Lets talk about silk...

[rparrny]

Got my Tussah Silk from Bab's this week and want to try it out. I know that I dissolve it in the lye solution. I'm planning on adding it after I add my lye to my saffron colored water...any explosions in my future?

I'm thinking also about adding EO of calendula...do I count it as an oil or like a fragrance? Anyone know about accelerating trace with it?

 

[green soap]

Silk will dissolve in hot lye. Takes a few minutes. No bad reactions (when I use it is 4g per 900g soap loaf) but it can make the solution cloudy. I have a strainer for those occasions. A cloudy solution might not let you see undissolved lye crystals.

No answer on the second question. I use infused calendula (or the petals) so I count it as an oil when soaping OO or AO -. Never used calendula EO but I would count it as an EO/FO. Or rather, I would leave it for lotions or balms, JMO.

 

[IrishLass]

I use about a half of a cotton-ball size of silk per each of my 2.7 lb. batches. First, I stretch the silk fibers of my silken ball out to a thin, wispy, cobweb state, then I add it to my pitcher of water and let it sit and soak for about 10 to 20 minutes before adding my lye. I found that that helps to get them to dissolve more efficiently/completely once I add my lye.

Re: Calendula EO:I always treat EOs the same as I do FO's. I have no idea if it accelerates trace as I've never used it. Hopefully more will chime in on that.


IrishLass

 

[shunt2011]

I do the same as IL.

 

[Misschief]

I have no idea if it accelerates trace as I've never used it. IrishLass

I just happen to have used it in my Mermaid Soap last weekend. I added it after the soap had reached light trace. It didn't affect trace at all, that I noticed. My soap came together beautifully and smells wonderful.

 

[rparrny]

Okay, I added to the lye and it did make the solution cloudy so I will strain it. I ditched the calendula...
Trying something a little different this time in the way of colors and design...
fingers crossed
Thanks all for your help

Well, not what I had hoped for...
I made the base with TD white cause I thought it would give me the lighter colors I wanted...and it did, except for the yellow.
The design was coming out exactly like I wanted it to...it was beautiful...but I just couldn't leave well enough alone and gave the chopstick one more pass...big mistake...changed the whole look of it.
Not thrilled with it but it's not horrible....
Ah well, we live and learn...at least I know what not to do next time

 

[IrishLass]

I fall into that trap of not leaving well enough alone quite often. lol


IrishLass

 

[rparrny]

I fall into that trap of not leaving well enough alone quite often. lol
IrishLass

Yeah, kickin myself in the butt...
Used three colors this time which was a challenge for me but other than losing my yellow it was going as expected. I wanted to do a Taiwan swirl but with just one long pass down the middle after the zig zag to make it look somewhat floral as I was using green, rose, and yellow (now white).
My middle pass missed the middle so I did a second pass, it looked so pretty...then a third...lost it...
I'll photo it after the cut tonight..

 

[Spice]

Yeah, kickin myself in the butt...
Used three colors this time which was a challenge for me but other than losing my yellow it was going as expected. I wanted to do a Taiwan swirl but with just one long pass down the middle after the zig zag to make it look somewhat floral as I was using green, rose, and yellow (now white).
My middle pass missed the middle so I did a second pass, it looked so pretty...then a third...lost it...
I'll photo it after the cut tonight..

Does the silk do something to the soap/skin?

 

[rparrny]

Does the silk do something to the soap/skin?

Well, it's my first time but I trust the reports that I get here that say it makes the soap silky when lathering.
We will soon find out...
Okay not so soon...in a month or so..

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Does the silk do something to the soap/skin?

I tried silk in few batches after rave comments about how it feels in soap but I found lather a bit slimy. It could be whatever soapers call it to be silky, but it's not for me, I like my soaps really bubbly.
Didn't care for it that much and haven't used it since.

 

[not_ally]

I can never decide on silk. I keep putting it in and then taking out from time to time. It is not like my recipe/formula varies that much either, I just keep going back and forth about whether I like the silkiness/slickness.

 

[Dorymae]

Silk is the only additive I can pick out in a soap that doesn't have a texture. Two identical bars except the silk in one and I can tell you which has it. It does make the lather silky, and it gives the illusion of being very mild. Of course it does not make the soap mild, only time and correct oils can do that but when it lathers up it feels silky and in my mind I equate that to mildness, the same as equating suds to cleaning.

 

[IrishLass]

I can tell my silk bars apart from my non-silk bars, too. It's a hard thing to describe, though. The lather just feels different to me , but in a good way- it has a slick, silky/satiny feel to it.


IrishLass

 

[doriettefarm]

newbie recently turned me onto silk by including some in the Showcase Swap goodies. I can definitely tell a difference when I use it . . . soap with silk just seems slicker. Which leads me to question why some folks add clay to shaving soaps for slip . . . I find clay makes a bar 'draggier' feeling. Almost seems like silk would be preferable to clay for shaving soap but I'm sure the wet-shaver guys will flog me for saying that! I do love me some shaving croap and do use it exclusively when shaving my legs but using a straight-razor would be suicide!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Most of us use glycerine instead of clay ("no dirt in my soap" to coin a phrase) and it helps to provide not only slickness and glide, but also some protection. Would have to try silk in a soap to see how it is

 

[rparrny]

I do love me some shaving croap and do use it exclusively when shaving my legs but using a straight-razor would be suicide!

You just gave me a flashback of my first shaving experience. 12 years old, stole mom's razor out of her bathroom and took a bath. Didn't think she would let me shave my legs so I figured I would just do it.
Stole Dad's shaving cream, lathered up my right leg and ran that razor over my tibia from ankle to knee really hard with, what turned out to be mom's new razor blade...
I had a 10 inch piece of skin floating in the water which was now turning red...and all I could think of how mad she was gonna be if she found out.
When my daughter was 7, I told her when she was ready to learn how to shave to let me know so I could show her how to do it safely...4 years later I taught her...
Ohh...just got chills of that experience...

 

[TeaLeavesandTweed]

You just gave me a flashback of my first shaving experience. 12 years old, stole mom's razor out of her bathroom and took a bath. Didn't think she would let me shave my legs so I figured I would just do it.
Stole Dad's shaving cream, lathered up my right leg and ran that razor over my tibia from ankle to knee really hard with, what turned out to be mom's new razor blade...
I had a 10 inch piece of skin floating in the water which was now turning red...and all I could think of how mad she was gonna be if she found out.
When my daughter was 7, I told her when she was ready to learn how to shave to let me know so I could show her how to do it safely...4 years later I taught her...
Ohh...just got chills of that experience...

I did something similar. When I was 6 or 7 a friend told me that she shaved her legs and I should too. So I tried it when I was using her bathroom when no one else was around because I was embarrassed. Dry leg, fresh razor, no skills. Yeah, I was more embarrassed when I had to explain to her mother how I got the several-inch-long gash on my shin. The parents laughed about that one for a while and one of my friends' brothers wanted to see the scar next time I was over.

This is what I think back to everytime I mentally toy with the idea of switching to a safety razor...

 

[Spice]

So would it be good to use silk for a shaving cream then? I see it has slip.

 

[TeresaT]

I use silk in all of my soap. I love creamy lather, not bubbly lather, and the silk makes my bars extra creamy feeling. I guess it is a "mental" thing that because I have such dry skin I associate the creamy lather with a lotion or body butter more so than the bubbly-frothy kind of lather. The true test for my home made soaps will be coming up this winter. I have a bunch of soap that I've made in June and July waiting for me to use in January thru March. I love the Bastille that I made and I'm saving the last piece (besides my control bar) for when the really cold weather hits.