Charcoal Soap

[swisspensch]

First attempt, and the loaf contained too many bubbles.

The little bars are just left overs.

Not sure how to get bubbles out after accidentally blending and mixing them in, vibration plate?

 

[BattleGnome]

Beautiful soap.

To avoid bubbles I (carefully) bang my mold on the counter.

 

[swisspensch]

Cut into pieces for curing
I bought myself some second hand IKEA Algot shelving.
New price 90, used price 20!

 

[Dahila]

lather will be black, cut the soap before it hardens

 

[swisspensch]

I cut the soap about 24h after pouring, I am a bit slow getting the picture up.

The lather is light grey, and doesn't stain anything.

 

[Seawolfe]

Beautiful soap! A thinner trace helps the bubbles to rise and go. If you are just getting bubbles on the sides and you're using a silicone mold, that's a silicone mold thing that I *think* is from overheating.

 

[swisspensch]

If I poured at a much thinner trace, will the soap saponify correctly?

 

[toxikon]

If I poured at a much thinner trace, will the soap saponify correctly?

Yup! As long as the lye solution and oils have emulsified, they will turn into soap. You don't necessarily have to pour your batter at trace.

I find that if I pour at liquid emulsion, there's a good chance that my soap will sweat. Usually lye solution sweat. But it reabsorbs into the loaf and after a week, there is no zap and it cures as normal.

I seem to avoid the sweating if I make sure my soap doesn't get too hot in the first several hours after pouring. That usually just means keeping it uncovered and uninsulated. And perhaps under a fan if my house is warm.

 

[swisspensch]

New labelling, but still not getting any interest on Etsy

 

[Kittish]

Hate to sound negative, but Etsy is pretty well saturated with handmade soaps. You're basically one more person waving your hands in the air yelling "Hey! Buy my stuff!" in a crowd of thousands.

I'm also curious about how long you've been making soap. It sounds like you're still pretty new at it, so trying to sell it may be a bit premature just yet.

 

[Obsidian]

Nice looking soap but it's really expensive, will be hard to sell when other charcoal soaps are half that price.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Nice looking soap but it's really expensive, will be hard to sell when other charcoal soaps are half that price.

Tamanu isn't cheap.

 

[Obsidian]

Tamanu isn't cheap.

I realize that but for the average person looking for soap, they aren't after luxury ingredients. They want affordable products.

A good reason not to use expensive ingredients, especially when just starting to sell.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Everything in Switzerland costs more than one would expect!

But I also agree, if you're asking questions about and still testing the staining lather of a soap, you should not be selling that soap! You don't know anything about this soap, how it will be in a year or even 3 months, so how can you sell it to people who might keep a bar for that long?

 

[shunt2011]

Charcoal soap can stain a wash rag. So be sure to test that too. Not just the bubles.

And I'm sorry but have to agree with the others. You just started making soap in May and aren't ready to be selling. You have no idea what your soap will be like in 3 months but moreso in 12 months. Your castile you are selling is just barely a month old and nowhere near being ready to be sold or even used. And you are still asking really new beginner questions.

Even if you do sell a bar of soap are you ready to have customers who aren't satisified and will never purchase again? And I'm sure they won't like the castile at all. It's snotty slime until it's had a really long cure. Something to seriously think about.