# Let me SEE your tools!!!



## aprice522 (Jul 24, 2015)

So I have had success with enough soap that I tried a little two color layer with a pencil line. Haven't totally un-molded yet, but think I might be kinda hooked...
 But when I did my pencil line googling, I started to want to learn about swirls and other fancy things and started watching videos on blogs.
This made me think.... Her tools for soap making are more convenient then mine. I have mixing bowls with no handles...:Kitten Love: Hers made so much more sense!!!
 But since I will learn to make swirls, I might like to have cool tools and just some better equipment to work with.
 AND....if you find them for super good deals (cause I am cheap!...hmmm...no frugal) please let me know where you got them from.
 I know you don't use aluminum I know there are only specific plastics to use...but what recycle code are safe?
 Let me see the stuff you cook with!!! :smile:


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## not_ally (Jul 24, 2015)

This is actually a *really* good idea for a thread.  Soapy tools can be really good and really useless, and sometimes the best ones are really cheap/unexpected.  I will think on this for a bit and post later (I know, that is weird, you guys are used to me just blathering off of the top of my head


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## commoncenz (Jul 24, 2015)

The plastic white mixing bowls with the handles that are used in many videos can be found at the dollar store (Dollar Tree in my area). Really, a lot of the tools that they use in the videos you can find at the dollar store; measuring cups and containers for separating your batters into different colors, spatulas, etc.

Walmart has a 1 gallon plastic pitcher on sale for $2.50 during the summer.


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## not_ally (Jul 24, 2015)

Ok, as an initial brain dump:  Cenz, the dollar store bowls are fine at first, but for someone like me (super, dangerously, clumsy) a heavier mixing bucket with a broad/more stable base is better. Mine came w/metal handles, I cut them off, as I like to put them in the mv to be able to melt my huge dollops of lard.   I think they were about $5.00 on amazon.  

The dollar store (my favorite place to shop for just about everything) is really good for certain things soapy related, chopsticks, craft sticks, goggles, glass bowls for oil melting.  I have come to pretty much only use glass or porcelain type containers for melting/mixing oil based things (except for large amounts of oils, you are just stuck w/plastic there if you use a mv) plastics are just too much of a pain to clean. 

Gear ties as hanger tools, I like these b/c you can twist them into different shapes/sizes as you need them:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051BH0EM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Ok, have to walk the doggies, more later.


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## OliveOil2 (Jul 24, 2015)

Oh I just bought the same gear ties for hanger swirls, I am hoping to get them Monday. I still love the natural pic combs from the 99 cent store, and my stainless steel onion pick. Not_Ally do you use them to swirl soap other than a hanger swirl, guess what I am wondering if you could do a drop swirl and then use the shaped gear tie?


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## snappyllama (Jul 24, 2015)

I just made a batch, what I reached for:

Painters mixing buckets I get from Home Depot in big, medium and small (I have a ton of these and like them better than my containers with spouts... I like the sqeezey action better than handles that I always get messy)
Wooden craft sticks I got from Amazon for taking out my micas (I originally bought them from the dollar store but Amazon has a better price)
The Bentley of silicon spatulas... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MQ3LCAG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 (I love, love, love these and they are worth every penny)
Wooden skewer for swirling (I think I got them at the grocery store)
Plastic Pipette for doing a mica swirl without gooping oil all over
Mini frother for mixing my micas
Blue Nitrile gloves
Very fashion-forward green googles
Cusinart stickblender in rockin' red raspberry (the color is an integral part of its function... to me)
Stainless Steel condiment cups for mixing my micas
Big lidded bucket for storing my dirty containers until any remaining batter has saponified... got it from Home Depot
Apron
Thermometer gun from Habor Freight Tools
Plastic strainer for my lye water... from Amazon 3pack


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## galaxyMLP (Jul 24, 2015)

This thing is a lifesaver, I have 2 b/c I lost the best attachment on one (SS frother): 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E39LYO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## not_ally (Jul 24, 2015)

OO, I have only used them as hangers so far, but it seems as it they are flexible to be used anyway, really.  I've never tried to *further* swirl a drop swirl.  I am not very good at them, even though they are supposed to be the most straighforward ones ...


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## gigisiguenza (Jul 24, 2015)

I got my tools all over - Dollar Tree, thrift store, garage sales, everywhere LOL. The local dollar store and thrift stores are gonna be your haven honestly. If you go in thinking outside the box, you'll be surprised by how many things you can use.


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## aprice522 (Jul 24, 2015)

snappyllama said:


> Painters mixing buckets I get from Home Depot in big, medium and small (I have a ton of these and like them better than my containers with spouts... I like the sqeezey action better than handles that I always get messy)
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Questions for you Snappy--

These buckets...for oils and lye water??  I need to see to understand?  I guess?  I am not understanding the sqeezey action part of a bucket.

What a great idea for cleanup!  Love the "put away and deal later with the mess" idea!


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## aprice522 (Jul 24, 2015)

galaxyMLP said:


> This thing is a lifesaver, I have 2 b/c I lost the best attachment on one (SS frother):
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E39LYO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



LOVE the price...for mixing micas?  anything else?  I haven't gotten into those "special" like stuff, just household colorings...  :


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## galaxyMLP (Jul 24, 2015)

It's good for clays, titanium dioxide, even liquid colors , pigments, oxides, and of course mica! It's a life saver in general. It's got alot of power and blends evenly. Before I had it I didn't think I would use it all that much but it really is quite useful. If you aren't using any color at all yet then you may not find it useful.

I just remembered, I also use these to measure my FOs on my scale without getting oil dribbling everywhere or having to clean a glass dropper

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005Z4QVZ4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Also this IR temp gun (unlimited uses, really) and technically I have the more expensive model which goes up to 780 C (it was for a science experiment when k bought it)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00837ZGRY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Nitrile gloves from harbor freight, and a pair of good thick kitchen gloves with a rolled saftey cuff

http://m.harborfreight.com/5-mil-nitrile-powder-free-gloves-100-pc-medium-61363.html

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Playtex-Living-Drip-Catch-Cuff-Ultra-Fresh-Medium-Gloves-Medium/11027856


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## snappyllama (Jul 24, 2015)

I use the buckets for my oils and for my batter.  My oils get measured in them, microwaved in them and lye solution added to them. Just check to make sure they have a 2 or 5 on the bottom.  They aren't a hard plastic so I can squeeze them in a bit to keep a firm grip.

For my lye water, I use a plastic pitcher with tall sides.


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## not_ally (Jul 24, 2015)

Snappy, I love the idea of having a big Homer-type bucket around for keeping batter covered things in.  I don’t know why I haven’t thought of that, I need the counter space.

I love my Cuisinart SBs (it is so nice and easy to be able to pop off the bells for cleaning), too, I have two. I bought one and then got paranoid that it might break mid-batch and got another.  Despite the extravagance, it is worth it when doing lots of colors/multiple batches with lots of colors.  I also have a stand-by scale, for the same reason as the SB, I just don’t want to be w/o one if my primary breaks down. 

Big whisks and smaller ones (all SS or silicone coated), big silicone scrapers and smaller ones.  

As mentioned, I don’t like to use plastic for mixing oil based things because they are hard to clean.  This might not be an issue for most, but I don’t have a dishwasher, so it is a pain – impossible I think, sometimes - to clean oil coated plastic, they always seem to be left with a film.  For mixing oil based stuff (usually smaller amounts of oil for the oil mix, or colorants that need to be mixed in oil) I like to use glass containers (of course Pyrex is good but there are cheaper non-spout ones at the dollar store) and glass/porcelain condiment cups, respectively.  

I have a number of the mini-mixers of the type that Galaxy posted.  A couple just like hers, and a couple of Badgers/mini-paint mixers, they have more power, so can plow through thicker/more viscous mixtures like TD in oil.

Mini-whisks to mix colors in separate cups when swirling.

  Squeeze bottles with large mouths, much easier to use and clean than the regular ones, I use them a lot for storing pre-mixed things (TD, sugar solution, EDTA) and the occasional (for me) swirls when laying down lots and lots of layers/lines.


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## ArtisanDesigns (Jul 25, 2015)

I use small little bowls that I got at the Dollar tree 4 for 1 dollar to mix my colors in. 
I am a nurse and am always bringing home new things to try from throw away items. The best thing I have gotten I use for my swirls and yep free!


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## not_ally (Jul 25, 2015)

I have never seen those at my Dollar store, I paid much more on Amazon.  Excellent find!


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## newbie (Jul 25, 2015)

I have the other frother mentioned but I prefer this one. It's more powerful and doesn't get bogged down ever. The one I have can take all the attachments from my other frothers so I have loads of options and like I said, it can manage batter even as it's getting thick.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BROV02/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## not_ally (Jul 25, 2015)

Great minds, newb, I mentioned the Badger as well , you probably told me about it in the first place.   I did not know that it could take attachments from other frothers, though, that is extremely useful to know.


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## cmzaha (Jul 25, 2015)

I also use the badger and yes attachments for some cordless frothers with fit but not all. One gallon #2 (HDPE) will work for batches up to 64 oz of oils comfortable. As mentioned above I measured out all my hard oils, melt then in the micro then add in the liquid oils to help cool down the microwaved oils. I have been using the same bucket for about 4 yrs and just now I am seeing some warping and will replace a few. Usually I will batch 5 or 6 buckets at a time put the lid on and they are ready to go when I want to soap. Buckets do not tip over as easily as bowls. Stay away from the bowls with the spout at dollar stores, they are to flimsy


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## gigisiguenza (Jul 25, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> I also use the badger and yes attachments for some cordless frothers with fit but not all. One gallon #2 (HDPE) will work for batches up to 64 oz of oils comfortable. As mentioned above I measured out all my hard oils, melt then in the micro then add in the liquid oils to help cool down the microwaved oils. I have been using the same bucket for about 4 yrs and just now I am seeing some warping and will replace a few. Usually I will batch 5 or 6 buckets at a time put the lid on and they are ready to go when I want to soap. Buckets do not tip over as easily as bowls. Stay away from the bowls with the spout at dollar stores, they are to flimsy



Those bowl/pitchers are indeed flimsy, but useful for small batches I think. I used one today and it worked fine, but after handling it I wouldn't use it for a bigger bulkier batch. I have some sturdier pitchers for that.

My ideal would be the SS pitchers I saw online. Love em but they're pricey, so that's not happening for a while lol.


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## Saponista (Jul 25, 2015)

I tried gear tied for swirling and found them to be a pain. They just didn't provide the delicate swirls that I wanted.


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## kumudini (Jul 25, 2015)

I bought a SS stockpot, 8 qt size at Walmart for about 7 $. It was very good for master batching my oils. They have a rolled edge, so was easy to pour without spilling. And if I ever needed any other sizes, they are quite inexpensive too.


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## not_ally (Jul 25, 2015)

Saponista, they work well for me, but I usually swirl at a fairly light trace, I am wondering if that makes a difference.  I might break out the old hanger and compare ...


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## commoncenz (Jul 25, 2015)

I have some skewers brought from the dollar store, an old wire hanger, the bottom part of a plastic hanger and a Bic pen (used when I don't want to swirl too deeply) for doing swirls. I need to make another trip to the dollar store and Wal-Mart for inspiration.

For mixing colorants I use the Norpro mini-mixer. I was using some small plastic containers to mix my colors in, but they were a true pain to work with. I need to find some steel or glass ones. (I'd rather use re-usable items when possible).

Oh well, off to clean the garage since I won't be soaping til tomorrow. Maybe I'll find some stuff out there. lol


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## not_ally (Jul 25, 2015)

I bet you will, cenz, you will be out there for hours repurposing things   I advise the little glass ones for mixing oily things, I really do.  I have a bunch of the SS ones and now only use them for measuring small quantities of non-oily things like FOs/water based additives.  They are even a bit of a pain w/the FO's, I usually have to spray them w/alcohol when cleaning to stop them from retaining too much scent.


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## commoncenz (Jul 25, 2015)

Break time. So far, I've found a 5 ft length of wood that might make a decent mold. Well, it probably would make a decent mold in DeeAnna or Lee's hands. The jury (my kids) says there's a 50% chance I can pull it off. :Kitten Love: 

I've also found a bucket that used to have powdered mortar in it that will make a good bucket for mixing batter, a couple of those small painting cups with the handles that can be used for holding/pouring colored batter, the "twirly" thing from a set of blinds that can be used for swirls, and a bunch of plywood pieces ... not sure about them, but I'm moving them to a prominent area of the garage til something comes to mind.


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## skayc1 (Jul 25, 2015)

i just had a thought...what kind of swirls would a bubble wand make?


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## commoncenz (Jul 25, 2015)

That would be interesting to see skayc1 ... Are you going to find out?


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