First Soap! Many things realized[emoji54]

[MissLunaB]

After Irma came and went and many wiggles later I finally have made my first soap after lurking in the the hobby for over a year now, it really doesn't seem that long but it's almost October, egad!
Even though I could probably write a book or two (that's read recited/quote) on soap making I didn't want to just jump in with out getting my stick blender a little bit wet, you know, test the soap batter so to say.
Thanks Britannic who shared a recipe with me (Cow Bell) I was able to get my stick blender wet and I'm insta addicted :3

But with me coming upon and making my first soap I came to many realizations that I wanted to, I guess, share.
1. Soap making is a hobby of weight not volume- boy oh boy color me pinky pie when I got my first colorant and ordered only 4oz of mica from Mad Micas. Yikes! I even got another jar to stuff the "little jar"I was expecting to come in.
2. If you think you need it, ingredient, tool, etc, buy it! Someone in the house has used what ever you thought you had. This happened to me not once, not twice but 4 times and I will tell you, when you have lye water ready to go and a limited time before a 4 year old and her mother shows up, then is not the time to find out you have an olive oil BLEND instead of plain olive oil
3. Ummm I'm going to run out of ingredients before I make my mom's soap- I want to try some other things before I make my mom's soap but between fall cleaning/moving/and a supplier not selling the tallow I bought *gasp* I think I'll get two more batched out and that's it, how do you guys do it?
4. I still have so much to learn! Like, look closely at my soap,

it is so pretty, but what are those (insert meme) are those glycerin rivers, or is that a partial gel, or is that a ghost swirl? It's so pretty!

Anyway comments, encouragements, answers, pokes XD are encouraged and wanted. This is how we learn and I'm super excited to do more and learn more from this hobby.

~Luna Out!

*admin if this is in he wrong place, please move, sorry!*

 

[Kittish]

Pretty soap. My first guess for the layer swirl look would be that your colorant didn't get quite completely smoothly blended into the batter. Looks like you poured in several passes, and that would account for the appearance of the layers. Just almost an accidental tiger stripe.

 

[jcandleattic]

What was your recipe? It looks like it could be strearic spots/stripes.

 

[lenarenee]

Is there colorant in your soap? It doesn't look so on my computer. Yes, we need the recipe, and the general temperature of oils and lye solution. Did you use palm oil that was well mixed before measuring, or use animal fats at cold temps?

 

[MissLunaB]

Pretty soap. My first guess for the layer swirl look would be that your colorant didn't get quite completely smoothly blended into the batter. Looks like you poured in several passes, and that would account for the appearance of the layers. Just almost an accidental tiger stripe.

What was your recipe? It looks like it could be strearic spots/stripes.

Is there colorant in your soap? It doesn't look so on my computer. Yes, we need the recipe, and the general temperature of oils and lye solution. Did you use palm oil that was well mixed before measuring, or use animal fats at cold temps?

Nope, no colorants or additives what so ever. I did soap at a low temp, oils as 93 and lye at 95. I was worried I would be soaping too low because I had to run out and get olive oil, hence lessons number 2 XD The stearic is 12, is that high? Here is the recipe Britannic's Cow Bell http://soapee.com/recipes/4374 I do need to wait until my ph strips come in my scale made me worry a bit and when I did pour my soap I did get a weird chemical smell and I'm not sure if it was the start of my migraine or if it was the soap so we will see.

 

[Susie]

Don't bother with pH strips, they will tell you nothing. Instead zap test at about a week.

Your recipe looks fine to me.

 

[MissLunaB]

Don't bother with pH strips, they will tell you nothing. Instead zap test at about a week.

Your recipe looks fine to me.

IMVHO, I know A LOT of people do this, but the zap test sounds scary and incredibly stupid. Super Sorry there has to be a better way to test that doesn't put your body on the line.

 

[Kittish]

It really isn't at all scary. And I speak as a relatively new soaper who has gotten zapped a couple of times (out of several dozen tests done, and one of those really doesn't count because I tested soap I knew would zap me on purpose). Done to spec in the sticky thread, the worst thing that happens to you is maybe getting a feeling like what you get by putting your tongue over the terminals of a 9v battery, just not lingering like that feeling does. It goes away in a fraction of a second, and if you rinse your tongue like the instructions say to, you don't even wind up with much lingering taste of soap in your mouth.

 

[BattleGnome]

there has to be a better way to test that doesn't put your body on the line.

I've had soap batter splash onto my lip while mixing then I instinctively licked it up. No ill effects other than a paranoid weekend making sure. If you do get a zap and feel that rinsing your mouth out with water isn't enough then rinse your mouth with a teaspoon on your favorite oil.

Even if you choose not to zap test then just wait out the cure time before using your soap. Save your money from those test strips unless you need them for another project. There are just too many variables to get a good reading and the important thing is the lye. Soap wouldn't be soap if it wasn't the proper Ph, the emulsion wouldn't hold

 

[dibbles]

Lovely first soap - congratulations!

ETA: Okay, I just realized that I made almost the exact same comment to a friend of my daughter's, who just had her first baby.

 

[SunRiseArts]

IMVHO, I know A LOT of people do this, but the zap test sounds scary and incredibly stupid. Super Sorry there has to be a better way to test that doesn't put your body on the line.

Veterans do not be mad at me! But ....I know we should zap the soap. I only did it once. I cannot bear myself to do it either.

I do use the PH paper. But I also have a tiny mold that holds 2 oz, that I always fill when I make a bar. Then I use it a week after I make the soap. First in the hands, and if it feels ok, I shower with it.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The problem with pH is that it tells you only one thing and that alone is not enough to know if your soap is safe.

I would say that spending money on strips which won't tell me what I need to know, certainly not consistently and accurately, is "incredibly stupid" when there is a much more reliable, perfectly safe and free method.

 

[Susie]

The problem with pH is that it tells you only one thing and that alone is not enough to know if your soap is safe.

pH strips are still not going to tell you what you need to know, and that is whether there is free lye remaining in the soap. And you NEED TO KNOW this before risking your skin and others' skin.

 

[SunRiseArts]

... :neutral:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I get it, I know how you all believe, however no needs for names ... :eh:

to each its own.

That was more based on the op terms.

For the record, I don't care if anyone zap tests or not, as long as they don't give away dangerous soap.

My issue is, and what will always get a ride out of me, is when someone (like the op) states that it IS dangerous. It isn't dangerous at all, when done with a modicum of common sense, no more then tasting something when cooking is dangerous.

Saying that you don't want to zap test is one thing, stating that it is dangerous and "putting your body on the line", especially when people who don't know better yet might read it, is something else.

I don't think that you, sunrise, are stupid not to do it. I think that you are missing a trick and, if only relying on pH strips without a proper testing method (soap solution, not on the bar) you might be getting different information than you think you are. This could put your customers at risk, but I'm fairly certain that no bars leave your hands until they have cured and you have used one just to make sure that they are good to go. Other people might not do this, and solely rely on an ineffective method as a safety check. That is putting bodies on the line.

I don't want newbies getting in to the "pH good, zap test bad" mindset before they've even looked at how to do it properly.

 

[SunRiseArts]

That was more based on the op terms.

For the record, I don't care if anyone zap tests or not, as long as they don't give away dangerous soap.

My issue is, and what will always get a ride out of me, is when someone (like the op) states that it IS dangerous. It isn't dangerous at all, when done with a modicum of common sense, no more then tasting something when cooking is dangerous.

Saying that you don't want to zap test is one thing, stating that it is dangerous and "putting your body on the line", especially when people who don't know better yet might read it, is something else.

I don't think that you, sunrise, are stupid not to do it. I think that you are missing a trick and, if only relying on pH strips without a proper testing method (soap solution, not on the bar) you might be getting different information than you think you are. This could put your customers at risk, but I'm fairly certain that no bars leave your hands until they have cured and you have used one just to make sure that they are good to go. Other people might not do this, and solely rely on an ineffective method as a safety check. That is putting bodies on the line.

I don't want newbies getting in to the "pH good, zap test bad" mindset before they've even looked at how to do it properly.

I realized your comment was made referring to something the OP said, which is why I edited my post. So my apologies. Guess you might be an night owl like me, and beat me to it!

Personally I would not even let my sons use a bar of soap I made unless I have tried it myself. I sell little to none, mainly MP, and HP or CP bar have properly cured.

Normally I keep several bars in my shower. One time I was using an MP bar I made, and testing a bar after 4 weeks, and my eyes got irritated. I totally freaked out, washed with the MP, and it got worst. Then I realized that my MP soap had too much fragrance, and had nothing to do with the CP soap.... what a relieve, but I learned a really good lesson. Because now I always measure my fragrance, including for MP, and I rather go under than over. I also learned that MP requires 1/4 of fragrance in relationship to CP. So the calculators are of no use for MP.

I am very careful when I measure, and bought a scale that has 3 decimals, but though that the FO could be just approximate.

As I probably mentioned before, I am one of those people that are germ phobic. I personally find unsanitary tongue testing the soap. I would not care if I made it and is more myself, but the thought of people's putting their tongue in my soap I will use freaks me out. What if they have a disease? eewww!!! But I am sure you all only zap test the ones for personal use, and that germs do not travel like that anyway.

 

[Kittish]

You don't have anyone's tongue anywhere near the actual bar of soap. You wet a finger (wearing gloves!) with a drop or two of water. Rub that on the bar you're testing to get a bit of residue on your finger. Now touch YOUR FINGER to the tip of your tongue. Wash/rinse, repeat as needed. See? No licking of soap involved at all.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

And if I do lick a bar, it is one for personal use.

 

[MissLunaB]

That was more based on the op terms.

For the record, I don't care if anyone zap tests or not, as long as they don't give away dangerous soap.

My issue is, and what will always get a ride out of me, is when someone (like the op) states that it IS dangerous. It isn't dangerous at all, when done with a modicum of common sense, no more then tasting something when cooking is dangerous.

Saying that you don't want to zap test is one thing, stating that it is dangerous and "putting your body on the line", especially when people who don't know better yet might read it, is something else.

I don't think that you, sunrise, are stupid not to do it. I think that you are missing a trick and, if only relying on pH strips without a proper testing method (soap solution, not on the bar) you might be getting different information than you think you are. This could put your customers at risk, but I'm fairly certain that no bars leave your hands until they have cured and you have used one just to make sure that they are good to go. Other people might not do this, and solely rely on an ineffective method as a safety check. That is putting bodies on the line.

I don't want newbies getting in to the "pH good, zap test bad" mindset before they've even looked at how to do it properly.

Whoops! sorry oTL forgive me for the unintended jibe. I was looking at it from a medical/chemistry standpoint.

All I could think of is that even if I touch the tip of my tongue(which I can't anyway) that somehow someway an reaction can occur may it be allergic/chemical/otherwise. I'm not worried about the pain I'm more or less worried about the repercussions that can occur if something goes wrong. You wouldn't tell a Cub Scout to taste river water to see if it's safe to drink before drinking it.

My take away is there is always a way to test your compound before you put it on your body or others, and if there is not, someone finds one or people work together to find one.

 

[SudsanSoaps]

Personal opinion here. But once you get much experience at all I think you'll have a pretty good idea if the soap will zap you or not before you try it. But then I HP so it's much more apparent than CP.