Actually it was Friday/Saturday morning. Took Friday off from work but had to leave my radio on just in case. :evil: Naturally, work called a couple of times. :evil: :evil: I was home alone, except for the dogs and cats, for the first time in ages and thoroughly enjoyed it.
After consuming the last of the amish friendship bread, two egg rolls, some french fries, a root beer and some potato chips I opted for a late morning nap. Woke up about noon, temperature outside 75 degrees (F). Wow, a day made for outdoor soap making! Nah, open the doors and windows, let the outdoors inside.
In the midst of all this I thought how wonderful this forum has been to me. The people here post all sorts of tiny little tidbits about their projects and you never know what little nugget is going to jump out and help you. So, thanks so much, keep the details coming and post pics. Perceived failures are wonderful, though none really are failures, just different from what is expected. That's my take from my limited experience.
As usual, my order has not arrived from BB and I don't want to wait. Poor timing on my part again. I scrounged around and decided to use what was left over in the fridge and pieces/parts of old stuff before using a lot of the new received from Columbus and others. I know, that is not necessary, just one of my little quirks. :roll: So, I came up with this and wondered how it would work.
Castor - 5.5%
Babassu - 15%
Coconut (73) - 30%
Canola - 25.5%
Palm - 15%
Olive - 4%
Lard - 5%
19oz - H20
7.4oz - NaOH
LabColor - Cimarron (somewhere between a smidge and a pour, maybe a small to medium splash
)
FO - Heather (1oz from Peak sample pack)
SF - 5%
Batch - 50oz
Note on the Canola Oil: I called Wesson (ConAgra) to find out the difference between Canola (Rapeseed) and Canola (high oleic). Customer service reps couldn't find the difference in their scripts but further conversation indicated high oleic is used in snack food production and rapeseed is used in Canola production for consumer use. So I went with rapeseed on soap calc.
The mystery continues.
My lovely and mysterious far eastern assistant and soap photographer (think stage magician's assistant, 5'11", long bright red, form fitting dress with sequined dragons and mandarin collar :shock: ), Miss Kwan, (Pam to me, 5'4", mother of my children and not desirous of stage presence or that red thing) was at work so I did the best I could. I will give her proper credit when her work is shown. And yes, she reads all of this.
("Don't encourage him, please!")
I learned more about trace and adding color from this batch. I wanted to add color to some of the batch but waited too long for it to end up as I wanted. So, the difference between what is really light trace and uhoh, hurry up!, was experienced. I poured about 2/3 of the batch into the mold, carefully measured the color into the remaining and stirred like crazy. Too late to really mix in the first pour, I poured from on high and it didn't really drop down through the first pour, kinda mostly stayed on top. I ran a knife through the mold anyway, but it was probably too thick. I should have poured it earlier into a small bucket, given it a stir and poured. Next time.
The good part was that I put plastic wrap on the top to prevent ash but the loaf seemed to fall, much like a cake, after it was put in the oven and ash formed on much of it. Settling? I whacked it on the counter a couple of times before going into the oven but after the wrap was added. There are a few places that are clear where the ash did not form and I am going to try it again and make sure it is down on the soap everywhere. Maybe it was pulled too tight and left a air space between soap and plastic wrap. Another imported special tool was used to solve the problem. It was found on this sight and did not require 800 numbers or shipping and handling charges.
Wow, 2:30pm, soap in the oven, now do a couple of errands before kids get home from school. Great day!
5:00pm - peek at soap. Hmm, turn oven off.
6:00pm - Rats! Wonder if I can touch it? Wrapped in towels and put in laundry room on top of washer. No laundry done on Friday night! 8)
7:00pm - This is awful. Let's see, 12 hours means 2:30am. Hmmm. Watched "Inception". Great movie. Popcorn and circus peanuts snackage.
10:00pm - Picked up my book to read. Fell asleep sometime or other.
4:00am - Its Saturdayyyyyy! Get up, wanna see soap. Oh, goody, it's pretty firm, time to unmold. YAYYYYY! Do I dare awaken my lovely and mysterious far eastern assistant and soap photographer? I don't think that would be wise. :?
Plastic wrap skills lacking! Looks like festering zombie skin or something that awful. Love the fragrance. SoapCalc called for 1.7oz but only had 1oz. I think that was plenty.
Here's a side shot. Not what I wanted but kind of expected. It could be much worse. Amish bread starter in background. Gonna be a good weekend!
Time to slice and see how it looks. This pic is more of my high tech equipment. You will probably recognize the imported special slicing tool from previous pictures. The mitre box was from a hint on this forum not too long ago. Ended up not using it this time but am going to make a wire cutter and use it with this box.
Not bad, not good, but excited about future batches and what can be.
This and the following pics were taken by my lovely and mysterious far eastern assistant and soap photographer.
Here you see the aforementioned special imported tool #2 in use and the before and after cleaned bars. The bottom corners of the bars are sharper indicating to me that my mold lining skills may be improving. Kinda liked the rounded corners when I folded the bottom too narrow. I cut one of the bars in half and my lovely mysterious etc really likes them. Hmm.
Here are the bars after cleaning up a little. The bars are clean enough, would probably be better if I had waited for them to harden more before trimming, but that's difficult for me. Also, my collection of imported special tools. I prefer the slicer on the left for cleanup. The one on the right is for special occasions so visitors will think we're up on the latest equipment available. Keeping up with the Joneses. :roll: Not really true. Actually, the best way to find something lost is to buy a replacement. The lost item will magically reappear in a short time. :shock:
And last but not least, the trimmings. I have no intention of chunking them. This will be used to wash hands before and after whatever event is going on in this haphazard household we call home.
To the newbie lurkers. Jump in and make a batch. It's lots of fun and you're making something useful. Start really simple. Go to the link in my signature and check it out. That was my first batch and I followed the instructions to the letter. Have fun.
After consuming the last of the amish friendship bread, two egg rolls, some french fries, a root beer and some potato chips I opted for a late morning nap. Woke up about noon, temperature outside 75 degrees (F). Wow, a day made for outdoor soap making! Nah, open the doors and windows, let the outdoors inside.
In the midst of all this I thought how wonderful this forum has been to me. The people here post all sorts of tiny little tidbits about their projects and you never know what little nugget is going to jump out and help you. So, thanks so much, keep the details coming and post pics. Perceived failures are wonderful, though none really are failures, just different from what is expected. That's my take from my limited experience.
As usual, my order has not arrived from BB and I don't want to wait. Poor timing on my part again. I scrounged around and decided to use what was left over in the fridge and pieces/parts of old stuff before using a lot of the new received from Columbus and others. I know, that is not necessary, just one of my little quirks. :roll: So, I came up with this and wondered how it would work.
Castor - 5.5%
Babassu - 15%
Coconut (73) - 30%
Canola - 25.5%
Palm - 15%
Olive - 4%
Lard - 5%
19oz - H20
7.4oz - NaOH
LabColor - Cimarron (somewhere between a smidge and a pour, maybe a small to medium splash
)FO - Heather (1oz from Peak sample pack)
SF - 5%
Batch - 50oz
Note on the Canola Oil: I called Wesson (ConAgra) to find out the difference between Canola (Rapeseed) and Canola (high oleic). Customer service reps couldn't find the difference in their scripts but further conversation indicated high oleic is used in snack food production and rapeseed is used in Canola production for consumer use. So I went with rapeseed on soap calc.
The mystery continues.
My lovely and mysterious far eastern assistant and soap photographer (think stage magician's assistant, 5'11", long bright red, form fitting dress with sequined dragons and mandarin collar :shock: ), Miss Kwan, (Pam to me, 5'4", mother of my children and not desirous of stage presence or that red thing) was at work so I did the best I could. I will give her proper credit when her work is shown. And yes, she reads all of this.
("Don't encourage him, please!")
I learned more about trace and adding color from this batch. I wanted to add color to some of the batch but waited too long for it to end up as I wanted. So, the difference between what is really light trace and uhoh, hurry up!, was experienced. I poured about 2/3 of the batch into the mold, carefully measured the color into the remaining and stirred like crazy. Too late to really mix in the first pour, I poured from on high and it didn't really drop down through the first pour, kinda mostly stayed on top. I ran a knife through the mold anyway, but it was probably too thick. I should have poured it earlier into a small bucket, given it a stir and poured. Next time.
The good part was that I put plastic wrap on the top to prevent ash but the loaf seemed to fall, much like a cake, after it was put in the oven and ash formed on much of it. Settling? I whacked it on the counter a couple of times before going into the oven but after the wrap was added. There are a few places that are clear where the ash did not form and I am going to try it again and make sure it is down on the soap everywhere. Maybe it was pulled too tight and left a air space between soap and plastic wrap. Another imported special tool was used to solve the problem. It was found on this sight and did not require 800 numbers or shipping and handling charges.
Wow, 2:30pm, soap in the oven, now do a couple of errands before kids get home from school. Great day!
5:00pm - peek at soap. Hmm, turn oven off.
6:00pm - Rats! Wonder if I can touch it? Wrapped in towels and put in laundry room on top of washer. No laundry done on Friday night! 8)
7:00pm - This is awful. Let's see, 12 hours means 2:30am. Hmmm.
Watched "Inception". Great movie. Popcorn and circus peanuts snackage.10:00pm - Picked up my book to read. Fell asleep sometime or other.
4:00am - Its Saturdayyyyyy! Get up, wanna see soap. Oh, goody, it's pretty firm, time to unmold. YAYYYYY! Do I dare awaken my lovely and mysterious far eastern assistant and soap photographer? I don't think that would be wise. :?
Plastic wrap skills lacking! Looks like festering zombie skin or something that awful. Love the fragrance. SoapCalc called for 1.7oz but only had 1oz. I think that was plenty.
Here's a side shot. Not what I wanted but kind of expected. It could be much worse. Amish bread starter in background. Gonna be a good weekend!
Time to slice and see how it looks. This pic is more of my high tech equipment. You will probably recognize the imported special slicing tool from previous pictures. The mitre box was from a hint on this forum not too long ago. Ended up not using it this time but am going to make a wire cutter and use it with this box.
Not bad, not good, but excited about future batches and what can be.
This and the following pics were taken by my lovely and mysterious far eastern assistant and soap photographer.
Here you see the aforementioned special imported tool #2 in use and the before and after cleaned bars. The bottom corners of the bars are sharper indicating to me that my mold lining skills may be improving. Kinda liked the rounded corners when I folded the bottom too narrow. I cut one of the bars in half and my lovely mysterious etc really likes them. Hmm.
Here are the bars after cleaning up a little. The bars are clean enough, would probably be better if I had waited for them to harden more before trimming, but that's difficult for me. Also, my collection of imported special tools. I prefer the slicer on the left for cleanup. The one on the right is for special occasions so visitors will think we're up on the latest equipment available. Keeping up with the Joneses. :roll: Not really true. Actually, the best way to find something lost is to buy a replacement. The lost item will magically reappear in a short time. :shock:
And last but not least, the trimmings. I have no intention of chunking them. This will be used to wash hands before and after whatever event is going on in this haphazard household we call home.
To the newbie lurkers. Jump in and make a batch. It's lots of fun and you're making something useful. Start really simple. Go to the link in my signature and check it out. That was my first batch and I followed the instructions to the letter. Have fun.
