Just made some soap!

[AshleyR]

And learned a few things (as always!)

EO's do not like styrofoam cups! LOL. I always weigh out my EO's in small plastic disposable cups (little dentist cups!) I ran out today so I grabbed a disposable styrofoam cup instead. The EO was in the cup for about 3 seconds before it began eating through it. I had barely enough time to grab another dish before the cup started disintegrating! By the time I (tried) pouring it into the new dish, the bottom of the cup just FELL off and started melting away in the pool of EO. Who knew!!! So, just a tip, don't use styrofoam cups for measuring out your EO! I was using Lemon 5 Fold and Rosemary EO's, btw.

So I made two batches - the one with Lemon and Rosemary EO (I'm calling it "Lemon & Herb") has some parsley that I soaked in water for 3 days (in hopes that it'll stay green! This is my first time trying this). It also has some ground luffa in it. I REALLY hope the lemon scent sticks!

The other batch I am calling "Vanilla Bean". I used a "Non-discolouring" vanilla FO that I can already tell is going to discolour (GRRR!) I added 2 tbsp. of titanium dioxide - it's only been in the mold about 4 hrs and it's already turning tan-ish (before gel). Sigh. Anyway, I added 1 tsp. of Adzuki Bean Powder to give it the vanilla bean "flecked" look. Looks good - I'm just hoping it stays SOME shade of light tan and doesn't keep darkening! This is the second time I've used a so-called non discolouring vanilla FO, only to have it discolour!

Anyway, will post pictures tomorrow! Sorry for the long post, just felt like rambling about my soap adventures tonight!

 

[Guest]

Well you did have a few adventures for sure , wow . I had an eo eat a cup too , I can't recall what kind but it is a surprise for sure to see a puddle on the table. Your soap sounds fantastic , I can't wait to see the pics . I am liking that vanilla stabilizer from BCN . I seem to gravitate to scents that have vanilla 50% of the time. So far it is working very well .

Kitn

 

[MyNaturesArt]

wow..thats intense..good to know!

 

[topcat]

Hah! Ashley, thank you for doing that before I did it too! Your soaps sound lovely. I haven't used any vanilla content fos except for one - Vanilla Select by Bramble Berry. I decided to add one brown vanilla soap to my range and just before I made it I decided to do a reverse swirl and it looks great! I took 1/4 of my batter out before adding the fo, and instead added some TD to it, then swirled that through the main vanilla scented batch. I am seriously loving this soap!

Tanya

 

[Half Caper Farm]

I went to the dollar store for a lot of soap-making equipment. Found these little glass bowls, about 2" across. They're perfect for measuring out EOs and powders! I have no idea what they're actually meant for, though.

The Lemon and Herb sounds really nice - I love rosemary.

 

[Vic1963]

I use paper 3 or 5 oz dixie cups to measure fragrances in...then toss them when I am done.

 

[AshleyR]

I use paper 3 or 5 oz dixie cups to measure fragrances in...then toss them when I am done.

I've used those before too, but the EO/FO seeped through them really fast! Almost had the same situation with those as the foam cups.

 

[Guest]

The plastic 1 oz med cups work like a charm and are reusable forever .

Kitn

 

[NatureandNurture]

I went to the dollar store for a lot of soap-making equipment. Found these little glass bowls, about 2" across. They're perfect for measuring out EOs and powders! I have no idea what they're actually meant for, though.

The Lemon and Herb sounds really nice - I love rosemary.

I have these too, they're awesome and weigh 4.4 oz (tee hee, I use them a lot). They are actually condiment bowls, you can get them also at WM, though for a good bit more $. I lucked out and found one exactly like the little ones at the dollar store, only it's about 6" across. I use it a ton to measure out smaller oils and NaOH.

 

[tincanac]

There was a great little tv doccie once about styrofoam and how notoriously unbiodegradeble it was and there was some guy who discovered that extracting the oil from orange rind (Neroli??) totally melted it away and solved the styrofoam dilemma. They were selling it as a "green" way to solve the styrofoam problem!

 

[AshleyR]

There was a great little tv doccie once about styrofoam and how notoriously unbiodegradeble it was and there was some guy who discovered that extracting the oil from orange rind (Neroli??) totally melted it away and solved the styrofoam dilemma. They were selling it as a "green" way to solve the styrofoam problem!

That is basically what happened! The bottom part of the cup that fell off just disintegrated pretty much!

 

[holly99]

I measured my EO's out with a plastic measuring spoon one time and they even turned the red plastic to a chalky white.

 

[Vic1963]

I use paper 3 or 5 oz dixie cups to measure fragrances in...then toss them when I am done.

I've used those before too, but the EO/FO seeped through them really fast! Almost had the same situation with those as the foam cups.

I don't weigh out my oils until I am ready to put them in...that way they don't have time to seep. I have did that with my candles for years.

 

[donniej]

Containers with the recycle symbol and number 2 are best to use for any of the chemistry we come across. This is HDPE, high density poly ethylene. It's extremely chemical resistant and will handle anything we'd ever encounter.