Quality over design

[porumi]

Just a rant...

So my friends are testing my soaps and they all like the ones which are hard to work with trace wise. I love doing designs as I am quite creative as a person but I cant! My options are: change recipe or do boring designs. Obviously the most important is the recipe but just a bit fed up today

Do you guys ever had such "problem"?


Thanks,
Porumi

 

[AKjulz]

In of my most popular fragrances causes seizing, ricing and has vanillin so turns brown (I want it blue and white). But everyone love it so what do you do? I feel your pain


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[PinkCupcake]

You don't have to give up either. I use what I think is a good (maybe not great) recipe which takes forever to trace. It's 70% oo, 25% coconut, 5% castor. I use some additives (sodium lactate, etc.) and sometimes I might sub in a little shea or cocoa butter.

Anyway, you can have your "luxury" soaps that are plainer, and your "fancy" soaps with swirls & such. I love getting feedback from testers, especially when it is negative feedback. Of course I love to hear that my soaps are wonderful, but I like hearing what I could change to make them better.

 

[dagmar88]

You could still decorate with soap chunks or curls, a quick pencil stripe and soap in a solid color doesn't need to be boring at all.

These are all easily done with FO's that move quickly. For FO's that turn brown, you can add an unscented contrast color.

 

[dagmar88]

 

[grayceworks]

Wow, those are all so gorgeous! I can't wait to be able to make pretty soaps! And great ideas on making them simple but beautiful. My first batch looks quite plain, but I followed the advice to keep it simple while I'm learning, and I am very proud to have soap! Now I want to start learning to make wonderful recipes AND beautiful ones as well...

and I hope you'll all be patient with me if I make any social goofs... I am trying to learn not to be a hermit. I have been dealing with severe agoraphobia for years, and social anxiety as well, but hubby suggested finding a hobby that I can find people online to talk with, and I found this, already related to my other hobbies, and you all seem so nice, so I've been lurking for months and finally signed up.... so I hope you'll all give me a chance to get to know you... and maybe help me out a bit if I seem awkward?

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[Donna]

Hello gracyworks and welcome from a fellow Georgian!
I think you'll find that there is no such thing as a social goof, unless they are mean spirited.
This forum is a great place get answers to soap making questions or be directed to places that have the answers.
You mentioned other hobbies. Perhaps Other Crafts and DIY Projects would be of interest also.
If you've been lurking, you most likely know that people here are great about sharing successes as well as things
that weren't quite so successful.
If you'd care to, post a "hello" on The Introduction Forum. The people here are super friendly.
Again, welcome!

 

[evilnurse]

Dagmar, what is the pink and white one scented? I love it. I have a thing for polka dots. All of your soaps look wonderful and gives me something to strive for


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[dagmar88]

Dagmar, what is the pink and white one scented? I love it. I have a thing for polka dots. All of your soaps look wonderful and gives me something to strive for


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Oh, there not mine! :neutral: Sadly, all my supplies are locked away and I won't be soaping until I'm done renovating and my lab is 100% finished and dust free .

I'm not used to the new way of adding pictures and didn't realize the url is not showing :???:
They're all from Etsy. I use that a lot as a reference with all B&B products and to keep up with current trends...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/76530537/tangerine-dream-artisan-cold-process?ref=shop_home_active

 

[judymoody]

Could you share your recipe and your technique (temperatures, water amount, superfat, SB vs. whisk, etc) and perhaps we can help you to troubleshoot better. Does your favorite recipe trace quickly all of the time or is it just with particular FOs/EOs?

 

[porumi]

The recipe has pretty much all oils that encourage trace, thats the problem! I tried soaping high and low tems but no luck.

I like the idea that someone mentioned on here to use this recipe for simple designs and then use a different one when I want to do swirls.


Thanks,
Porumi

 

[ambers_artworld]

Same problem here...I've spent three years coming up with a recipe I adore, and of course it traces sometimes in a minute, even with full water Alas, no swirls for me. Would love to see the solutions you all come up with here!!

 

[cerelife]

Hello grayceworks! I'm a fellow Georgia girl as well (5th-generation)...my family is from North GA, but I was born in Atlanta and we lived in Morrow until I was nine, and then we moved back to the mountains I currently live about an hour south of Macon, so we aren't all that far away from each other! No worries on here...there are some really nice folks on this forum who will bend over backwards to help you out and please feel free to PM me anytime!!
One of my best friends has suffered from agoraphobia since we were kids together, so I get where you're coming from...you can't even imagine (Well, yeah, you probably CAN!) how shocked I was today when she called me and said that she and her husband would finally take us up in 2014 on our long-standing offer for them to be our guests at Mardi Gras in New Orleans!! I'm sooo proud of her

 

[grayceworks]

Hi Donna and cerelife! I'm originally from AZ, but I fit so much better here in GA -- I think I was born in the wrong state lol! Oh, I can't imagine going to Mardi Gras -- my hubby loves all things about it, but there's just no way! I can't even manage the grocery store unless it's late night with no people. Great to meet you both!

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[grayceworks]

I'm taking notes on this topic, because I did my 2nd batch yesterday, and I can already tell that I love it, but it thickened up quite quickly, so if I use it often there's no way I'll be able to do more than simple colors or decoration -- so it's neat to see other ways of making it pretty! Because I agree, the quality is more important.

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[cmzaha]

This is a nice recipe that will trace slower. 30% OO, 20% CO, 20 % Palm Oil, 15% Lard, 10 % Canola and 5% Castor Oil.

 

[cerelife]

grayce, I was BEYOND shocked that my agoraphopic bestie was willing to consider Mardi Gras, LOL! That's a HUGE leap!! In the meantime, she and I (along with our husbands) will most likely be in Atlanta a few times in December to see my nephew...he's an actor and will be performing in a couple of shows in mid-late December and we may meet up to see Tab Benoit (a fantastic Louisiana blues guy) at an Atlanta bar in early December. Let me know if y'all want to join us...my friend tells me that she always found it reassuring to be with others who understood her anxiety and that this made it WAYYY easier for her to be in public places.
Here's a link to Tab Benoit...he's pretty much smoking hot and a sweet reason to venture out, LOL!
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56LyuNHFGKA[/ame]
And BTW, I went to college in AZ...Embry-Riddle in Prescott, AZ. Gorgeous place, but no comparison to my beloved South!

 

[grayceworks]

my friend tells me that she always found it reassuring to be with others who understood her anxiety and that this made it WAYYY easier for her to be in public places.

And BTW, I went to college in AZ...Embry-Riddle in Prescott, AZ. Gorgeous place, but no comparison to my beloved South!

OMG - I grew up in Prescott! lol. But you're right, I spent 28yrs in AZ, and never felt home till I moved here.

I know what she means about being with others who understand -- funny thing is, my ex never did, so I was afraid to tell my hubby about it until I had a full-out panic attack at a store one day when he wandered away and I couldn't find him. This is after being married 4yrs. lol. He's like, why didn't you TELL me?!? Now that he understands, he is very helpful with finding ways for me to get out and do things without too many panic attacks. Mainly by being my security blanket lol.


Now that I've thoroughly hijacked this thread (sorry!) back to the topic:

This is a nice recipe that will trace slower. 30% OO, 20% CO, 20 % Palm Oil, 15% Lard, 10 % Canola and 5% Castor Oil.

Thank you for the suggestion!

I will try messing with my amounts a bit, but I do love the way the bars turned out in general, and I don't mind too much how quick it reached trace for now -- it can get kinda hard to stir a long time when you have fibromyalgia. But you're right, a recipe that traces slower will be good when I'm ready to try swirling stuff. I can always get hubby to do the stirring. lol

 

[JennH]

I kind of like the look of spooning and glopping the thick batter into the molds. I've done 2 like that, and even though they aren't the typical swirl, I like the look.

 

[cerelife]

Small world, grayce!
While Prescott isn't the South, it WAS pretty sweet....Thumb Butte, the Dells....and Slide Rock Falls, Jerome, and Sedona on the weekends when we felt the need for a day-trip!
Pretty heady stuff for a girl who only knew our sub-tropical greenery, LOL!