frustrated

[lionprincess00]

Forgive if this is in the wrong place. I find myself very frustrated with this new hobby. It takes so much time to set up, a good half hr to clean up, and my swirls/idea/techniques are not executed the way I wanted. My swirls didn't swirl enough. My color was too light, too dark. The green suds a tint of green in spite of using recommended ratios. Yes I'm new, yes I'm a bit of a perfectionist extremely obsessed with it being perfect (a big perfectionist I suppose lol). Yes I know experience will bring refinement with my swirls/designs and soaps, but I am wondering if I'll ever be satisfied. I can plan and plan, but it seems it just doesn't work out how I hoped, and I wonder if it ever will.

Do you all struggle with over critiquing yourself, or do you go with the flow? Do you feel it took a while to get to that point of being real good and producing an awesomely perfect product?

I just made a batch and am a little frustrated with it. Can you tell?!?!

 

[lovinglife]

I can relate! Mine never seem to turn out the way I planned, but they are usually decent to look at, and are great soaps, so live and learn. It is so much fun, don't let it get you down. Maybe you should work at perfecting something simple and go from there. Find a recipe that is slow to trace so you have plenty of time to work with it. Only way to get really good is to keep trying.

 

[lionprincess00]

My recipes trace slow and I work well with the fragrances making sure I accound for color change and acceleration. But muted colors, too much colorant, muddy swirls, spattering squeeze bottle making drops instead of lines, and breaking the pencil line. These are just some examples. Very frustrating lol. Thx, will keep working at it.

 

[newbie]

Join the club! We all criticize ourselves much more so than anyone else and it is very frustrating to not have things go as planned. I just came off of two months of nothing going well; it really stinks. You do get better with time and all that stuff you said but you also learn to roll with it better, with time, and change a design idea at the last minute when something happens you didn't plan for. This is a hard hobby for a perfectionist because there are so many factors you can't account for, like the dynamics of the batter or a fragrance acting slightly differently than the first time. Learning to live with it is one of the lessons of soaping, I think.

 

[pamielynn]

Patience, Grasshopper. The more you practice, the better the soap will be and the easier your technique will become.

 

[Seawolfe]

I think you're being too hard on yourself.
Successful soaping seems to me to be divided evenly between science, art, and experience - and that takes time.
Your compulsion to "get it right" will serve you well, so dont get too down on the learning experiences. Learning what doesn't work is still valuable And even your "bad" batches are still some pretty nice soap!

 

[cmzaha]

No matter how much you practice how many batches you make when the gremlins strike there is nothing to do but figure out how to fix it. Soap does what soap does. I have done side by side batches everything the same, or so I thought, and one goes great and the other does not. Even soapmakers that always post perfect pictures of soaps make me wonder how many batches went into a crock pot before the perfecty executed soap turned out. Time and practice does help, but if imperfections drive you crazy you might think twice about this as a relaxing hobby. I have planned many a perfect soap to have it fail and I have been doing this for a few yrs. But it is a very addicting hobby! :razz:

 

[goji_fries]

Brick by brick lionprincess, Rome wasn't built in a day. I know the feels lionprincess. Doing dishes takes forever after. I could have a good batch but not so ggod blend of essential oils and I'd want to throw it away. Keep going! Have you seen the post of the ugly pics? Some of the best soapers here posted their worst batches:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=47401

 

[pamielynn]

no matter how much you practice how many batches you make when the gremlins strike there is nothing to do but figure out how to fix it. Soap does what soap does. I have done side by side batches everything the same, or so i thought, and one goes great and the other does not. Even soapmakers that always post perfect pictures of soaps make me wonder how many batches went into a crock pot before the perfecty executed soap turned out. Time and practice does help, but if imperfections drive you crazy you might think twice about this as a relaxing hobby. I have planned many a perfect soap to have it fail and i have been doing this for a few yrs. But it is a very addicting hobby! :razz:

this

 

[lionprincess00]

Thx! Like I said, I "over think", so my recipes and additives are impeccable on precision, for the most part. Yes I have mistakes, but my original intentions remain in tact.

My art is lacking, and I have done the "art" thing with pencil/paints, so I'm annoyed I am struggling to execute. Doh!

You have ALL given wonderful support and advice. I have a hard time quoting and such with my cell, so to all...Thank you for the encouragement and support. I love this and want to continue it...but my frustrations vs cost equals a fleeting thought of "moving on".

 

[Susie]

Practice makes progress. You did not learn to walk the first time you tried. You sat back down lots and lots of times. You did not learn to ride a bike the first time you tried. You fell down lots of times. It is not the number of times you fall that makes you successful, it is getting up one time more. Just one time.

Set small goals so you feel like you accomplish something each time. Like find a good way to swirl just the top on this batch. Then next batch, use just a 2 color swirl and try to perfect that. Then a round mold funnel pour...etc.

Hang in there, and remember that your worst batch of soap is still better than all of the commercial syndet bars that you used to buy.

 

[lionprincess00]

Practice makes progress. You did not learn to walk the first time you tried. You sat back down lots and lots of times. You did not learn to ride a bike the first time you tried.
^^
Um, dunno who you've been talkin to but uh, yes I did....just kidding, NO, not really. I am a whiny over achiever. I'll admit it. Thx for the reminder I'm not awesomely perfect no matter how hard I wish I was or tried to be.....
And quote.
Hang in there, and remember that your worst batch of soap is still better than all of the commercial syndet bars that you used to buy.

True mam, true.

This latest one I'm whining about has avocado puree, goat milk concentrate and kaolin clay...amongst an awesome manly smelling fo from bb, (did I mention yummy awesome?!?!), and activated charcoal with td and a tad of green oxide to accentuate the avocado. Sounds yummy lol!!! Just 'hoping' it looks and performs as it did in my brain before soaping it!!

Thx all. Such wonderful support and understanding here, and it's greatly appreciated.

 

[DeeAnna]

Thx! Like I said, I "over think", so my recipes and additives are impeccable on precision, for the most part....

I'm all for being precise and accurate too, but I have also learned an important lesson from my soap making as well as my day job of leather working. There can be a big difference between "good enough" for the task at hand vs. "crazy-making too careful".

Time and experience will teach the difference.

When I get to "good enough", I let go and accept that. I don't go for the extra 1% of "goodness" because that 1% Won't Make Any Difference to the outcome. This has made a big difference in my stress level.

 

[lionprincess00]

Thx.***** And on impeccable I meant my measurements....not my recipes awesomeness. my recipes aren't great, yet. I'm experimenting trying to find what I like, and those aren't impeccable...I meant my measurements for things, and the amount I use per the guidelines. That sounded totally off and arrogant lol. Not my intentions!
Thx for the advice you all. I am just a little frustrated, but I see I really need to add a side of 'go with the flow' to my overplanning and such.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

No matter how much of an over achiever you are, remember that the first song someone plays is only the first song, not the last.

Personally, I would take it down a notch and make a few batches with the oils, fragrance and maybe 1 additive. Get totally used to the way soap behaves and then crank it up.

Play some nursery rhymes before you try to play Prokofiev’s second piano concerto!

The thing with soap is troubleshooting. Something makes it go south, but if you are doing a lot of new things in one batch it can be hard to narrow it down. If you only changed one thing, it makes it somewhat easier.

Of course, this takes time. Soaping is a hobby. As has been said, it is part science, part art, part luck! You cvan try running in to it full gas with an all-singing all-dancing soap with layers and colours and fireworks and animatronic characters, but then you WILL get knocked back. Even making simple soaps, we can all get knocked back. Soap is not polite, it will just smack you up. Forget an oil - oof! Use a bad FO - biff! Mix just a little bit too thick - kapow!

You need to accept one of two things - you can go for the crazy stuff from the off and not be pleased with your soaps too often or take your time and build up to the crazy stuff and be more often pleased with your soaps