# Irish Lass's LS success?



## Deborah Long (Jun 28, 2020)

So, I tried this as my official (and unofficial) 3rd batch of soap.  The first batch I pitched because I overloaded it with preservative and was afraid it would be irritating (it WAS irritating to me!  lol)  The second batch turned out okay except I over-diluted it following the recipe and it turned out cloudy - I'm assuming from the FO that I used.  Those were both the same recipe using full glycerin with the KOH.

I read IL recipe and REALLY liked the dissolve the KOH with water and THEN add glycerin (omgosh - sooo much easier and I wasn't all anxious about whether or not I had dissolved everything!)  That recipe was/seemed oh so easy and fast to me.

So?  Why am I posting?  Because this is only my 2nd somewhat successful batch and I have newbie questions!  lol  My plan is to store most of the paste in the fridge until I need it since I currently have a plethora of liquid soap.  So, I scraped off the bubbly part to make just one bottle and put the rest of the paste in another jar for storage. 

And then it begins...
I had my very small (6oz of paste) in a Ball jar in the pan of water to warm up for dilution.  Boiled the distilled water/SL mixture and dumped it in, put the lid on the jar with the pan still on the heat but the heat not turned on and waited 15 minutes.  I was able to break up some clumps right away (before putting on said lid) and felt confident!

After 15+ minutes, I shook up the soap, readied the stick blender, removed my Ball jar from the pan and ready to stick blend into submission.  

Stick blender will not fit in said Ball jar.  I have another - different (Braun) stick blender - same deal.  At this point my lips are pursed in frustration and disappointment as I pour the soap out of said Ball jar into another container and SB the devil out (or so I thought).  It got quite foamy and bubbly so I stuck it back into aforementioned pan o'water and heated it a little.  I let everything set overnight expecting it to clear up by morning.  You can see by the photo that no, it did NOT submit to the SB and clear up at all, but rather continues in it's foamy goodness, disappointing me all to heck and back.

So, is this only because I scraped the already bubbly stuff off for my 'test' batch?  Is it something I did wrong?  Just curious at this point.  It actually seems like a lovely soap even though it's about 28 hours old.   @IrishLass @DeeAnna @Zany_in_CO 

Photo proof!


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## Deborah Long (Jun 28, 2020)

So as the day as continued, I actually tried stick blending again and just left in the container this time.  It keeps separating and now looks like this!  lol


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## IrishLass (Jun 29, 2020)

Deborah Long said:


> I had my very small (6oz of paste) in a Ball jar in the pan of water to warm up for dilution.  Boiled the distilled water/SL mixture and dumped it in, put the lid on the jar with the pan still on the heat but the heat not turned on and waited 15 minutes.  I was able to break up some clumps right away (before putting on said lid) and felt confident! After 15+ minutes, I shook up the soap, readied the stick blender, removed my Ball jar from the pan and ready to stick blend into submission.



Hi Deborah- I'm not sure that it matters one way or the other in your specific case or not, but when I make mine, I always keep my pot of water on the heat at a gentle boil/simmer for the entire time that I have my (covered) jar of paste/dilution ingredients in the pot. I first place a rack on the bottom of my pot to elevate my jar up so that it doesn't directly touch the bottom of the pot.




Deborah Long said:


> Stick blender will not fit in said Ball jar.



I use the wide-mouth canning jars, which are wide enough to accommodate the bell of my stick-blender and then some. I'll go in and edit my tutorial to specify that.




Deborah Long said:


> So, is this only because I scraped the already bubbly stuff off for my 'test' batch?  Is it something I did wrong?  Just curious at this point.  It actually seems like a lovely soap even though it's about 28 hours old.



It could be, but I can't say for sure as I've never used only the bubbly scrapings for a dilution before. When I dilute, it's roughly 98% - 99% amber paste and 1% - 2% bubbly stuff that goes into my dilution jar.



Deborah Long said:


> So as the day as continued, I actually tried stick blending again and just left in the container this time.  It keeps separating and now looks like this!  lol
> View attachment 47391



Eeek! Well, _that_ doesn't look very good!  I've never had a dilution come out like that ever. Have you tried diluting a portion of your amber/bubble-less paste yet?


IrishLass


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## Deborah Long (Jun 29, 2020)

IrishLass said:


> Have you tried diluting a portion of your amber/bubble-less paste yet?



I have not!  I think I'll 'give up' trying to 'fix' this and just move on to dilute a small amount of the other paste.  I'm confident that will be perfect, actually!  I was just wondering what was going on with this teeny amount.  It's actually lovely to use!    Thanks @IrishLass for the amazingly easy recipe that came together so quickly and easily!  I think the next time I make it (which will probably be months from now) I'll just keep it all together to dilute...


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## Deborah Long (Jul 2, 2020)

Yes!  Success!  Thanks @IrishLass for the great recipe and tutorial!  After trying to dilute 2 small (1-6 oz and 1-3 oz) batch,  decided to just go all in and dilute the entire thing!  THAT was the key for me, at least and it's turned out beautifully!     Freshly poured in the containers below...


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## Susie (Jul 6, 2020)

Picture in post # 2 just needs more water.  I have had this more than once.  But when you get bubbly paste, you just need to spray with some rubbing alcohol and hand stir.  And if you use weights for paste and water (as you should), bubbles don't even matter.  Just follow the dilution instructions.  

We all have our own dilution techniques.  You will probably develop your own over time, also.  

I don't store my paste in the fridge.  Just in a Ziploc bag or container with a tight fitting lid on my soaping cart.  The only reason I ever stored paste in the fridge is so that I wouldn't lose it (before I had a cart that all my soaping stuff goes on).


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## Deborah Long (Jul 6, 2020)

@Susie  - Thanks!  Since I went ahead and diluted it all, it's not in the fridge now.  I'm learning!  This is both easier and more difficult than cp!  lol  I appreciate all the feedback!


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