First Batch!

[BrightFarms]

Hello!

I've been stalking the forum for a long time and finally decided to join. I want to make goat milk soap and since my Nigerian Dwarf finally gave birth I can start my journey!

I ordered the starter kit from Brambleberry and was delighted by how quickly it showed up. I already had safety equipment and a scale so I froze some milk and will try my first batch tomorrow!

Here's the recipe I'm trying out, it came with the starter kit:
6oz. Coconut
6oz. Palm
9oz. Olive Oil
1oz. Castor
7oz. Liquid (I only had 6oz of Goat milk, so the other 1oz. was water)
3oz. Lye
1.4oz. Cranberry Fig F.O

Wish me luck! I'll post test results tomorrow and hopefully cut my first batch in a couple of days!

My first (of many I'm sure) question is about taking notes. I have a Bachelor's degree in Biology/Chemistry so lab notes were a big part of my college life. I'm wondering how others set up their notebooks for recipes.

I'm thinking of listing the batch name and date, then a recipe section and another section for listing the properties given by SoapCalc. Then I'm going to leave a space for notes during production (seizing, ricing, approximate time to trace, etc)

My plan is to keep several pieces and keep an eye on them over the course of a year or so in different conditions (high humidity bathroom, dry closet) and record results. The rest will be handed out to my human test subjects after they've cured.

Anything else I should be keeping notes on? How do you guys organize your recipes/notes? Do you have a physical notebook? A computer document? I know there's some soaping software but my budget is limited. Is there such a thing as too many notes?

One more newbie question. Do people like the Brambleberry Fragrance Oil sample packs? I was thinking of ordering them so I can try a bunch of scents at once and see what ones I like before buying in bulk. Any trouble FOs I should watch out for right out of the gate?

Thanks for all the help! I look forward to this new journey and making new friends here (all my real life friends just look at me strangle when I start talking soap).

 

[Obsidian]

Congrats on your first batch and welcome to the addiction

I keep my recipes on the computer and in a notebook. I use evernote to store the main soapcalc recipe pages, its a great little program. In my notebook, I keep a short version of the recipe, the date it was made and any pertinent info like additives, trace time, any trouble with FO's. I don't keep track of temps or length in mold. You can never have too many notes, keep track of everything if you want.

Trouble FO's are usually spicy like cinnamon or florals like jasmine. I really like ordering my FO's from https://www.naturesgardencandles.com/ as they have good info on any issues the FO might cause, from seizing to discoloring. I do like BB's scents and have quite a few. When ordering FO. regardless of who you get it from, read the reviews. I've often decided against FO's based on reviews and I'm sure its saved me from trouble batches.

 

[hlee]

I print my recipes and put them in a binder along with notes and dates. I keep all my suppliers receipts in there too or I forget where I got things from.
I'm a terrible soap note taker and am envious of great note takers.
I work in a lab, I know better but it just does not happen at home.
Congrats on your 1st batch!

 

[Seawolfe]

I save all my soap calcs as pdf's to a folder on drop box, and I print it out for reference when Im soaping. If I make any changes I note it on the print out and modify the pdf later. For some tricker soaps I also make spreadsheets to figure stuff out. Pictures go in the dropbox soap folder too.

 

[Belinda02]

I hav a chem background and keep a notebook. It's much messier when I don't hav to impress a boss. Reference the name to where u got a recipe. Not only is it good manners if u ever speak of a specfic recipe but u may need to ask questions at a later time.

 

[Serenity]

Hi BrightFarms

I use an Excel spreadsheet rather than Soapcalc. I use this for calculating my recipe and quantities of additives required, eg essential oils, honey, colour. I also add a short list of soapmaking steps so I don't forget anything (which is prone to happen when I'm in the midst of a soapmaking flurry!). I have space for time taken, temperatures, mould used. Underneath I later add notes on the results, eg appearance, aroma (ie is it long lasting?), lather. Then a section for Conclusions, which I fill out later so that next time I make the same soap I can improve on it.

I print this worksheet out to follow while I'm making the soap. I scribble notes over it while making the batch. This is later updated with a photo and printed out for my physical soap sheet folder. I find that way I can use a soap in 6 months time and if I like the lather or the scent has lasted really well, I can go back to my notes and see what I did. It's also helpful with troubleshooting.

Good luck with your goats milk soap.

 

[Susie]

I print out all recipes with dates made. SoapCalc gives you room at the bottom to put additives and make notes.

All OPR(other people's recipes) get a name with an abbreviation and what it is. I. E. A recipe from The Efficacious Gentleman for conditioning soap would be abbreviated TEG Cond. 5-16-14. It is only fair to give credit where credit is due, and I may need to ask him something later.

If I modify someone's recipe, the name gets changed to TEG Cond/Mod 5-16-14. I then highlight what was changed from the original to make identifying it easier.

I list all intended additives before printing. If I have to make changes after that on additives, I hand write them. If I have to change oils or the amounts, I re-calculate and re-print.

Notes: I will write down any first impressions on how fast it came to trace IF that was out of the norm, write down impressions of EO's if significant. Record any significant impressions during cure. Then, at 6 weeks, when I try it for the first time, I record lather quality, scent quality, hardness, conditioning, etc. If I am not impressed by something, I give it a couple of more weeks to cure and test it again.

 

[BrightFarms]

So far everything as gone well. I mixed and poured everything pretty cool, around 80-90F. Then I stuck the batch in the freezer for 24 hrs, then the fridge for another 24hrs, and now it's sitting on the table but still slightly soft, so I'm going to leave it in the mold overnight and check on it tomorrow.

A bit too much overkill to avoid the gel phase?

Here's hoping I can cut it before work tomorrow.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

A little overkill to avoid gel is most likely better than not doing enough!

Looking forward to pictures. I just hope that when you referred to a Nigerian Dwarf you were referring to a goat!

 

[BrightFarms]

Well it's been cut for awhile, I've just been running around like a madwoman and finally sat down to post a picture. I'm so excited I can't wait to start milking our goat full-time and make more! (I'm only milking her a bit right now because her udder is lopsided, she only had one kid).

The soap is all wonky shaped because I used a shoebox for the mold, but my father in law is building me a wooden mold.

Now for the questions:

1. A couple of the bars have tiny little pockmarks (hopefully you can see them in the picture (center column, 4th bar back has them), are these what lye pockets look like? Or are they air bubbles? I just want to make sure those bars will be safe to use.

2. I'm undecided if I like the wavy cut or if I want straight cut bars. I'm a LONG LONG way away from selling anything, but I'm wondering what customers like more? I would think that straight cut bars would be easier to wrap but I haven't actually tried.

Thanks for all the help so far, now I just need to convince my husband that I need more goats! ;-)

 

[HandmadeinFlorida]

Well it's been cut for awhile, I've just been running around like a madwoman and finally sat down to post a picture. I'm so excited I can't wait to start milking our goat full-time and make more! (I'm only milking her a bit right now because her udder is lopsided, she only had one kid).

The soap is all wonky shaped because I used a shoebox for the mold, but my father in law is building me a wooden mold.

Now for the questions:

1. A couple of the bars have tiny little pockmarks (hopefully you can see them in the picture (center column, 4th bar back has them), are these what lye pockets look like? Or are they air bubbles? I just want to make sure those bars will be safe to use.

2. I'm undecided if I like the wavy cut or if I want straight cut bars. I'm a LONG LONG way away from selling anything, but I'm wondering what customers like more? I would think that straight cut bars would be easier to wrap but I haven't actually tried.

Thanks for all the help so far, now I just need to convince my husband that I need more goats! ;-)

Yay! Way to go on your first batch, that's awesome! Now convincing the hubby that you need more goats...wow that's taking soaping to a whole new level lol! Good luck, your soap looks great!

 

[seven]

Congrats on yer 1st batch! The tiny pock marks are just air bubbles me thinks. It's a good practice to bang your mold to prevent air bubbles.

For selling, a uniform bars look more neatand professional

 

[navigator9]

How wonderful to have your own goats! Not only for making soap, but they're just so darn cute. You are wise to be thinking at this stage about keeping good notes. You will be very happy you did so, down the road. As far as wavy or straight, I bought a wavy cutter when I started out, but don't use it any more. I think it's just personal preference. I don't think wavy bars are particularly more difficult to wrap, though.

So have you tried a sliver of your soap yet? What do you think? Is it amazing???

 

[Susie]

I started using a straight cutter(metal bench scraper for dough), then I found a wavy potato cutter, which is what I use now. I don't have to wrap my soaps, as I do not sell. And I like that they seem to dry faster, not cure faster, just get dry faster on the outside, which makes me have to turn and rotate the bars less while curing.

 

[Shalisk]

Looks great!Congrats on the first batch and welcome to the family