Hey. I'm Josh. It's starting to get "real".

[NativeSoap]

I just got my 4" test batch molds in. Hey, the little boxes are really sturdy and could be used as molds or bottle storage too, so that's a bonus!

Picking up liquid oil tomorrow, and waiting on hard oils and additives to arrive.
Now to figure out a couple of fragrances that play nicely and a couple of colors (micas?) to have on hand.
Nothing against white/creme soap, but I'd like a little color and scent, even for these. The recipes I'll use are ones others have tried.

Anyways, thanks to all who have helped point me in the right directions so far. You guys rock!

 

[Zing]

Well now you've gone and done it! No turning back now. I know you are new to the forum -- welcome -- but are you new to soap making? You didn't ask for advice so take this for what it's worth. When I started I wanted to jump in with the colors and designs. But I'd start out without colorants. There's several steps to remember and the whole trace thang is, well, a whole thang to master. (Scent maybe is mandatory in soap. ) Keep us posted. Good luck and have fun with your new toys.

 

[Misschief]

Welcome to the addiction, Josh.

 

[cerelife]

Hi Josh! While Zing has a point about colors (and they can certainly affect trace), I too like some color in my soaps! For 1-stop shopping to save on shipping, I would recommend Nurture for both fragrance oils and micas. I actually slightly prefer Mad Micas colorants but they are very similar and both offer pictures of what the micas look like in CP soap.
For easy to work with FOs, Nurture has a "Perfect Performance" box you can click to check out those fragrances, plus they offer a breakdown of how all of the FOs behave in terms of acceleration, ricing, discoloration. and scent retention on each FO's page.
I'm currently obsessed with their Cinnamon Supreme - it smells just like the spice - NOT like cinnamon candies! But if cinnamon is not your jam, there are sooo many great ones on that "Perfect Perfomance" list.
Good luck and keep us posted on your new addiction!

 

[NativeSoap]

And the supplies keep rolling in. Just a couple more and I'll be ready to do some test batches.

Well now you've gone and done it! No turning back now. I know you are new to the forum -- welcome -- but are you new to soap making? You didn't ask for advice so take this for what it's worth. When I started I wanted to jump in with the colors and designs. But I'd start out without colorants. There's several steps to remember and the whole trace thang is, well, a whole thang to master. (Scent maybe is mandatory in soap. ) Keep us posted. Good luck and have fun with your new toys.

Thanks for the advice Zing! I'll hold off and do a few batches with no colorant. I'd like to see the natural color of the different recipes anyways I suppose.

I don't have any EO or FO yet. Where do you get your EO @Zing?

 

[dibbles]

Everything is so shiny and new

 

[NativeSoap]

Hi Josh! While Zing has a point about colors (and they can certainly affect trace), I too like some color in my soaps! For 1-stop shopping to save on shipping, I would recommend Nurture for both fragrance oils and micas. I actually slightly prefer Mad Micas colorants but they are very similar and both offer pictures of what the micas look like in CP soap.
For easy to work with FOs, Nurture has a "Perfect Performance" box you can click to check out those fragrances, plus they offer a breakdown of how all of the FOs behave in terms of acceleration, ricing, discoloration. and scent retention on each FO's page.
I'm currently obsessed with their Cinnamon Supreme - it smells just like the spice - NOT like cinnamon candies! But if cinnamon is not your jam, there are sooo many great ones on that "Perfect Perfomance" list.
Good luck and keep us posted on your new addiction!

Thanks @cerelife! When you say Nurture your referring to Nurture Soap Making Supplies, right? Thanks for the suggestion and the tools they have!

Everything is so shiny and new

I know it won't last. Glad I took a pic!

 

[cerelife]

Yep, that's the one! And here's Mad Mica's site:
https://www.madmicas.com

 

[CecileBC]

Hi NativeSoap !

I have just started making soap as well, in another part of the world...
Just waiting for proper molds and a wire cutter to arrive. So far I've been using milk cartons ...
It's just scary to see how quick the pantry fills with oils, additives, fragrances and more !

I wish you the best for your first soaps: it's sooo addictive

Take care,
Cecile.

 

[Zing]

And the supplies keep rolling in. Just a couple more and I'll be ready to do some test batches.
View attachment 71764


Thanks for the advice Zing! I'll hold off and do a few batches with no colorant. I'd like to see the natural color of the different recipes anyways I suppose.

I don't have any EO or FO yet. Where do you get your EO @Zing?

Bramble Berry.

 

[Kiti Williams]

I just got my 4" test batch molds in. Hey, the little boxes are really sturdy and could be used as molds or bottle storage too, so that's a bonus!

Picking up liquid oil tomorrow, and waiting on hard oils and additives to arrive.
Now to figure out a couple of fragrances that play nicely and a couple of colors (micas?) to have on hand.
Nothing against white/creme soap, but I'd like a little color and scent, even for these. The recipes I'll use are ones others have tried.

Anyways, thanks to all who have helped point me in the right directions so far. You guys rock!

View attachment 71639

Welcome to the wonderful sudsy world of soapmaking! I don't use colorants, the soap does what it does, and I am happy with it.

 

[NativeSoap]

I've got some colorants infusing. Think I've still got to get some green (spirulina and/or green indigo). Or maybe just mix some blue indigo and turmeric/Annato to get a green.

EO's should be here any day.

 

[The_Phoenix]

Spinach powder also makes for a beautiful green. Does not discolor during saponification.

 

[NativeSoap]

Spinach powder also makes for a beautiful green. Does not discolor during saponification.

Oh awesome, thanks. I'll give it a try.

I have a dehydrator and access to inexpensive organic spinach. Sounds like that would be cheaper than buying my own powder if I can get it pulverized finely enough!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Sounds like that would be cheaper than buying my own powder if I can get it pulverized finely enough!

Although I haven't infused spinach, the technique I use for Zany's MIY Carrot Tissue Oil
might work with fresh or dried leaves. No need to pulverize. Easy to strain out after the oil is infused enough. You could even double-dose it. Strain the first batch; add more leaves to the oil and go again for a darker shade.

 

[NativeSoap]

Well. I did it. Good bad or indifferent, it's in the mold!

I learned a lot. First, that my mueller stick blender has a turbo button and a regular button. I figured that out after the fact.

Second, that I think these small batches cool down super fast and when you have a couple different colors to mix separately, the hard oils want to start solidifying. You might say o made a few trips to the microwave before I got the lye added to them!

I used OO, CO, AO, Castor, Shea, fully hydrogenated soybean (soy wax).

For 1/3 of the batter, I colored it with a 20% infusion of Alkanet OO. The infusion was only a week old. (Warm processed in crockpot for 3 hrs then put in a dark room for the remainder of week)

I didn't color the remaining 3/4 of the batter. I did a few stripes of both colors down the center, but the small amount of alkanet infused oil set pretty quick and didn't pour very well (thanks to my turbo speed button loll) so didn't get the layers I really wanted. But that's ok.

So the inside is mostly natural colored with some purple (hopefully purple) lines. Then as you can see I put a layer of purple on top.

Scented with EO of Lavender 42/40, Orange 5x, and a small amount of Lemongrass. Used eocalc.com for usage rates. I went with the safer 3% for all of them even though I could have gone higher. These were added after reaching light trace. Purple was medium to thick trace!

The only additive I added was sorbitol at the rate of 1% of total oils.

I'm not cpoping or anything. I'm just leaving out and see what it does.

I'll post pics whenever I'm able to cut it. Hoping purple lightens a bit. We will see. Pictures make it appear darker than it really is.

Thanks to all who have pointed me in the right directions. I'm sure there may be more questions after the cut!

I made a big mess. But to be expected I suppose. I'll let them sit a day or two before washing.

 

[dibbles]

Yay and congrats! Your soap looks sooooo good. The purple is amazing. Looking forward to the cut.

 

[NativeSoap]

Yay and congrats! Your soap looks sooooo good. The purple is amazing. Looking forward to the cut.

Thank you. I'm not expecting much. The purple was way thick and I couldn't do much with it. I got maybe 4 payers of purple down the middle is all. Then zi waited too long before I shoved a piece of cardboard down the center to try and make it look cool. But it was already too thick at that point. I gave it a few taps on the counter to get it to come back together.

It is what it is. I'm just happy to have legit the first one out of the way and to see what I need to change next time.

Yay and congrats! Your soap looks sooooo good. The purple is amazing. Looking forward to the cut.

Thank you. I'm not expecting much. The purple was way thick and I couldn't do much with it. I got maybe 4 layers of purple down the middle is all. Then zi waited too long before I shoved a piece of cardboard down the center to try and make it look cool. But it was already too thick at that point. I gave it a few taps on the counter to get it to come back together.

It is what it is. I'm just happy to have got the first one out of the way and to see what I need to change next time.

 

[The_Phoenix]

Yay! You never forget your first batch of soap.

 

[NativeSoap]

One hour later and it's already lightening quite a bit!