SMF March Challenge- Whipped Soap

[Obsidian]

I'm not in this challenge but I wanted to share my first and only whipped soap I made a few months back. I can't remember exactly how long I had to leave it in the mold but I'm really glad I used a wooden mold with a liner, made it quite easy to get out.

Used a wire cutter, you can see a little bit of crumbling along the bottom edges. Could have been the recipe or just because it was whipped. I should try another batch but this time with lard instead of GV shortening.

 

[DeeAnna]

Not sure what the rest of you will think when you see it, but I finally got a result I am pleased about. Third try out of three. I was concerned because I can tell this third soap is more dense than my previous trials, but I made sure to check and yep, it floats! Whew. :shock:

Here are my first two tries. I'm using that rebatch/melting method I explained earlier in this thread. The pale lavender bar on the left is my first attempt to see if my idea would even work. The gray soap is my second try. I wanted to see if the first soap was just beginner's luck. I also had the goal of making the result look a little less bland.

 

[Misschief]

I especially like the look of the gray soap, DeeAnna. There's something very earthy about it, definitely not bland at all. I'll have to make a note of your method and try it sometime.

 

[Saponista]

Sadly it appears that all awkward fragrances don't work with whipped soap. My nemesis sugar plum strikes again..... I really should just throw it out to save myself the pain.

 

[songwind]

I have a question about the freezer step:

What are we doing there? Is it just to make it cool faster so you can cut it? Or is it necessary to keep it from falling like a bad souffle?

Eric

 

[galaxyMLP]

Saponista, I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you!! that looks like it was no fun.

Eric,
I never placed my CP soap in the freezer (only the HP soap).

And for HP yes, it's for the "deflating" reasoning. It helps keep the middle of the soap from sagging.

For CP I put it in the fridge to stop the soap from going into gel and heating where it can melt and then deflate. However, if you know your FO/recipe doesn't heat a lot and your soaping area is cool, you don't have to place it in the refrigerator.

 

[penelopejane]

Saponista, so sorry your soap didn't work. I am making a note never to buy sugar plum. It sounds so sweet too!

DeeAnna, I love the grey soap on the left. Would you mind telling me what you used to get the pale grey? I've been using AC but it is nowhere near as subtle as yours. [emoji322][emoji322][emoji322]

 

[Saponista]

Lol it's ok thank you for your concern galaxy and Penelope! I really wasn't that disheartened, I had another go without the sugar plum and actually got soap so it's not a complete disaster. I will hopefully unmould tomorrow and see what I get. Not really sure what to do with my sugar plum crumble though, anyone got any suggestions? It really does have an odd texture....

 

[Judiraz]

I gave it a shot yesterday and everything went wrong! I found a mixer at the Goodwill store for only $1.99. I weighed my hard oils into the bowl and then promptly knocked my scale into the water filled sink....quick trip to the store to get another scale and then back to start whipping. The Goodwill mixer ( with the beaters attached) didn't work, so I had to use my little handheld. The lard was very soft and really didn't get as big and fluffy as I had hoped. Once all was whipped, lyed, colored, and scented I started pouring (plopping) into the molds. Not enough to fill all of them!!!! GRRRR.

Can't wait to unmold.

 

[kumudini]

Not sure what the rest of you will think when you see it, but I finally got a result I am pleased about. Third try out of three. I was concerned because I can tell this third soap is more dense than my previous trials, but I made sure to check and yep, it floats! Whew. :shock:

Here are my first two tries. I'm using that rebatch/melting method I explained earlier in this thread. The pale lavender bar on the left is my first attempt to see if my idea would even work. The gray soap is my second try. I wanted to see if the first soap was just beginner's luck. I also had the goal of making the result look a little less bland.

DeeAnna, I knew that this would work. It was an accidental discovery when I rebatched my very first batch (which was a plain Jane with unrefined Shea and cocoa butters in it, couldn't take the 'scent'). I put some food color and essential oils in it after rebatch and to get them mixed well I used a hand mixer and I ended up with a lighter soap that floated. I still have some, they are not as beautiful as yours are.

 

[Arimara]

I'm hoping I'm well enough on the weekend to 1) come up with an idea and 2) try another batch. Right now, I'm one week into the flu/cold bug that's going around and it's no fun at all. I've missed 3.5 days of work in the past week, my ribs feel like they're cracked because I've been sneezing so hard and coughing so deeply and now I've got a headache on top of it all.

Why yes, I AM feeling sorry for myself; why do you ask?

Feel better. I was sick a few weeks ago with a cold and now everyone's getting a stomach bug (save me normally). Hope you can make some soup.

 

[DeeAnna]

...Would you mind telling me what you used to get the pale grey?

I used black oxide to get that gray. I think maybe also a drop or two of ultramarine blue, but I don't think I really needed to. The soap lightens a little as it sets up, so I wasn't quite sure what it would look like when I cut it. (But isn't that true of soap in general???)

DeeAnna, I knew that this would work. It was an accidental discovery when I rebatched my very first batch...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's tried this. I was seriously expecting the soap to look fairly homely like most rebatch soap does, but it looks more like a CP type soap. I'm curious to see how much it deforms and shrinks after drying for a few weeks.

I think you got a very pretty color in your soap -- who would guess that verdigris green came from plain ol' food coloring! And your soap also has a smoother more consistent look. I like it.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Just made my first attempt. We'll have to wait and see how it comes out! I have it stuck in my mini fridge for safety, even though I doubt it would heat up enough to deflate (most of my stuff doesn't gel, even with encouragement!).

It has four colors, three of which are supposed to be variants of each other... but they came out way more similar than I intended. Bah. Scented with NG's Lime Cilantro even though the scent has nothing to do with the idea I was going for with the colors. I just wanted to use a scent that I hadn't used before. There wasn't nearly enough of it, though... apparently that FO is really light and there's less of it in a 1 fl. oz. bottle than other FOs. I also managed to crack one of my soaping bowls... The hard oils were just TOO hard straight out of the fridge. So I waited for them to warm up a bit and they seemed on the verge of melting when I beat them, despite the house being well under their melting points. *sigh* And I used the same amount of oils for the mold I used, so it should have been mounded up from the extra volume, but it wasn't.

Still not going to post pics, because I don't know if I'll have another chance to attempt again!

 

[mintle]

I had to go for a business trip and only after 5 days I had a chance to unmold my first attempt. It went quite well, zap free, managed to cut it with wire cutter more or less neatly but... it has that tacky/waxy feeling to it, quite sticky. Is it normal? It floats and foams, but I am disappointed about the feeling when I hold a bar in my hand.

 

[galaxyMLP]

That tacky feeling is completely normal! It will be that way on the cut sides/edges for about 1-2 weeks and it will subside! This has been my experience.

Btw, I'm loving all the innovation and people trying so many different techniques!

 

[TeresaT]

I'm going to put the finishing touches on my soap tonight. For once, I am actually pleased with the way my first attempt turned out. I am, however, going to do another batch this weekend to see if I can do a better job of it. The colors are slightly off and I'd like to try to improve on that a bit. I'm really excited about this technique. I think I'm going to get some winter (snow-type) FOs and sculpt snowman soaps. I can leave them to cure a few months and use them as Christmas gifts. I've also got that peppermint EO; I can sculpt candy canes and "paint" the red stripes on them with mica in oil. I just have to get that perfect texture, not to soft, but not too set up, either.

 

[Misschief]

I have been inspired and I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend. Yay!!

 

[Arimara]

I'd love to try this again with CP but I don't feel like buying lard. Lard soaps feel nice and all but I really think my skin in general doesn't like it as much, especially my face. I'm recovering from a breakout from a lard based unscented soap.

To be fair- I did use the store bought kind and some brands of bacon can lead to a breakout too.

 

[lionprincess00]

Well, I had to rebatch the broken soaps. At least they still float, albeit not on the surface but the top when placed in water is at water level.

 

[DeeAnna]

LionPrincess -- You ended up with a happy blend of blue with the lighter accent specks. Nice job of making lemonade out of those lemons!