So it's some weeks since I've made soap (some time away *yay*, some time sick #cough#). I also filled up all the space on the soap racks I currently have room for, but have now boxed my first two batches for storage until use, so I have some space again! Here's an update on my soaps so far, may not be so interesting but it is what it is
How is the soap weight tracking? Here's a chart! Not all my sample bars were around the same weight, so I'm showing weight as a percentage of it's starting weight. Interesting to see how the different recipes behave, and also the difference when CPOP is used.
My first batch, Zany's Faux Seawater Castille, is now 11 weeks old. I've tried pieces at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 9 weeks old -- it is improving, but not ready yet.
I understand that my second batch, 100% Coconut Oil 20% SF salt bars, will require a looong cure time, being salt bars. I did try a piece at 4 weeks old and found it very cleansing, the rest will continue waiting until next summer
Still on that batch, last week I found that the salt bars were weeping and had actually slightly
gained in weight! The soap storage area is in the garage where we also dry our laundry so I guess, with that and wet weather, the humidity has increased and the salt, being hygroscopic, has pulled that water out of the air. I think that they had mostly dried out now so are also boxed.
My third batch, KiwiMoose's Poly-oil, which stalled in weight-loss, kicked off again! The mini-bars I have tried along the way have held up well, and a couple of bars are out with testers who are loving it!
My fourth batch, also KiwiMoose's recipe, lost weight at a faster rate than the previous batch. I guess the Oven Process I applied to this batch helped things move along. I am using a bar of this and am very happy with it, as is another tester.
Genny's Facial/Body Bar was the next along and is steadily losing weight. Interesting to note is that a couple of bars are warping (see below). These bars were made from one part of batter that was white and another part that was coloured blue. I'd dissolved the Ultramarine Blue colourant in 1 Tbsp olive oil, but forgot to compensate for that added oil in the white part. What a difference that 1 Tbsp of oil seems to have made (if that is the cause)!
Today was another batch of KiwiMoose's soy wax soap, it was intended to be my first loaf and using Tiger Stripe Pour for the Challenge, but gremlins got in the way and I had lumpy batter before I could pour. Nevermind, I did a
Plop 'n Glob and fingers crossed they look alright.
Thank you for reading, any advice and wisdom greatly appreciated!
