Hacks and shortcuts!

[Zing]

I spent waaay too much time in SEARCH looking for an awesome old thread and couldn't find it, so I'll just start anew. What are some of your dishes-saving, energy-saving tips, short-cuts you care to share?

I am a bit embarrassed to tell you tonight's discovery -- after YEARS of experience! For a long time, I have weighed out my solids into one melting pot. It's easy to take out some grams if I over-pour. For my liquid oils, I weigh them out separately into separate cups. When the solids are melted, I add the liquids into the melting pot. Then I pour everything out of the melting pot into the mixing bowl that'll I'll eventually add my lye solution to.

But tonight -- DUH! Where's the smack yourself upside the head emoji -- I thought I can weigh one of the liquid oils directly into the mixing bowl instead of a separate cup! Hey, I saved one dish, so good on me!

 

[CLMP]

Hi @Zing I don't know that this is a hack but it's the easiest way for me to do it. I way out all my oils hard and soft oils in one bucket and put them aside, sometimes I weigh them ahead of time sometimes right before I soap then when I mix my lye I wait till it cools till it's 130°F at this time I pour my sodium lactate in my lye and I go melt all my oils to 120°F which by then my lye has cooled down to 120°F so at this time they come to the same degrees then I let them cool down together in my cool garage together till they reach the degrees I want which is usually between 90°F and 110°F depending on weather I'm swirling or making layers. But this method obviously wouldn't work for people master batching or soaping at room temperature but I find this the easiest way for me and it saves on dishes.

 

[CLMP]

I forgot to mention that I also shop at the wholesale club store in the back they sell all kinds of disposable restaurant dishes and I buy small dipping cups with lids with the number 5 on them you get 200 of them for like 2 bucks and I use those to measure out my colors and F/Os and other additives so I can just throw them out after. It cuts out on a lot of dish washing and they come in different sizes.

 

[AliOop]

Zing, you can save even more dishes by using, and then reusing, a single measuring container to measure out all your soft oils.

Let's say those include OO, RBO, and SAO.

Use your measuring cup to weigh the OO. Pour that into the mixing bowl.

Tare the scale with the same (now empty but oily) measuring cup on it. Reuse that same measuring cup to weigh the RBO. Pour that into the mixing bowl.

Repeat the same process with the SAO.

Now you have all three soft oils in your mixing bowl, and have only used one measuring cup.

 

[dibbles]

I put all my solid oils into my soaping bowl and melt them. I then pour my liquid oils directly into that, but I understand not wanting to do that. So what I would do to save on dishes is pour one of my liquid oils into a cup or container and add it to the melted oils, and then use the same cup for the next liquid oil and so on.

 

[dibbles]

LOL @AliOop - genius idea!

 

[AliOop]

Great minds, @dibbles, great minds!!

 

[dmcgee5034]

I make premeasured cups like @CLMP shared with my 10g of sorbitol and 10g sodium citrate in them. 2 less things to measure when I make soap saves time.
I also love wiping down my soapy dishes with a microfiber cloth - it makes clean up so much easier.
Last one, this counter protector is my fav. It’s so easy to clean and it’s saved me when I’ve gotten messy or *yikes* knocked over my FO.

 

[CLMP]

I make premeasured cups like @CLMP shared with my 10g of sorbitol and 10g sodium citrate in them. 2 less things to measure when I make soap saves time.
I also love wiping down my soapy dishes with a microfiber cloth - it makes clean up so much easier.
Last one, this counter protector is my fav. It’s so easy to clean and it’s saved me when I’ve gotten messy or *yikes* knocked over my FO.

Wow that silicone mat is great idea I need to get me one of those!

 

[Ephemerella]

I measure all of my hard and liquid oils directly into my soap bowl and then melt everything together. I start with an empty bowl on my scale and just Tare to 0 after every addition.

I start with hard oils because it's easier to remove solid bits if I over-add. I mound them in the middle of the bowl. Then I add liquid oils. I pool the liquids in regions around the solid oil "island", so they stay a little bit separated. I keep a teaspoon and eyedropper on hand to remove any excess from over-adding, but I pour directly from the containers from the suppliers. It's my upper body pilates holding that 7-pound jug of castor oil out over a bowl waiting for it to trickle in.

 

[Whillow]

When you first started mentioning your "hack" @Zing I thought "oh no I do the same thing" Sort of. Actually exactly what @AliOop & @dibbles do. I like the silicone mat idea @dmcgee5034 My boyfriend actually made me a very big soaping area in the basement and I line the table (since it is bare wood) with sticky shelf paper from the Dollar Store. Nice and wipeable and I can peel and stick another one down when it eventually gets destroyed.

I also use a glass door (from an old stereo cabinet), to mix my micas and oils on - quite like that Youtuber that mixes her's with a palette knife. It works lovely. I then put each colour into a little ramekin bowl and can use more or less per accent colours. This is probably something everyone does though lol.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I also use a glass door (from an old stereo cabinet), to mix my micas and oils on - quite like that Youtuber that mixes her's with a palette knife. It works lovely. I then put each colour into a little ramekin bowl and can use more or less per accent colours. This is probably something everyone does though lol.

I always think that looks so pretty and I love watching it, but I don’t do it. I have these little stainless steel cups I mix my oils and micas or colorants in. I only have them to clean and not the glass in addition. I’m not precise with amounts for measuring colorants to just do them in my pour pitchers.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Zing, you can save even more dishes by using, and then reusing, a single measuring container to measure out all your soft oils.

Let's say those include OO, RBO, and SAO.

Use your measuring cup to weigh the OO. Pour that into the mixing bowl.

Tare the scale with the same (now empty but oily) measuring cup on it. Reuse that same measuring cup to weigh the RBO. Pour that into the mixing bowl.

Repeat the same process with the SAO.

Now you have all three soft oils in your mixing bowl, and have only used one measuring cup.

I do the same as @AliOop. At the end, I use a spatula to clear out any remaining oil in the measuring cup.

I make premeasured cups like @CLMP shared with my 10g of sorbitol and 10g sodium citrate in them. 2 less things to measure when I make soap saves time.
I also love wiping down my soapy dishes with a microfiber cloth - it makes clean up so much easier.
Last one, this counter protector is my fav. It’s so easy to clean and it’s saved me when I’ve gotten messy or *yikes* knocked over my FO.

Like the silicone mat idea. I currently lay down wax paper to catch my mess, but I do like the idea of something reusable.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

I keep pre-mixed colorants for CP in the refrigerator. I pre-mix in old glass spice jars (1 teaspoon colorant to 1 tablespoon olive or almond oil). I add to my soap a teaspoon at a time until I get the depth of color I want. I keep the jars in a small box in the refrigerator. (I have an extra refrigerator and keep all my oils and fragrances in it. I tend to be a little anxious about them going rancid before I use them up.) For soaps with a lot of color, I back off the super fat to 3-4% to make up for the extra oil with the colorant.

 

[Misschief]

I measure all of my hard and liquid oils directly into my soap bowl and then melt everything together. I start with an empty bowl on my scale and just Tare to 0 after every addition.

I start with hard oils because it's easier to remove solid bits if I over-add. I mound them in the middle of the bowl. Then I add liquid oils. I pool the liquids in regions around the solid oil "island", so they stay a little bit separated. I keep a teaspoon and eyedropper on hand to remove any excess from over-adding, but I pour directly from the containers from the suppliers. It's my upper body pilates holding that 7-pound jug of castor oil out over a bowl waiting for it to trickle in.

I used to do it this way but realized that by melting the solid oils first, then adding the liquid oils after, the liquid oils help to cool down the melted oils and you can get soaping just that much quicker.

 

[AliOop]

I used to do it this way but realized that by melting the solid oils first, then adding the liquid oils after, the liquid oils help to cool down the melted oils and you can get soaping just that much quicker.

Same here! So I do have to admit that I no longer do what I recommended to @Zing; I just measure my liquid oils one by one, right into the bowl with the melted hard oils. I've gotten considerably better at not over-pouring, but it still happens sometimes. With all my recipes set to 2% SF, I just don't worry about the overpours, or the amount of oil used to disperse micas.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

I measure my liquid oils into the bowl one at a time, taring after each addition. To avoid over-pouring each oil, I put in close to what I need, stopping a bit short. I keep some of each oil in one of these little dropper bottles I buy at the dollar store, and complete my measurement from these easy to control bottles.

 

[Zing]

I'm lovin' all the tips and tricks. And where's the double smack upside my own head emoji for RE-USING THE SAME MEASURING CUP?!

E

 

[Kcryss]

I reuse the same measuring cup. I'm lazy at heart and just couldn't use individual cups when I started soaping. It finally occurred to me the other day to just put the crockpot on the scale, tare it and add directly to the pot. One less dish. lol

I bought a pack of disposable cutting boards and use those under the crockpot and next to it for my spatula, whisks etc. They're made of plastic though so I don't throw them out, I wash and reuse.

Here is my latest favorite soaping item: Doing HP, the crocks tend to get etched from the heat and the lye. I found these amazing silicon liners. This thing is thick enough that it isn't sucked up into the immersion blender, fit my crockpot perfectly (Crockpot brand classic 7 qt), and heats up like a dream. No more trying to manage a large soapy crock at clean-up time! I sooo wish I had found them sooner!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Great minds, @dibbles, great minds!!

AKA fools never differ