I'm such a noob

[HerbalEarthling]

I designed what I thought was going to be the best soap yet. So I'm measuring and mixing and heating and everything is going good. I cool stuff down, pour the lye mixture into my oils and it's going to trace (in a timely fashion, not quick, not long, just right). So it gets to light trace where I want it, I add my essential oils and I go to divide some into containers. Then boom! Right after I emptied some into only one of the containers, thick, thick pudding! I stood there thinking for a second, "Should I go ahead and mix the color in or just get it into the mold?" Always trust your gut! In a haste, I went ahead and tried mixing colors. I was literally scooping the soap out of the bowl with my gloved hands, as my silicone spatula wasn't doin' it for me. Omg! I was so excited! It was supposed to be purple (alkanet) for lavender, green (spirulina) for mint, and brown (walnut hull powder) for... just because I guess. The only color I managed to get in there was the alkanet which I'm happy because I've never used it before. I also managed to get that mixed up just fine and it turned a really rich purplish blue, hopefully fading to a lavender-type blue/purple. Anyways, just thought I'd share. But I'm sure the in-the-pot swirl is just chunks of greenish/yellow with whisps of oddly shaped rings. Hopefully is still comes out cool but the problem is is that it was hard to get stuffed into the PVC mold. *Sigh* We shall see.

TL ; DR Trust your gut! If your soap accelerates, get it into the mold!

 

[AnnaMarie]

I think we've all been noobs at some point in soap making...I tried to get complicated on a batch that I had added plumeria to- big mistake! The soap was so ugly that I hid it, so I didn't have to look at it. Then I threw it away :-D Post pictures when yours is done. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out great!
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[neeners]

ah....we all have noob moments. it's a live and learn kinda thing. wonder what it was that made your soap trace so quickly?

put cut pics anyway....you never know. it may look amazing once out of the mold.

 

[HerbalEarthling]

Crossing my fingers!

Essential oils: lavender, spearmint, peppermint, tea tree, and eucalyptus.

 

[ilovesoap2]

I'm fascinated that eo/fo has this effect on the batter.
I've read about it enough to assume nothing can be done,
except having a knowledge of which oils are more likely
to do this.

 

[HerbalEarthling]

Yeah I've never heard this to be common with any of these essential oils. I have no idea. I make soap in my basement, it's kinda cold down there. Maybe my lye was too cool? I think it was about 75 degrees and the oils in the 90's. Anything bad with that?

 

[houseofwool]

Floral essential oils along with cinnamon and close accelerate like crazy.

 

[neeners]

I don't think the difference in your lye and oils temps made a diff. maybe it was something in your oils that accelerated trace? there are some oils that do that....

those EOs you used doesn't seem to be on any of the "accelerate trace" lists....

 

[PinkCupcake]

I had some trouble this winter with fast tracing. I think it was a combination of water discount, PKO, and maybe the extreme cold (or maybe not.) Anyway, my plan each time was a drop swirl. I love that look. But with each batch that traced quickly, I did a spoon swirl, and a kind of roughed-up top. You'll still have some fantastic soap, even if it's not what you planned!

 

[HerbalEarthling]

¯\(°_o)/¯

We shall see. Hopefully I beat it into submission when it was going into the mold. I really do like the shade that it turned. I can't get any good pictures right now as my camera is dying and there is a spider in the soap room. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

 

[HerbalEarthling]

I had some trouble this winter with fast tracing. I think it was a combination of water discount, PKO, and maybe the extreme cold (or maybe not.) Anyway, my plan each time was a drop swirl. I love that look. But with each batch that traced quickly, I did a spoon swirl, and a kind of roughed-up top. You'll still have some fantastic soap, even if it's not what you planned!

I think it will look fine, I just hope there are not a lot of air pockets. I mean this stuff was thick! I'm kinda excited! Lol

 

[HerbalEarthling]

One thing I forgot to mention; I added salt to the lye. 1 tsp PPO. I've done this before with no issues.

 

[Alaska beauty]

All my salt soaps was hard as a rocks. Look like salt is key to this problem.

 

[Lin]

There's a huge difference between a salt soap and just adding a little bit of salt to help with a harder bar. I've added salt to many batches at that level and its never affected trace.

 

[Susie]

My one and only experience with lavender and peppermint is a fast false trace that I should have continued mixing. I am now really leery of lavender.

But I must disagree with you on one major point: Having to deal with the unexpected and choosing the wrong option is not being a noob. It is being human. You chose wrong, you learned an important lesson, you won't repeat it again. Noob is when you choose wrong, and insist on repeating the same wrong option and expecting different results, then getting so angry you blame something else and quit trying.

 

[Dennis]

Being a noob is exciting. Each project is an adventure filled with a mix of anticipation, anxiety and eagerness. What fun! It is good to be a noob stretching your boundaries.

 

[Alaska beauty]

Every batch is different. I have 2 same recipe batches done together with 10 minutes difference in time. They don't look and smell the same.
What is Latin name on your lavender EO? Maybe you have one of lavender species which have very different chemical compounds or maybe one of your oils deluded with chemicals . This is a very big problem on today EO market. Specially with 3 most popular Tea-tree, Peppermint and Lavender.
If it's to bad after you cut it you can recook it. Maybe even in 3 parts and add your colors (of course it's depends on your original recipe) . But sometimes "mistakes" giving you the most beautiful look.

 

[Susie]

Being a noob is exciting. Each project is an adventure filled with a mix of anticipation, anxiety and eagerness. What fun! It is good to be a noob stretching your boundaries.

I think you misunderstand me. Being a NEWB(IE) is exciting, mad scientist, geeking out, all out I-never-knew-making-soap-could-possibly-be-so-fascinating, freaking FUN!!!

Being a noob, OTOH, is what I described before. There is a gosh awful lot of difference.

But, to each his/her own.8)

 

[Dennis]

I think you misunderstand me. Being a NEWB(IE) is exciting, mad scientist, geeking out, all out I-never-knew-making-soap-could-possibly-be-so-fascinating, freaking FUN!!!

Being a noob, OTOH, is what I described before. There is a gosh awful lot of difference.

But, to each his/her own.8)

My bad. Thanks for the correction.
Oh my, the Urban Dictionary is less than complimentary concerning NOOBS.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=noob

 

[Susie]

That is hilarious! But, a very apt description!