# My newbie soaping adventure and things I've learned along the way...



## gigisiguenza (Oct 31, 2015)

1) Animals are spawns of the soap gremlins - 
No matter where you put the cat when making soap, she will pull a Houdini and get out, fully focused on getting revenge by trying a) to trip you when carrying lye solution, b) attacking SB cords so they fall over and splatter raw batter everywhere, and/or c) biting your ankle to get attention at the exact moment you are pouring a delicate swirl. And before you suggest putting them in a crate, save your breath. The gremlins have spelled the latches so that the slightest swat of a furry paw will cause the door to fall off like Superman charging through the vault door to save Louise Lane.

2) Your FOs are cursed - 
It doesn't matter how much research you do, what the website says, or what every single other soaper has told you their experience has been, your FO will accelerate trace, rice, discolor, and or cause overheating. I blame this on the trickery of the soap gremlins again, because they put some kinda bad mojo on your FOs as soon as you decide you're going to use it. I may counter this attack by doing the Eeny Meeny Miney Mo method from now on. I'll let ya know how that goes.

3) Accept that you are colorblind -
You can plan til your eyes bleed, measure to a 9 point decimal of a fraction, and even use a tried and true method from a soaper who's been doing that method since God was in knickers, and your colors will never look like you thought they would. You want lavender? You'll get grey blue. Had your heart set on a lovely pink? Be grateful you got a shade of burnt beets that isn't too hideous. I've come to realize that as soon as lye solution hits fatty acids, the color receptors in your eyes turn off and you're pretty much winging it. So just accept it when your friends say it's gorgeous, because you can't tell what it looks like anyway.

4) Your friends will question your sanity and stop inviting you to dinner -
Since you're now obsessed with soap, every topic somehow leads back to it. A simple discussion about the Dahli Lama will rapidly become an excited discourse on the 900 ways the turmeric in tiki masala can be used to color soap. This will quickly be followed by an eager request to view their spice cabinet and pantry, which may or may not result in some haggling with the host as you plea with them to let you trade a kidney for just a pinch of their exotic hoozitwhachamacallit powder they brought back with them from their trip abroad. Their new stainless steel cookware isn't safe either, but they don't need to know that.

5) You no longer have friends, you have addicts needing a soapy fix -
People used to call you up to go out for a drink, play some scrabble, or eat lunch. Now they call to ask when the latest batch will be cured and how soon can they get a "tester bar". This can be a good thing if you use it to your advantage, as soap is a good bribe. You'd be surprised what the average friend will do to get a bar of iguana's milk, organic martian honey, venusian oatmeal soap sculpted into a unicorn farting rainbow sprinkles.

6) Your fate is sealed - 
Because there is no such thing as too much soap (a laughable concept, I know), you're very likely going to die financially destitute, surrounded by mountains of soaps and supplies, and the coroner will rule your demise the result of an accident caused by the gremlin controlled cat knocking over a precariously leaning tower of wooden molds. 

Your family will tsk tsk and say they shoulda seen it coming after they found you scent drunk, sleeping on a pile of empty FO bottles again. Your friends will lament your passing and say beautiful things about your soaps at the funeral. And it will be SRO at the reading of the will as everyone waits with baited breath to learn who will inherit your prized stash of discontinued FO dupes. Oh, and they'll all be floored when the attorney announces that it was YOU who successfully trademarked the words "all natural", thereby causing the Great Soap War of 2025.

Gigi


----------



## regansoap (Oct 31, 2015)

Ha ha ha that's so funny gigi I don't have a cat but two dogs just as bad - running off with my silicone moulds etc., I really enjoyed reading that and everything you say is just so true x


----------



## penelopejane (Oct 31, 2015)

7) You are the only one who can rejoice when your local supermarket reduces the price of 3 litres of Rice Bran Oil by 50% because you, unlike anyone else can use 9 litres before it goes off. 

8.) You spend a weekend buying ingredients and infusing oil with natural products only to be told by experienced soapers that the colours will fade and you are still not deterred.  

9) You spend all your allocated spending money for 3 months on soap supplies to provide your family with a motley collection of practice soaps.  

10) You tell your DH you have to have two ovens.  One to keep your soap warm so it will gell and one to cook dinner in. If you only have one oven it's salad and cold meat for dinner on soaping night, regardless of the weather. 

11) You spend all your spare time trawling through Soapmaking forum gleaning soap making tips, gazing longingly at photos of other people's creations and watching soap making videos. 

12) You can't walk past your soap store without checking that your little ones are progressing as they should. Addicted?  Nah, I don't think so. :crazy:


----------



## gigisiguenza (Oct 31, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> 7) You are the only one who can rejoice when your local supermarket reduces the price of 3 litres of Rice Bran Oil by 50% because you, unlike anyone else can use 9 litres before it goes off.
> 
> 8.) You spend a weekend buying ingredients and infusing oil with natural products only to be told by experienced soapers that the colours will fade and you are still not deterred.
> 
> ...



Hahahahaha all true


----------



## afbrat (Oct 31, 2015)

Oh my goodness!  I just got some very funny looks from my kids as I was laughing so hard at your post!  When they asked what I was laughing at, I got the mom's lost her mind again look


----------



## nsmar4211 (Oct 31, 2015)

13) Speaking of the gremlin cat, even though the cats have never been NEAR the lye pitcher you will be forced to examine it every pour or else you might be patenting the new "all natural keratin enhanced" soap formula.


----------



## annalee2003 (Oct 31, 2015)

Haha, such a great read! This is awesome. Thank you for the early morning laugh!


----------



## Seawolfe (Oct 31, 2015)

I stopped worrying about this since I realized that cat hair and silk are both proteins and work just fine in the lye water 

14) You have threatened a family member with bodily harm for trying to make a sandwich or a drink while in your "soaping space". I actually accused my husband of ruining my gradient....



nsmar4211 said:


> 13) Speaking of the gremlin cat, even though the cats have never been NEAR the lye pitcher you will be forced to examine it every pour or else you might be patenting the new "all natural keratin enhanced" soap formula.


----------



## jules92207 (Oct 31, 2015)

Lol - I'm sensing a new thread addiction...


----------



## CTAnton (Oct 31, 2015)

15. You package the molds you have that are magnets for cat hair like their radioactive waste...


----------



## Deedles (Oct 31, 2015)

ROTFLMAO!!!  :lolno:


----------



## penelopejane (Oct 31, 2015)

16) You enviously eye your soaping spatula when you realise it is better than your kitchen one. But science teacher DH says you can wash the soaping one in the dishwasher but not use it for food. Sigh. 

17) You are considering devious ways to stretch your soaping budget by buying ingredients from the supermarket on shopping day as they are "just groceries".


----------



## gigisiguenza (Oct 31, 2015)

Lmao these are great... keep em coming


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 1, 2015)

18 ) Darned if you do and darned if you don't - 
If you put the mold in the fridge to prevent gel, you are guaranteed to be struck with a bout of spontaneous exhaustion that results in forgetting the mold for a millennium, thereby creating brittle, unusable soap. You will, of course, bury said soap in the bottom of the trash bin, hoping no one ever sees its splintered pitiful self. The resulting soap will be dug up by a future archeological team, declared a rare example of petrified pot roast (or perhaps pea soup) and put on display at museums, where children will marvel at the quality of workmanship of craftsmen of old.


----------



## CTAnton (Nov 1, 2015)

19. You uncap a fragrance oil,OOB it smells like Pledge; you unmold the soap and it STILL smells like Pledge. You tell yourself that after a 2 month cure it's going to smell like driving along a citrus grove alongside the ocean with hints of ozone and salt air


----------



## nsmar4211 (Nov 1, 2015)

20) When testing new fragrance oils, the WORST smelling fragrance oil will be the one that spills on your fingers. Every. Time. And you will lose three layers of skin using your freshly cured Super Scrub soap to remove it because your nose will swear it is still there.


----------



## MrsSpaceship (Nov 1, 2015)

21) That the moment you begin to work with the lye, your skin will inevitably begin to itch and prickle, leading you to wonder if you've inadvertently splashed yourself and need to rinse. 

22) Your nose faucet will begin to burn, and you feel the itch that even though you were fine not five minutes before spells an inevitable snot fest. You sniff and snuff, but every passing moment brings the drips closer to escaping the confines of your nose, until finally, now that you're elbows deep in what you're certain will be your best swirl ever, the law of gravity reigns supreme and a trickle makes it's way towards your lip.  Rather than risking soap on a stick you  utilize a sleeve.:sick:  Add the watery eyes from the nose burn, and your family will look concerned and ask why you're crying.


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 1, 2015)

23) You desperately try to reassure DH that the current $3.62 cost per bar of soap you have produced will eventually be reduced to below the cost of a bar of commercial soap (62c) because start up and material costs have to be spread out over years and years. There goes the idea of a lovely wire cutter.


----------



## CTAnton (Nov 1, 2015)

24. You go to a party and people ask what you've been up to. You whip out your phone and start showing pictures of your creations to glazed over eyes.
25. Every time you go to a grocery store you turn into the oils aisle to check and see if their oils on sale beat the cost of said oil at Costco.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 1, 2015)

Every one of these is so dang true! Hahahahaha


----------



## Dana89 (Nov 1, 2015)

These hit too close to home. I manage to sneak at least one bottle of oil (for cooking DH!) in basket plus, coconut milk and Goats Milk, (of course I am going to drink it along with the Aloe vera juice!! Yes I know I have not had oatmeal in 5 years but I decided to start eating it again! OH and that half gallon of plain yogurt, I will eat that with the oatmeal, I swear!


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 2, 2015)

lol Dana.


----------



## Dharlee (Nov 2, 2015)

26) You see molds in every container- Even the kids toys! Why that would make an interesting soap!


----------



## nsmar4211 (Nov 2, 2015)

27) You will mis-time your ordering and your 20+ samplers to test new scents will arrive a week before your shipment of oils will. Nooooooooooooooo


----------



## annalee2003 (Nov 2, 2015)

Dharlee said:


> 26) You see molds in every container- Even the kids toys! Why that would make an interesting soap!



I find myself checking to see if a plastic container has the number 5 on it all the time! I'm always disappointed when I realize that I can't use one. (I do have a small, growing, collection of plastic containers that I can use though!)


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 5, 2015)

28- )  It's not soap, it's art! Don't judge me! - 

You're a friggin soaping whirlwind. You watched all the videos, read all the blogs, and have books full of dutifully taken notes. You're ready! Three months later, you've made innumerable batches of soap. You've mastered countless techniques. and impressed all your family and friends with your soaping prowess....

.... Only to discover that every single batch you produced is soap you can't use yourself.

Everyone else can, sure. Heck, even martians can use it! But if you do, it will cause a funky alien rash, dry you out like old parchment, or give you skin so tight you could play babaloo on it. 

So when family and friends ask why you're sneaking into the soap aisle to buy a bar of the sacrilegious commercial soap, you lie like a rug and claim it's art. You were creating soapy art. You were mastering the craft, yeah, that's it! You never intended to use it yourself, because you've been so busy creating soapy art for your friends and family's enjoyment, that you've had no time to focus on making the very specialized, nearly impossible to create, soap you need for *your* skin.

In the meantime, you sneak back into newbie class, hiding behind shades and the hood of your sweat jacket, learning how to make basic, no frills soap so you can try to discover the Holy Grail of soap. 

All the while eyeing pictures of your wall racks full of colorful soaps you can't use.

They're art, I tell you! 
Don't judge me!


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 5, 2015)

29)  Months into your soaping career you finally master (yeah, right) trace and produce a beautiful bar of plain soap.  You decide you are ready to take it to the next step – fragrance.  You painstakingly and frugally narrow down the list of 995 fragrances to 4 – no acceleration, 5 star glowing reviews.   Your delivery arrives and you reverently open the box to take your first sniff OOB (yes you have to learn a whole new set of [FONT=&quot]acronym[/FONT]s_) _and it SLS (Smells Like you know what). Unbelievably two of the others are no better. What were those reviewers thinking? And how inaccurate are those beautiful names! The fourth actually smells lovely. Fragrance always smells better in finished soap, right?


30) Thinking of Christmas presents you buy a starter pack of colours thinking you’ll have everything you will need.  You attempt the SMF monthly challenge but despite religiously following the how-to videos you somehow produce such a disaster that the idea of giving bars of plain castile (your only success) with a note “do not use until November 2016” suddenly seems totally acceptable. Although, maybe, just maybe your son’s girlfriend’s would like iridescent yellow soap with bright green swirls.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 5, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> 29)  Months into your soaping career you finally master (yeah, right) trace and produce a beautiful bar of plain soap.  You decide you are ready to take it to the next step – fragrance.  You painstakingly and frugally narrow down the list of 995 fragrances to 4 – no acceleration, 5 star glowing reviews.   Your delivery arrives and you reverently open the box to take your first sniff OOB (yes you have to learn a whole new set of [FONT=&quot]acronym[/FONT]s_) _and it SLS (Smells Like you know what). Unbelievably two of the others are no better. What were those reviewers thinking? And how inaccurate are those beautiful names! The fourth actually smells lovely. Fragrance always smells better in finished soap right?
> 
> 
> 30) Thinking of Christmas presents you buy a starter pack of colours thinking you’ll have everything you will need.  You attempt the SMF monthly challenge but despite religiously following the how-to videos you somehow produce such a disaster that the idea of giving bars of plain castile (your only success) with a note “do not use until November 2016” suddenly seems totally acceptable. Although, maybe, just maybe your son’s girlfriend’s would like iridescent yellow soap with bright green swirls.



oh my, how true lol.... I bought one on sale that sounded wonderful, and it's horrid ... I keep telling myself I am going to use it because it must smell better after doing battle with the lye monster, but I cringe at the idea of wasting supplies to make soap that may smell like Fido's latest gift lol.


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 5, 2015)

gigisiguenza said:


> oh my, how true lol.... I bought one on sale that sounded wonderful, and it's horrid ... I keep telling myself I am going to use it because it must smell better after doing battle with the lye monster, but I cringe at the idea of wasting supplies to make soap that may smell like Fido's latest gift lol.



I figure if 30 people give them five stars they MUST be good in soap.  Fingers crossed.  If I hate them I am sure I can give them to some appreciative.    BB champagne was one that I love. 

The colours are a different matter.  No one could appreciate iridescent yellow and green.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 5, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> I figure if 30 people give them five stars they MUST be good in soap.  Fingers crossed.  If I hate them I am sure I can give them to some appreciative.    BB champagne was one that I love.
> 
> The colours are a different matter.  No one could appreciate iridescent yellow and green.



Haha not necessarily. I know several that would go buggy over it


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 5, 2015)

gigisiguenza said:


> Haha not necessarily. I know several that would go buggy over it



I am guess int that "go buggy" is a positive emotion???


----------



## nsmar4211 (Nov 5, 2015)

31) You prepare all your three of your "cheap" molds and make a batch of scent tests thinking you'll do another batch tomorrow and test ALL the new scents. Invariable, each of the three molds has ONE bar that is not going to unmold anytime this week. Maybe this year. And no, all three liquidmaker FO's can't be in the same mold so you could use the other two.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 6, 2015)

32) There's no such thing as a new idea -

Every soapy epiphany sends you running for paper and pencil to plot out how to achieve the masterpiece of soaping genius you just invented. You spend weeks planning, make a dozen failed attempts, and use up half your supplies before you finally have a success - which you promptly post a pic of to your blog; complete with detailed pictures of the 293 steps involved in building it, and a list of tools needed that's as long as your arm.

Satiated and proud, you settle down to enjoy some soap p*rn, only to open pinterest and be assaulted by 4 separate tutorial pins showing how to do the exact same thing, in an eighth of the time, with two chopsticks, one eye closed, and one hand tied behind your back.


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 7, 2015)

33) Teach yourself how to get rid of soap gremlins (those mischievous little imps/sprites/trolls sent to drive you insane with unexplainable failed batches of soap using reliable, tested, proven recipes.) 
They are notoriously illusive so murder is not possible. 

a) buy them a one way ticket to nowhere (thus ensuring they don't visit others) round them up and drive them to the train station. Ticket can be imaginary but not the trip to station.
b) administer chocolate and scotch (for you not the gremlins) 
c) vacuum the floors (imagining you are sucking up gremlins that were hiding when you rounded them up for step a.
d) take a week off soaping
e) buy more supplies - it's probably that horrible FO that the gremlins hitched a ride on.  
f) Buy new soap racks. They are useful and they are classified as furniture and the cost doesn't count towards soaping supplies, luckily! Transferring the bars gives you the opportunity to touch and gaze at your soaps so far. You realise one or two batches out of 11 are presentable. 
You convince yourself a 15% success rate isn't so bad AND maybe, if you squint your eyes, the iridescent yellow one has faded a bit in 3 days which would bring your success rate up to 30% AND you are sure you whopped at least one gremlin with the head of the mop. 
Then, like a good soap masochist, you start thinking about the next batch.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 7, 2015)

LOL love it


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 7, 2015)

You are too quick Gigi! It takes me a few edits to get a post right...sort of like my soap making. I wish you could edit soap making!


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 8, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> You are too quick Gigi! It takes me a few edits to get a post right...sort of like my soap making. I wish you could edit soap making!



Me too... then I wouldn't have any so-so or disaster soaps LOL


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 10, 2015)

34) I am glad I do not sell soap.  If you choose to do so you would have to have available at a minimum soap with:

natural colours (and make them stick)
fragrance and colour free
palm oil free
lard free
coconut free
chemical additive free
995 different fragrances to suit everyone
castile soap (aged for 12 months)
consistently good swirls in artistic colours (some of us can't even get a swirl!)
consistently good solid artistic colours

And then you have to have good storage and lots of time to whip out those consistent batches (there is that "consistent" word again).


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 16, 2015)

35) Life is like a box of soaps

Some moments are like perfect soaps, you want to put them on a pedestal with special lighting to show them off.... and some are like soapy disasters that you bury in the back of the closet, hiding them until you can find a way to rebatch them into something else.

But they're all special because they were something you did yourself and you learned something new with each attempt


----------



## SplendorSoaps (Nov 16, 2015)

36) You promise yourself that you're going to use all of the FOs that you have on hand before you buy any more. Then your favorite FO supplier has a huge sale, and you way over-order. I know I'm not the only FO ho on this board!


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 16, 2015)

SplendorSoaps said:


> 36) You promise yourself that you're going to use all of the FOs that you have on hand before you buy any more. Then your favorite FO supplier has a huge sale, and you way over-order. I know I'm not the only FO ho on this board!



Hahahahaha if I had funds to do this I would SO be guilty of it Hahahahaha


----------



## penelopejane (Nov 16, 2015)

SplendorSoaps said:


> 36) You promise yourself that you're going to use all of the FOs that you have on hand before you buy any more. Then your favorite FO supplier has a huge sale, and you way over-order. I know I'm not the only FO ho on this board!



I visited one of my oil suppliers on the weekend and they had sample jars of all their FOs and EOs.  I got a headache smelling them.  I so wanted to buy Moroccan Spice but didn't have my notes with me on how it would behave so I resisted and now so regret it!  Much better to have too many than too few!


----------



## CTAnton (Nov 16, 2015)

37. You gift your friends a variety of soaps. Let's say seven different ones, mostly formulas you're still tweaking months later. What do they love? The melt and pour....not the ones you worked hours at the sink and online with soap calc over,no, they want the melt and pour...


----------



## gigisiguenza (Nov 16, 2015)

CTAnton said:


> 37. You gift your friends a variety of soaps. Let's say seven different ones, mostly formulas you're still tweaking months later. What do they love? The melt and pour....not the ones you worked hours at the sink and online with soap calc over,no, they want the melt and pour...



Of course they do ::::: facepalm ::::: people have no appreciation for soaping geez


----------



## Dharlee (Nov 17, 2015)

SplendorSoaps said:


> 36) You promise yourself that you're going to use all of the FOs that you have on hand before you buy any more. Then your favorite FO supplier has a huge sale, and you way over-order. I know I'm not the only FO ho on this board!



This is HILARIOUS! And sadly soooo true. I just finished writing down all mine and I am such a FO ho...


----------



## penelopejane (Dec 2, 2015)

38.  After only 15 batches of soap you show your DH (COULD stand for darling husband...) your latest baby.  He rolls his eyes and says he's seen that one before.  Sooooo disappointing.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Dec 2, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> 38.  After only 15 batches of soap you show your DH (COULD stand for darling husband...) your latest baby.  He rolls his eyes and says he's seen that one before.  Sooooo disappointing.



LOL geez. He has no appreciation for soapy art does he hahaha


----------



## lionprincess00 (Dec 2, 2015)

gigisiguenza said:


> LOL geez. He has no appreciation for soapy art does he hahaha



Sorry to hijack. Gigi, I tried sending you a message but it's full. Did you get your package?


----------



## gigisiguenza (Dec 3, 2015)

lionprincess00 said:


> Sorry to hijack. Gigi, I tried sending you a message but it's full. Did you get your package?



Yes I did, just the other day. TYVM! I've been up to my eyeballs in bs and multiple crises here so I forgot to msg, I'm sorry. At the moment, I'm doing damage control and trying to figure out how to move forward and what I should do. Again, TY very much


----------



## lionprincess00 (Dec 3, 2015)

gigisiguenza said:


> Yes I did, just the other day. TYVM! I've been up to my eyeballs in bs and multiple crises here so I forgot to msg, I'm sorry. At the moment, I'm doing damage control and trying to figure out how to move forward and what I should do. Again, TY very much



Great! I'm relieved it arrived


----------



## MySoapyHeart (Dec 3, 2015)

*39)* You sit at your computer and laugh so hard at this thread, so you get trails of what can only be defined as something hideous that escape your nose, threatening to make you look like a 5 year old kid with a bad case of the cold. 

This makes you actually have to get up from the computer and go to the bathroom to blow your nose really hard, and wipe the laughing tears out of your eyes while you gasp for air, and get flashbacks of comments made in this thread. Then you look into the mirror and just have to acknowledge that you might as well remove _all _your makeup while you`re there, `cause your mascara is beyond saving as the tears made you look like a snot-infested - gasping for air - giggling soap-addict with a bad case of the crazy. 

All this prompts a concerned question from your husband wondering "why I was crying". The look he gives you when you tell him _you are just laughing at something funny about soap_, should go into the "Official World Wide archives of What Things Men Don`t Get About Women". 

Then you just grab the toiletroll and go to read the rest of the thread, encouraged by the fact that you did not know other soapers was just as nutty as yourself....


----------



## gigisiguenza (Dec 3, 2015)

MySoapyHeart said:


> *39)* You sit at your computer and laugh so hard at this thread, so you get trails of what can only be defined as something hideous that escape your nose, threatening to make you look like a 5 year old kid with a bad case of the cold.
> 
> This makes you actually have to get up from the computer and go to the bathroom to blow your nose really hard, and wipe the laughing tears out of your eyes while you gasp for air, and get flashbacks of comments made in this thread. Then you look into the mirror and just have to acknowledge that you might as well remove _all _your makeup while you`re there, `cause your mascara is beyond saving as the tears made you look like a snot-infested - gasping for air - giggling soap-addict with a bad case of the crazy.
> 
> ...



Hahahahahaha


----------



## nsmar4211 (Dec 3, 2015)

40) You will order a bunch of fragrance oils and not be able to decide which one to make first.... eiiinneee miiineee.... and then you'll end up making one you already have tried because you want more of that scent!


----------



## jules92207 (Dec 3, 2015)

^^every dang time...


----------



## Steve85569 (Dec 3, 2015)

41) Soapcalc is your homepage.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Dec 4, 2015)

Steve85569 said:


> 41) Soapcalc is your homepage.



Ha! Too true


----------



## annalee2003 (Dec 4, 2015)

Steve85569 said:


> 41) Soapcalc is your homepage.



And SMF, of course.


----------



## penelopejane (Dec 15, 2015)

42) You carefully select a list of people to try your soap and eagerly await opinions. 
Scent (which was your favourite?) - were they different? 
Lather (which produced the best lather?) - it's soap
Conditioning (did any dry your skin out?) - didn't notice. 
Hardness (did they last long enough? Did you follow airing instructions?) Too much bother. They were a bit mushy. 
Overall (Would you replace store bought soap with any of these?) maybe but it's cheap and easy to buy store bought soap.

Sigh. I need a new family and close friends who are perceptive.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Dec 18, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> 42) You carefully select a list of people to try your soap and eagerly await opinions.
> Scent (which was your favourite?) - were they different?
> Lather (which produced the best lather?) - it's soap
> Conditioning (did any dry your skin out?) - didn't notice.
> ...



Hahahahaha so true.


----------



## CTAnton (Dec 18, 2015)

43. You wonder if you'll ever be FULLY prepared to face the public manning your own table one day.
Case in point...I'm chatting with a fellow soaper at a holiday bazaar and a prospective customer walks up ."Does it lather?" Now depending on what side of the bed I woke up on that morning this could get ugly...


----------



## gigisiguenza (Jan 11, 2016)

44. When you take a break from soaping, you find yourself feeling like a complete noob again when you face the dreaded lye bottle.


----------



## Susie (Jan 11, 2016)

You're going to be OK.  I am glad you are in a more stable situation, and can rejoin the insanity here!


----------



## gigisiguenza (Jan 12, 2016)

Thanks! I'm happy to be back


----------



## Steve85569 (Jan 12, 2016)

Good to see ya posting again!
Welcome back to all things soapy.


----------



## jules92207 (Jan 12, 2016)

Welcome back gigi!!


----------



## gigisiguenza (Jan 13, 2016)

Thanks all


----------



## nsmar4211 (Jan 13, 2016)

45. When you end up with an entire shelf of FO's and get frozen trying to figure out what to use next.....so you unstick yourself and finally decide on two. After making the two and using up the last of your castor oil, your sgnificant other texts you and begs for more of a scent you hadn't even CONSIDERED making. Order of castor oil, here we come.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Jan 18, 2016)

nsmar4211 said:


> 45. When you end up with an entire shelf of FO's and get frozen trying to figure out what to use next.....so you unstick yourself and finally decide on two. After making the two and using up the last of your castor oil, your sgnificant other texts you and begs for more of a scent you hadn't even CONSIDERED making. Order of castor oil, here we come.



Ha! Too true and not just with FOs LOL


----------



## penelopejane (Jan 19, 2016)

46. The feeling of joy when someone has used your soap (especially when they didn't know it was yours so it is an unbiased opinion) and you discover they really like your soap: the feel of it and the scent of it and how long it lasted.


----------



## penelopejane (Jan 26, 2016)

47. After spending 2 weeks reading reviews you frugally choose 5 fragrant oils all with 5 star rave reviews out of the 495 FOs available to buy. 

Only one them turns out to be a keeper and after the third time using it in the shower even that one isn't anything special. 

ho hum. 

48. You watch the how to videos religiously and start out your soaping day with everything laid out professionally and neatly determined to be calm and collected like the video person.  

After 1/2 hour wrestling with scales, heating, shea butter, colours, the SB, the mix, the FO and the mold you are grateful for the personal protection gear you wore but look around at the area and realise it looks like a bomb dropped and it is going to take a little more than a bit of kitchen paper (like the video person uses to wipe up her spills) to clean up before you DH comes home and asks why there is a fleck of blue batter on the cupboard, the floor and the ceiling...  

Batch 21 and still learning. At least this time I remembered the salt and the FO.


----------



## Steve85569 (Jan 26, 2016)

"Batch 21 and still learning. At least this time I remembered the salt and the FO."
Yup.
49. You finally get the pattern laid out for a tri-colour swirl only to cut it and discover _why_ you're supposed to mix colourants with oil. Colour spots will still clean but they just aint purdy .


----------



## penelopejane (Jan 27, 2016)

Steve85569 said:


> "Batch 21 and still learning. At least this time I remembered the salt and the FO."
> Yup.
> 49. You finally get the pattern laid out for a tri-colour swirl only to cut it and discover _why_ you're supposed to mix colourants with oil. Colour spots will still clean but they just aint purdy .



Why don't the suppliers clearly state "MIX WITH WATER" or "MIX WITH OIL" on the outside of their bottle of colour?  :cry:


----------



## skayc1 (Jan 27, 2016)

What I've learned along the way on my 9 month soaping venture so far-

1. Soap in a room you don't let the cats get to.
2. always read the reviews on your FO before buying esp for CP.
3. colors morph in cp, 
4. have fun blending/ mixing colors.
5. get at least 2 bottles of lye, order another when opening the 2nd. If not know where you can find it in your area, for me only Ace Hardware carries it.
6. soap room temp, you'll have more time to play.
7. when piping make 2 batches, one ahead of the other so it will be thick enough to pipe when your main batch is ready, or have more patience.


----------



## LisaAnne (Jan 27, 2016)

50.  When asked by someone I haven't seen in a while... "are you dating anyone?"... Proudly answering..." no, i make soap! " is not understood by the general public as an acceptable answer.


----------



## gigisiguenza (Jan 27, 2016)

LisaAnne said:


> 50.  When asked by someone I haven't seen in a while... "are you dating anyone?"... Proudly answering..." no, i make soap! " is not understood by the general public as an acceptable answer.



LOL they just don't get it hahahaha


----------



## penelopejane (Feb 5, 2016)

51.  I am capable of stooping as low as taking the tomato sauce (ketchup to some of you) squeeze bottle with a tiny bit still in it to use for making soap. [emoji33] I couldn't use the honey bottle because I use honey to make soap!


----------



## gigisiguenza (Feb 5, 2016)

penelopejane said:


> 51.  I am capable of stooping as low as taking the tomato sauce (ketchup to some of you) squeeze bottle with a tiny bit still in it to use for making soap. [emoji33] I couldn't use the honey bottle because I use honey to make soap!



Oh how I hate to admit it,  but I've eyeballed a few nearly empty things and wondered "hmmmm.... would it work?"..... LOL


----------



## Susie (Feb 5, 2016)

Yes, it will work...no matter what it is.  Maybe.

52.  No matter how many times you have made soap, always, always, always weigh out everything before mixing anything!  

(Forgot the FO in the bottle, had a mad scramble to weigh it out and SB it into light traced soap.)


----------



## penelopejane (Feb 6, 2016)

Susie said:


> Yes, it will work...no matter what it is.  Maybe.
> 
> 52.  No matter how many times you have made soap, always, always, always weigh out everything before mixing anything!
> 
> (Forgot the FO in the bottle, had a mad scramble to weigh it out and SB it into light traced soap.)



You have to be careful if you are using plastic cups. Some FOs eat through cheap plastic.


----------



## leilaninoel (Feb 6, 2016)

53. Every brilliant soaping idea you come up with (additives especially) will turn out to be a TERRIBLE mistake, and if you had just thought to more thoroughly check the forum threads you would have found this out without wasting your supplies. Or you did check the forum, but thought "I can make this work, I will just need to _________!"


----------



## gigisiguenza (Feb 6, 2016)

54. Soaping withdrawals will always feel worse when the only reason you can't soap is lack on one or two ingredients. Ugh! LOL


----------



## fionasfrightsoap (Feb 20, 2016)

Loving this thread! I so needed some of this today. Glad to know I am not the only one


----------



## penelopejane (Feb 21, 2016)

55. Castile soap is great because there is:
no need to choose a fragrance
no need to add anything (you can if you want to but it is not necessary)
no colour (whoooo!)
no measuring out three different quantities for three different colours. 
no need to worry if the swirl worked out. 
no need to worry if you forgot to add an oil
no worries about going past light trace.  Just plop it in the mold. 
an easy clean up. 

After a year it is lovely. 

What a relaxing way to soap.  
Simple is wonderful.


----------



## penelopejane (Mar 15, 2016)

56. Take notes. 
Not just while you are soaping (essential because 10 minutes later you will forget if you added 1 or 2 tsp)  but also which soaps you give to friends to try. 

Absolutely useless to hear "the pink one" was great!!!


----------



## Navaria (Mar 15, 2016)

57) You will ask distant acquaintances terribly personal questions just to find "test subjects". "You look like you have sensitive skin. Do you?" "Would you by chance be looking for a soap that's good for mature skin?"


----------



## Navaria (Mar 15, 2016)

nsmar4211 said:


> 45. When you end up with an entire shelf of FO's and get frozen trying to figure out what to use next.....so you unstick yourself and finally decide on two. After making the two and using up the last of your castor oil, your sgnificant other texts you and begs for more of a scent you hadn't even CONSIDERED making. Order of castor oil, here we come.



In a desperate situation, Walmart carries Castor oil in their pharmacy. Not that I know from experience or anything :shifty:


----------



## Steve85569 (Mar 15, 2016)

Navaria said:


> In a desperate situation, Walmart carries Castor oil in their pharmacy. Not that I know from experience or anything :shifty:



Vitamin Shoppe ( and others like them) have it for less Pesos.


----------



## Navaria (Mar 15, 2016)

Steve85569 said:


> Vitamin Shoppe ( and others like them) have it for less Pesos.



We have a Walmart and a CVS. Lol. I love small town living but getting supplies can be a witch!


----------



## Steve85569 (Mar 15, 2016)

I know how you feel. UPS and Fedex know me and the mail lady and I are on a first name basis.


----------



## penelopejane (Mar 16, 2016)

Steve85569 said:


> I know how you feel. UPS and Fedex know me and the mail lady and I are on a first name basis.




This is so funny. I meet the mailman for a chat every morning! [emoji2][emoji2]
Not just soaping supplies. It's the joy of living in the middle of nowhere.


----------



## Navaria (Mar 17, 2016)

I have learned I don't know the meaning of 2 words: patience and mederation. I get so impatient for soap to set or my first ever liquid soap to dilute. And since I started this all I think about is soap. And what new thing I can try next.


----------



## penelopejane (Apr 25, 2016)

58. I showered all week using one soap on one side of my body and another  soap on the other side of my body so I could test the different  recipes.  The mistake I made was telling my DH he now thinks I am crazy.

The lesson I've learnt is that even your most trusted confidant doesn't always understand your obsession.


----------



## Navaria (Apr 25, 2016)

You know you have found "the one" when you can constantly ramble on about soap, using terms they couldn't begin to understand, and they still look interested. And when you ask if they're sick of hearing about soap they say "No baby, I love hearing about what you do!" Yep, he's a keeper!


----------



## Barbsbreakingbath (Apr 26, 2016)

*Fragrance oils*



penelopejane said:


> 47. After spending 2 weeks reading reviews you frugally choose 5 fragrant oils all with 5 star rave reviews out of the 495 FOs available to buy.
> 
> Only one them turns out to be a keeper and after the third time using it in the shower even that one isn't anything special.
> 
> ...


I got into cp soap as a way to use up some of my oils and fragrances, which has led to buying even more oils (because one simply must have Palm oil) and even more fragrances, because soaping uses up a lot, and now you need the BIG bottles. Then there's gloves, and goggles, and colorants oh my. 
And, yes, there's the mess. The metal parts of my dishwasher have turned a really weird color, thanks, I think to fragrance oil....


----------



## shunt2011 (Apr 26, 2016)

Navaria said:


> You know you have found "the one" when you can constantly ramble on about soap, using terms they couldn't begin to understand, and they still look interested. And when you ask if they're sick of hearing about soap they say "No baby, I love hearing about what you do!" Yep, he's a keeper!


 
I so agree, my husband is one of my biggest supporters. Thank goodness as my house has been overtaken with soap, supplies, molds oils etc.  Last weekend he even build a guide for my tables to slide into in my van and another box type thingy to hold my weights.   He never complains where we have to eat in front of the TV because the dining room table is covered in soap fresh made or cut being packaged, labeled etc.


----------



## penelopejane (May 16, 2016)

^^^^
Hoe lovely. 
My DH hand grated a whole lot of old soap (aka failed) into colour coordinated lots for me. So patient. I think he worried I'd wreck the food processor if I used it!


----------



## Dahila (May 16, 2016)

Can not use word "Soap" in house  
I wish I had one who would talk about my adventure in soap business ..................well I talk to my soaps )


----------



## Arthur Dent (May 16, 2016)

Dahila said:


> Can not use word "Soap" in house
> I wish I had one who would talk about my adventure in soap business ..................well I talk to my soaps )



But you have us!


----------



## Dahila (May 16, 2016)

Arthur Dent said:


> But you have us!


He builds all my molds and displays, so it somehow  balanced itself, thank you :mrgreen:


----------



## shunt2011 (May 16, 2016)

Dahila said:


> He builds all my molds and displays, so it somehow  balanced itself, thank you :mrgreen:




My husband made all my displays, molds to fit silicone liners, boxes that contain my tables and weights in my van. I am so fortunate for sure.


----------



## niclycha (May 16, 2016)

Dahila said:


> He builds all my molds and displays, so it somehow  balanced itself, thank you :mrgreen:



That's nice of him. I need a soap husband lol. Ha ha. Ideas for a new thread topic   he he he. ..just kidding, but that would be kinda funny. 

Where "Singles Soapers" meet.  Like match.com


----------

