perhaps adding a ton of TD and color and letting it gel on purpose?  Put a little exfoliator in it and you can call it Lizard Skin soap.


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## MaitriBB

Some of my earliest failures:






My first real batch.  Huge pockets of unprocessed lye.  Eeeeeek!  I just didn't blend it enough, I didn't move the stick blender around the bucket well enough.






Black raspberry vanilla that was oozing oil /blech






My first attempt at a coffee soap.  I was using a new log mold and underestimated how big to make the batch, so they turned out pretty squat.  Smell good though.  Ugly colors.


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## Momonga

melstan775 said:


> Yuck. This reminds me of several things , all of which are gross and unappealing. I salute your bravery in sharing your soap accident!


 
Mmmmm.  I'm thinking pecan pie!  It must be lunch time.


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## AlchemyandAshes

melstan775 said:


> Yuck. This reminds me of several things , all of which are gross and unappealing. I salute your bravery in sharing your soap accident!



What? You don't wanna take a big ol bite of that?


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## Badger

Yeah, there is finally a soap picture thread that doesn't make me hungry ;-)


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## MountNView

I just found this site a week ago and I'm finding it so entertaining for this newbie...LOL...I also hope I never get on the wrong side of you.


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## RocknRoll

MaitriBB said:


> Some of my earliest failures:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My first real batch.  Huge pockets of unprocessed lye.  Eeeeeek!  I just didn't blend it enough, I didn't move the stick blender around the bucket well enough.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Black raspberry vanilla that was oozing oil /blech
> 
> 
> My first attempt at a coffee soap.  I was using a new log mold and underestimated how big to make the batch, so they turned out pretty squat.  Smell good though.  Ugly colors.


 ! :-D I have some color failures too. I wish now that I had taken pictures. My first flop was making purple for my lavender soap. I ended up having brown... yuck. :thumbdown:


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## lizflowers42

First attempt with rebatching soap.  Too much liquid (tea) and mouse turds (lavender buds).  Still crumbly and spongy!


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## 2lilboots

But, Liz, mouse turds are a great exfoliant!


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## lizflowers42

2lilboots said:


> But, Liz, mouse turds are a great exfoliant!



ewwwwwwwwww.  I rebatched these in early January.  Super squishy and grainy.  I'm still using in the shower, but it melts really fast!


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## Badger

2lilboots said:


> but, liz, mouse turds are a great exfoliant!



lol!


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## RocknRoll

Good on you for at least trying to rebatch it! I about laughed my ass off when I read "mouse turds" lol!


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## melstan775

lizflowers42 said:


> First attempt with rebatching soap.  Too much liquid (tea) and mouse turds (lavender buds).  Still crumbly and spongy!



They look like dry pork chops.  Yuuuummmmmmmmmm    Thanks for sharing!


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## Momonga

lizflowers42 said:


> First attempt with rebatching soap.  Too much liquid (tea) and mouse turds (lavender buds).  Still crumbly and spongy!



Heart-shaped mouse turd soap!  I love it - absolutely love it!


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## houseofwool

Note to self - only use lavender buds on the TOPS of the cakes, not in them...


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## lizflowers42

melstan775 said:


> They look like dry pork chops.  Yuuuummmmmmmmmm    Thanks for sharing!



Between your bacon and my pork chops...we could be on to something!


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## RocknRoll

melstan775 said:


> They look like dry pork chops.  Yuuuummmmmmmmmm    Thanks for sharing!


 you should totally post your "bacon" soap on this thread!!!


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## RocknRoll

*the worst way to have to unmold soap....*

I'm excited to share with you today, my most recent failure :clap:
I had this dumb idea of using a silicone mat with a design on it so my round soaps would be embossed on the edges. BAD IDEA! Even with oiling the mold first and the matt, it stuck and WOULD NOT BUDGE!!! I pounded from the bottom with a can and it came up an inch or two but that was it. I tried freezing it.. didnt help. I tried warming it up in the oven... didnt help. I tried dropping it on the floor (ok i was frustrated) no avail. Anyway i ended up having to spoon it out and scrape it out with my hands! The soap didnt zap so it was fine but still. This was my facial soap with special oils and now look at it lmao! I only got a peek of the design when after digging both ends, the soap finally pushed out... yup you guessed it, the liner still stuck inside. Look at the nice mess I now have in my soap studio!

I do have a fun idea though that I am going to try to pull off today utilizing the black soap globs. Stay tuned :roll:


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## Badger

Oh my, R&R that is quite a mess!  I look forward to seeing what you do with this   *looks at his pvc pipes with some concern*


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## RocknRoll

I have to admit PVC pipes can be a pain. I know now though never to put a silicone liner in there. I wonder now if I had still lined it further by puting in a piece of wax freezer paper between the pipe and the liner if that would have made a difference. Im too scared to try again! oh ya, I almost forgot to mention that i put the same liner in my 100% olive castile soap pvc mold the same night. I dont even want to face that again today. I'll save it for another day :-?


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## AlchemyandAshes

Well, it sounded like a fabulous idea...at least in theory  That idea will work in a slab mold! At least the soap is usable...can't wait to see what you do with it!
And when all else fails...rebatch, baby!


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## RocknRoll

lol, ya i think I will keep that idea for the log molds that I have. I thought about rebatching... I've had this idea for a while using black globs like this as embeds. I'll post pics when I am done. Im repering them now... :grin:


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## semplice

I wanna play!

There was a lot of shea in this batch.  I unmolded and cut too soon.  I should have let it harden up for a few more days.  I used it anyway, and it was a great soap.  Wish I could find those notes!


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## RocknRoll

semplice said:


> I wanna play!
> 
> There was a lot of shea in this batch.  I unmolded and cut too soon.  I should have let it harden up for a few more days.  I used it anyway, and it was a great soap.  Wish I could find those notes!


oh these soaps are beautiful! I love the purple pink and white! I use shea a lot too and it does make unmolding a long wait. Thanks for sharing what unmolding and cutting to soon can look like! :shock:


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## Badger

Oh, those are beautiful even if they crumbled some


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## RocknRoll

AlchemyandAshes said:


> Well, it sounded like a fabulous idea...at least in theory  That idea will work in a slab mold! At least the soap is usable...can't wait to see what you do with it!
> And when all else fails...rebatch, baby!


 Sooo, what I did with it was make "Pandora's box" its for viewing in the "Song from the year you were born challenge"


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## melstan775

Awww, look at your beautiful disaster, RR.  all for the love of a cake embossing mat.  At least you fixed it with amazing Martian soap! 

Semplice, too bad it crumbled, it's pretty!


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## bonnyny

R&R: what did you do differently where the 100% olive oil sheet came out so beautifully?

This unexpected surprise was from a fragrance oil last year:


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## RocknRoll

bonnyny said:


> R&R: what did you do differently where the 100% olive oil sheet came out so beautifully?
> 
> This unexpected surprise was from a fragrance oil last year:


 Oh wow, cavernous soap! I had that happen once to me while making my first honey soap! I think it overheated!

Aside from my facial soap being soft from all the soft oils I used I let the 100% olive soap get frozen before trying to slip out the soap. (I put the other one in the freezer but not for as long) That was the only thing i did different. Im hoping that the next time I do it that it will come right out and that it wasnt just a fluke!


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## Smee

lizflowers42 said:


> First attempt with rebatching soap.  Too much liquid (tea) and mouse turds (lavender buds).  Still crumbly and spongy!




I don't need to post my dearly departed coffee soap pics.  They
look exactly like liz's mouse turd bars! :clap:

Seriously.  They really do.  Only it's too-coursely-ground coffee instead
of lavender for turds, which makes using it feel like scouring yourself with
sandpaper.  Of course mine still SMELLS like burnt coffee, so I had that
going for me :roll:


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## RocknRoll

Smee said:


> I don't need to post my dearly departed coffee soap pics.  They
> look exactly like liz's mouse turd bars! :clap:
> 
> Seriously.  They really do.  Only it's too-coursely-ground coffee instead
> of lavender for turds, which makes using it feel like scouring yourself with
> sandpaper.  Of course mine still SMELLS like burnt coffee, so I had that
> going for me :roll:


 My first batch of coffee soap looks beautiful until I tried using it lol, yes, it was like heavy gritt sandpaper! This last batch I made I used way less and sifted it real fine. Its curing now so i hope to find out soon if it made much of a difference.


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## cliff

Ha, those are pretty funny. I think my favorite is the mouse turd valentine soap.


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## Cherry Bomb

Ok.....so it looks like I will be adding my failed pics to this thread tomorrow! I just made some soap tonight and added in wine berry lab color and guess what......it looked like pudding.....the whole dang thing.....colored and not colored......so I just said what the hey, poured the pudding lab color on top and swirled it a little, licked the spoon (just kidding), wrapped it up and we shall see tomorrow night around 8:00 pm est!!!! Lol


BTW: these pics are great! Thanks for sharing....it's nice to know that there is no such thing as an absolutely perfect soaper!!!


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## RocknRoll

Cherry Bomb said:


> Ok.....so it looks like I will be adding my failed pics to this thread tomorrow! I just made some soap tonight and added in wine berry lab color and guess what......it looked like pudding.....the whole dang thing.....colored and not colored......so I just said what the hey, poured the pudding lab color on top and swirled it a little, licked the spoon (just kidding), wrapped it up and we shall see tomorrow night around 8:00 pm est!!!! Lol
> 
> 
> BTW: these pics are great! Thanks for sharing....it's nice to know that there is no such thing as an absolutely perfect soaper!!!


 ooooh, cant wait to see pictures! I hope it turns out good though but for us Botched batch enthusiasts... we wanna see even if its fugly!!!


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## lizflowers42

bonnyny said:


> R&R: what did you do differently where the 100% olive oil sheet came out so beautifully?
> 
> This unexpected surprise was from a fragrance oil last year:



Reminds me of cantelope!


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## lizflowers42

cliff said:


> Ha, those are pretty funny. I think my favorite is the mouse turd valentine soap.



Thanks!


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## Cherry Bomb

Cherry Bomb said:


> Ok.....so it looks like I will be adding my failed pics to this thread tomorrow! I just made some soap tonight and added in wine berry lab color and guess what......it looked like pudding.....the whole dang thing.....colored and not colored......so I just said what the hey, poured the pudding lab color on top and swirled it a little, licked the spoon (just kidding), wrapped it up and we shall see tomorrow night around 8:00 pm est!!!! Lol
> 
> 
> BTW: these pics are great! Thanks for sharing....it's nice to know that there is no such thing as an absolutely perfect soaper!!!



Bwaaaahahahahahahahahaaaaahahahaa!!! I knew they'd look silly! Pics coming!


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## Cherry Bomb

So for some reason I can on,y load one pic at a time....grrrrrrr so here's the top nice and thick


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## Cherry Bomb

The side.....it was too thick to mix properly.....


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## Cherry Bomb

The side with a lovely air pocket


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## Cherry Bomb

Finally.....the finished product....and no zap.....so that's a plus! Enjoy


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## AlchemyandAshes

Cherry Bomb...I'm not satisfied with that botched batch. I need to see worse than that...:lolno:


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## RocknRoll

AlchemyandAshes said:


> Cherry Bomb...I'm not satisfied with that botched batch. I need to see worse than that...:lolno:


 lol! are we fiening for oozing, cavernous fugly soaps??? YES!!! :shifty:


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## Badger

Yeah, I am not sure that soap is ugly enough for this thread ;-)


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## Smee

Oh yeah, they're right, Cherry Bomb.  You'll need to smash those bars up or something to 
get them to fit in here.  

(FWIW, I thought the batch looked quite pretty - especially your first pic of the top)


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## Cherry Bomb

AlchemyandAshes said:


> Cherry Bomb...I'm not satisfied with that botched batch. I need to see worse than that...:lolno:



Ok, Ok Alchemy  for me it was botched for two main reason: 1.) I'm a perfectionist and 2.) it smells AWFUL!!! It is acai FO and it makes me gag!!! It was ok in the bottle....not ok in the soap. Lol


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## Cherry Bomb

Rock&Royalty said:


> lol! are we fiening for oozing, cavernous fugly soaps??? YES!!! :shifty:



This is pretty fugly and it smells awful!!!!  Lol


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## Cherry Bomb

Badger said:


> Yeah, I am not sure that soap is ugly enough for this thread ;-)



You're too kind badger! It smells nasty....if the computer had a scratch and sniff I would share the nasty smell with. Not a fan of acai!!!! :razz:


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## Cherry Bomb

Smee said:


> Oh yeah, they're right, Cherry Bomb.  You'll need to smash those bars up or something to
> get them to fit in here.
> 
> (FWIW, I thought the batch looked quite pretty - especially your first pic of the top)



Well why thank you.  I personally thought they were awful!!! I will try again and I'm sorry to disappoint......next time I will be sure they are oozing with ugliness. Lol


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## RocknRoll

LMAO! thats the spirit


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## danahuff

OK, so get a load of this.

I had a plan to make Sweet Pea soap today with a nice creamy base and a pink and green swirl. And it was, I'm pretty sure, gorgeous. But I forgot the fragrance, which was kind of the point, so I couldn't leave well enough alone and just leave it unscented. I glopped it out of the mold and into the bowl. I added the scent, but it turned a gross greenish brown.

Ugh.

I rescued the colors and swirl as best as I could, but now it was green soap with a pink swirl. OK. Might turn out fine.

I was making a video of the whole thing. I decided that I would just make it funny. 

And the video editing was going fine. Then I noticed that my shirt rode up in the back as I sweating and running around trying to rescue my soap, and I was just about exposing myself. Shoot. Couldn't put that video up on YouTube.

After a certain point, all you can really do is laugh.


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## AlchemyandAshes

Uh, Dana...um, where's the picture of the gross greenish brown soap? You can't tease us with a description and then leave us high and dry. Besides, you could have renamed it "Sweet Pee" and started a whole new line of soaps geared towards 12 year old boys.


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## danahuff

Here's the video. Unfortunately, you can't see the brown because I think I may have rescued it. Maybe. But you can enjoy the video in all its embarrassing glory.

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyW3DuihRew[/ame]


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## Cherry Bomb

Dana this was GREAT!!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Loved the censored tag!!! Canard wait to see it!


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## danahuff

Cherry Bomb said:


> Dana this was GREAT!!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Loved the censored tag!!! Canard wait to see it!



Yeah, no one needed to see the top of my butt.


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## Cherry Bomb

danahuff said:


> Yeah, no one needed to see the top of my butt.



I have a tendency to "accidentally" show mine so my boyfriend said that my Indian name is "Walks With Moonshine" cause I'm always shining my moon! Lol I hear ya....no one needs to see mine either!


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## RocknRoll

alchemyandashes said:


> uh, dana...um, where's the picture of the gross greenish brown soap? You can't tease us with a description and then leave us high and dry. Besides, you could have renamed it "sweet pee" and started a whole new line of soaps geared towards 12 year old boys.


 lmao!!!


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## Badger

Dana, 

I loved the video, it was just what I needed after my most recent (likely) soaping disaster.  I am not sure it will be worthy of botched batches, just not what I wanted it to be.  I am really glad that you were able to laugh at it


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## RocknRoll

The video was awesome! I love to see fellow soapers at home making soap. I wish you had recorded your "aha moment" when you realized you forgot to add the fragrance! It's always funny to watch a good "freak out" worthy moment. :shock:


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## danahuff

Rock&Royalty said:


> The video was awesome! I love to see fellow soapers at home making soap. I wish you had recorded your "aha moment" when you realized you forgot to add the fragrance! It's always funny to watch a good "freak out" worthy moment. :shock:



Yeah, I think so, too, but I noticed it right after I turned off the camera to let the soap sit and thicken up a bit to do the tops. As I started to clean up, there was the container with the FO. :shock:


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## melstan775

lizflowers42 said:


> Between your bacon and my pork chops...we could be on to something!





Rock&Royalty said:


> you should totally post your "bacon" soap on this thread!!!




I can't believe I JUST saw these comments!  Lazy me! Here's two failures. Out of 4 batches that's a 50% pass to fail rate! 


The Accidental Bacon Soap - meant to be pink pink or red with white zebra stripe: 












And, my Witches Brew Pucks.  Massive Fail. Have decided culprit is using way too much of the fragerence combined with not having enough lye solution.  Soft, ridged, and fugly:


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## Badger

I still like your bacon soap though, Mel   I am worried about my latest batch being too soft and I tried to line the pvc mold, but the paper came loose and swirled into the soap, so I pulled it out.  I am hoping that I do not have a stuck soapy disaster when it is time to unmold.  I might try putting it in the freezer for a bit later on tonight if it is still soft, but not sure still...


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## chicklet

Dana, omg thank you so much for sharing the video.  Bless your heart!  I can't stop laughing.   

Melstan - I like the bacon soap too!  Now those other things .... hmmm.... do they all look like that?

Badger - patience.  It's not easy.


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## Mommysoaper

Danahuff- I loved your video! Even though it was hard to see, it looks like you may have still saved the soap!  Can't wait to see it cut!  Haven't had any huge failures myself, but have forgotten FOs.  I got a sample of crisp apple rose from BB and wanted to make a green and pink swirled round soap.  Went through all of the trouble to separate the bath, color, and pour the swirl then realized right before molding that I forgot the FO!  Mixed everything together again and added the FO.  Thankfully the soap just turned a boring green but not what I wanted.  I think my worst batch so far has been a green tea infusion.  The soap is so ashy (possibly due to the FO) even though I sprayed with 91% alcohol, and gelled even in the fridge so it's kinda brownish on the inside and yellow on the outside. (yuck) Anyway, it will be a nice soap to use at home! Oh, and I'm not a fan of the green tea FO from BB.  I just don't think I like the really "green" scents. My husband likes it though.


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## Smee

Oh Great and Mighty Admins,

We most humbly approach thy most awesomeness and beseech thee that thou might
hear our hearts' desire.  Please, your most amazingnesses (wth?), that thou may find it
worthy to pin this simple yet precious thread?

Hmmm....maybe I should ask Shawnee to do this for me?  She's pretty good at this prayer stuff :wink:


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## houseofwool

Badger, if you didn't coat the inside of the PVC with mineral oil or the like, it might be difficult to unmold.

Ugh - the batch that I made last weekend nearly gave me heart failure.  I've finally ventured into playing with swirls (yes, I am slow to the game) and did a modified funnel pour (read as - glopped the batter into the mold because it hit trace much more quickly than I anticipated) into my PVC mold which was coated with mineral oil.  Because I used orange EO blend, I stuck it in the fridge until it solidified a bit more and then into the freezer it went.  (It has to be lying down to fit in the freezer.)

I pulled it out and kept an eye on it for the next day or so waiting for it to harden up enough to unmold.  For some reason, it was extremely soft, even for a soap that I didn't gel.  Finally, I was able to pull the cap off and there was approximately 1/4 teaspoon of some orangish colored liquid in the bottom which I am guessing was some of the EO, but I have no idea since everything was a medium to heavy trace when it went into the mold.  It was still so soft that there was no way to unmold it. I kept thinking of R&R digging out the batch from the column mold and I swore that wasn't going to happen.

I stuck it back in the freezer for a day or so.  When I pulled it out, I ran it under hot water for 20 seconds and tried to unmold.  Normally, this is pretty easy, I stack up a couple of cans of diced tomatoes which are just under 3" diameter and push the pipe down over the top of them.  Usually the soap slides out with a bit of muscle.  I think I tried 4 or 5 different times, freezing it again, running it under hot water, pushing, swearing (silently so my 4 year old doesn't repeat my longshoreman's vocabulary at preschool).  No dice.  I was just about to call it quits when, on a whim, I flipped the pipe over so that instead of putting the cans into the pipe to push it out, I put the pipe over the cans so that the bottom was down.

I nearly wept when the soap started to slide out.

It still had to sit for another 2 days before I was able to cut it.  I used the lavender Brazilian clay from BB and because the base soap is a creamy color, it came out more greyish than I would have liked.  It smells divine with 3:1 orange:ylang ylang EO mixture.


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## Badger

Did the EO reabsorb into the soap?  It sounds like a wonderful mix of oils, I am glad it smells good even if the color is not what you wanted... I think I am going to toss mine in the freezer and then try to get it out.  I used Parchment paper to line the pvc, but the paper didn't behave and came loose into the center of the soap I had poured, so I had to pull it out... had no idea what else I could do at that point.  I was able to pour the one I did tonight into the mold with just a glopping mess, but the parchment paper behaved better.

I will see what happens with my soap after putting it in the freezer for a bit and then will see if I can get it out of the pipe.


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## AlchemyandAshes

Smee said:


> Hmmm....maybe I should ask Shawnee to do this for me?  She's pretty good at this prayer stuff :wink:



I prefer "incantation", but whatevs...;-)

OK, here goes (everyone must hold hands and form a circle for this one...oh, and take your shoes off...it works better that way) ~

<Hey you, with the bell...ring it now>

High Priestess of the Ancient Soap Pot stands in the center of the circle with soap cauldron in front of her: 
"O Mighty Soap Gods, the Holy Scented and Unscented, we humbly come before thee with sacred and unified intention that thou may hear our most solemn wish."

<Insert incense lighting here> <and stop ringing that bell!>

SMFers: "We offer our oils unto thee as a token of our devotion"

<High Priestess adds 3 most powerful and divine oils to the cauldron: Olive, Coconut, and Castor>

<Everyone start moving clockwise...uh, no...you're "other left">

HPotASP: "We come before thee as pure as Castille with the one desire to have the beloved thread of "Botched Batches" bestowed with the highest honor of being transformed from 'common thread' to 'sticky post' "

<right hand puts Calendula into the soap cauldron while left hand holds stick blender pointed towards the heavens>

SMFers: "Admins and Mods, we raise this nectar of sodium hydroxide in honor of your benevolence!"

<raise stainless steel chalices of lye solution in salute...Very. Carefully.>

<Each SMFer kneels and pours ther NaOH into the cauldron>

HPotASP & SMFers: "By the power of Olive, and Coconut, and Castor - the spell be done!"

<flames erupt from cauldron...a little soap batter volcanos...so we decide this will be a "hot process" spell>

...and the smoke clears...

DID IT WORK? :Kitten Love:


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## Smee

ROFLMAO!  I mean,  (ahemm...) Amen!


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## Smee

Huh.  That's odd.  All the admins logged off
You sure about that decanting thing you just did there Shawnee?


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## Badger

ROFLMAO!  Blessed Be!


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## AlchemyandAshes

Smee said:


> Huh.  That's odd.  All the admins logged off
> You sure about that decanting thing you just did there Shawnee?



Did I push that one too far over the "sanity line" for them, you think? :crazy:

I think they were intimidated by the power emanating from that soap cauldron...


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## Smee

Either that or you just sacrificed them to the soap volcano gods...I dunno...


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## AlchemyandAshes

<Head stuck in cauldron>
Hello?! Anybody in there? :eh:
<echoes>
Hazelllll? Gennyyyyy?
<knocking on the outside of the cauldron>
JudyMoody? Paillo?
<more echoes>
Lindy? Are you in there?
<Knocking harder on the side of the cauldron>
:shock:
Who had their fingers crossed? You NEVER cross your fingers when doing a soap spell! Everyone knows that! :roll:


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## SpiralTouch

This makes me feel better. I have 3 batches of 'failed' soap I still don't know what to do with. They are from my first-ish batches of milk soap - traced so quickly I couldn't get the oxides/oats mixed in well enough, and were so thick so there are air bubbles and unevenly mixed soap. Sad cause its a lot of soap. 3-5 pounds in each bat h

Who thinks they are even worth a rebatch? I'm thinking to just give them away, not sure if its worth the precious time rebatching. There are clumps of oat powder and uneven color in them. Definitely usable, that's why I'm leaning towards freebies to friends.


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## Mommysoaper

You guys are hysterical!  Glad to see I'm not the only crazy person in the world!   My husband gives me such concerned looks when I burst out laughing when reading the posts.  He asks me, "What's up?"  I wave my had saying, "Its a soap thing..."


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## Timber

SpiralTouch said:


> Who thinks they are even worth a rebatch? I'm thinking to just give them away, not sure if its worth the precious time rebatching. There are clumps of oat powder and uneven color in them. Definitely usable, that's why I'm leaning towards freebies to friends.



Do you have pics?  I'd vote for rebatch, you just might come up with something great!


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## danahuff

OK, the good news is that I saved the soap.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJL06gye8g[/ame]

The bad news is that I think the smell is going to have to grow on me. I am not sure I like it. It may just need to cure. It makes me unhappy I sacrificed the design I wanted for a scent I'm not sure about.


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## Genny

danahuff said:


> OK, the good news is that I saved the soap.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJL06gye8g
> 
> The bad news is that I think the smell is going to have to grow on me. I am not sure I like it. It may just need to cure. It makes me unhappy I sacrificed the design I wanted for a scent I'm not sure about.



I like it.  I think the simple design and light colors go with what I would envision sweet pea to look like.


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## houseofwool

I'm with Genny on this one.  I really like the colors.


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## Mommysoaper

It looks pretty and my daughter likes it too:wink: She loves pink and green!


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## Badger

It turned out very nice, Dana.  I know you are not that fond of the scent, but maybe it will come together for you.  I keep thinking of cherry blossoms looking at the soap...


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## danahuff

Badger said:


> It turned out very nice, Dana.  I know you are not that fond of the scent, but maybe it will come together for you.  I keep thinking of cherry blossoms looking at the soap...



I think the scent just needs to mellow a bit, and I can still smell the oils. I didn't gel this soap, so I think I need to give it a week to saponify a bit more, and then we'll see. Sweet Pea is a popular scent. Someone will like it.


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## MaitriBB

Still not sure what happened with this one.  I *think* that the goat's milk burned from the lye.  The only thing that I did differently with this batch was that this was my first time adding tussah silk and I tried adding it to the goat's milk before I added the lye, and it didn't dissolve as I'd thought it would.  Also I was trying a new coffee FO.  I have just have crap luck with coffee FO's.


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## Badger

Maitri, it looks kind of like an oreo ice cream.


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## Smee

(This thread really needs to get stickied...hint hint)

And now, for your viewing delight, may I present.....

Liquid Goat Milk Soap!
(well, that's what it was supposed to be, anyway)

The tall bottle is NOT muddy water.  It is diluted GM & olive oil soap.
(no, really, that's what's in there)
The short Mason jar contains some of the paste, so I can try
again.  and again.  and even again.
I guess the coloring got pretty faded when I uploaded this, but
the paste is a gorgeous dark rich brown gel.


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## Badger

Mmmmm, chocolate milk soap... I bet it would sell as that... it is all a matter of marketing ;-)


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## newbie

Not every botched soap holds some beauty.


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## Badger

That one looks pretty messy, newbie.  I have not had a separation problem yet, I tend to end up with thicker trace then I want though.


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## RocknRoll

wow, it looks all foamy! I havent had this happen before :Kitten Love: thanks for sharing!


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## Smee

Newbie...uhhh...what "was" it?


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## Cherry Bomb

Smee said:


> Newbie...uhhh...what "was" it?



My question as well. I have never seen a foam topped soap myself. Thank you for sharing. Did you use a new FO/EO or try a new method?


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## RocknRoll

*Dreaded Partial Gel.*

Ok. So here is the soap I cut with my crappy cutter tonight. It's a soap made with hemp seed oil, shea butter and vitamin E. I scented it with nag champa, orange EO and Patchouli. this is the first partial gel I have gotten while using PVC pipe. I had a heat pad wrapped around it for a while last night to ensure full gel. Well, when I was watchng tv, i heard a hissing noise from my soap studio... it must have over heated because the top was all blown out like a hemeroid! lol, i would have never guessed it didnt fully gel after that. Back to ungelled soaps for me. Gelling is just too unpredictable (in PVC).

 I see the beautiful creaminess of the ungelled portion and wish the whole thing looked that way. Gonna make another batch of this and stick it in the freezer next time. Was gonna name this one "Happy Hippie" but now it's just sad. :lolno:

I need a tub of ice cream.


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## melstan775

Wow. Interesting stories everyone.  I forgot this thread, but I can say they are all equally fun fails, if fails can be fun. 

 Here's a new one two.  My tiger stripe attempt for the soap challenge. It should have been three colors, and it looks like two. And thedarker colors dragged into the yellow so it looks really dirty. It was also wet. Um, still is.   The thai bamboo on the right, was decent, but wet.  They are ready for rebatching, if I get to it.


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## RocknRoll

melstan775 said:


> Wow. Interesting stories everyone.  I forgot this thread, but I can say they are all equally fun fails, if fails can be fun.
> 
> Here's a new one two.  My tiger stripe attempt for the soap challenge. It should have been three colors, and it looks like two. And thedarker colors dragged into the yellow so it looks really dirty. It was also wet. Um, still is.   The thai bamboo on the right, was decent, but wet.  They are ready for rebatching, if I get to it.


 LOL, you forgot to post the pic, just like I did earlier!! *waiting*..... :-D


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## melstan775

RoyaltySoapworks said:


> LOL, you forgot to post the pic, just like I did earlier!! *waiting*..... :-D



Updated!


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## RocknRoll

melstan775 said:


> Wow. Interesting stories everyone.  I forgot this thread, but I can say they are all equally fun fails, if fails can be fun.
> 
> Here's a new one two.  My tiger stripe attempt for the soap challenge. It should have been three colors, and it looks like two. And thedarker colors dragged into the yellow so it looks really dirty. It was also wet. Um, still is.   The thai bamboo on the right, was decent, but wet.  They are ready for rebatching, if I get to it.


 

The tiger stripe looks good! I like the thicker lines, mine are always so thin. Hey, next time you cut into a tiger stripe, turn it on it's side so the top colors wont drag into the next colors. I also use this tip whenever I have things on top of my soaps like oatmeal because then you wont get the stray pieces that drag through your soap scratching it all the way through as you cut it. This as works for "pencil lines" too leaving them crisp and clean  :mrgreen:


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## lizflowers42

RoyaltySoapworks said:


> The tiger stripe looks good! I like the thicker lines, mine are always so thin. Hey, next time you cut into a tiger stripe, turn it on it's side so the top colors wont drag into the next colors. I also use this tip whenever I have things on top of my soaps like oatmeal because then you wont get the stray pieces that drag through your soap scratching it all the way through as you cut it. This as works for "pencil lines" too leaving them crisp and clean  :mrgreen:



Great tip!


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