SMF January Challenge Black and White

[MrsSpaceship]

1. TheDragonGirl (this should be fun!)

2. Dixiedragon (houndstooth, y'all, my fellow Alabamians get it)

3. BlackDog (just finished my first one! Ice storm here today, so.....)

4. Seawolfe - woop woop!

5. Obsidian- this is one I can do lol

6. MySoapyHeart (would love to do this, now that I am "old" enough to participate in challenges in here

7. Newbie- so many options, so many option. Preparing for many batches of classic B&W

8. dibbles - can't wait to see what people come up with!

9. Snappyllama - perfect soap challenge to start the new year... so many possibilities!

10. AMD - I've been told I'm a very black & white person

11. rainycityjen - all in

12. Sweetbubbletreat

13. Misschief (thinking, thinking... )

14. Judiraz- lots of ideas, but I think it's going to be a tough one!

15. DeeAnna- She says the color has gotta be black, really black. Oh, dear, I've only gotten to gray so far ...

16. KCHaystack - Glad we do not have to compete against Saponista... Cause the soap from her video was amazing

17. Steve85569 - I'm in again! I still have people to give soap to...

18. jules92207 - my favorite soap colors!!! Can't flipping wait.

19. luebella - there, you're IN!... you're welcome.

20. CaraBou - ready to be skunked

21. PenelopeJane-Black isn't a colour is it? I hope not, cos I can't do colours.

22. McGraysoldtowngifts

23. traderbren- Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long I'm glad to be back

24. Sonya-m - wonder if I'll actually find the time to soap this month?!?

25. TBandCW - Just made my b & w yesterday! Is this a sign??

26. Songwind - I'm in.

27. GalaxyMLP- I'm gonna make time

28. WildcraftGarden - Yay! First challenge. ☺

29. Seven - i think this one i can do ��

30. Soapswirl - just made my first attempt, how I love cleaning up black oxide....

31. Deedles - I think I can...I think I can!

32. commoncenz - The perfect way to get my soaping mojo back and return to the forum after dealing with many issues at home last month

33. mintle - I am in!!

34. Mrs Spaceship - I can do this! (I think)

 

[McGraysoldtowngifts]

My First Attempt is in my mold I did a combination of CP and MP this is the first time I have played with the melt and pour. It looks really cool so far cant wait to un-mold it tomorrow.

Todd

 

[mintle]

Probably not a spectacular discovery, but I wanted to share with you my superwhite recipe that needs just a tiny bit of titanium dioxide to give white white soap. It is also a slow tracing one so nice if you want to do some advanced swirls. This one is great after cure.
20% coconut oil
5% castor
20% high oleic sunflower (best) or very light coloured olive
55% lard

You can of course lower the amount of coconut oil and sub it with lard.
Good luck with the challenge!!

 

[Saponista]

I've been looking around at black and white soaps recently and saw these on Facebook. Any ideas how they were created? I'm thinking divide the mould into three, plain black on either side then a stripey bit in the middle topped up with black then pull the dividers out at an angle?

 

[DeeAnna]

Steve -- I put a packet of the activated carbon that comes with our fish tank filters into a plastic bag. Used a hammer (gently) and a rolling pin to crush the granules for, oh, maybe 5 minutes. Poured the bits through a couple of strainers -- a small kitchen strainer and then through my finest tea strainer. Discarded the coarse bits and put the fine powder into glycerin. It's still gritty, but there are no big lumps and it looks fine in my soap.

LionPrincess -- Remember in the Dec challenge that I used a recipe with some tallow substituted for lard? I mentioned the tallow-lard-CO-castor recipe got really brittle to the point of needing to warm it in the oven so I could cut it the next morning without shattering apart. I used the same recipe and same masterbatched blend of fats for the batch I made yesterday for this challenge. The main differences were the colorants and my use of 35% lye concentration rather than hi-low water. I CPOPed this latest batch at 150 F for an hour, turned the oven off but left the soap in the oven. I didn't see the translucency I associate with a soap in gel, but it definitely got softer to the touch about an hour into the CPOP, so I'm thinking it came close to gelling if not actually hit gel. This morning, the soap is plenty firm, but not brittle. It cuts fine at room temperature -- no shattering, chipping, or broken wires. I can't be absolutely certain, but I'm leaning toward the brittleness coming from the combination of tallow and high lye concentration.

Saponista -- I am only a newbie at this, but could that pattern have been made this way --
Pour a layer of black to fill the mold about 1/4 of the way up. Do a drop swirl down the length of the mold of alternating black-white. The drop swirl goes exactly into the center of the black layer. Do a wall pour of black to pinch the drop swirl off at the top and fill the mold.

 

[rainycityjen]

I can't be absolutely certain, but I'm leaning toward the brittleness coming from the combination of tallow and high lye concentration.

Interesting theory to me. I have occasionally suffered from brittle batches. It was mostly when I was playing with higher lye concentrations. Didn't know what I did wrong besides possibly measure wrong.

 

[lionprincess00]

Thx Deeanna! I am out of tallow at the moment, so lard it is! On that note...


1. TheDragonGirl (this should be fun!)

2. Dixiedragon (houndstooth, y'all, my fellow Alabamians get it)

3. BlackDog (just finished my first one! Ice storm here today, so.....)

4. Seawolfe - woop woop!

5. Obsidian- this is one I can do lol

6. MySoapyHeart (would love to do this, now that I am "old" enough to participate in challenges in here

7. Newbie- so many options, so many option. Preparing for many batches of classic B&W

8. dibbles - can't wait to see what people come up with!

9. Snappyllama - perfect soap challenge to start the new year... so many possibilities!

10. AMD - I've been told I'm a very black & white person

11. rainycityjen - all in

12. Sweetbubbletreat

13. Misschief (thinking, thinking... )

14. Judiraz- lots of ideas, but I think it's going to be a tough one!*

15. DeeAnna- She says the color has gotta be black, really black. Oh, dear, I've only gotten to gray so far ...

16. KCHaystack - Glad we do not have to compete against Saponista... Cause the soap from her video was amazing

17. Steve85569 - I'm in again! I still have people to give soap to...

18. jules92207 - my favorite soap colors!!! Can't flipping wait.*

19. luebella - there, you're IN!... you're welcome.*

20. CaraBou - ready to be skunked

21. PenelopeJane-Black isn't a colour is it? I hope not, cos I can't do colours.

22. McGraysoldtowngifts

23. traderbren- Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long I'm glad to be back

24. Sonya-m - wonder if I'll actually find the time to soap this month?!?

25. TBandCW - Just made my b & w yesterday! Is this a sign??

26. Songwind - I'm in.

27. GalaxyMLP- I'm gonna make time

28. WildcraftGarden - Yay! First challenge. ☺

29. Seven - i think this one i can do ��

30. Soapswirl - just made my first attempt, how I love cleaning up black oxide....

31. Deedles - I think I can...I think I can!

32. commoncenz - The perfect way to get my soaping mojo back and return to the forum after dealing with many issues at home last month

33. mintle - I am in!!

34. Mrs Spaceship - I can do this! (I think)

35. Lionprincess00- I'm in!

 

[KristaY]

"I've been looking around at black and white soaps recently and saw these on Facebook. Any ideas how they were created? I'm thinking divide the mould into three, plain black on either side then a stripey bit in the middle topped up with black then pull the dividers out at an angle?"

I think that's exactly what they did, Saponista, because the edges are so straight. So poured using a hidden feather technique but pulled the dividers out at an angle and didn't use a hanger. I was actually toying with the idea of doing this. Kinda looks like a Hershey's Kiss.

 

[Obsidian]

I'm pulling out, I've re-numbered the list.


1. TheDragonGirl (this should be fun!)

2. Dixiedragon (houndstooth, y'all, my fellow Alabamians get it)

3. BlackDog (just finished my first one! Ice storm here today, so.....)

4. Seawolfe - woop woop!

5. MySoapyHeart (would love to do this, now that I am "old" enough to participate in challenges in here

6. Newbie- so many options, so many option. Preparing for many batches of classic B&W

7. dibbles - can't wait to see what people come up with!

8. Snappyllama - perfect soap challenge to start the new year... so many possibilities!

9. AMD - I've been told I'm a very black & white person

10. rainycityjen - all in

11. Sweetbubbletreat

12. Misschief (thinking, thinking... )

13. Judiraz- lots of ideas, but I think it's going to be a tough one!*

14. DeeAnna- She says the color has gotta be black, really black. Oh, dear, I've only gotten to gray so far ...

15. KCHaystack - Glad we do not have to compete against Saponista... Cause the soap from her video was amazing

16. Steve85569 - I'm in again! I still have people to give soap to...

17. jules92207 - my favorite soap colors!!! Can't flipping wait.*

18. luebella - there, you're IN!... you're welcome.*

19. CaraBou - ready to be skunked

20. PenelopeJane-Black isn't a colour is it? I hope not, cos I can't do colours.

21. McGraysoldtowngifts

22. traderbren- Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long I'm glad to be back

23. Sonya-m - wonder if I'll actually find the time to soap this month?!?

24. TBandCW - Just made my b & w yesterday! Is this a sign??

25. Songwind - I'm in.

26. GalaxyMLP- I'm gonna make time

27. WildcraftGarden - Yay! First challenge. ☺

28. Seven - i think this one i can do ��

29. Soapswirl - just made my first attempt, how I love cleaning up black oxide....

30. Deedles - I think I can...I think I can!

31. commoncenz - The perfect way to get my soaping mojo back and return to the forum after dealing with many issues at home last month

32. mintle - I am in!!

33. Mrs Spaceship - I can do this! (I think)

34. Lionprincess00- I'm in!

 

[jules92207]

I've been looking around at black and white soaps recently and saw these on Facebook. Any ideas how they were created? I'm thinking divide the mould into three, plain black on either side then a stripey bit in the middle topped up with black then pull the dividers out at an angle?

View attachment 18419

That is a cool looking soap. I would venture your interpretation could be how it is done, it almost looks like a perfect drop swirl but that just seems impossible.

 

[newbie]

I think dividers were used for sure because the edges of the white part are so straight and the way the white comes up to wrap around the side looks like pull from a divider. You can see the one on the far left has a little tail that looks like it tracked along a wall. I think the bottom half was poured with dividers but that squiggle that goes up the center? That looks like a wall pour squiggle and I don't know if you'd get that shape pulling dividers up. It looks too natural/organic. I'm guessing it was made with dividers for the bottom half and then a wall pour.

 

[luebella]

OK so it says no shades of gray but OK if black looks a Lil gray. I did a textured top and some parts mixed and turned silver. Is this a no go?

 

[Sonya-m]

Step 1 of my soap made - feels good to dig out my soap stuff again after so long

 

[BlackDog]

Attempt #3 went exactly as planned but did not achieve the desired result. Tweaking plan in preparation for #4.

THOU SHALL NOT DEFEAT ME, BLACK AND WHITE CHALLENGE! I SHALL OPEN UP A CAN OF WHOOPA$$ UPON THEE!

 

[Saponista]

Luebella, I put some pics up earlier in the thread of soaps that were and weren't acceptable. Can you see whether your soap compares to any of these? If not then message me and you can show me a pic and I will let u know.

I am going to have a go and try and make a soap like the one above with dividers, I also think deeanna and newbie are onto something with a wall pour afterwards.

 

[Misschief]

My first attempt is in the oven as I type. I can't wait until tomorrow!

 

[DeeAnna]

Just got done with Trial #2 this evening. I am struggling with this assignment because black and white seems so stark to me. But as always I'm learning something.

Anyways, on to my question --

Does anyone add a little dark blue to black soap batter to make it "blacker"? Or maybe it doesn't make any difference for soap?

I learned this tip from old leather workers who wanted their black color to be really inky black. Adding a bit of blue to a black leather dye helps to counteract the gold/tan color of the leather. Since soap is often ivory to yellow, I wondered if it worked for soap too.

I tried it myself -- added a bit of ultramarine blue to the black batter -- but being so new to this, I don't have any basis for comparison. I was hoping some of y'all more experienced with black soap might have an opinion!

 

[Saponomancer]

Just got done with Trial #2 this evening. I am struggling with this assignment because black and white seems so stark to me. But as always I'm learning something.

Anyways, on to my question --

Does anyone add a little dark blue to black soap batter to make it "blacker"? Or maybe it doesn't make any difference for soap?

I learned this tip from old leather workers who wanted their black color to be really inky black. Adding a bit of blue to a black leather dye helps to counteract the gold/tan color of the leather. Since soap is often ivory to yellow, I wondered if it worked for soap too.

I tried it myself -- added a bit of ultramarine blue to the black batter -- but being so new to this, I don't have any basis for comparison. I was hoping some of y'all more experienced with black soap might have an opinion!

I actually found I get a much better black if I use alkanet along with the AC!

 

[Stacyspy]

I get mine at our local Walmart. It's sold in capsules and I found it in with the antacids.

Thanks for the reply, I like the 'by eye' process!

Is activated charcoal something I can find locally or do I need to order it from a soapy supplier? The only charcoal I'm familiar with is the stuff I used to use in aquarium filters!

 

[CaraBou]

Left overs from batch 1, spoonswirled in a mini pringles can. The main batch is a keeper but I am not sure how competitive it will be. I expect we'll see some pretty cool soaps in this challenge.