Most of this is in the trash

[wolfsnaps]

My second batch of soap. I am staying temporarily at my mother's house and she is very particular about how things are in her home. I totally respect that. I was surprised she let me make soap here.

Anyways, as I posted in another thread, I made a weird swiss cheese/Spongebob soap. Holey.

This time I wanted to try colors.

Mistake #1.) I separated and colored my soap before I reached anything near trace. I was afraid to use the stick mixer in the smaller containers so I hand mixed three separate bowls of colored soap to a VERY thin trace.

I poured the soap in.

Mistake #2.) The soap was MUCH wateryer (yes, wateryer is a word in my world) than yesterday's batch. So much so that when I lifted my mold the soap decided to pour out the other side all over my mom's kitchen counter, floor, drawers, and table. Awesome. Thank DOG she wasn't here for that!

Then, no paper towels. None to be had. Had to use her "junk towels" and I threw one away. Can the others be washed in a washing machine? The last thing I need is to ruin her brand new HE machine (SMH).

So I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I am guessing I lost a pound or so of soap from my two pound mixture. The elaborate way I tried to mix the colors? Totally ruined because it sloshed around and whatnot. Will probably become a weird grey color.

The soap Gods are not happy with me it seems. First the hole soap and now the wonders of gravity.

Anyways, as a reward for reading my ramblings, here is the soap as it sits right now. I don't even know if it will solidify. It is sooo watery. I mean, yes, there is a trace to it but its barely there. I need those mini stick blenders.




I am not deterred. I will, however, not make soap here at my mother's house ever again. Too stressful. I would not care much if I spilled any of this at my house. But here? Yikes.

 

[Obsidian]

I stinks to loose that much batter but it could have been a lot worse, lye spilled on moms counter/floor probably wouldn't have went over so well
I think your soap looks fine. It might be mixed more then you wanted but you can still see distinct colors. It will harden just fine, don't worry about that. It doesn't have to be thick when poured, very light trace is mixed enough.
One thing that helps, put your mold on a cookie sheet so you can move it if needed but try and not move it until its setting up and is fairly firm.

I would wait to wash the towels until the soap batter on them has turned into soap. Maybe sneak them home to wash then sneak them back when mom is gone.

 

[seven]

a similar thing happened to me once. the batter was too thin and it slips right out of my wood mold. had to think fast at that time, as my color scheme was gone. ended up with a brown soap with whitish swirls that got overheated the swirls ended up like an emboss, lol.

pissed as hell, but at the end, it's just soap... there's always gonna be a next time

 

[wolfsnaps]

Yes, it IS just soap after all. It all does relatively the same thing, washes you. But I want to make pretty soap. LOL I will of course use every soap I make that I can.

The idea of putting it on a cookie sheet? GENIUS! Will do so next time!

 

[Saponista]

I did the same thing, poured my batter really thin as I didn't want it to trace, did a lovely swirl on top, then picked it up to put it in the fridges batter sloshed everywhere and made a huge mess and ruined my pattern. Don't be disheartened, I tried again and was much better next time. I will definitely use a cookie sheet in future though!

If you leave the dirty cloths over night somewhere out of reach of kids/pets to saponify then you can just wash them in the machine without a problem.

 

[judymoody]

Give it time and I imagine it will firm up. And you might be surprised. Sometimes it looks blah on the surface and great when you cut it.

The important thing is you got it all cleaned up in time!

And, yes, wait for the soap on the rag to saponify (a day or two) and then throw it in the wash. No worries.

 

[DeeAnna]

Although if there's "...a pound or so of soap..." on those junk towels, I'd split them amongst several loads and use less (or even no) additional laundry soap. An HE washer isn't happy with a lot of suds, as I found out when my loving husband decided to put TWICE as much laundry soap for an extra dirty load as was called for.

I second the motion to sneak them home to wash, by the way.

 

[AnnaMarie]

I understand about particular mothers, sigh.....really trying to watch that one with my own kids. The soap you made looks pretty. I'm glad you're not deterred. And yes, sometimes the stress just isn't worth it, and it's better to wait Good luck to you!
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[Lin]

Although if there's "...a pound or so of soap..." on those junk towels, I'd split them amongst several loads and use less (or even no) additional laundry soap. An HE washer isn't happy with a lot of suds, as I found out when my loving husband decided to put TWICE as much laundry soap for an extra dirty load as was called for.

I second the motion to sneak them home to wash, by the way.

Ditto this, I was going to say at the very least do a first wash with NO detergent, and if that goes well run them through a second wash with a little bit of detergent. You really want to avoid too much sudsing, so breaking them up into multiple loads is even better.

I'm assuming since you're making soap at your moms and are staying there, that you don't live close enough to sneak them home to wash. My mom lives some 4 hours away from me so that wouldn't be possible! I'd sneak them to a close by laundromat, and wash them in a regular top loader. All together first wash no detergent, second wash normal. But my mom would never in a million years let me even make soap at her place, so I may be too cautious haha.

I had a similar experience, my mold was a pringles can and while tamping out air the lid which was the bottom of the mold came off. Poured soap all over the table and carpet at my BOYFRIENDS MOTHERS HOUSE. Oh god, never again....

 

[cmzaha]

That is just another reason I dislike silicone molds. You cannot move them until the soap is well set. Next time I suggest you put your mold on a cutting board so you can move it which is what I do when I use the individual cavity silicone molds. Problem with spillage is you still have raw lye that can ruin cabinet finishes and burn you badly. I would rinse out the towels well then run them through the washer.

 

[eyeroll]

Poured soap all over the table and carpet at my BOYFRIENDS MOTHERS HOUSE. Oh god, never again....

*gasp*. Lin, noooooooo!

 

[Lin]

Yea... Thank god she was sleeping. It also happened right after my boyfriend had decided to go to bed. Afterwards I came into the room and he goes "what went wrong?" I was like "uhhh, nothing?" so then he asks "then why did you go "OH S***"?" woopsy. I told him I'd spilled some batter or whatever and waited until the next day to tell the full story.

 

[Susie]

I would go buy my mother a brand new set of towels and throw those away. I would use the old, "I noticed that they were getting a bit worn." reason. Can't have Mom using old junk towels, right?

 

[wolfsnaps]

So I went to check my soap log with excitement to cut it and it seems....soft? I am worried it might crumble if I handle it too much. Wait another day?

 

[Obsidian]

Yes, wait another day if its still soft.

 

[MzMolly65]

I think your soap looks lovely and it will be great when it's all set and cut. Glad you're not disheartened, and welcome to the messy soapers club. I am certainly not a neat soaper and I feel like I make a hurricane mess every time.

My hubby is a clean freak so I feel your pain. I don't soap when he's around and I'm always watching the clock and twitchy trying to hurry up and clean the mess before he gets home. I can't wait 'til summer and I can take it outdoors!

 

[wolfsnaps]

But I want to see the inside! *stomps feet like a child*


LOL....ok...I will wait. I am just so interested to see because its my first colored one!!! EEEEEEEEEEEkkkkkk......

Have to wait to see what has become of my sloshed around, half spilled soap. LOL

Thank you!

 

[wolfsnaps]

Ok, sorry I keep annoying you with this soap. I can't help it.

I noticed the colors changed a bit. The soap was yellow and when I added the blue colorant it turned green (of course) but now it looks blue again.



And what are these circles? Soda ash?




Thanks for your input and patience. LOL

 

[Lin]

Yes, many oils can be quite yellow before saponification but give a white soap. Hence turning green and back to blue. And that does look like soda ash, you can steam the top or dip them in hot water later (I've had better luck dipping in hot water than steaming)