Soap Show & Tell

[TashaBird]

I so wondered what happened to your post, like maybe I had dreamed that you made new soaps

I sure have a lot of dreams that I make soap!!!

 

[raefrazer]

Newbie here: i made an 20% Aleppo type soap which my husband loves the smell (no fragrance added). I followed this with something called “Best Cold Processed Soap” to which i added lemongrass EO. I hope the lemongrass eo will last longer than the lemon eo!!

 

[TashaBird]

That sounds like a

Newbie here: i made an 20% Aleppo type soap which my husband loves the smell (no fragrance added). I followed this with something called “Best Cold Processed Soap” to which i added lemongrass EO. I hope the lemongrass eo will last longer than the lemon eo!!

That sounds like great eo blend! Did you maybe intend to post this in a different thread?

 

[TheGecko]

FWIW, I don't have any problem wrapping my GM soaps, and I don't believe @TheGecko does, either.

I still have some soap, including GMS from over two years ago that was shrink wrapped and they are all fine. It should be noted that the Shrink Wrap isn't as tight as it used to be, but that is because soap continues to cure. I even have a bar of GMS that I bought over a decade ago that is sitting in an airtight travel soap box that I only use a couple of times a year and I just took it out yesterday looking for something else and it is still fine.

 

[TashaBird]

Using up old soap dough. Made a T. rex that turned out pretty good. But I can’t touch/cut it until it hardens a bit.

Did the wolf moon embed and didn’t have much color left by the end. Hopefully it looks ok. I was trying to go for light and didn’t really pace my portioning. No pics.
Then decided to do a rainbow drop swirl with winter white and snowflake sparkle between the colors. Not sure if it was thick enough to stay separate. But, it was fun to do!!! That green really morphs dark, but it always morphs back. Here’s my ROYGBP colors from NS.

 

[Misschief]

Those colours!! Wow!

 

[TheGecko]

I quit.

 

[TashaBird]

I quit.

Quit what? Soap making? Why?!

Next up is this T. rex. It took a couple of tries, but that worked my dough enough to make it soft enough to get the details. A couple of tips.
*Extrude extra and slice the for embellishments on top of individual cavity soaps.
*If doing a long embed, let it harden for a couple of days. This one is 18”.
*take small scraps wet them and stick them to the ends. This lets me fill the underneath areas and reduces the amount of air pockets I get.

I didn’t pace my colors for the effect I intended. But they turned out cute! I’m trying to use less bold colors for less soap dish mess. Also doing some simpler designs too see how I like them. Simple ITPS. I think the weird halos will even out with time.

 

[TheGecko]

Quit what? Soap making? Why?!

Your soap is just so gorgeous. I could never make anything even half that beautiful.

But…I make what I am good at all the same.

 

[TashaBird]

Your soap is just so gorgeous. I could never make anything even half that beautiful.

But…I make what I am good at all the same.

Thank you. And, you make beautiful soap! This is just two colors ITPS.

 

[TashaBird]

Big day of shrink wrapping. Not my favorite part of the process. But I’m glad it’s done.

 

[TashaBird]

It’s been WAY too long since I made soap. Yesterday I made 4 pull throughs. I’m happy to say, I think I still got it! I also did an experiment I’ve wanted to do for awhile. I slid a small embed down the middle of one. I”m trying to think of ways I could stabilize the embed top and bottom, and maybe have a plate made with a hole in the center that could be pulled up around the embed. I’ll post pics of the cut later today. I miss soap making! Before making soap was my saving grace! Now I have to recreate my relationship to it, and find time and energy to do it.

 

[earlene]

I”m trying to think of ways I could stabilize the embed top and bottom, and maybe have a plate made with a hole in the center that could be pulled up around the embed.

Marvelous idea, @TashaBird!

In the meantime here's an idea of how to stabilize the embed on the bottom: Pour a very this layer of soap batter in the bottom, let it set-up; then while it is still firm but soft enough to insert the bottom of the embed, stick in there. Stabilize the position within the tube using whatever you want to keep the column from listing to one side (chopsticks on 3 sides or tape or a donut cutter, whatever you may have handy.)

I assume you're talking about a column embed that is the length of the tube. If you are, then obviously you won't be able to do the pull-through until you have your donut-hole-in-the-center plate made.

Another way to stabilize a column embed to stand straight in the center is to create a plate that would fit perfectly in the bottom and put spike in the center of it to hold the bottom in place. Put the column onto the spike inside the bottom of the mold, and then stablize the column at the tops using another plate designed to stabilize the top. You could have that plate made larger so that it does not fall into the mold, but that also has a spike facing down and more open space (allowing for a couple of very thin cross-bars to keep the inner spike in place. I'd draw a picture of what I mean, but I don't do that well on a computer.

 

[TashaBird]

Marvelous idea, @TashaBird!

In the meantime here's an idea of how to stabilize the embed on the bottom: Pour a very this layer of soap batter in the bottom, let it set-up; then while it is still firm but soft enough to insert the bottom of the embed, stick in there. Stabilize the position within the tube using whatever you want to keep the column from listing to one side (chopsticks on 3 sides or tape or a donut cutter, whatever you may have handy.)

I assume you're talking about a column embed that is the length of the tube. If you are, then obviously you won't be able to do the pull-through until you have your donut-hole-in-the-center plate made.

Another way to stabilize a column embed to stand straight in the center is to create a plate that would fit perfectly in the bottom and put spike in the center of it to hold the bottom in place. Put the column onto the spike inside the bottom of the mold, and then stablize the column at the tops using another plate designed to stabilize the top. You could have that plate made larger so that it does not fall into the mold, but that also has a spike facing down and more open space (allowing for a couple of very thin cross-bars to keep the inner spike in place. I'd draw a picture of what I mean, but I don't do that well on a computer.

I’m thinking a plate for the bottom and one for the top. The top one fits the pvc but can be lifted off to remove the pull through plate. 3 plates total.

That was a fun unmolding!!

3 out of 4 designs the batter got too thick. Really the difference between 5 degrees, 10 seconds extra stick blending, or adding the FO10 seconds too soon. I put the most interesting sides up, but some of them are very blurred and plain, just one color. When the batter is thin enough I get 4 colors in each cut, when it’s too thick there are only 2 or maybe 3 colors per cut.
The embed is centered in half of the cuts, and doesn’t look terrible off center. Not terrible for just eye balling it’s installation!
Maybe if I can prep/make another batch again sooner than later, then I can get the more dramatic detail that I prefer.

 

[squarepancakes]

I went in to cut my Christmas loaves today. A couple of the trees were very lopsided and on the edge but I guess I’ll just pretend it’s meant to look like that.

I also touched up on my logcakes with some sprinkles to make it look more festive! These were part of an experiment that I’ve made with leftover batter, soap dough and soap embeds

 

[BWt]

I went in to cut my Christmas loaves today. A couple of the trees were very lopsided and on the edge but I guess I’ll just pretend it’s meant to look like that.

I also touched up on my logcakes with some sprinkles to make it look more festive! These were part of an experiment that I’ve made with leftover batter, soap dough and soap embeds

Gorgeous soap. Lots of planning in advance to have the embeds ready. And the trees are perfectly placed. The tiny angle matches the angle of the red bottom angle. Playful and whimsical! I love these. The logs are splendid too. Seeing this makes me want to do something whimsical. Thank you for sharing