December 2019 Un-Challenge - New to You

[dibbles]

Ha! Me.too. How did it turn out? Maybe I'll copy you... or maybe I'll work on the technique for the January challenge (in which case I'll wait to share mine until Dec 31st). Or maybe I'll do both. If I find time to soap. Sigh.

It seems like it will be nice. It's hard, but I'm not sure it's any harder than my regular bars that go through gel. I used 3% beeswax and my temps were between 125-130 I think. Maybe 135, which is a lot warmer for me. But it didn't seem to move that much faster than any soap I've made using higher temps like that. Except palm - it was slower for me than palm oil is. This was just a 1 lb batch. I'll be able to tell better tomorrow when I try to bevel it I think.

 

[earlene]

I still haven't come up with anything new to me to do that doesn't require a purchase of tallow. Well, no, that's not true. I did realize I've never done the Mirror Pour that is shown dibbles' avatar photo, but I'm not really sure I'm ready for that just yet.

Still thinking. Maybe something for my granddaughter's upcoming graduation. It is still several months away, but why not get a head start? Anyway, still thinking.

I am glad to see others have started, though. Gecko, your soap is lovely.

And I can reiterate szaza's experience. I also made soap dough with one of my regular recipes and it was still pliable for use after several months and what has not been used was still pliable at least 2 years later (last I looked) . It's actually pretty easy to do, but not something that we normally do, so I think that's why we tend to think we need some special recipe for it, when all we need to do is prevent the soap from drying out during the saponification and later storage by keeping it in an airtight container. I am not sure how long it lasts, but so far I haven't had any dry out on me until it is used as an embellishment and allowed to air-dry with the rest of the soap.

 

[Kosmerta]

I'm doing a single oil experiment. I know many exist already but I think being able to feel and see the single oil bars in person will help me get an exact idea of what each oil does to help me perfect my own soap recipe.

A few days ago I made a 100% coconut oil soap, 1% superfat, 2:1 water: lye concentration. The loaf gelled and I had a small volcano, not enough to pour out of the mold luckily but it sure looked cool.
(First photo is 1 hour after pouring)

I expected a pure coconut soap to be hard but after only 16 hours of curing the soap was SO hard it broke my soap cutter!!
December 2nd was a day full of firsts. First time making a pure coconut oil soap- and first time resizing a soap cutting wire. I bought a cheap single wire cutter from Ebay that doesn't have a twisting device to tighten the wire. My coconut soap streched my wire into a a long C shape, it was conpletely unusable after. So for the first time I unraveled the end of my cutting wire, shortened it by 8 mm then twisted it back and put it back on the cutter.

... then I bought a new soap cutter on etsy.
2nd pic is the soap, rock hard at 16 hours.
You can see the curves in the middl bars where the cutter stretched out.

 

[Kiti Williams]

TheGecko,

Wow, that soap has attitude! I like how it flows inside itself!

I'm doing a single oil experiment. I know many exist already but I think being able to feel and see the single oil bars in person will help me get an exact idea of what each oil does to help me perfect my own soap recipe.

A few days ago I made a 100% coconut oil soap, 1% superfat, 2:1 water: lye concentration. The loaf gelled and I had a small volcano, not enough to pour out of the mold luckily but it sure looked cool.
(First photo is 1 hour after pouring)

I expected a pure coconut soap to be hard but after only 16 hours of curing the soap was SO hard it broke my soap cutter!!
December 2nd was a day full of firsts. First time making a pure coconut oil soap- and first time resizing a soap cutting wire. I bought a cheap single wire cutter from Ebay that doesn't have a twisting device to tighten the wire. My coconut soap streched my wire into a a long C shape, it was conpletely unusable after. So for the first time I unraveled the end of my cutting wire, shortened it by 8 mm then twisted it back and put it back on the cutter.

... then I bought a new soap cutter on etsy.
2nd pic is the soap, rock hard at 16 hours.
You can see the curves in the middl bars where the cutter stretched out.
View attachment 42861 View attachment 42862

I like it, it is just too pretty to use! FWIW, I am a bar junkie - so this semi translucent soap it ringing all my bells!

 

[dibbles]

@earlene I am sure you could do a mirror glaze pour if you wanted to give it a try. Ask if you have any questions. It is messy, but really fun!

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I'm doing a single oil experiment. I know many exist already but I think being able to feel and see the single oil bars in person will help me get an exact idea of what each oil does to help me perfect my own soap recipe.

A few days ago I made a 100% coconut oil soap, 1% superfat, 2:1 water: lye concentration. The loaf gelled and I had a small volcano, not enough to pour out of the mold luckily but it sure looked cool.
(First photo is 1 hour after pouring)
View attachment 42861 View attachment 42862

Just out of curiosity... why a 1% SF? From what I've read, you need a 20ish% SF to keep pure coconut oil soap from being too harsh on skin. Do you have a different use planned for it?

 

[Shereen]

Since I started soaping newly, everything will be the first time for me . I will show you my chamomile and honey soap. I added dried chamomile on top. It's a hot process soap I made before yesterday. The foam and smell are gorgeous but it wasnt hard enough. I wanted to be harder, so I think I will leave it for three weeks to harden ( hope it does ). Thanks

 

[dibbles]

@Shereen it's beautiful!

 

[Shereen]

@dibbles Thanks!

 

[Quilter99755]

Since I started soaping newly, everything will be the first time for me . I will show you my chamomile and honey soap. I added dried chamomile on top. It's a hot process soap I made before yesterday. The foam and smell are gorgeous but it wasnt hard enough. I wanted to be harder, so I think I will leave it for three weeks to harden ( hope it does ). Thanks

Lovely soap. I love the look of the cutter...and wonder why I haven't used mine in a long while. Thanks for posting. The dried chamomile in that lighting looks like you sprinkled gold flakes on top of the soap. Beautiful

 

[Shereen]

Thank you very the nice words

 

[Kosmerta]

Just out of curiosity... why a 1% SF? From what I've read, you need a 20ish% SF to keep pure coconut oil soap from being too harsh on skin. Do you have a different use planned for it?

I intend to make a 20% super fat pure coconut soap as well. I made this with a 1% to ensure there was no unused lye in the mixture, but to get an idea of how the oils exactly works in the soap. My end goal is to design a recipe that works for my sensitive skin, but also is the right balance of cleansing without a 20% superfat.

 

[Michele50]

@mommycarlson "..... I just made one of my own recipes and let it cure without any airflow and it worked out fine.... I suspect the process of saponification without airflow is the most important part of making soap dough so the water doesn't evaporate and the soap stays pliable (Or maybe I was just lucky with my recipe)

From the research I've done @szaza, that's my understanding as well: any favorite recipe / keep covered during saponification / remove when still soft / pliable / keep in an airtight container to prevent evaporation of liquid so it stays pliable.

I figure that full water might be better because the less water the harder/more solid it will be when removed from the mold; however, that's just what I personally think. Someone might correct me who knows more. I started looking into it only 3 weeks ago, something I want to try soon.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I figure that full water might be better because the less water the harder/more solid it will be when removed from the mold; however, that's just what I personally think. Someone might correct me who knows more. I started looking into it only 3 weeks ago, something I want to try soon.

I’ve been gradually increasing lye concentration to the 35%-37% range from 33% and the soap trimmings are getting less pliable, especially for my palm rich recipes which gel compared with lard recipes that I don’t gel. In one of her videos, Teri Endsley (Tree Marie) made a soap where she used 37% lye concentration and I noticed that she ended up with what looked like very pliable trimmings (She rolled them into a ball in the video). Her recipe was highish in soft oils, so maybe the recipe also makes a bit of a difference.

I’ve been watching videos and getting lots of ideas. Plus, my big order of EOs is coming today. I haven’t made soap in over a week and now I can’t wait to try something new.

 

[EllieMae]

New for me, first completed unmolding of December - using activated charcoal. Should have listened to the warnings I read about it going EVERYWHERE if you start sticking blending without mixing it in first! LOL. Also new to me was tea tree scent - it's potent!

 

[dibbles]

@EllieMae the glycerin rivers in that black are beautiful. Tea Tree is strong, but it does mellow out nicely. It is a scent that over time I have come to really like.

 

[Kiti Williams]

@Shereen,

VERY pretty! I love the wavy lines!

 

[dibbles]

This is the beeswax soap. I was waiting for the FO to discolor more, but it isn't discoloring as much as I expected. I did a small batch with an ITP swirl. The swirls also didn't turn out as I expected. The fragrance oil was Ancient Incense from Micas & More, and the colors are Sahara Gold and Mocha Brown (Nurture Soap) in uncolored base.

 

[Michele50]

I’ve been gradually increasing lye concentration to the 35%-37% range from 33% and the soap trimmings are getting less pliable, especially for my palm rich recipes which gel compared with lard recipes that I don’t gel. In one of her videos, Teri Endsley (Tree Marie) made a soap where she used 37% lye concentration and I noticed that she ended up with what looked like very pliable trimmings (She rolled them into a ball in the video). Her recipe was highish in soft oils, so maybe the recipe also makes a bit of a difference.

I’ve been watching videos and getting lots of ideas. Plus, my big order of EOs is coming today. I haven’t made soap in over a week and now I can’t wait to try something new.

I agree lye concentration / recipe / gel or no gelling (and I'm sure temps) all must be taken into consideration when making soap dough. The same is the case when designing a slow-moving recipe for a design needing plenty of time vs something that's going to be a very simple pore.

I'm just now beginning to look into this so thanks for your info. I'd like to begin now on gifts for our 2 DILs and maybe our sons as well; this would give me a broad decorative playing field for next Christmas soap gifts.

Hope you have great success @Mobjack Bay in nailing everything to create a great soap dough! Looks like several of us are all interested in this.
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Edited:
I just got to thinking, I've got to get in the habit (on this forum) of speaking about water in lye concentration (or water:lye ratio). A habit hard to break since my good friend who asks me various things only wants to go by water as percent of water weight (though I've discussed why that isn't very helpful), lol. When I've tired using water to lye (or concentration) it's Greek to her, oh well. It's hard to break this habit since my mind is wired to help 'her.'

 

[Shereen]

@Shereen,

VERY pretty! I love the wavy lines!

Thanks