SMF July 2020 Challenge - Welded Soap

[szaza]

The meaning was clear for me too @earlene , though extra clarification never hurts
I'll treat this challenge as a good opportunity to test new colors without having to make boring plain 1 color bars. There's also an EO blend that I thought accelerated on me, though looking back it might have been the recipe (RBO). So it's about time to try it out in an acceleration safe design

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I made my first attempt and it went alright. I thought I was being clever and used individual molds so the size would be uniform. This might have worked if I had been better at pouring a the same about in each mold and my batter didn't accelerate.
After a lot of planing, I finally got my pieces cut and reassembled and popped them in the oven. When I pulled them out I was not prepared for how soft they would be and slightly squished one of the soaps when I tried to pick it up.
I see a second attempt in my future

 

[TheGecko]

The only problem this causes me personally is that I'm a hobby soaper with limited space.

I rechecked the rules and didn't see any requirements for how many bars you have to produced, so depending on your design, you could probably doing something with just a pound of soap. If I had thought my design out better AND have been willing to do the math, I would have made a single pound of soap, but I took the easy way out instead I made two pounds. I'll end up with eight bars of soap and it will end up in my donation/gift box.

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I rechecked the rules and didn't see any requirements for how many bars you have to produced, so depending on your design, you could probably doing something with just a pound of soap. If I had thought my design out better AND have been willing to do the math, I would have made a single pound of soap, but I took the easy way out instead I made two pounds. I'll end up with eight bars of soap and it will end up in my donation/gift box.

I added about 300 grams to a batch I was already planning on making and poured the extra batter into individual cavities. This way I only made 2 bars, which seemed like a good starting point.

 

[earlene]

Yes, absolutely, do the smallest batch you can if you don't want to end up with a lot of extra soap! One or two single bars or two one-pound batches that you cut up to re-construct your design. All fine options. Of course, if you want to get really intricate in your designs and want to make larger batches, that's fine, too.

MarnieSoapien, I should have warned you that when removing from the oven, some cooling time is necessary. Whenever I heat soap, I always use a removable tray and oven mitts when I take it out, then let it sit on my stove top to cool for a at least half an hour before touching. I also use an infrared thermometer to test the surface before touching just in case. I'm sort of a wuss about touching hot things because I have been burned too many times. Every now and then, though, I need a reminder that even the lid on top of a pan can get too hot to touch.

 

[bookreader451]

I made my first attempt and it went alright. I thought I was being clever and used individual molds so the size would be uniform. This might have worked if I had been better at pouring a the same about in each mold and my batter didn't accelerate.
After a lot of planing, I finally got my pieces cut and reassembled and popped them in the oven. When I pulled them out I was not prepared for how soft they would be and slightly squished one of the soaps when I tried to pick it up.
I see a second attempt in my future

Did they at least stick? I am hoping for a gorilla glue bond

 

[MarnieSoapien]

Did they at least stick? I am hoping for a gorilla glue bond

You can visibly see the layers and I didn't try very hard to pull them apart. They seem like they are stuck together pretty well.

 

[dibbles]

Disclaimer: soaps were harmed in the attempt of this challenge.
Oh, the carnage
None of my pieces stuck together. I doubt I'll have the time - or the heart - to try this again. At least I have some scraps that should make interesting embeds. Maybe. At some point.

 

[bookreader451]

On the bright side, the pink is really pretty.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Disclaimer: soaps were harmed in the attempt of this challenge.
Oh, the carnage
None of my pieces stuck together. I doubt I'll have the time - or the heart - to try this again. At least I have some scraps that should make interesting embeds. Maybe. At some point.
View attachment 47732

Oh man...I can so see the potential awesomeness here among the carnage...

 

[dibbles]

Oh man...I can so see the potential awesomeness here among the carnage...♥

Awesomeness was the plan. Reality was the result. Oh well, time to make lemonade out of lemons.

 

[amd]

@dibbles, what did you do?

Ok so after sorting through my scraps box to find pieces that work together in some kind of cohesive design, I come back to read this thread for the process, and my idea won't work because it's not new soap. Ugh. This challenge isn't for me. I'm not making soap this month. I'll share my old attempt on this thread but won't have an entry. I really look forward to what everyone makes. Good luck!

 

[glendam]

Disclaimer: soaps were harmed in the attempt of this challenge.
Oh, the carnage
None of my pieces stuck together. I doubt I'll have the time - or the heart - to try this again. At least I have some scraps that should make interesting embeds. Maybe. At some point.
View attachment 47732

Oh no! what do you think went wrong?
I will be doing my attempt today.

 

[dibbles]

@amd and @glendam I don't know what went wrong, really. Maybe the soap pieces weren't held quite tightly enough together in the mold when they went into the oven. The soap was all made from one batch, colored and poured into different molds, so it wasn't a recipe or days out of the mold difference. I made the soap one day and cut and 'welded' it the next because I did not have time to do it all in one day.

I'm looking forward to see what you both come up with. Good luck!!

 

[bookreader451]

@amd and @glendamThe soap was all made from one batch, colored and poured into different molds, so it wasn't a recipe or days out of the mold difference. I made the soap one day and cut and 'welded' it the next because I did not have time to do it all in one day.

I made the soap today, in the afternoon, and don't have time to do anything else until tomorrow. I am hoping to get at least one bar.

Next month I think we should do a Clyde cylindrical pour............I am good at that one, LOL.

 

[bookreader451]

So my design (LOL) is really simple and it may have stuck. I am too afraid to handle it! I am letting it sit for a couple of days then I will clean it up and see if it was a success. The planed scraps were like soap dough and mushed them all together for a lovely soap ball. Anyone old enough to remember the Avon guest soap balls?

 

[TheGecko]

Well that didn't go so well...back to the drawing board.

So my idea was to make a soap based on the Battenburg Cake. I made a batch of soap, separated into two and colored one pink and the other yellow and pour into my 4" Square Mold, and I would then cut off 1/2" from all six sides and cut the center into 9-1" cubes and then reassemble. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy right?

Problem #1 - BB's Party Pink Mica; turns out that it "Fades in cold process soap"...says it right on the label. Which I read AFTER I dumped a teaspoon in and it disappeared. So I reached up and quickly grabbed another 'pink' mica and...it did the same darn thing! Huh? Seems I bought TWO jars of Party Pink Mica (it wa on sale). So I grab another jar of 'pink' mica...READING the label this time...and now I have a...'pretty pink' soap batter.

Problem #2 - So I let the soap sit for a couple of days before cutting it. Let me tell you, those first two cuts (top and bottom) really strained the wire on my soap cutter (I have a Bud's). I had to place a finger on each side of the block and slowly push down to get that 'twang'. So okay...lesson learned. Cut the four sides off with no problem. So now I am left with this little block of soap and...well, it looks a little on the small side. I had tripled my measurement to make sure I was only cutting a half inch, I even took a ruler and marked a half inch on the soap and I was right on the mark.

So anyhoo...I'm looking at this little block of soap and there is simply no way I am getting 9-1" cubes, but I did my best. I didn't know where I went wrong and rather than stress it, plowed on with the second batch. Then came time to put everything together. Brushed the bottom and sides with water, got them in the molds and pressed them together. Good. Good. Now it was time to put in the cubes and a few vularities later, I tossed everything in the garbage.

So what happened? The first was assuming that my 4" Square Mold was actually 4" squared; 4" x 4" x 4". It's not, it's 4" x 3.5" x 2.6". The second was not cutting each of the little blocks exactly the same AND setting them down exactly the same way. So it was like trying to put a puzzle together with pieces from different sized puzzles.

 

[Veggiebin]

1. AMD - not sure how I feel about firing up the oven in this heat!
2. szaza - always wanted to try this!
3. MarnieSoapien _ This looks like fun!
4. dibbles - soap welding it is!
5. bookreader451 - 7 months in, can't chicken out now!
6. Anstarx - ooh I always wondered if this would work! I already have a design in mind!
7. glendam - sounds intriguing
8. TheGecko - Looks Easy Enough
9. Veggiebin - I’ve got a project I’ve been wanting to try

 

[glendam]

I made my attempt yesterday, I only have one bar that stuck well. The rest became smaller bar sizes, with only 2/3 staying together. (Each bar had three components, one of the components separated, while two stayed together.) So I will have a lot of square soaps vs rectangular bars!
In the oven, they seem to have separated (shrunk and separated a bit). I think that because my colorants were TD and AC, they absorbed some of the water, so there was not much liquid to go around. I also compared my recipe to hers (after the fact) and noticed I have a higher amount of solid fats, so that also, perhaps, affected it. It was indeed a challenge, but I enjoyed it and it has given me ideas for other soaps. I look forward to seeing the entries!

 

[earlene]

One thing that might help is to very tightly wrap each individual bar with kitchen plastic wrap (Saran Wrap or another brand) before you put it in the oven. That's what I did with mine and I believe that held the pieces together like a clamp does when one glues two pieces of wood together.

Dibbles, your soaps are gorgeous. If you don't have time to make new, maybe try the plastic wrap idea after re-wetting the weld sides, and put it in the oven again. All it will cost you is a little more time and some electricity or gas (depending on your oven.)

Glendam, I had not thought of the recipe making a huge difference in this method. Thank you for mentioning that. It would be helpful to know if others who large percentages of hard oils experience anything similar. My recipes tend to be on the lower end when it comes to hard oils. I'll give it a try with another recipe with more hard oils and see what happens.

I don't know if it's too late to try the plastic wrap idea for your soap, but perhaps you could test that out as well. By wrapping each bar very tightly in plastic wrap, less moisture loss will occur during the heating in the oven and it might still give you a better weld. IMO it's worth a try.