Basti's Adventures in CP (2022)

[basti]

The oranges on the counter were starting to stare back at me and I was fresh out of soap ideas, so lo and behold. Put the oranges in the soap. Easy.

Couldn't find our orange juicer, so I ended up just throwing them in the blender with a little distilled water and straining the chunky bits out. The dogs loved me for the unexpected tasty treat. They also got the remaining puree that I didn't use in the soap, since I didn't want to freeze it or have it go bad. Recycling

Another speedy accelerator, but again fully expected and prepared for. Ended up with the ol' plop technique before swirling it. Came out just fine.

Batch #11 - 6 Oil Blend with Orange Puree

The good: The spoon swirl design is fun and my three oranges are unique enough from one another (maybe a lil more red to the darkest one, though)
The bad: I ended up with holes in two of the bars. I slammed this mold so many times and so hard, so maybe those were just destined to be there.
The ugly: They can't be seen easily in the picture but I do have some bits of uncolored batter in there But this batter was THICK so I'm not surprised I missed a few spots.
Lesson Learned: In a monochrome design like this that accelerates, adding a little colorant to the oils might be a prudent idea. So at very least the "uncolored" batter passes the vibe check.


I received a gift of some potential soap ingredients, so it's time to do some research to see how they are utilized. And time to buy more castor oil.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Keep up the good work!

 

[AliOop]

Love that color! Did you know that citrus fruits contain citric acid, which neutralizes some of your lye? If you didn’t adjust for that, it will increase your superfat.

 

[basti]

View attachment 69194 Keep up the good work!

Thank you!

Love that color! Did you know that citrus fruits contain citric acid, which neutralizes some of your lye? If you didn’t adjust for that, it will increase your superfat.

Thank you! Orange is such a cheerful color~

And I did! I opted to leave it the same to test out a higher SF. It'll be interesting to see how it feels in comparison

 

[basti]

Decided to have a soaping day yesterday!

After seeing all the soaps from the October soap challenge, I wanted to give the laminar flow technique a try. Despite maybe being a little too complex for my tiny baby soapmaker brain. But I'm no quitter so I decided to forge on with my tiny batches and my handmade cardboard dividers.

Things went fine. I got to emulsion, made my colors and then began to pour. The dividers held up well and the blue and pink batter were lovely but the yellow got a bit thick.

The top made me feel like I utterly failed, but I was very happy to see the inside looked right.

Batch #12 - 5 Oil Blend with Distilled Water and added sugar

The good: I think it turned out great for a first attempt and especially at a more finnicky technique like this.
The bad: I just straight up didn't put enough soap in the mold but it was getting a lil too thick to flow by the time I got that far. And then I pulled my dividers out and watched in horror as the soap sank even more (It all worked out in the end because the soap was exactly 2 inches tall and could be horizontally cut with my cutter perfectly! ) I poured off the overflow in an extra mold and made little soap fingers like I did for soap #9.
The ugly: My scale turned off in the middle of measuring out my hard oils. Luckily I had an extra pitcher (and the container weight written down in case I didn't) so I could add up what the three oils together SHOULD weigh and compare the difference.
Lesson Learned: Keep a cool head and don't stress when something goes wrong. Work through it and everything will be just fine in the end.

My little run off batch when I unmolded it. This is my first time getting droplets like this, but thankfully the internet has a plethora of information (as does this forum) and I realized it was no big deal. Just a humidity thing. It's already vanished by the time I've posted this.

(Um. Though I did unfortunately learn what a FAILED zap test feels like because I did that before seeing a lovely member of this forum saying not to touch the liquid in a reply to someone else's thread It's okay, it's good to have a proper frame of reference. The bars themselves passed. )

 

[MrsZ]

Your colors are so pretty!

 

[AliOop]

@basti such fun colors! I know how you felt because the top of my laminar flow soap looked awful, too. It's definitely a soap that lends itself to planing.

 

[basti]

Your colors are so pretty!

@basti such fun colors! I know how you felt because the top of my laminar flow soap looked awful, too. It's definitely a soap that lends itself to planing.

Thank you! I used Nurture's neons. I wanted to do rainbow, but figured doing neon primaries was close enough.

I did end up planing the tops off. Looked way better.

 

[basti]

And we finally return to the tall and skinny mold! Lining went much better this time, but isn't perfect. I've got proper freezer paper now so I think the third time will be the charm!

Batch #13 - 8 Oil Blend with Fermented Rice Water

The good: These colors are all so gorgeous. I had a bit of a mishap coloring the soap, but that doesn't seem to be an issue in the final bars. I'm definitely keen to use this palette again.
The bad: There's some strange texture happening on the surface of these bars. It passes the zap test so it's not anything I'm super concerned with. Luckily, I think it almost adds to the design. Van Gogh meets pointillism? I don't know. LOL.
The ugly: Return of the parabola! I'm gonna plane the bottom of these bars to lessen that a bit. It's much better than the first time I used this mold.
Lesson learned: I need more mixing containers! Because my craving for color is ravenous Anyone need anything from the dollar store?

 

[Zing]

Wow! So much work. The laminar flow is beautiful. Very Miami-ish, very 80s. And the teal/blue/purple is stunning. Users will love it.

 

[AliOop]

Great colors and design on the blue and purple! Looking at your dots, most of them look like stearic spots to me, or possibly a bit of ricing. Did you use any FOs? Then you have a few glycerin rivers thrown in. It all works together, so I'd tell everyone you planned it that way.

 

[Zing]

Glycerin rivers is how I discovered this forum when I googled "ridges cold process soap." Did you use titanium dioxide? TD can cause glycerin rivers. I have successfully avoided glycerin rivers by using lye at 32.5% of the total lye solution. But yours are beautiful -- and Ali is right, you gotta totally own that design! It's purely a cosmetic issue, the soap is fine. There is a wild Kiwi running around here that actually purposely creates them, of all things!

 

[basti]

Wow! So much work. The laminar flow is beautiful. Very Miami-ish, very 80s. And the teal/blue/purple is stunning. Users will love it.

Thank you! Love the 80s Miami idea. I've been thinking about black, neon pink, and neon blue lately which is Miami to a T haha! No FO to match in my collection though

Great colors and design on the blue and purple! Looking at your dots, most of them look like stearic spots to me, or possibly a bit of ricing. Did you use any FOs? Then you have a few glycerin rivers thrown in. It all works together, so I'd tell everyone you planned it that way.

Thank you!
I'm a bit unsure. I used Frosted Birch & Juniper which is supposedly a good behaver (but it's also... 3 years old ...)

I included a closeup because the texture is more of a faint pitting/cratering (you can see it most in the blue/purple segments on the bottom left)
I used 33% lye water solution and my white was NS's Winter White mica mixed with the oils. I used 6 colors (white, silver, teal, blue x2, purple) so maybe it's the silver that looks glycerin rivery. My current bar by the sink is rocking its glycerin rivers, so I got no issue with those bad boys

And I'm all for leaning into the wonderful weirdness! I think these bars are lovely

Thank you guys for the advice and the kind words

 

[Arimara]

I was about to say that you used the wrong spice for the Red Stripe soap (Allspice/pimento) but in lieu of a Jamaican I worked under, the nutmeg should be fine in your "mulled mechanic's soap". That man loved his nutmeg.

 

[basti]

I was about to say that you used the wrong spice for the Red Stripe soap (Allspice/pimento) but in lieu of a Jamaican I worked under, the nutmeg should be fine in your "mulled mechanic's soap". That man loved his nutmeg.

If I had allspice you bet I woulda put it in I rooted around the pantry to no avail.

Hopefully he won't be bothered that it's proper Grenadian nutmeg and not Jamaican. But I won't tell if you won't

 

[basti]

Got to work making a soap inspired by one a soapmaker on youtube made. Sort of a spoonplop ocean. We'll see how it looks cut tomorrow.

Got to work reconstituting some sea moss as I'm planning on attempting a soap with it soon. Thinking sea moss and turmeric.

I was gifted a few oz of raw cocoa butter that I'm still thinking of a use for. The smell is absolutely divine but I'm not sure if that would survive saponification or cure in an unscented batch. I don't want to buy any additional ingredients to make some sort of fancy b&b product, but maybe a simple body butter? But ah, soap is so much fun. Much to think about.

 

[Marsi]

@basti The cocoa butter smell lasts for a little while after the soap is made. It fades after about a month in my experience, but still has a lovely natural soap smell that I like very much.
Body butter with cocoa sounds nice

 

[Zing]

There's a brand of cocoa butter I use that retains its scent in soap. It's nice with orange essential oil.

Um, might I suggest lotion bars? 1/3 each of cocoa butter, liquid oil, and beeswax. Easy peasy.

 

[AliOop]

I don't want to buy any additional ingredients to make some sort of fancy b&b product, but maybe a simple body butter?

Yeah, that's what the rest of us used to say. Resistance is futile....

 

[basti]

@basti The cocoa butter smell lasts for a little while after the soap is made. It fades after about a month in my experience, but still has a lovely natural soap smell that I like very much.
Body butter with cocoa sounds nice

There's a brand of cocoa butter I use that retains its scent in soap. It's nice with orange essential oil.

Hmm! Maybe I will try a soap with some of the cocoa butter. It was bought in the Caribbean on an island that grows cacao, so it's some potent stuff.

Um, might I suggest lotion bars? 1/3 each of cocoa butter, liquid oil, and beeswax. Easy peasy.

HHHHHHHNGNGHG ..................... I've had my eye on this recipe of yours every time you've posted it or mentioned it. I lack the beeswax but... argh I have a coupon for an apiary...

Yeah, that's what the rest of us used to say. Resistance is futile....

Haha, it's more that I mean that the ol' wallet is a little dry right now
(Trust me, I got random jars from plenty of random experiments over the years)

Anyway! I cut the batch from above and will be posting about it in my thread. My sea moss has been reconstituted and blended up. And now, I face the enemy: dishes.


Edit:

Um. What happened here?

Today was attempt #3 with the tall and skinny mold, this time using proper freezer paper instead of parchment. It's still a bit difficult. I'm following the directions but I don't think it helps that this mold is SO small. I'm not gonna give up but if this mold becomes a pencil holder in the future, mind your business I'm gonna watch more videos before I try lining it again.

Batch #14 - 6 Oil Blend with Distilled Water

The good: The design came out exactly the way I wanted it to! The colors are beautiful, the gradient is smooth, and the layers have the texture I wanted.
The bad: ...except for the shape! I don't hate it but oh, I just would like a beautifully straight TS soap just once
The ugly: The sides are a bit holey, but I'm not bothered. Any holes left after the absolute beatdown I gave the mold and the table? That's just fate saying they're meant to be there.

The design inspiration came from 밀군님 on YT.