My soapy experiments - some failures, but lots of learning

[Mobjack Bay]

I took a break from trying to learn how to create evenly layered soap to play with soap strainers. My goal with that is to try to create soap that makes my scientist friends think of diatoms (google for lots of great photos) which are the most common organisms on the planet. I was inspired to try the soap strainers by a video on YouTube. I used a very slow batter that was modified only slightly from one shared by Kapia Mera for her swirl videos on YouTube. I used only clays as colorants and the layers of green, white and gold got pretty muddy, likely because I used too many layers for what I was doing. On the other hand, some interesting things emerged. First, I managed to produce a very ugly, ashy soap that makes promises of a slice of citrus fruit at some point in the future (top of photo). A coneflower-ish form set up in one of them (lower left) and last but not least, something that looks like a diatom also emerged (lower right) using the strainer that had vertical slots instead of holes. YAY! At that point I was tired of pouring that way and did completely different things the rest of the batter. I will post that next.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I had originally intended to use the strainers in little slab mold, which is why I had so much batter. Here’s what I created in the slab mold, again trying to evoke what I’ve seen in the ocean’s microscopic world. I think this is gelled and there’s definitely ash in some places. The color scheme is off, but I now have some indigo and will try that instead of the gold if I try this again. Early on it had what looked like glycerin rivers in spots and it would be cool if I could get that as a permanent feature (I guess by adding more water to the batter, but that means I will need to plan...). This soap recipe is 31% lye, but I have generally been using 33%.
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[Mobjack Bay]

I’m having some challenges trying to keep the photos as attachments. The attachment to the previous post shows the batter colors betters.

(Please be patient with me as I get the hang of this )

 

[Dawni]

View attachment 38670.

This is a very interesting soap top. Looks like a planet surface to me hehehe.

And I totally see the citrus slice lol

 

[Mobjack Bay]

And I should add that diatoms are among the most abundant organisms on the planet. Bacteria rule, and viruses too if we count them as organisms!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Looks like a planet surface to me hehehe.

Perfect - I also have friends that work for NASA!

 

[Dawni]

This is a very interesting soap top. Looks like a planet surface to me hehehe.

And I totally see the citrus slice lol

I also imagine the bumps n swirls painted lightly with mica for dept... A picture of it just flashed in my head lol

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Here’s an update on a batch of soap I made about two months into learning how to make soap. Why not try something easy like a stable emulsion and strainer pour into individual molds...

I re-batched the soap from the slab mold (should’ve saved it), put the round soaps away in a paper bag after about 6 weeks and have been using one of the rectangular bars at the sink. I’m not sure where the other rectangular bars have gone off to.

So, here’s an update on the round strainer pour bars. I used a slow Kapia Mera recipe, that I tweaked slightly. It’s 60% soft oils, 25% CO and 15% palm. I wouldn’t have been using any additives at that point except the clays and AC I added for color. It’s making a creamy and bubbly lather. There’s also a quality I would characterize as moisturizing or conditioning.

I also have my first spot of DOS, I think, on the front left edge of the soap on the bottom right. There’s a tiny particle in the middle of that spot, but I can’t tell what it is. It doesn’t look like a clump of clay. There’s a very good chance that I used EVOO in this batch. Would that have upped the chances of DOS?

 

[penelopejane]

I LOVE the bottom left and bottom right.
I have now watched some youtubes (thank you!) and am amazed at the artistic talent of soapers (including you) out there! I am going to try and find a pickle strainer in Australia.....

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I LOVE the bottom left and bottom right.
I have now watched some youtubes (thank you!) and am amazed at the artistic talent of soapers (including you) out there! I am going to try and find a pickle strainer in Australia.....

Thank you PJ! The soap on the left was produced with a soap strainer that has vertical slits instead of holes. The size and shape of the holes make a difference. I read somewhere, and agree based on my 1x doing this technique, that really small round holes (less than a few mm?) don’t produce the best patterns. The flow of the batter is impeded, but that may not be as much of an issue when the strainer is pulled through a column of soap. I was pouring into individual molds and, even though my batter was super thin, it wanted to stay in the strainers that have the smallest holes.

 

[penelopejane]

Thanks I will steer away from small round holes.
I watched one youtube where the soapmaker had the pattern off to one side and she said the strainer was too small and had slipped to one side so she didn't get good patterns throughout.

Another soaper put a rind around the tube so her strainer fitted perfectly inside the column.
Can't believe her splodges of soap turn out to be such a great pattern

 

[dibbles]

I think your soaps are really lovely. One thing I tried when I was using a slab mold for a strainer pour was to pour a base layer and let it set up enough to support the strainer(s). If I remember correctly, I brought the batter to emulsion, then split off the bottom layer portion and blended to light-medium trace so it would still be very flat but set up quickly enough to support the sink strainers (or plastic colander - I tried both). The strainers are very light, so it doesn't take long. That way the soap poured through the sink strainer could flow through the strainer more easily to get a pattern on the top.

 

[KristaY]

Those are so pretty MB! I haven't tried the pull through technique yet and could only hope they'd turn out that nice! I agree, the spot on the bottom right bar looks like DOS. There's an area on the bar just up to the left of that one that has a suspicious spot too but it could just be light and/or shadow. I can't speak to EVOO as I haven't used it for soap but how does the bar or spot smell? Can you detect rancidity? Usually when DOS is in the form of spots, it's due to some contaminant. When it's an overall orange-ish it's usually due to an oil going bad. I've had both which is interesting in itself. The spots are easier for me to detect since they're more prominent. The gradual color change to orange takes a bit longer to notice but the stench is a dead give away!

 

[penelopejane]

I also have my first spot of DOS, I think, on the front left edge of the soap on the bottom right. There’s a tiny particle in the middle of that spot, but I can’t tell what it is. It doesn’t look like a clump of clay. There’s a very good chance that I used EVOO in this batch. Would that have upped the chances of DOS?

I don't think the EVOO would be likely to cause DOS. It lasts easily for 2 years.
Did you sit the soaps on metal at anytime or use metal implements on them at any time?
Your pull through strainer wasn't aluminium was it?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don't think the EVOO would be likely to cause DOS. It lasts easily for 2 years.
Did you sit the soaps on metal at anytime or use metal implements on them at any time?
Your pull through strainer wasn't aluminium was it?

Good to know about the EVOO. I’m hoping that this DOS is just a random occurrence. There’s a very small possibility that I cleaned up the edges of the soap with a carbon steel knife. I can remember using that knife way back in the beginning before I read about DOS, so there’s a chance, but I don’t have a memory for this specific batch. Other than that, nothing else except my hands, plastic, stainless steel and a paper bag touched this soap.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I think your soaps are really lovely. One thing I tried when I was using a slab mold for a strainer pour was to pour a base layer and let it set up enough to support the strainer(s). If I remember correctly, I brought the batter to emulsion, then split off the bottom layer portion and blended to light-medium trace so it would still be very flat but set up quickly enough to support the sink strainers (or plastic colander - I tried both). The strainers are very light, so it doesn't take long. That way the soap poured through the sink strainer could flow through the strainer more easily to get a pattern on the top.

Brilliant! Thanks! I wish I had a video of me trying to hold on to the strainers, pour colors and then try to get the batter to go through the strainers with the tiny holes .

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Those are so pretty MB! I haven't tried the pull through technique yet and could only hope they'd turn out that nice! I agree, the spot on the bottom right bar looks like DOS. There's an area on the bar just up to the left of that one that has a suspicious spot too but it could just be light and/or shadow. I can't speak to EVOO as I haven't used it for soap but how does the bar or spot smell? Can you detect rancidity? Usually when DOS is in the form of spots, it's due to some contaminant. When it's an overall orange-ish it's usually due to an oil going bad. I've had both which is interesting in itself. The spots are easier for me to detect since they're more prominent. The gradual color change to orange takes a bit longer to notice but the stench is a dead give away!

Thanks Krista! The bar with the spot doesn’t smell bad at all and I’m using it at my kitchen sink. Actually, it still has the nice scent of the lemongrass EO I used. Here are some close ups of the “spot”, with the red “dot” in the middle. It looks like there are other red dots without spots around them. I used gold Brazilian clay for the yellowish orange in this batch, but the dot doesn’t look like clay to my eye. It also doesn’t look like metal to me. I took the second pic through my hand lens and get extra points for that one .

 

[Nanette]

Hmmm!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@KristaY Does this close up capture the questionable area of the other soap you mentioned above? I was thinking the color is from the additives.

 

[KDP]

Thanks I will steer away from small round holes.
I watched one youtube where the soapmaker had the pattern off to one side and she said the strainer was too small and had slipped to one side so she didn't get good patterns throughout.

Another soaper put a rind around the tube so her strainer fitted perfectly inside the column.
Can't believe her splodges of soap turn out to be such a great pattern

I'm amazed that there are so many different patterns from the same pour! Beautiful soaps!