SMF Soapmaking Challenge November: Drop and Skewer

[mymy]

Gosh, I lose hope when I see all of your drop swirl soaps. They are beyond my imagination. I feel I should soaphang me self in an empty room. :'(

 

[DeeAnna]

"...If you used full water (which I had to say to make DeeAnna crazy)..."

<...snicker!...>

"...Do you think it would mess with the swirls to be gelled and then re-cut?..."

I'd put it back together in the mold and try it. Living just 1 1/2 hours north of Cedar Falls, I can appreciate why an avid UNI alum would want the colors to pop. The worst that can happen is that you might have to do a little creative cutting.

 

[Saponista]

Don't worry mymy, my drop swirls always look deeply uninspiring.

 

[newbie]

It won't affect your swirls at all. Just pack your soap back in in the same order and it should fit snugly. Pop it in the oven at 190 and watch it. It should gel or at least heat to relative translucency and softness and once it's all soft, you can take it out. Let it cool and recut. Should look exactly the same, swirl-wise but your colors should be better.

 

[dibbles]

Trust me, someone is going to knock this one out of the park.

Clearly not me. Attempt #1.

 

[Cactuslily]

Well Newbie, after finally mustering up the nerve to enter a challenge, I see what you considered a failed attempt. They are beautiful. I love drop swirls but haven't done one with a skewer. First attempt still awaiting cut (too soft still for some reason ), but I poured too thin I'm sure. So, I will probably be posting a pic of what is I'm sure to be truly hideous soap, swirled into oblivion, creating a solid color that is most likely not found on the color wheel .

 

[BlackDog]

It won't affect your swirls at all. Just pack your soap back in in the same order and it should fit snugly. Pop it in the oven at 190 and watch it. It should gel or at least heat to relative translucency and softness and once it's all soft, you can take it out. Let it cool and recut. Should look exactly the same, swirl-wise but your colors should be better.

Thanks for the advice! She's in the oven now; fingers crossed!

 

[DeeAnna]

I took Newbie's advice for my little loaves that were staying way too soft. I packed them back into their molds and put them into the oven at 180 F (80 C). I initially thought I'd leave the soap in the oven for an hour, but after that hour the soap didn't look any much different than when I put it into the oven. So I left it in a second hour, turned the oven off, and left the soap in the warm oven to cool slowly.

The soap never had an obvious soft and vaseline-y look. Now that I've looked closer at the cooled soap, it is considerably harder and slightly translucent. I'd say the results looks like the soap gelled, but I'm scratching my head about how it go there. Yet another soapy conundrum to think about! (I've been looking for a reason to use that $5 word!)

 

[doriettefarm]

DeeAnna - You are such a rebel! I started reading and thought you were about to say you popped them in the freezer but nooo you had to go the opposite direction.

BlackDog - I love the movement in your soap and truly hope forced gel will turn the charcoal color into the black you meant it to be.

snappy - Electric Bubblegum is the perfect description for that pink . . . I think my retinas might bleed if you had gelled it! Your FO sounds interesting, I'm a patch freak but never thought about blending it with mint.

newbie - Glad you liked my attempt #1. It wasn't awful but I'm partial to anything brown or earthy colored. We're definitely on the same wavelength about the drop action . . . attempt #2 looks promising if I can keep my hands off of it a little longer. I did unmold this morning but had some stickage in the corners. I couldn't resist slicing off one end but I'm afraid of mauling the rest by cutting too soon.

dibbles - I'm so bummed for you! The top pic is awesome, great swirlage and color scheme. Maybe 2nd attempt will be keepers for both of us, fingers crossed.

 

[newbie]

I wonder if it has to do with the water content. I haven't tried it with soap made with a low water amount so have not tested the theory. I've made low water soaps that have gelled except for the corners but the gel state is not very squishy, like higher water content soap is, but I haven't tried the delayed oven heating. The nice thing is that if you get a partial gel, you can pack your bars back in the mold and heat it and the soap will be far more, if not entirely, uniform.

 

[kchaystack]

Doriettefarm - I think patch and mint are in the same family, so I guess it kinda makes sense or is that scents? Haha

 

[doriettefarm]

Doriettefarm - I think patch and mint are in the same family, so I guess it kinda makes sense or is that scents? Haha

Who wouldda thunk it? Certainly not me! I've tried patch with almost everything else under the sun . . . lavender, cedarwood, sandalwood, orange, palmarosa. I would also never think to pair mint with a really sweet floral. But I recently tried a sample of BB's Winter Gardenia (from the ALS Swap) in some lotion and really liked it.

 

[DeeAnna]

I used a 32% lye concentration for my challenge soaps, so you might have a point, Newbie.

I got the bars cut, planed, and beveled tonight -- the soap now looks and feels more like the soap I usually make. Dense, waxy, firm, slightly translucent. Before the heating, the soap was soft and had a slight powdery look to it. Quite a change. I'd say the colors are popping a bit more than before, but not as much as the colors in soaps that I know have gone fully into that soft, translucent vaseline gel state.

I remember Auntie Clara talking about the soap she's made lately to look at the effects of varying water amounts. She theorized the low water soaps may go into and out of gel very quickly, if they gel at all, compared to the high water soaps that stay in gel for awhile.

Regardless of the theories, I won't be shy about doing this reheat thing in the future -- it's a neat trick to know!

Doriette -- My DH would agree with you that I'm a contrarian!

 

[lionprincess00]

Sorry to be late to the game! I was working on something soapy that ultimately failed, but I've been checking the thread several times a day. Love the attempts so far! Beautiful soaps and colors everyone! adorable pooch as well

 

[Judiraz]

Here's my mistake swirl. I'm so bummed about the base color because I really like the swirl. Since I overdid the ROE by like 10X I don't even know if the soap is usable. I need to research safe usage rates for that.

 

[Sonya-m]

Oh this does look like a fun if not infuriating challenge. I really hope I get chance to have a go - moving house on Friday so hopefully all goes well!!

 

[Saponista]

I love that judiraz it's beautiful! Such a shame!

 

[Rowan]

The gremlins had a field day with me when I made this soap (it was probably fatigue gremlins, but I won't admit that out loud!). I mixed my lye and oils (with FO incorporated), reached for the stick blender and then it hit me, I'd forgotten it. How the hell do you forget a stick blender!! I raced around to get it out of the cupboard and it was gone! In my panic it took ages for me to see it sitting next to the sink. I was also trying out a new Fo. I stick blended very briefly and realised the batter was thickening up really quickly. Panic not entirely over, I dumped the batter into the mica/oils rather than in my jugs, so the colour is a bit intense! i was just able to pour the coloured batter from a great height into the mould. It was so thick at the end it just sat on top and then used a thick chopstick to swirl.

 

[Rowan]

Judiraz, I love the colours. Fingers crossed with the ROE.

Sonya - good luck with your move. Don't forget soapy boxes go on the van last and come off first!!!

 

[Saponista]

It's still really pretty though Rowan. I haven't managed to do mine yet, I've been run off my feet, I have so much to do but I still plan to get one in before the deadline!