Paperbackstash
Active Member
I used to soap but took a break from it for over ten years. Did not master design back then but have gotten into it again last year.
I still have a long way to go with good designs and especially the coloring - ugh.
Here are the Small Batches (1 LB) I've put together for Christmas presents and testing of FO
I'm going to be doing a few more presents over the weekend and will take more pictures and put here, but this is it for the soap bars.
Same recipe for every soap, although different FO's and colors of course. I sometimes get a small bit of ash at the tops of my soaps, which doesn't bother me - sometimes I like the rustic look, but it can be better to try to control this stuff.
I didn't think to spray with alcohol at the top since it's not usually an issue. I had the soaps curing for over 30 hours without ash. Then I turned a fan on the soaps, and within an hour three of the batches developed ash. Irritating. A little late to spray them but I did a spritz of rubbing alcohol and it seemed to reverse or mainly fix the issue.
The two batches farthest from the fan (same wooden slap with them all resting cut) did not develop any ash. They also didn't have any brown colorants though.
Cactus and Sea Salt
Everyone loves this fragrance. Made it last year for gifts.
I don't hate it, although the colors are a little muted. I've been using Micas but want to get different colorants that are more vibrant. I like the way the tops turned out.
This one had a small amount of ash starting at the top when I moved the fan over it after curing for 30 hours.
The design isn't really what I'd think of with a cactus and sea salt though, but I wanted blue for the water look.
Bite Me
This one I knew my mother would't like but I mainly made for my best friend who likes playful scents like playdoh and Koolaide. I actually like it too, it was fun.
I'm not giving many of these out, so only four bars a bit uneven but was out of molds doing five at once so used an empty spot in my wooden slab mold when I had the Log Molds in there (with wax paper lining)
Sprinkled with purple glitter since it fits. The smell is strong. The soap is a little darker in person. I'm actually happy with the coloring of this and there wasn't any ash.
Sweet Dreams
Again I'm not that good with colors. This one came out muted. It's a Johnsons and Johnsons Bath and Body Dupe FO.
I've decided that, as soothing as the FO is, it's not going to be a keeper. I think I'm going to stick with some other clean scents instead that have a little less familiarity. It's nice but not as nice an FO to me as some of the others.
Tried to do a blue and white splotch look with some sprinkles of blue Mica at the top.
This one also developed no ash.
Campfire Tales
I tried to make the top look like Marshmallows - not really that good with it apparently.
I do like the way the top colorants blend with the white.
This one developed bad ash. It was closest to the fan and not sure. The color almost morphed --- it was supposed to be dark brown, but it apparently just wants to be Grey.
These are small bars too with the cut. I used a Manteco Lard container since I was out of my log molds. The size is small and cute and fine for gifts. I was thinking of my friend with these since we like smokey scents. I thought my mom would hate it but she ended up loving it. She got to preview all the soaps.
The fireplace smell is smokey and woodsy and very nice. I added a little toasted Marshmallow FO with it but that didn't come through. After a week of curing the smokiness calmed down a bit and the marshmallow is almost peeking out with the scent.
There are some small black flecks, but that must be from adding in the black mica and missing incorporating some of it in. I kind of like the look though as some occasional black lines considering its called Campfire Tales and is smokey scented.
Peppered Poppies
My last meh soap. I had some issues with this one but not the ones I thought.
It developed ash at the bottoms. I freaked when I saw the white flecks, thinking it was something with lye even though they're all the same recipe.
However, then I realized that I only put Salt in this one and not the others, and I never use salt, and did not take time to melt it. I think the flecks are more from the salt - at least hopefully.
What surprised me is these popped out of the molds very, very easily - no freezing needed and even though the picture makes it look rough, the round soaps are completely smooth domes at the top.
My trimming sucks for the designed ones, I had a bit of a thick trace and overfilled the milds slightly and can't trim to save my life. Next time need to make sure to put a light trace in these particular molds.
I have already used the large trims from these in the sink when washing hands and it's gentle and not harsh. But still going to be careful with these because of the white flecks making me nervous. However, there isn't any zap with the tongue testing and it feels like a nice soap in the sink when testing, so I'm really suspecting it's more something with the salt or just who knows.
I still have a long way to go with good designs and especially the coloring - ugh.
Here are the Small Batches (1 LB) I've put together for Christmas presents and testing of FO
I'm going to be doing a few more presents over the weekend and will take more pictures and put here, but this is it for the soap bars.
Same recipe for every soap, although different FO's and colors of course. I sometimes get a small bit of ash at the tops of my soaps, which doesn't bother me - sometimes I like the rustic look, but it can be better to try to control this stuff.
I didn't think to spray with alcohol at the top since it's not usually an issue. I had the soaps curing for over 30 hours without ash. Then I turned a fan on the soaps, and within an hour three of the batches developed ash. Irritating. A little late to spray them but I did a spritz of rubbing alcohol and it seemed to reverse or mainly fix the issue.The two batches farthest from the fan (same wooden slap with them all resting cut) did not develop any ash. They also didn't have any brown colorants though.
Cactus and Sea Salt
Everyone loves this fragrance. Made it last year for gifts.
I don't hate it, although the colors are a little muted. I've been using Micas but want to get different colorants that are more vibrant. I like the way the tops turned out.
This one had a small amount of ash starting at the top when I moved the fan over it after curing for 30 hours.
The design isn't really what I'd think of with a cactus and sea salt though, but I wanted blue for the water look.
Bite Me
This one I knew my mother would't like but I mainly made for my best friend who likes playful scents like playdoh and Koolaide. I actually like it too, it was fun.
I'm not giving many of these out, so only four bars a bit uneven but was out of molds doing five at once so used an empty spot in my wooden slab mold when I had the Log Molds in there (with wax paper lining)
Sprinkled with purple glitter since it fits. The smell is strong. The soap is a little darker in person. I'm actually happy with the coloring of this and there wasn't any ash.
Sweet Dreams
Again I'm not that good with colors. This one came out muted. It's a Johnsons and Johnsons Bath and Body Dupe FO.
I've decided that, as soothing as the FO is, it's not going to be a keeper. I think I'm going to stick with some other clean scents instead that have a little less familiarity. It's nice but not as nice an FO to me as some of the others.
Tried to do a blue and white splotch look with some sprinkles of blue Mica at the top.
This one also developed no ash.
Campfire Tales
I tried to make the top look like Marshmallows - not really that good with it apparently.
I do like the way the top colorants blend with the white.
This one developed bad ash. It was closest to the fan and not sure. The color almost morphed --- it was supposed to be dark brown, but it apparently just wants to be Grey.
These are small bars too with the cut. I used a Manteco Lard container since I was out of my log molds. The size is small and cute and fine for gifts. I was thinking of my friend with these since we like smokey scents. I thought my mom would hate it but she ended up loving it. She got to preview all the soaps.
The fireplace smell is smokey and woodsy and very nice. I added a little toasted Marshmallow FO with it but that didn't come through. After a week of curing the smokiness calmed down a bit and the marshmallow is almost peeking out with the scent.
There are some small black flecks, but that must be from adding in the black mica and missing incorporating some of it in. I kind of like the look though as some occasional black lines considering its called Campfire Tales and is smokey scented.
Peppered Poppies
My last meh soap. I had some issues with this one but not the ones I thought.
It developed ash at the bottoms. I freaked when I saw the white flecks, thinking it was something with lye even though they're all the same recipe.
However, then I realized that I only put Salt in this one and not the others, and I never use salt, and did not take time to melt it. I think the flecks are more from the salt - at least hopefully.
What surprised me is these popped out of the molds very, very easily - no freezing needed and even though the picture makes it look rough, the round soaps are completely smooth domes at the top.
My trimming sucks for the designed ones, I had a bit of a thick trace and overfilled the milds slightly and can't trim to save my life. Next time need to make sure to put a light trace in these particular molds.
I have already used the large trims from these in the sink when washing hands and it's gentle and not harsh. But still going to be careful with these because of the white flecks making me nervous. However, there isn't any zap with the tongue testing and it feels like a nice soap in the sink when testing, so I'm really suspecting it's more something with the salt or just who knows.
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