New technique

[Todd Ziegler]

Here is some pictures of a new swirling technique that I developed after a lot of failures. It's called the "oh well" technique. It is very simple, when something goes wrong, you force your way through it and say "oh well". They were both supposed to look like the America bar but it went to a thick trace fast and I couldn't get the colors all the way through the pot.

It turns out that the recipe I use that creates a great soap for me, is not swirl friendly.

 

[cmzaha]

I think both look really good and really like America. I make a lot of "Oh Wells," and just go with the flow. Because my vegan recipe is not swirl friendly in the least.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Here is a recipe that I was thinking of using. It is based on a few that I saw online and changed it a little. What is your opinion of it. It is 6% super fat with a 33% lye

 

[Obsidian]

I actually like the oh well better though both look great.

 

[cmzaha]

Here is a recipe that I was thinking of using. It is based on a few that I saw online and changed it a little. What is your opinion of it. It is 6% super fat with a 33% lye

Not one I would like or make but you have to decide. It is too high superfat for me and to high CO and I don't use OO. So I guess I should not have bothered to and answered this post. Try a small batch you may love it.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Not one I would like or make but you have to decide. It is too high superfat for me and to high CO and I don't use OO. So I guess I should not have bothered to and answered this post. Try a small batch you may love it.

I actually lowered the super fat back to 3% and decreased the CO by 5% and added it to the sunflower oil. I don't use a lot of OO either but I have a lot of it, along with sunflower oil. I decided to use some of it up because I was low on safflower oil, which I prefer. However I am having a hard time getting either of the two brands of safflower oil that I like and wanted to save it for my standard recipe.

I actually like the oh well better though both look great.

Thank you. They both came out of the same pot.

 

[Hinata]

Not one I would like or make but you have to decide. It is too high superfat for me and to high CO and I don't use OO. So I guess I should not have bothered to and answered this post. Try a small batch you may love it.

whats wrong with OO? even if you just had 10% in the recipe it won't be slimey?

 

[penelopejane]

whats wrong with OO? even if you just had 10% in the recipe it won't be slimey?

A lot of people don't like olive oil in soap on this forum. It might have something to do with the type of Olive oil they use or maybe that the US olive oil seems to be a bit different from other olive oils? Or maybe it is personal expectations of a soap.

I love pure olive oil and high percentages of olive oil in soaps. I do cure my soaps longer than most (about 12 weeks) and for Castile soap I cure for 1 year or more.

It's just a personal preference I guess. I am not into huge amounts of bubbles but I like a really gentle soap that doesn't dry my skin out.
You have to test all soaps after a good cure and then again after a year and work out what works for you, your skin and your pocket!

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I don't dislike OO, because in my situation I came up with a recipe that I like and the people who are testing my soap like really well too. It has safflower oil in it instead of OO because safflower was cheaper than OO at the time.

The final recipe that I went with is taking a little longer to harden than my normal recipe but it hasn't been 24 hours yet. I poured it at 3pm EST so it still has 7 hours yet and I poured it at room temperature instead of my normal 110°F. This was a test batch for a slow to trace recipe for swirling.

I have become very happy with using lard in my recipes and this was a chance to try something different and also to use some of my stock that is just sitting around.