How do you gain the patience to master this craft?

[MickeyRat]

Oh do I remember doing things like that. If you're a hobbyist like me, it'll pass. The first few batches, I had to test slivers the minute I got them out of the mold to make sure they were really soap.

Here's what's going to happen, Unless you're making REALLY small batches or you have a REALLY large family, in a couple months you'll have more soap around than you can use. Then it's a lot easier to wait for the full cure to start using it and you'll have made enough batches that you have some confidence that you don't need to be checking on it a lot.

It's a stage you have to go through.

 

[lucycat]

When you get that soap into the log turn to your files. I immediately go to the computer to make/update a word processing file that I have for each fragrance &/or sometimes technique. I note temps if I took them, issues making the soap batter, acceleration, discoloration when I added fragrance. I make notes on the amounts color/amt of swirl batter, whether batter thickness caused issues, thoughts on color combination. It is what helps me with consistency the next time as well as notes for deciding whether I want to purchase the fragrance again. Immediately after I finish making means my thoughts are fresh in my mind. Although I can't say that it reduces patience it causes me to feel I have completion. That makes it easier to move on with the day.

Peeking when you are a new soapmaker isn't bad. Feeling the heat on the mold, understanding gel, seeing a crack if too hot are all things you learn from observing.

 

[VikingChick]

I’m SO impatient, just in general…..my husband finds it quite humorous watching me peek, poke, and obsess…….lol. The only thing that truly works for me is that my job involves a lot of travel. Make soap Sunday, leave town Monday……I’m forced to wait until Thursday or Friday to unmold! But you can bet it’s the third thing I do when I walk in the door! (After being accosted by the dogs and kissing my husband. )

 

[KiwiMoose]

But you can bet it’s the third thing I do when I walk in the door! (After being accosted by the dogs and kissing my husband. )

What about rushing to the loo? That's number one for me, then followed by the dogs (who tend to barge their way in to the bathroom - no privacy in our house!), after that the hubby gets a kiss.

 

[MelissaG]

It's an art form like any other. If you don't have the patience to try to master the art you're into, maybe you chose the wrong art. It's like painting, playing piano, dancing ballet... it doesn't happen overnight, and takes many years to master, if you ever do. You need to be dedicated to it. I admit that I don't do this constantly every day all day but I prefer to truly enjoy it when I do.

 

[VikingChick]

What about rushing to the loo? That's number one for me, then followed by the dogs (who tend to barge their way in to the bathroom - no privacy in our house!), after that the hubby gets a kiss.

That’s usually the first thing I do after getting off the plane, so I’m usually good there for a while! Lol -I tend to deliberately dehydrate myself on travel days so I don’t have to use the airplane lavatory!

 

[dibbles]

It's an art form like any other. If you don't have the patience to try to master the art you're into, maybe you chose the wrong art. It's like painting, playing piano, dancing ballet... it doesn't happen overnight, and takes many years to master, if you ever do. You need to be dedicated to it. I admit that I don't do this constantly every day all day but I prefer to truly enjoy it when I do.

Well, the OP has said they are new to soap making. If you weren't tempted to peek when you were new, then good for you but I think that is the exception. For some soap making is an art form, I agree with that. The other art forms you mention - painting, playing the piano, dancing ballet - all take a lot of practice to excel in. Peeking and poking at soap is a way of learning, and I don't think that doing so means a wrong art form choice. I've been making soap for many years (I think I'm in year 8) and I still peek to see if it is gelling. I'm no longer tempted to unmold too early, but that came after a few wrong notes and missteps taught me that isn't a good idea. If I want to improve on a particular technique, I will try it again and again until I am either satisfied with my results or face that fact that I don't enjoy the technique or it is something I don't yet have the skill set to do and need to revisit it at a later time.

 

[WhittanyWho]

It’s always a patience lesson. However, you’ll learn some things as you go such as how to make it take less time to unmold and cut and how to time your sessions so you’re not sitting around thinking about them nonstop. I tend to soap in the evening so I can go to sleep and wake up with them ready to cut.