Oh, oh, sorry @artemis - I must have failed to copy you over and then put my name in your place.Wait... Didn't I sign up already?
Maybe my subconscious trying to eliminate the competition?
Oh, oh, sorry @artemis - I must have failed to copy you over and then put my name in your place.Wait... Didn't I sign up already?
You guys are scaring me! I think I might have been a bit idealist about how this was all going to work out - so I can tell you now that if doesn't work on the first try I won't be wasting any more ingredients on making it happen. I'm not at all tenacious in that regard. @steffamarie - you crack me up with your tantrums and your willingness to share them with us - I literally LOLled. But good on you for not giving up - you're a bigger woman than I.
Ha, glad I can provide some entertainment! It's been frustrating for sure, but I think without using the "cutting" technique I will actually have success. The pliability isn't lacking, it's just that it's sooooo uneven and doesn't take stress well because of all the thin spots. In the batch I made with 8% SF and 15% castor, the result seemed to be a pretty good, if tacky, soap slice. That's what I'll be trying again this weekend when I make my final push to CONQUER THIS TECHNIQUE. I will prevail!!!! And so shall you!!!@steffamarie - you crack me up with your tantrums and your willingness to share them with us - I literally LOLled. But good on you for not giving up - you're a bigger woman than I.
Ooh - here's an idea, Why not make the inner part of the soap first? Let it set as usual. THEN make the rim and put it around the exterior of the soap AFTER. Is that a thing? It would be easier to work with that way wouldn't it?
If the inner soap is made, and removed from the mold, then the rim can be gelled and while it's still warm can be wrapped around the inner. Do you think they won't bond if done that way?Well, now, how would they adhere to each other, then? And how will you get them back into a mold together to CPOP so the Rim can gel? Especially if it is a round mold? Two round molds of different diameters?
If the inner soap is made, and removed from the mold, then the rim can be gelled and while it's still warm can be wrapped around the inner. Do you think they won't bond if done that way?
You guys are scaring me! I think I might have been a bit idealist about how this was all going to work out - so I can tell you now that if doesn't work on the first try I won't be wasting any more ingredients on making it happen. I'm not at all tenacious in that regard.
Oh - so sorry to hear of all this Steffamarie. It must have been so frustrating! I'm already thinking about what I can to if my rim ( currently in the oven) fails as a rim, and I have decided I am going to use it to do a layered soap - cut in to slabs that will fit my silicone mold and sandwich it together (triple layered) with a plain colour in the middle.Well. This is just not my challenge, guys. I've moved through the stages of grief and arrived squarely at acceptance. Let me bring you along on the journey I just took. First, a recap for those who are just joining us:
Rim #1 - failed before it began. Batter got too thick too fast and design was just not going to happen. Status: smashed into a loaf mold.
Rim #2 - too thick to use alone but too thin to cut. Fractured apart when manipulated. Status: confetti.
Rim #3 - thicker overall but the design was thin and only on the top. Fractured apart when manipulated even when cut thin. Status: smashed into an angry pile and put in a corner to think about what it has done.
And I undertook rim #4 today. I poured it into a much thicker slab and made sure the design went all the way through. I'm only moderately sure it gelled in the oven but I went to cut it while it was still warm anyway. Enlisted the help of my darling BF for both moral and actual soap support. Very quickly I found that the mud wire was bowing up in the middle and just not cutting evenly at all. Ryan suggested using a drawknife (like this) and converted an old hacksaw into a soap shaver. We weren't able to cut a rim just using the saw but instead treated it like a real drawknife and used it to shave away the back of the soap to make it an even thickness. We used two guides on either side of the slab to help.
If we could have stopped there, I think it would have been fine...but maybe it didn't gel after all because as soon as I went to roll it, it crumbled apart. I blasted it with a heat gun in a last-ditch attempt to make it work, but that didn't help. Even Ryan tried heating and curling and it just...cracked apart.
Status: mushed into individual molds for a "rustic" salvage.
So, having given this all I'm willing to give it, I think I can most assuredly say I am DONE with this challenge and I willingly accept defeat. I'm sure I have time to keep trying but frankly I just don't have the willpower lol
All the best of luck to you all and I'm very excited to see what everyone else comes up with!!!! Don't let my failure hinder your success - just because I can't seem to make it work definitely does not mean anything!!!
My attempts at rimmed soap in the past have been mostly, well, disasters, so before I signed up here I made a small batch the other day to test the recipe as well as my patience level. The recipe was a variation of the one @earlene generously shared in Post #21 (changes were due to what ingredients I have on hand). It was:
32% Olive Oil
27% Coconut Oil
21% HO Sunflower Oil
20% Shea Butter
2% (oil weight) glycerin
33% lye concentration
8% superfat
Finished the entire thing in one day rather than let the rim sit overnight
I upped the SF to 8% to test if it would help with pliability. The end result was mostly great: firstly, it was by far and away a lot more pliable than my previous attempts, and did not crack (Hooray! Thanks, earlene!). However, there is a slight tackiness to the rim so it sticks to things and has a sort of pitted look from where the soap touched things and was pulled away. It is definitely not smooth like earlene's woodsy soap.
Before the next attempt does anyone have any advice? I was thinking perhaps maybe one or more of the following adjustments might help:
- Reduce the SF
- Let it sit overnight rather than try to stuff fresh soap into the pipe (although, the tackiness is still there 2 days later, and I was worried it would dry out a little overnight and be less pliable)
- Perhaps not CPOP it. It did start to overheat a couple times and I had to frantically open the door and wave at it to cool it down. Maybe the tackiness is from that?
- Of course, the tackiness could be a result of the added glycerin, but earlene's soap is so smooth
- Or? Open to suggestions!
Thank you!
Well. This is just not my challenge, guys. I've moved through the stages of grief and arrived squarely at acceptance. Let me bring you along on the journey I just took. First, a recap for those who are just joining us:
Rim #1 - failed before it began. Batter got too thick too fast and design was just not going to happen. Status: smashed into a loaf mold.
Rim #2 - too thick to use alone but too thin to cut. Fractured apart when manipulated. Status: confetti.
Rim #3 - thicker overall but the design was thin and only on the top. Fractured apart when manipulated even when cut thin. Status: smashed into an angry pile and put in a corner to think about what it has done.
And I undertook rim #4 today. I poured it into a much thicker slab and made sure the design went all the way through. I'm only moderately sure it gelled in the oven but I went to cut it while it was still warm anyway. Enlisted the help of my darling BF for both moral and actual soap support. Very quickly I found that the mud wire was bowing up in the middle and just not cutting evenly at all. Ryan suggested using a drawknife (like this) and converted an old hacksaw into a soap shaver. We weren't able to cut a rim just using the saw but instead treated it like a real drawknife and used it to shave away the back of the soap to make it an even thickness. We used two guides on either side of the slab to help.
If we could have stopped there, I think it would have been fine...but maybe it didn't gel after all because as soon as I went to roll it, it crumbled apart. I blasted it with a heat gun in a last-ditch attempt to make it work, but that didn't help. Even Ryan tried heating and curling and it just...cracked apart.
Status: mushed into individual molds for a "rustic" salvage.
So, having given this all I'm willing to give it, I think I can most assuredly say I am DONE with this challenge and I willingly accept defeat. I'm sure I have time to keep trying but frankly I just don't have the willpower lol
All the best of luck to you all and I'm very excited to see what everyone else comes up with!!!! Don't let my failure hinder your success - just because I can't seem to make it work definitely does not mean anything!!!
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